"When did she die?" I asked.

My mouth felt dry. My mind raced back to the image of the black stream of smoke in the sky when I had come home from the Ashford Bakery.

"The fire spread quickly. It was a little before you arrived home that Natalia Ashford had died," Remlend said.

It had to be that smoke then. That was what my senses had picked up on.

Why though?

I leaned against my large oak bedroom doors.

Just what did I do that caused Natalia to die?

I had gone to her yesterday asking about the waiter. Today, I requested her to provide me with gossip regarding the Selvine and Mentisun families.

Did her poking around for gossip on my behalf cause her to appear on someone's radar?

No. Wait.

I corrected myself.

I also brought her information about the attempted assassination at the ball and incriminating information regarding Lord Blanche. Providing dangerous information was as risky as requested information. Who knows with whom she shared that information?

"Young master?" Remlend brought me back.

I looked up at the ordinary-looking young man. There was no use getting worked up over what was done in front of my bedroom and in front of an audience.

I straightened up and composed myself.

"I'm going to clean myself up. Please don't disturb me." I pulled open one door and closed it promptly behind me.

I ran my hands through my hair. This lump in my chest wasn't going away.

Guilt? Was I feeling guilty for Natalia Ashford having died years early because of something I likely caused?

My eyes fell on my reflection in a nearby mirror.

A skinny, black-haired young man with bright golden eyes gazed back. He pulled a small canister from his front pocket and set it down on a table.

It was a shame. But her death wasn't so significant that I would pop a few strawberries in my mouth to restart. She wasn't on my list.

A pang of guilt pounded in my chest as I gazed into my reflection's eyes.

It was ironic. In this lifetime, I didn't literally kill her, and yet somehow, it was worse. I indirectly shortened her life by several years.

Fine, if I happen to regress, I'll also try to save her. I just won't regress for the sole purpose of saving her.

Having made a deal with myself, the chest pain eased.

My eyes swept the room towards the bookshelf where I had hidden the future events I had written out.

I did a double take and my eyebrows furrowed together.

One of the books was slightly out of place.

I dashed across the room and inspected the books. Ten rows of books with boring-looking covers, each a different blue, brown, or green hue, graced the shelf.

The third row from the bottom was the one I had used to hide my memories of the future.

My finger slid across the spine of the book slightly out of place.

No, it's this entire row.

My eyes ran through the rest of the books.

The entire row was closer to the right side of the shelf, but now it's closer to the left side.

Someone has gone through my stuff.

Damn it.

I pulled out one of the books and inspected the placement of the parchment paper. Nothing looked out of place here, however.

Maybe they were moved but not read? Or, whoever it was, they were a professional. It was only because I had memorized the exact placement of the books that I could note the minute difference. They moved by barely a few hairlines, but they had moved.

Who?

I licked my lips. Remlend? Denise? One of the other servants?

I thought back to Remlend. His expression had been as normal as ever, except for the slight microexpression I had noticed.

He might have read it, and he's so ordinary he could have carried on like usual without me noticing.

I didn't like suspecting Denise. She was a good friend's older sister, albeit a friend from the future. And she was on my list of individuals to save.

My hand felt a strand of hair on the floor. I picked it up.

It was a longish strand of white-violet hair.

"Meow."

My eyes fell on the white and fluffy cat stirring atop my bed.

"How did you get in here?"

I stood up and walked over to the lounging cat. I seemed to have awakened it when I had entered the room.

Did Remlend let it in, perhaps? It did arrive with me on the carriage, so he might have presumed it was alright to let it into my room.

Could it have knocked over the books?

I gazed back at the bookshelf.

No. Not possible.

I shook my head at the ridiculous thought.

It would have required someone lifting all of them to move them even that much. A cat couldn't do it.

"Meow."

The cat stretched its body back and gave a giant yawn.

"If you're hungry, you're going to have to wait until after I clean up," I told the cat.

I threw off my clothes and slid into the bathtub's hot water. My aching muscles felt great in the warmth.

Who went through the books and read the future? And how did they know to look there?

I gazed up at the ceiling.

This was problematic. In the best-case scenario, whoever went through my stuff would have considered me a madman. In the worst-case scenario, they would have believed the information. They would attempt to utilize it, causing even further butterfly effects I couldn't predict.

I submerged under water and dunked my head back out. It felt nice to get all the sweat off myself.

As a contractor and even a soldier of The Order, such frequent bathing was a luxury I didn't have. This and being able to eat so well were things I had taken fully for granted in my original life.

I rubbed the water out of my face and blinked in surprise, seeing a pair of golden eyes staring at me.

"Meow."

"What are you doing here?" I stared at the cat. "I told you, I'll feed you after I'm finished here."

The cat flipped its fluffy white tail, and I saw its paw pushing something towards the water. It looked to be a small glass container with something purple inside.

Is it going to do that thing that cats do and knock it over?

I smirked.

