Whenever Ariadne had recovered from the aftereffects enough to be able to walk on her own, her father would enter with a doctor in tow.

“How is she?”

“More or less recovered.”

The duke would ask, the doctor who’d examined her would reply, and the duke would then smile with satisfaction.

“Then we can resume the lessons.”

For young Ariadne, a doctor was someone who announced the resumption of the “special lessons.” Ariadne detested that green coat. Remember the doctors from your past life. It’s just a different color and shape from their lab coats. It means the same thing! But no matter how hard she tried to convince herself, the fear didn’t subside.

She reflexively stretched her hand out and tugged at the hem of Lucy’s skirt, then slid back inch by inch in her sitting position, trying to hide behind the maid. Seeing her reaction, the doctor stopped in her tracks, and the margrave standing by the door furrowed his brow for a moment.

“My lady?” Lucy looked back at Ariadne worriedly.

Ariadne realized then what she had done and let go of Lucy’s clothes. “I-I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right, she’s the doctor. She’s going to make your pain go away,” Lucy reassured kindly.

I know. That’s why. If I don’t hurt anymore, the “special lessons” start again. Instead of saying it aloud, Ariadne just nodded in understanding.

The doctor, who had been observing her, approached Ariadne again and sat beside her. “Hello, my lady. I am Jaylen Brown, the Weaver family physician. Please call me Jaylen.” Her voice was cheerful.

Ariadne responded a step late, and even then with a stutter. “I-I’m Ariadne Eldier.” This time, her hesitation wasn’t from her trauma but the doctor’s words. The Weaver family physician... That means this is the Weaver Margravate. She was dumbfounded.

House Weaver was the margravate protecting the northern border of the Avichelle Kingdom. Archmage Solan Garcia’s wife had been the previous margrave, and the current one was their firstborn. In other words, this was Ariadne’s mother’s family.

But it would’ve taken at least a week to get here from the Eldier Duchy in the middle of the kingdom. Before the evil realm attacked, it would’ve just been a quick trip by train or transportation magic, but that was no longer possible. The various communication channels that had been active a hundred years ago had been mostly severed as well, and the only way to communicate with far-off locations now was to send a letter with a messenger, and even then the messenger was often killed along the way.

Development was when the impossible became possible, but this world where the formerly possible was now becoming impossible was undoubtedly coming to an end.

Roughly estimating a week on the road and three days sick in bed meant Ariadne had been unconscious for ten days at minimum.

“How long… did it take me to wake up?” she asked.

“It’s been a little over ten days,” the doctor replied.

The girl’s heart sank. It was as she’d guessed, but she couldn’t believe it.

Seeing her expression, Jaylen added soothingly, “Be careful when moving for a while. Since you’ve been lying down for so long, your muscles have grown weak.”

As Ariadne nodded, speechless still, the doctor took some instruments from inside her coat. “Would it be all right for me to run some tests, my lady?”

“Yes.” Ariadne rolled up her sleeve and offered the doctor her left arm with practiced ease.

The doctor’s eyes narrowed imperceptibly. “Are you right-handed, my lady?”

“Huh? Oh, yes.”

“I see. I’ll make this quick,” Jaylen promised.

While the doctor examined her, Ariadne sat there in a daze and struggled to summon up her hazy memories. I can’t believe I was out for so long. I haven’t offended the archmage somehow in that time, right?

Her efforts weren’t futile. She remembered bits and pieces: a cold towel placed on her hot forehead, hands tucking her into the blanket, worried tsking, a voice furiously urging the coachman to speed up, and... throwing up the gruel the archmage had spoon-fed her all over his front.

Oh no. Ariadne pressed a hand to her forehead. She was a tough sell even with a perfect first impression, and she’d made a complete nuisance of herself. It must’ve been the tension unwinding when I left Eldier.

Ariadne hadn’t been a very healthy child to begin with, and she’d been constantly enduring torture disguised as lessons besides. Her body had likely been under a great deal of stress. I’m probably not in good shape, either.

As if in confirmation, a shadow fell across the doctor’s face as she examined Ariadne. “What could they have possibly done to this child for...” Jaylen gritted out through her clenched teeth before noticing Ariadne’s worried gaze. She hurriedly put on a bright smile and announced, “All finished, my lady.”

She gathered all her instruments as fast as she could and stood up, understanding that the young lady felt on edge because of her proximity. “If you rest well from now on, you’ll be up and about soon enough. I’ll see you again tomorrow, then.”

The doctor subtly tugged at the margrave on her way out after bidding Ariadne goodbye. Recognizing that she had something to tell him, the margrave followed her out and quietly closed the door.

Jaylen lowered her voice and asked, “Did you see?”

“See what?”

