Chapter 34

A month had passed like lightning since I took in Ahre as my daughter. Perhaps because October was already coming to an end, the weather was gradually turning chilly. Aside from that, it had been peaceful days.

Furthermore, today was Sunday, which meant it was time for my absolute favorite activity: becoming a blanket snail. However, from this morning, my mood was extremely bad. No, it wasn’t just my mood. My body, my stomach, my belly, and even my head were all aching.

It hurt so much that if anyone spoke to me right now, I felt like I would scream at them and beat them up. I lay in bed, unable to even eat because of the pain. Ordinarily, I would have curled up into a snail shape, but I lacked the energy and was just lying flat. If I ate anything right now, I felt like I would throw it right up.

It felt like I had contracted some kind of disease with unknown symptoms.

“Giggle, delicious.”

While the most precious mother in the world to Ahre was dying of pain, Ahre was just happily popping snacks into her mouth and looking at a picture book. Seeing that made my blood boil. If it was so delicious, she could at least share a bite with her mom.

I wanted to shout and scold her right away, but I didn’t even have the strength because of how much it hurt. What if I die like this? I had never shown any signs of getting sick until now, and suddenly falling this ill scared me out of my wits. Didn’t people always say that suddenly getting this sick meant a major illness?

I wondered if I might have even gotten cancer. But I immediately shook my head again.

Armienne had lived a healthy, well-fed life until her death even after Miel regressed. So there was no way it was cancer. Then what was it? Did I catch some kind of infectious disease while traveling?

Ah, my head hurt so much that it was hard to think anymore.

“Sob.”

Suddenly, out of nowhere, tears began to flow. All the situations that had felt only fun started to feel unfair and sad. I didn’t know why I had to face a destiny like this. It all started when I got tired of how much I loved fantasy novels and picked up a romance-fantasy instead.

The god of fantasy must have placed a curse on me. Wasn’t this a sign telling me to hand my body over to handsome men and go straight to hell?

Carusien, Fren, and Ahel—who hadn’t even shown his face yet—I naturally pictured myself surrendering my body to the male leads.

[What are you doing, Young Lady?]

[Tch, you wretched thing. Come here.]

[You belong to me(?).]

“Gasp!”

Damn it, just thinking about it was horrifying. I only imagined it, but my blood rushed backward as if I were about to get high blood pressure. At that moment, feeling a damp sensation in my lower abdomen, I clutched my throbbing head and tried to awkwardly pull back the blanket, but my arms had no strength in them.

Damn it, I couldn’t even pull off the blanket. I must really be reaching the end of my life. If I was going to die like this, I wanted to see the faces of Miel, Yul, and Ahre just once before I went. What about other people, you ask? I didn’t want to see the faces of guys at all. The moment I looked at them, I might die even faster.

Slam!

Had God answered my final prayer? My angel, whom I had just been picturing in my head, Miel, walked in with a bright greeting.

“Armienne, I’m here.”

As expected of Miel, she must have sensed my danger and come running. No, wait, now that I thought about it, she had promised to come hang out today. Damn it, I had been looking forward to today so much, only to catch a terminal illness. Droplets of water fell from my eyes once more.

“Sob.”

However, perhaps not noticing that I was crying, Miel scanned the room the moment she stepped inside and quickly located a cute little glutton rolling around in the distance eating snacks. She was still stuffing her face. Seeing her eat like that every day without gaining weight made me wonder if there was a pocket dimension hidden in her stomach.

Anyway, with a face blushing intensely and looking far more delighted than when she saw me, Miel called out to Ahre and approached her. She always acted like this, so I just brushed it off casually. When Miel first saw Ahre, she had fainted and tipped backward, so this level of reaction was nothing.

“Yay, Ahre!”

However, Ahre didn’t even turn her head, preferring the snacks right beside her. Fearing that Miel might steal her snacks, Ahre clutched the bag tightly to her chest and buried her face straight into it.

What an ill-mannered little thing. If I weren’t sick right now, I would have smacked her palm immediately. Yet Miel didn’t seem to mind at all, instead gazing at snack-munching Ahre with eyes more affectionate than anyone else in the world. Seeing her act more like a mother than I did, instead of feeling jealous, I wore a heartwarming smile.

With Yul—whose cuteness transcended worldly bounds—and Miel—whose beauty made angels look ordinary by comparison—standing together, it looked like a picture-perfect masterpiece. But a moment later, I widened my eyes when I saw what Miel pulled out from behind her back as if she had been hiding it.

Ahre, who had her face buried in the bag, sniffed the air, lifted her head, and widened her eyes, too. Saliva was already beginning to stream from Ahre’s mouth, threatening to form a lake.

I briefly looked at Ahre and thought: Are you a dog, sniffing around like that? You’re a dragon.

