#26. If I Treat Her Well Now, It’ll Be Fine, Right? 

Surprisingly, what I was lying on wasn’t a small, hard-springed single bed, but an extremely large and soft bed even bigger than king size.

On top of that, a soft, light feather blanket like something from a hotel was covering my body generously.

Not just one, but five or six pillows were placed at the head of the bed, and the embroidered velvet canopy draped over the bed had golden threads hanging nearby, as if ready to be drawn back at any time.

“……?”

When I absentmindedly pulled the cord, my view opened up to reveal a room so luxurious it made my jaw drop.

The walls of the studio apartment that used to be within arm’s reach were nowhere to be seen, replaced by a spacious area where I couldn’t even be sure a thrown object would hit the wall.

The floor was covered with a premium carpet that looked obviously thick at a glance, and furniture that appeared extremely expensive was harmoniously arranged on top of it.

A warm fire crackled pleasantly in the nearby fireplace, and on the small table next to the bed, fresh and abundant flowers in an elegant vase greeted me, bright enough to illuminate the space just by looking at them.

In short, it was a completely unfamiliar place.

‘Where am I now.’

As I cautiously surveyed my surroundings with suspicion, I froze at the sight of the tapestry directly in front of me.

More precisely, because of the House Dragonia emblem embroidered on that tapestry.

“No, why is that here?”

My chest tightened involuntarily, and I muttered without realizing it. At that moment, a gasp of “Hik!” came from somewhere.

‘Hik?’

As I slowly turned my head, my body stiffened at the faces visible here and there.

Perhaps they had been nodding off in groups nearby, because maids who had been waiting discreetly throughout the bedroom all stood up at once and looked at me.

As if they were seeing something unbelievable.

And I couldn’t believe it either. What’s going on, I just woke up from sleep, why is everyone staring at me…… no, that’s not it.

“Oh my goodness.”

“My lady……!”

Eren and Rita.

The now-familiar faces of the lower maids.

Seeing them brought back everything I had forgotten.

Penelope’s schemes to torment me, her minions who had taken away all my winter clothing. I, who was about to freeze to death……

‘Let’s just test it.’

My fate.

If this was a nightmare as I had hoped, I would wake up through death.

But if returning as the lady of Dragonia was truly reality……

‘I need power.’

I couldn’t just wait pathetically to be trampled like Partanie in her past life, waiting for a “moment of awakening” to be recognized as a lady someday.

I needed to regain my recovery mage abilities acquired in my life as Yeon Bora.

So I gambled.

Believing that in the face of death, my dormant mana core would activate.

Even if I died, it didn’t matter. I had already given Eren a hint.

‘I heard Kalenso left because the Grand Duke summoned him.’

Then the Grand Duke of Dragonia would return soon.

And he would discover me dead.

If Eren reported it at the right time as I had planned, punishing Penelope for trying to freeze me to death wouldn’t be a problem.

The result of that desperate gamble.

“She’s awake!”

An unwanted success had found me.

‘It can’t be.’

Faced with a truth I simply couldn’t accept, I closed my eyes as if escaping.

But in the darkness beneath my eyelids, what I felt was a faint, pulsating, delicate purple mana core.

‘Oh, my goodness.’

I buried my face in my trembling hands.

But I could no longer avoid it. Thump, thump, thump— the beating of my living heart echoed more clearly than anything else.

A life more terrifying than death had finally unfolded before me.

* * *

“……Huff, haah!”

As soon as he heard the news, Taran rushed frantically to the bedroom where Partanie was staying.

But as he approached the front door of his youngest sister’s bedroom, panting roughly, he hesitated.

His footsteps slowed, and anxiety crept into his expression.

‘What…… do I look like right now?’

Glancing at a mirror in the corridor, he saw his hands covered in blood and scratches on his cheeks.

The injuries he had suffered as punishment from the Grand Duke had already been treated by a healer and had healed, but that didn’t mean he looked presentable.

His clothes were still torn, leaving his upper body practically bare, and his fine teal hair was completely disheveled.

In short, he looked barbaric and violent.

Of course, that didn’t mean he looked ugly; rather, it revealed a different kind of charm.

“Oh my, oh my.”

“Lord Taran……”

It wasn’t just one or two maids in the corridor who were stealing glances at Taran with admiring gazes.

