"That girl and I... were we close? Like, so close that I would embarrass myself calling her ‘Baby’ or ‘Rosie-Rosie’ like some over-affectionate idiot?"
"You cherished her with a level of obsession so extreme that you'd be hard-pressed to find anything like it anywhere in the world."
Shulva answered immediately.
"You kept her hidden away in a separate residence and doted on her so much that I assumed she’d still be quite delicate... but I guess that wasn’t the case. Maybe she just stayed quiet because you were too overprotective."
Then, as if deep in thought, he murmured,
"Her ability to assess situations is... truly remarkable. Honestly, even I was so flustered that I hadn’t even considered what Lady Rosie pointed out."
"What did she point out?"
"That you have a lot of enemies, Lord Julian. Leaving the estate in this situation is out of the question... and then there’s the issue of your assets, too."
It had only been a few hours since Julian had regained consciousness.
Shulva was already struggling to process the amnesia itself.
On top of that, Julian had spent years as the undisputed strongest warrior, someone no one dared to touch. That was why the thought hadn't even crossed his mind.
"She’s much sharper than expected..."
Julian found the praise for Rosie surprisingly pleasant to hear.
"...She takes after me, doesn’t she?"
"Well... not exactly."
As someone who had grown up with Julian, Shulva was brutally honest.
"To put it simply, Lord Julian has the face of a vicious wild beast, while Lady Rosie looks like an adorable little squirrel. Even if you both have silver hair and green eyes, your impressions are completely different."
"Right, silver hair and green eyes..."
"You only hear what you want to hear, huh?"
Julian ran a hand through his disheveled hair and let out a scoffing laugh. His mind wandered for a moment, recalling the little sister who had scurried away earlier.
"Hah. So I handed everything over to my sister? That big, dumb idiot who’d have willingly given up her liver and kidneys to me with a smile actually remembered that much?"
Just how pathetically devoted had the twenty-four-year-old Julian Noart been to that girl for everyone to be saying the same thing?
One thing was clear—when people heard he had transferred all his wealth to his twelve-year-old sister, their response had been unanimous:
"That madman finally did something completely insane."
It seemed like, in the end, the money had found its rightful owner.
And Rosie had lost her beloved brother in an instant.
Thinking about the sense of loss she must have felt left a bitter taste in his mouth.
"Either way, she and I... we really weren’t blessed when it came to parents, huh?"
So maybe... the fortune left behind by the twenty-four-year-old Julian Noart was some kind of compensation.
It wasn’t like he had even known that money existed in the first place. If it helped his little sister—who he hadn’t known existed either—live comfortably, then that was a good enough outcome.
"Thanks for waking up."
Even though he didn’t remember her, she had still said those words to him... because he was her brother.
Julian slowly closed his eyes and asked Shulva in a low voice,
"...Roughly how much money are we talking about?"
As the heir to a famously wealthy count’s family, he figured he must have saved up around five thousand gold.
That should be enough to buy a decent house on the outskirts of the capital. A bit too much for a kid to handle, maybe, but at least she wouldn’t have to worry about money until she came of age...
Shulva, maintaining a completely serious expression, replied,
"I can’t give you an exact figure right now, but based on rough calculations, it should be around... 137 billion gold."
"Wait, what the fuck? How much? WHAT?!"
Julian’s eyes shot open as he bolted upright—only for searing pain to shoot through his legs, sending him crashing back onto the bed with a loud, agonized scream.
As I stepped out of Julian’s room, I clutched the documents tightly and let out a deep sigh.
Waiting for me outside, Heidi quickly rushed to my side.
"Lady Rosie, are you all right? You must be shocked. This must be really hard on you..."
Her eyes were filled with concern.
"It’s not exactly easy, no..."
I gave her a small, weary smile and nodded.
"But I was expecting this."
"...The physician said there’s a chance his memories could return all at once someday. Let’s keep waiting and hoping."
I lowered my gaze, my expression turning solemn.
If we wait long enough... will Julian ever remember?
In the previous timeline, Julian never regained his memories.
He had left the estate, barely able to walk, mumbling something about going back to his old home. And then, he had died.
Zahid had told me it was the temple’s doing... but maybe some of the people in this house were involved, too. After all, they’re all Julian’s enemies.
The relatives living in this house were all potential threats.
Before my regression, they had taken Julian’s fortune in the exact same way they were attempting to now.
But leaving this house would be even more dangerous.
Even though our grandfather, Count Noart, was currently absent, his loyal subordinates filled the estate. There wasn’t a single person here reckless enough to try killing Julian in this place.
For that reason, this mansion was the safest place for us right now.
And I... I’m not leaving either.
I took a moment to gaze at the vast expanse of Noart Manor.
Scattered among the beautiful gardens were the residences of my grandfather’s children and grandchildren. In other words, three generations lived together here.
My maternal grandfather, Count Caliban Noart, was a tycoon who could sway the entire empire.
The reason he remained a count, despite his overwhelming influence, was simple.
The highest rank one can achieve through wealth and marriage in this empire is Count.
Caliban Noart had once been a slave of the temple.
He had crawled up from the very bottom of the empire to seize the title of Count—a man of ruthless ambition, without a drop of mercy in his veins.
That was why all his children desperately fought to earn his favor. The wealth and power he had accumulated were simply too great to ignore.
And according to him, it was all for the sole purpose of destroying the temple. The years he had spent as the temple’s slave had left him with nothing but disgust and hatred.
The annex I stayed in was the most secluded building within the vast Noart estate.
I once heard Julian mention our mother.
Our mother, Valia Noart, was still openly referred to as the disgrace of the Noart family.
Falling for a kitchen servant and running away to give birth to Julian was just the beginning.
"When I was twelve, she suddenly disappeared in the middle of the night. She must have been pregnant with you when she ran away again."
She had abandoned both her son and husband, vanishing without a word.
"Oh, and your father was some low-ranking priest temporarily assigned to our village."
Divine power is hereditary.
That was when I finally understood why I had even a trace of holy power.
But having only a meager amount of divine power was worse than having none at all. If I had been born with an abundance of it, I could have lived a comfortable life as a priest in the temple.
Instead, I had only a pathetic sliver of it—just enough to be considered a lowly apprentice meant for menial chores.
Either way, Julian had decided that it was best to keep me hidden away in the annex, so our grandfather, who despised the temple, wouldn’t take notice of me.
Because of that, I had never properly met our grandfather or the rest of our relatives.
"Our relatives are all greedy and cunning... Honestly, this house isn’t a place where a child can feel at ease. Even when I first arrived at nineteen, I struggled a lot."
"Really? But in the end, you still became the heir to the Noart family. I guess that means you were greedier and more cunning than them."
"Wow, my little Rosie really understands the heart of the matter! That’s exactly it!"
Now that the thorn in their side, Julian, had lost his memory, I wondered just how delighted those relatives were feeling.
"Hey, stop right there."
A sudden voice rang out, making both Heidi and me freeze in our tracks as we made our way back to the annex.
A boy, slightly taller than me, stood there with a smirk.
"You're that ‘apprentice,’ aren't you?"
His light brown hair and green eyes were the exact same shade as mine.
"Your dear brother isn’t in his right mind anymore, huh? So what are you gonna do now?"
I sucked in a sharp breath.