Anyway, neither of us could take our eyes off the item Miel had brought. We might not remember, but the cookies I had eaten when I first met Mother long ago were made by a confectionary famous across the kingdom, the kind of goods you couldn’t simply buy just because you had money.

The name of that shop was “Mosquito Baguette.”

Buying snacks from a shop driven by such artisanal spirit that they only baked a fixed quantity per day was truly like picking stars from the sky, yet Miel had pulled out cookies bearing that very shop’s logo.

As if she had mistakenly changed classes from an angel to a succubus, Miel shook the snack bag from side to side and spoke in a provocative tone.

“Fufu, do you want some, Ahre?”

Ahre’s head followed the snack bag swaying in Miel’s hand as if she had been placed under a spell.

“Yes! Ahre wants to eat the snacks in Aunt Miel’s hand so, so much!”

“Fufufu, then who do you like better, Mom or Aunt?”

Gasp! Could it be that Miel was harboring jealousy toward me? I never expected her to play it so dirty. Still, I trusted Ahre.

Of course, I didn’t trust Ahre’s inner feelings; I trusted her conditioned education. Yul, in charge of her education, had firmly drilled into Ahre a few times that the person who bought her snacks was none other than me, meaning she was supposed to like me best.

Come on, say it, Ahre! That you like me the best!

“U-Ugh.”

Yet, seeing Ahre hesitate as she alternated her gaze between the snacks and me, I felt a familiar headache—one I had momentarily forgotten—coming back in full force. If Ahre chose Miel right here and now, I felt like I really might just die on the spot. If I had to describe the feeling, it was like a patient waiting for the last leaf to fall while contemplating their final moments.

Right then. Beyond just a damp sensation, I felt something burst inside me and screamed out.

“Kyaaaack!”

My stomach hurt so badly. If you were to ask how much it hurt, it hurt enough that I would personally track down the jerk who asked that question and tear them limb from limb right on the spot. I trust that explains the severity well enough.

“Armienne!”

Startled by my scream, Miel tossed the snack bag aside and came running toward me. As expected, no matter what, Miel definitely loved me the most. Normally I would have smiled with joy, but it hurt so much that just keeping my sanity was a struggle.

“What’s wrong, Armienne?!”

“S-Sob, the, the blanket… please…”

I had a strong feeling I needed to pull back the blanket first. Since I lacked the strength to do it myself earlier, I couldn’t manage it now either, so I asked Miel.

Miel quickly pulled back the blanket, and the two of us screamed at the sight of a lake of brownish blood spread all over the bed.

“Kyaaaaaack! Armienne!”

And that was my final memory before I completely lost consciousness.

When I woke up a little while later, Miel was sitting nearby playing with Ahre, and the moment she saw me, she let out a small laugh.

“Phew, you really gave us a fright. Ah, I wasn’t the only one worried, you know. Everyone else was so panicked that the whole mansion was in an uproar. The Duke kept talking about rushing off to find the legendary Elixir right this instant, and some of the maids even screamed and passed out. Ahre was crying and making such a fuss that it was a real shock.”

Just hearing her words made me feel how deeply everyone had worried about me. My insides warmed up so much that I felt like if I opened my mouth, words wouldn’t come out—only tears from my eyes.

“………….”

Miel gently stroked my head and calmly explained what kind of illness I had contracted. No, rather than an illness, this was something everyone born as a woman had to experience.

“Girls usually go through ‘women’s magic’ between the ages of eleven and sixteen. I never imagined Armienne had never been hit by this magic even once until now. Armienne must be genuinely healthy, though. They say the later magic hits you, the better it is. You hit it almost at the very end.”

“………….”

Nodding, I finally understood why women always grew so sharp-tempered whenever that specific time of the month rolled around. If anyone had to endure this level of agony, even a man would lose his mind.

“Anyway, since it’s your first time, you must have been shocked and in a lot of pain, but from next time onward, it’ll gradually get better little by little. It was the same for me. Hehe, let’s go shopping together next time, Armienne. Since this is your first time, you probably don’t have any of the supplies yet, right?”

At her words, I nodded. Perhaps because the aftershocks still lingered, sleepiness came rolling over me again. Miel let out another soft snicker and then quietly slipped outside.

The moment I confirmed she had left, I closed my eyes, felt tears trickling down, and thought:

Thank goodness.

That I made a shopping promise with Miel.

Thank goodness for real.

That it wasn’t a terminal illness.

Back when I first arrived in this world, I hadn’t cared about much, but now every single day was so enjoyable that I didn’t want to die at all.

And… maybe suffering occasionally wouldn’t be so bad either.

Because there were people who cared about me this much.

I quietly drifted off to sleep.

The moonlight shining through the window felt cozy, as if it were embracing me.