Not being a fool, Taran knew his appearance was pleasing to the eye.

But still, it didn’t seem right to see his youngest sister, who had just recovered from illness, looking like this.

Uncharacteristically hesitant, Taran’s minions came running up behind him, panting.

“Lord Taran! How could you go like that!”

Saying he should at least put this on, his followers hurriedly draped a coat over Taran’s upper body, wiped his blood-stained hands with towels, and quickly treated the wounds on his cheeks. Fixing his hair was a bonus.

Indeed, his capable minions.

Satisfied, Taran smiled and praised them.

“Hey, thanks. As expected, all my followers are excellent.”

With his refreshing smile and glib praise, his minions all felt deeply relieved. He had returned from a raging mad dog to a somewhat conversational madman.

‘But, is it because of the youngest lady……?’

It doesn’t seem right. That can’t be.

As Taran’s minions wondered in confusion, they flinched.

The Grand Duke of Dragonia was now standing before them, or more precisely, in front of the bedroom door where the lady was said to be.

‘So that’s why.’

‘They say anger management issues are better controlled in front of stronger people.’

‘Is that why our Lord Taran couldn’t control himself……?’

‘I’m just glad he’s controlled in front of the Grand Duke, phew.’

Unaware of what his minions were thinking, Taran rushed to the door as soon as he looked somewhat decent.

He hesitated when he faced the Grand Duke of Dragonia, but.

“I pay my respects to Your Highness the Grand Duke.”

He brazenly greeted him with proper etiquette first. It was an expression of his intention not to leave.

‘I could have arrived first.’

Tch, grumbling slightly inside, Taran raised his head when he heard the command “Rise” from above.

Although his hair had been grabbed before, Taran was not one to be easily intimidated or shrink back.

It wasn’t that he didn’t think his stomach might get kicked.

‘I’ll deal with that when it happens.’

If he had worried about every little thing, he wouldn’t have earned the nickname “Mad Dog.”

When Taran looked up with a slight smile, the Grand Duke of Dragonia merely glanced at him from the corner of his eye without adding anything more.

“Open it.”

At the Grand Duke’s command, the guards waiting in front of the door opened it from both sides.

Taran unconsciously swallowed to moisten his parched throat. As if he was suddenly nervous about seeing Partanie.

As the door opened, a luxurious space welcomed the two Dragonias.

The finest place in the Blue Brick Castle, allowed only to the mistress of the house for generations.

The Red Velvet Room.

It was unfamiliar even to Taran. After all, Dragonia was a Grand Duchy without a mistress.

However, his gaze was fixed not on the lavishly decorated space that showed no emptiness despite having no owner, but on the small silhouette that appeared beyond the reception room in the bedroom.

“My lady, are you alright?”

She must have been receiving care, as several maids surrounded Partanie.

One was behind the youngest lady, gently combing her smooth, blue-purple hair, while another was clearing away the water used for washing her face.

Yet another maid was folding sweat-soaked nightclothes, presumably after helping her change.

The last maid was saying “Ah- please,” blowing on a spoonful of patient’s meal prepared for someone who had just woken up, and bringing it to the lady’s lips.

“……Ah.”

But Partanie, receiving all this attention, looked very uncomfortable and awkward, as if all of this was against her wishes as she carefully opened her mouth.

Yet her back remained straight and her hands were clenched into fists, as if preparing for persecution that might come from anywhere at any time.

“……”

Taran felt his chest tighten for some reason. His fingers involuntarily clenched into fists.

‘She acts that way because of Penelope.’

How badly must Penelope have treated her for her to feel so awkward even receiving care as a patient?

Taran sympathized, conveniently excluding his own responsibility.

People always see what they want to see and believe what they want to believe.

And currently, Taran was hoping that his wrongdoings were within a forgivable range.

He wanted to alleviate his guilt and ultimately return to how things were before.

So Taran reached a highly convenient conclusion.

‘If I start embracing her well from today and treat her kindly as an older brother…… she might cry and throw tantrums at first, but she’ll be happy eventually.’

Well, at first, it seemed Partanie might find it difficult to accept. She might find his touch awkward too.

Perhaps she might even be scared and avoid him.

But his youngest sister had always craved their father’s attention and his affection. So……

‘Let me pay attention to her from now on.’

That should be enough, right?