I looked over at Lord Reineke. The faith of all of House Renard was turning into a golden light, steadily gathering around him. He stared back at me with an amused smirk, as though to say that resistance was pointless.
“Ughhh...” I sighed, resigning myself to my fate. “I cannot think of you as my servants, so...please take me on as your daughter,” I murmured.
“Then let’s become a happy family!” the marquise said.
I responded with a tense smile. Still, I’d rather be treated as their daughter than worshipped. Lord Reineke did say that even if House Renard adopts me, it’ll be fine as long as I don’t become the crown princess! This time around, I’ll rely on the wisdom of the spirits to improve the domain so I won’t have to be used as collateral! And I have fox ears now, so I can’t accidentally marry a human being!
Having reconsidered my stance, I addressed the marquis. “My lord! If we’re to be a family, please stop referring to me as ‘Lady’ Lune. And you don’t have to speak to me so formally.”
“I couldn’t—you are Lord Reineke’s contractor. If anything, I humbly request that you do not refer to me so formally,” he replied with a serious expression.
However, I couldn’t back down here.
“Can I call you...‘father’?” I asked, tilting my head.
The marquis frowned. The same thing had happened in the past. He’d adopted me for the sake of the marquise, but he never wanted a poor orphan for a daughter. After his wife had passed, the marquis treated me harshly. But now that I was here at Lord Reineke’s behest, he surely couldn’t refuse me.
This time, I’ll do what I can to get him to like me, so that he won’t sell me off!
I tried to smile sweetly, like I had when I was the crown princess.
The marquis reluctantly nodded. “Very well.”
“Will you call me ‘mother’?” the marquise asked as she looked at me, holding back tears.
“Yes, mother,” I replied.
The woman broke down crying and embraced me again.
“Lulu—no. May I call you Lune?”
“Of course, mother,” I said, causing her to hug me even tighter.
It had been a long time since I’d felt the warmth of her embrace, and it filled me with nostalgia. I wrapped my arms around her back. As I did, Liam patted my head again. Still in the marquise’s embrace, I turned my face to look at him.
“Brother?” I called out.
He nodded, though he was expressionless as always.
I wonder if he’s embarrassed to have an orphan for a sister... I thought, my fox ears drooping in dejection.
“I hope we get along well, Lune,” Liam said gently. His expression hadn’t shifted, but his voice was full of affection.
Oh? Maybe he doesn’t hate me after all!
“Okay!” I replied. My tail swayed happily beneath my dress.
And so, I became House Renard’s adopted daughter. My new mother and brother couldn’t get enough of doting on me. Liam even ordered a custom-made dress for me, with a special skirt that let my tail poke out. I had told him that I wasn’t fond of those long aristocratic gowns, so this one was shorter like what the commoner girls wore. But the design was still extravagant and adorable.
Whenever my mother and brother spoiled me, my father would give us a cold glare. That was one thing that hadn’t changed from my previous incarnation.
I hope I’ll get along with him one day too, I wished. A flame of ambition was kindled within me.
The days passed by peacefully, but there was something I needed to do in order to fix everything this time around: cure my mother’s illness. Her biological daughter had passed away three years ago, causing her own body and mind to fall into a poor condition. In my previous life, two years after the Renards adopted me, she succumbed to constrictive roundworm disease, an illness that had no cure until eight years later.
I want her to survive until she can be cured!
I was determined to prevent my mother’s condition from deteriorating further.
The disease was caused by the constrictive roundworm, a parasitic monster that infected vulnerable minds. The worms were nocturnal, giving their host nightmares to wear them down even more. As a result, their victims were trapped in a vicious cycle of insomnia and fatigue, their strength and vitality decaying as they were too exhausted to exercise or even move about. And as they progressively lost their appetite, they eventually passed away from emaciation.
My mother’s last moments had been terribly sad. In her final year, she couldn’t leave her room at all and was unable to distinguish me from Lady Lulu. My father and brother couldn’t bear the pitiful sight of her, and so rarely visited her room while making me look after her. At last, she passed away while calling out to me—to “Lulu.” My whole body slumped at the memory.
I shook my head to clear my mind. I couldn’t just wallow in misery forever.
The point is, I need to make her exercise during the day and get enough sleep at night! Even if there’s no cure yet, I should be able to slow the progress of her illness. She has to make it through the next ten years until the remedy is found!
With that goal in mind, I began sleeping next to my mother and bringing her outside with me to build up her stamina.
It would be incredible if I could find the cure myself. But developing medicine requires water magic, advanced skills, and expert knowledge. It’s not possible for me right now.
I asked Lord Reineke about how the medicine was made, but it wasn’t something I could do by myself.
I’ve heard that a person can only make a contract with one spirit at a time. I already have a contract with Lord Reineke, so I can’t make another one with a water spirit. In that case, I’ll never be able to use water magic at all.
Since this was a matter of life and death, I even considered searching for a medicine specialist who could wield water magic.
Lord Reineke told me that the cure was made from the sentiment flower, so I could at least try to leave those near my mother. It wouldn’t be the same as a real cure, but it’d be worth it if it had even a little effect.
The sentiment flower was a plain kind of flower that only grew in the Renard domain, seen as nothing more than a weed at this point in time. However, the component extracted from its bud would become the medicine for the roundworm disease.
So Lord Reineke found where the sentiment flowers bloomed and brought their buds to me. I started leaving them beneath my mother’s pillow every night.
I was having a picnic out in the gardens with my mother and brother. Lord Reineke was asleep on the blanket. Because mother didn’t have much energy, we couldn’t go very far.
“Mother, have you been sleeping better lately?” Liam asked.
The woman smiled softly.
“Yes, I have. Lune said that being in a big bed all by herself gets lonely, so we’ve been sleeping together. I feel at ease when she’s next to me,” she said, patting my head.