This Reincarnation Requires a Subscription Fee

‘This is amazing…’

The chocolate was on a completely different level from the cheap ones I had eaten in my past life. The intense sweetness melted away the wary expression I had been holding while guarding against Noah. I noticed Noah’s lips twitching as he watched me.

‘Why is he doing that?’

Was it because I was eating alone? I tilted my head, puzzled, but before I could say anything, Noah suddenly sprang up from his seat.

“…I’m leaving.”

Without so much as a goodbye, Noah bolted out of the room just as abruptly as he had entered. I watched his pretty blonde hair flutter as he rushed out, and naturally, the image of someone else with similar blonde hair came to mind: Axel Elpinard.

‘That guy hasn’t come to see me even once since that day.’

“Ugh.”

I let out a long sigh, and Lily approached me with a concerned look.

“Why are you sighing? Are you feeling uncomfortable?”

She looked ready to call the physician at any moment, so I quickly shook my head.

“No, it’s not that. It’s just… I haven’t seen Axel lately.”

“Oh dear, my lady. Are you upset that the young master hasn’t come to visit you?”

Lily smiled sweetly, as if she found it adorable that I was feeling sad over something like that.

“The young master has been very busy these days. Even we hardly see him during the day.”

“Really?”

“Yes. According to his personal maid, he’s been having serious meetings with Cardinal Bael every day.”

‘It’s probably about the Mad Dragon.’

The thought that they were discussing something so important without me only deepened my sense of betrayal. I clenched my fists, feeling the sting of being left out, but Lily gently patted my back with her soft hand.

“Even though he’s so busy, he still comes to see you every night.”

“What?”

My eyes widened in surprise at this new information, and Lily smiled.

“You must have been fast asleep, so you didn’t notice. He told us not to mention it to you, but…”

Lily trailed off, clenching her fist as if to emphasize her point.

“Seeing how upset you are, I just had to tell you. After all, I’m your maid, not his.”

“Lily…!”

The fact that she prioritized me over Axel filled me with gratitude.

“Thank you!”

I hugged Lily tightly, feeling a surge of triumph. Axel had no idea, but I had just won a victory in a competition he wasn’t even aware of!

* * *

That evening, I ate dinner as usual and then went to bed. When I first woke up, I could only manage some soup, but now I could handle softer foods. The physician remarked that for a child who had been bedridden for a week after coughing up blood, my recovery was surprisingly fast.

It was likely because the force that had harmed me was divine power.

‘Divine power isn’t inherently destructive.’

Of course, its effects vary depending on how it’s used, but that’s a different matter. As I lay there, eyes closed, letting my thoughts drift, I heard the door gently creak open.

‘He’s here!’

After hearing from Lily that Axel had been visiting me every night, I had no reason not to put that information to good use. I waited for him to approach my bed, then suddenly sat up and threw the blanket aside.

“Hey!”

Axel, you rascal!

“!”

“!”

But the figure that came into view wasn’t Axel. Instead of an adult, I was met by two children, not just one.

“Eugene…? Leonid…?”

I called out the names of the black-haired boy who was shrinking back in surprise and the red-haired boy who was frowning slightly at me. 

Leonid was the first to respond.

“From the way you moved, it seems your recovery is going quite well. Your complexion appears to have returned to about 80% of normal.”

It was a typically dry assessment from Leonid. I was so surprised by the unexpected visitors that my mouth hung open.

“H-how did you get here?”

Surely, there was a curfew at the Ivory Tower’s dormitory!

“Slipping out of the dormitory is easy if you know how. I’ve memorized the layout of the Ivory Tower and the Elpinard estate, as well as the guards’ patrol schedules. Simple.”

Why a seven-year-old would bother to know such things was beyond me, but it was very typical of Leonid, so I sighed deeply.

“If you get caught, the matrons will scold you.”

“Not if I don’t get caught.”

He had a point. Leonid’s confident thinking resonated with me.

“And why did you drag Eugene into this?”

Besides, if it was a visit to see me, they could have come during the day with official permission. When I reprimanded him, Leonid let out a dry laugh, as if he found my words absurd.

“What are you talking about?”

“I didn’t suggest coming here; he did. I just helped.”

“What?”

This quiet, timid boy? I turned my head sharply to look at Eugene, who shrank back even further and hung his head low.

“I… I’m sorry.”

He apologized the moment I looked at him. I turned back to Leonid, puzzled. How could someone like Eugene have been the instigator? My eyes accused Leonid of being the real mastermind. He shrugged his shoulders, looking genuinely aggrieved.

At the same time, Eugene began to stammer out an explanation.

“I saw you collapse right in front of me… I was really worried, but since that day, the security at the Duke’s estate has been tightened, and no one’s been allowed in…”

“Security got tighter?” 

This was news to me. I widened my eyes and asked, and Leonid let out a deep sigh.

“Yes. The Duke ordered that no outsiders be allowed in, so it’s basically on lockdown.”

It seemed the Duke had taken strong measures to prevent another intrusion by the Central Church’s clergy.

‘If that’s the case, security must have been extremely tight.’

“Weren’t the doors locked and everything?” I asked, and Leonid nodded.

“Yeah. So I disabled the lock.”

“W-what? You can do that?”

“I just followed the instructions from a book, and it worked.”

“…”

I was at a loss for words. The fact that these little kids managed to get here without being caught was nothing short of a miracle.

“If you get caught, you’ll be in big trouble, won’t you?”

Given the Duke’s extreme order to ban all outsiders, everyone would be on high alert, wary of upsetting him. And these kids had boldly broken through that.

“Well, we’re just kids, after all. Usually, people are more forgiving with children.”

Leonid claimed the privileges of childhood with a look and tone that were anything but childlike. I stared at him in disbelief, and Eugene timidly asked,

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Yeah. I’m all better!”

“That’s a relief.”

Eugene smiled softly, his shy smile so charming that I nearly lost myself for a moment.

“Just in case, though, I want to give you this.”

Eugene pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to me. It was a small flute, about the size of an adult’s pinky finger.

“If you feel pain, blow this flute, and the pain will lessen. It’s the one I used during the purification ritual.”

My eyes widened at the mention of the purification ritual.

“During the ritual, it hurt so much that I thought I was going to die. But when I used this, the pain wasn’t as bad.”

Watching Eugene calmly recall his painful memories, I carefully took the flute from him.

‘This is really strange.’

The purification ritual wasn’t supposed to cause pain. It was a ritual where priests used divine power to cleanse impurities, usually performed on people who were sick or poisoned. When the impurities are washed away, it’s supposed to feel refreshing, even invigorating. Some people even say they feel so light after the ritual that it’s like they could fly.