The corridors had not been properly cleaned. The carpets had been stripped from the rooms, while the paintings and furnishings had all been removed.
The mansion looked as though it had been thoroughly ransacked by thieves, leaving me speechless.
The many servants who had once filled the estate were nowhere to be seen. When I went to the study, I found the steward looking utterly exhausted.
The moment he saw me, his face turned pale.
Apparently, he had not been informed that I would be returning home that day.
The letter I had sent to Father had never even been opened. It had simply been left inside the box of unprocessed correspondence in the study.
I asked him what had happened and why the mansion was in such a state.
When I wondered whether Carlene had returned from her husband’s estate and taken everything with her, the steward shook his head.
“Madam sold everything.”
“What…?!”
My stepmother had not only exhausted Father’s entire fortune, but had also accumulated a mountain of debt. In the end, she had fled in the middle of the night with a younger man.
“Why didn’t you inform me sooner?”
“His Lordship ordered me to remain silent.”
“That can’t be…!”
Father had been unable to receive treatment from a physician, and his condition was apparently worsening by the day.
I hurried toward his bedchamber, but the steward stopped me.
“His Lordship is in no condition to receive visitors.”
“I don’t care!”
I pushed past him and forced my way into Father’s room.
A foul stench hung heavily in the air, and rats scurried through the filthy chamber.
“Father…?”
There was no response, but I heard the faint sound of someone shifting.
Thank goodness.
He was alive.
“Please forgive me. His Lordship has been refusing my care…”
Apparently, Father had become less willing to listen to the steward with each passing day. For the past three days, he had refused all attempts to tend to him.
“Father… It’s me, Aurelia.”
Even when I called out to him, he gave no reaction.
But this was no time to worry about that.
The steward and I had to restore the room to a clean and sanitary state.
I pulled open the curtains and let fresh air into the room. Father seemed to be trying to protest something, but I could not afford to heed the complaints of a sick man at that moment.
He had once been tall and powerfully built, yet now he had wasted away until little remained but skin and bone.
With the steward’s help, I moved him onto a chaise longue so we could tend to the bed.
We stripped away the soiled sheets and replaced them with clean ones. We also prepared a fresh blanket.
When we returned Father to the bed, he glared at me as if to say that I should stop meddling. However, he merely broke into a violent coughing fit and said nothing.
I instructed the steward to summon a physician, only to be told that there was no money to pay for one.
I had no money on hand either, so I removed the pendant, earrings, and rings I was wearing and entrusted them to the steward, ordering him to sell them.
A physician arrived while I was disinfecting the floor.
He was a magical physician who had cared for me since childhood.
After examining Father, he scolded us for not calling him sooner.
Father offered no reply and merely stared into the distance.
According to the magical physician, Father’s condition was extremely serious.
The treatment would also be costly.
I told him that did not matter and begged him to proceed.
That evening, debt collectors came pounding at the estate.
The steward was at a complete loss over how to deal with them.
Apparently, my stepmother’s actions had left the household unable to pay the servants’ wages. As a result, everyone except the steward had been dismissed.
He had remained only because of the debt of gratitude he felt toward Father.
I had to find a way to restore the family.
However, I did not want to rely on my husband.
Perhaps I still possessed a small shred of pride.
What could I do?
As I struggled to think of a way to raise money, I remembered the Magia Item Father had given me as part of my dowry.
The Jewelry Workshop.
By infusing it with magical power, it could create gemstones.
If I used it, I could produce jewels that could be sold for money.
However, using it required knowledge of magic.
I had studied magic and the manipulation of magical power at the academy.
It seemed I possessed an aptitude for support magic. Although my abilities were only modest, I could use a small amount of magic.
I placed my hand over the Jewelry Workshop and poured my magical power into it.
A brilliant red gemstone appeared inside the jewel box.
I asked the steward to sell it to a jeweler.
It was apparently worth approximately fifty gold coins.
As long as I had the Jewelry Workshop, perhaps I could somehow repay my family’s debts.
From that day onward, I devoted myself to rebuilding the estate.
◇◇◇
Father regained more of his strength with each passing day.
When I told him I was carrying a child, he looked delighted, even as he warned me not to overexert myself.
We gradually rehired some of the servants, which eased the burden on the steward.
I told Father that my husband was covering all the expenses.
In truth, my husband had not contributed in the slightest.
But I could hardly admit that I was managing everything by selling gemstones created from my own magical power through the Jewelry Workshop.
Within a month, the debts had been fully repaid, and the mansion gradually began returning to its former state.
Then, amid those circumstances, an unbelievable report arrived.
A massive tornado had struck the Limburg Margraviate, where Carlene had married.
The entire territory was said to have been devastated.