“The lady hid when she saw me. That wasn’t her being shy. She also reacted to my coat. She’s afraid of doctors.”

“I did see that. It’s likely because she’s a delicate child. Gloria never liked doctors either when she was—”

“That’s not it,” the doctor interrupted, frowning. She was too caught up in her fury to observe decorum toward her employer. “That wasn’t a reaction from being scared of bitter medicine or medical treatments. I know how children act when they are. She has a different trauma.”

“Different? What do you mean?” the margrave asked.

“Didn’t you see? She looked like a prisoner waiting on her death sentence.” The doctor sighed sadly. “Not to mention, she offered me her left hand, even though she’s right-handed and that wouldn’t come naturally to her. That means she’s used to not showing the injuries on her right arm to a doctor. And of course, she wouldn’t have been treated for them, either.”

A deep furrow marred the margrave’s brow.

Jaylen heaved a sigh and continued. “She may even have been taught to hide her injuries. You understand what that means, don’t you?”

“She was silenced. Who would dare, to the heir of Eldier—”

“Isn’t it obvious? Do you really think the duke wasn’t aware of his daughter being hurt to such an extent? If that’s true… Then that’s quite remarkable in itself,” Jaylen scoffed.

The margrave didn’t reprimand the doctor for her sarcastic remark. His head was starting to hurt. “He couldn’t have been unaware.”

“No, of course not.”

“Either he saw it, but remained silent, or he was the one doing it. It must be one of the two. But why on earth would he?” the margrave questioned.

“That’s what I’d most like to know as well. Why would he do such a thing to his young daughter?”

“It’s much too severe to be called discipline.”

“Discipline? You said the lady is seven years old? She could be passed off as a five-year-old. How could it be considered discipline to stunt a child’s growth? No matter the intent, that’s abuse,” Jaylen declared.

Abuse? The possibility hadn’t even crossed his mind. The margrave wearily rubbed at his face.

When his youngest sister had told him she was marrying Duke Eldier, he hadn’t opposed her very strongly. Franz Eldier was not a very accomplished man in himself. In fact, the only thing he had to his credit was his family name. But that name was of Eldier, one of the kingdom’s most elite houses. Plus, he was quite handsome, and his character wasn’t bad for a noble of his status. I thought that he was a decent match, and that he was good enough to make Gloria happy...

He couldn’t contact her directly after her marriage because of his father’s stubbornness, and since he was a margrave protecting the border, it wasn’t easy for him to attend social events. But he hadn’t stayed completely in the dark about his sister’s life, keeping up to date on news about her.

Gloria seemed to be living a happy and abundant life. The duke had built a big annex in the castle just for the duchess and provided her with only the best. During their public appearances, he displayed great affection for his wife, so he was famed for being a devoted husband. And his affections carried over to his only daughter, who was said to be as lovely as a fairy, taking after the beautiful duke. The margrave would hear news about her as well from time to time. He had heard rumors that Duke Eldier had allocated an exorbitant budget for his daughter, and that his face would light up with a smile whenever he bragged about her.

“I can’t believe it... The rumors all said he was crazy about his daughter,” the margrave said.

“Regardless of the rumors, it is my professional opinion that it’s almost certain the duke has abused his daughter,” the doctor stated grimly. The margrave covered his forehead in anguish. Jaylen watched him silently for a moment, looking drained. “Margrave, to be honest, abuse is putting it lightly.”

The margrave recalled the sight of those red scars, intertwined on her pale skin like netting. When he saw the cuts on Ariadne with his own eyes after receiving the maid’s report, he was stunned. Though he’d seen worse injuries on the battlefield, it was an entirely different degree of shock to witness such wounds on a small child instead of a soldier.

“How bad is it?” the margrave finally asked.

“It’s worse than it looks. It looks like her organs were entirely damaged then healed repeatedly, over ten times at least,” the doctor informed him. “I felt terrible just examining her. I could imagine the pain her small body must have gone through...”

The speechless margrave let out a low groan. The doctor bit her lip and added, “It’s my first time seeing such damage done to a seven-year-old. It’s even more horrifying that there are no other external injuries besides those on her right arm.”

“Perhaps she has a rare disease, or perhaps she was accidentally exposed to the contamination...” The margrave desperately sought another explanation.

“That definitely isn’t a disease. Nor is it an accide…” The doctor’s irritated retort trailed off, a look of realization coming across her face. “Contamination... Yes, that’s a possibility. Poisons that can damage your entire body like that are rare. But if it was the contamination, she would’ve died on the spot. How could...” Pulling herself away from her academic curiosity, Jaylen shook her head. “In any case, neither an accident nor a disease could possibly have had such an effect. Someone has done that to her, again and again.”

The margrave gazed blankly into the distance, then shook off his shock and asked gravely, “Can she be cured?”