Not that it mattered. It was probably lavender or whatever other bath accessories Remlend had put out. And lavender sounded quite lovely and relaxing.

Plop.

The cat managed to successfully knock the little container into the water. The water near my feet bubbled into a purple foam that gradually streamed towards me.

Shoot. I should still get the bottle out. If it's glass, it could break. And I don't want bloodied feet.

I reached over with my hand and felt for the glass container.

[ Warning. You have been poisoned. ]

Mmm?

I stared at the blue screen that appeared before me.

[ Your health is dropping at 7 points per second. 293/300 HP remaining. ]

[ Additional health penalty in place. Your body will experience paralysis for the next half hour or as long as you continue being in contact with the poison. ]

[ Current Paralysis Intensity : 40% ]

[ Your Strength is decreased by 40% ]

What?? But I was already so weak, to begin with!

[ Your health is dropping at 7 points per second. 278/300 HP remaining. ]

Damn it. I can't stay in this water much longer.

I scrambled out of the bathtub. Or rather attempted to. My arms and legs refused to listen to me.

The screen continued to change, counting down as my health dropped.

[ Paralysis Intensity : 50% ]

[ Your Strength is decreased by 50% ]

I barely managed to get my arms and head over the bathtub's edge, but my legs were entirely unresponsive. They felt like limp noodles.

[ Your health is dropping at 7 points per second. 264/300 HP remaining. ]

A sweet aroma emanating from the continuing to foam bath filled my nostrils. If I wasn't in the process of dying because of this strange purple foam, I would have perhaps found it pleasant.

As it currently was, I was struggling to pull myself out of the bathtub. I was already exhausted from the sword training, and to think my strength had dropped to 2.

[ Paralysis Intensity : 60% ]

[ Your Strength is decreased by 60% ]

Damn it.

I grit my teeth as I tried to pull my body over the edge as much as possible.

I could barely feel the tub in my grasp. I needed to get out of the tub before the paralysis fully kicked in. I could manage with the health point drops, but if my body continued to be paralyzed, I would die regardless.

I heaved myself up and forward with every tiny remaining bit of strength in me.

I felt the cold quartz floor meet my face. It should have been painful, but I couldn't feel it. My face was completely numb.

My legs were also out of the bathtub, but I only knew this by looking back and seeing them sprawled awkwardly across the floor. I couldn't feel them at all.

However, the screen's countdown continued.

[ Your health is dropping at 3 points per second. 250/300 HP remaining. ]

[ Paralysis Intensity : 70% ]

[ Your Strength is decreased by 70% ]

"Hey, System," I mumbled. My tongue felt like a foreign object within my mouth. It seemed to flop around uselessly as I attempted to get the words out.

"Why is my health still going down? Why am I still more paralyzed? How do I stop this?"

[ Hi Luca. The poison is still on your skin. You need to wipe it off for the effects to stop progressing. ]

I dragged my heavy body across the quartz floor and grabbed a towel near the bathtub. My fingers couldn't even feel it properly, but I pulled it down. My arms patted down my lower body, attempting to clean off as much of the purple water as possible.

And yet, the countdown continued.

[ Your health is dropping at 2 points per second. 218/300 HP remaining. ]

[ Paralysis Intensity : 80% ]

[ Your Strength is decreased by 80% ]

I wanted to ask the System for more advice, but my mouth was unresponsive. I couldn't feel anything. It was as if my face was not my own.

Damn it. Is this really how it'll all end?

I couldn't even raise my head anymore. My neck felt too tired. It took everything to keep my eyes open and stare at the ceiling.

Maybe someone will find me in time? Ah, damn it. I told Remlend to not disturb me.

Pat. Pat. Pat.

The white cat trotted over towards me and sat right beside my head. Its soft violet and white tail swung side to side.

Another thought crossed my mind. Am I going to die this round because of a cat??

I stared up at the white cat's golden eyes, but my eyes kept flickering closed. I was too tired.

I saw it hover a paw over my nose.

Perhaps it's checking if I'm still breathing?

[ Intelligence : +1 ]

[ Intelligence : 17 ]

Hah. I was right? And my Intelligence is up two points since the last time I checked. Some good it's done me in this round, though.

[ Your health is dropping at 2 points per second. 198/300 HP remaining. ]

[ Paralysis Intensity : 90% ]

[ Your Strength is decreased by 90% ]

The notifications continued to update before me, even with my eyes completely closed. I couldn't feel a single thing at one point when the paralysis intensity hit 100%.

I held out a string of hope that I might still survive, but as far as all my past couple of deaths, this was easily the least painful one.

[ Your health is dropping at 2 points per second. 3/300 HP remaining. ]

Maybe I should keep that purple vial on me instead of strawberries in the future? It's a slower death but much more pleasant.

[ Warning! Your health is at 1/100 HP. ]

[ You have died. ]

[ Reset in progress. ]

[ Beginning Round 7 ]