This Reincarnation Requires a Subscription Fee

“I thought it wasn’t polite to spy, so I quickly left, but it definitely seemed odd. I was sure there was no one else around. So that leaves two possibilities, right?”

Leonid looked at me as if he were presenting a quiz.

“…Either he was talking to himself, or there was a non-human presence there.”

When I easily suggested the two possibilities, Leonid shrugged.

“What do you think is closer to the truth?”

“…Well, wouldn’t we need more evidence to draw a definitive conclusion?”

Leonid, who had been waiting for my response with a serious expression, smiled broadly.

“See? I knew you’d get it.”

“Does Count Kol know?”

“Not yet. If my father knew, he’d probably have Eugene arrested immediately, given his personality. Then who would I talk to at the Ivory Tower?”

“There’d be no one.”

“Exactly.”

We both laughed together. Just then, I felt someone approaching the terrace.

“My shoe!”

I quickly reached for the shoe that Leonid had placed on the railing. But in my haste, one of the shoes slipped and fell right off the edge. The grand banquet hall was on the second floor. The mere thought of going down to retrieve it was daunting.

“Ugh!”

A muffled cry came from below. 

‘Oh no!’

I quickly peeked over the railing. I was about to offer an apology, but when I saw who it was, I froze.

To my surprise, the person hit by my shoe was someone I knew all too well. 

‘Hazen?’

It was my former disciple, Hazen, who was supposedly killed by me—Greslin—in my past life. I quickly pulled my head back and hid behind the railing.

Leonid, curious about my reaction, tried to peer over the edge, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

‘Shh!’

I signaled him to stay quiet, and Leonid, ever perceptive, clamped his mouth shut and crouched beside me.

Seven years ago, I recalled something Axel had said during a strategy meeting to prepare for the Day of Prophecy.

“It’s a report from the Tower’s Intelligence Agency. They’ve found someone who looks like Greslin’s disciple, Hazen. As they followed the lead, it seemed Hazen had connections to Duke Kreutz.”

At the time, I was skeptical. It must have been someone who just looked like Hazen. I couldn’t believe that he could be alive and lying about his death, especially with his mentor being accused of murder.

Even after the Tower’s Intelligence Agency and the Emperor pursued the lead for five years, they found no further traces, leading us to conclude that the initial sighting was likely a mistake.

So, for the past two years, we completely stopped investigating Hazen.  

But just now, seeing that man’s face, I was certain.  

It was definitely Hazen.  

Even if it were someone else, there’s no way I wouldn’t recognize the face of the disciple I spent years with.  

I furrowed my brow deeply.  

‘But why hasn’t he aged at all?’  

It’s natural for time to pass, and for people to show signs of aging in their appearance.  

Take Kirke, for example, whom I briefly greeted today. Even he looked older than I remembered.  

And he’s a Swordmaster, someone who ages more slowly than others.  

‘Was Hazen… not an ordinary human?’  

But when I accepted him as my disciple, I didn’t sense anything strange.  

“Reshia?”  

At that moment, a familiar voice came from right in front of me.  

I was still crouched down, hiding by the railing, but I lifted my head to see who called me.  

It was Duke Elpinard.  

He was the one approaching the terrace.  

I asked cautiously,  

“Is there anyone below?”  

As a Swordmaster, the Duke was highly attuned to sensing presences.  

If there was someone below the railing, he would surely notice.  

The Duke tilted his head as if wondering why I was asking,  

“It doesn’t seem like there’s anyone below.”  

“Oh… I see.”  

I quickly stood up.  

“My feet were hurting, so I took off my shoes for a moment. But one of them fell off the railing.”  

As I said that, I realized that the shoes that fell were just as expensive as the dress I was wearing.  

More importantly, they were a gift from the Duke for my debutante.  

“I’m sorry. I’ll go pick it up right away…”  

“Where do you think you’re going?”  

The Duke lifted me up effortlessly with one hand.  

Leonid, who had been standing awkwardly, trying to find the right moment to greet the Duke, was so shocked that his mouth fell open.  

“Ah!”  

When I was younger, I often got picked up like this, but now I was 12 years old.  

Sure, I was still young, but definitely too old to be carried around like this!  

“We’ll have to change the shoemaker,” the Duke said, furrowing his brow as he looked at my feet.  

“You’ve been seriously injured; we need to return to the estate immediately.”  

“Seriously injured? This?”  

I looked down at my foot in disbelief.  

There was a small blister, and the skin was slightly chafed with a bit of blood, but I wouldn’t call that a “serious injury.”

But the Duke was firm.  

“If there’s blood, then it’s a serious injury.”  

It was quite a surprising logic.  

“Wow…”  

Leonid clapped lazily from the side, agreeing without much enthusiasm.  

I couldn’t even begin to imagine how many years this would be used to tease me.

* * *

‘Ahhhhh.’  

I screamed internally.  

I couldn’t believe I was being carried by the Duke across the crowded grand banquet hall of the imperial palace.  

People were looking at us with expressions that seemed to question if they were seeing things.  

The Duke was holding me in one arm and my lost shoe in the other.  

To anyone who saw, I was just a girl who had lost one of her shoes.  

‘Sob.’  

To think my first debut in society would go like this.  

Just as the trio with flower names had said, I was likely to become a lady remembered for ages at this debutante.  

‘As the girl who lost her shoe and had to be carried out by her father…’

I tried to hide my face with my long hair, but it was no use.  

The only thing I could do was tuck my bare feet under my long skirt so they wouldn’t be seen.  

As the Duke walked, people naturally stepped aside, making a path for us.  

The fact that we could quickly leave the grand banquet hall without stopping was a small comfort.  

Just as I sighed in relief, thinking I could finally escape the embarrassing stares once we were outside,  

“Duke!”  

Someone hurriedly approached the Duke.  

It was the servant who served the Emperor, the same one who had been reading the names of the noble boys and girls debuting today.  

The servant, barely catching up with the Duke, bowed politely while trying to catch his breath.  

“Your Grace, His Majesty wishes to see you for a moment.”

* * *

While the Duke had a private audience with the Emperor, I was left in a different reception room.  

Though called a reception room, it was filled with rare paintings, sculptures, and old books, making it more like a museum.  

‘Well, that’s to be expected anywhere in the imperial palace.’  

Come to think of it, the Elpinard Duke’s estate was no less of a museum itself.  

It hit me anew that the Elpinard family truly stood on par with the royal family.  

As I waited for the Duke, I put on the indoor slippers that the palace servant had brought and started exploring the reception room.  

The bookshelf that covered one entire wall was filled with thick books.  

I approached it without much thought and pulled out a book that caught my eye.  

It was a kind of intuition.  

If the intuition I felt in the grand banquet hall was negative, this one was positive.  

Just as I was certain and pulled out the book, I heard the sound of the reception room door opening.  

I quickly turned my head, thinking the Duke’s conversation with Kirke had already ended, but…  

“Kirke!”  

There stood Kirke, who had supposedly called the Duke for a private meeting, alone.