Chapter 1
“Ah, it’s hot.”
I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand and pulled my straw hat down. A gentle breeze blew, making my straw-colored hair sway along with the hat.
“I should finish picking this and be done.”
I picked the last herb and put it in my basket. My legs felt numb from squatting for so long while searching for herbs.
Leaning on a tree, I looked down the steep mountain path and sighed.
“When am I going to get down this mountain…”
I carefully made my way down, avoiding branches, fallen leaves, and acorns. It was easier than climbing up, but my numb legs made going down difficult.
“Whether it’s my past life or this one, surviving is always hard.”
About three years ago, I woke up in a remote village called Haeington.
I didn’t know why, but I had ended up in someone else’s body. There was no one I could tell, and nowhere to report it.
Luckily, I had the knowledge of this body’s original owner, so I could live without major problems. But there was one big issue.
I had to pay off the debts left behind by a poor noble family after the death of my parents.
From the poison found by my bed when I first woke up, it seemed the original owner had chosen suicide because she couldn’t handle the debt.
“But why am I the one paying this debt?”
Before I could even adapt to this strange world, I had to deal with rough debt collectors.
In my past life, I paid hospital bills. In this life, I’m paying debts left by parents I don’t even know.
My past life was ordinary. I was a long-term hospital patient with a rare disease that caused constant inflammation in my airways. I was always close to death because of swelling.
It was a chronic illness with no cure, so I could never leave the hospital.
“I thought I adopted a healthy child, but I picked the wrong one.”
My adoptive parents called me a failure.
They had adopted me thinking I was healthy and smart, someone who would support them in old age. But I turned out to be a “failed product.”
When I got sick, they distanced themselves from me. In the end, I was left with unpaid hospital bills and died on the streets.
I stopped walking and looked at my body carefully.
I now had light brown hair and lighter brown eyes. I was a healthy adult woman.
“It would’ve been nice if I had been born as a strong man instead.”
Well, it doesn’t really matter.
“At least I’m healthy and not sick here.”
I smiled in satisfaction and carefully continued down the mountain, holding onto a tree for balance.
Let’s pay off the debt, save money, travel, and even eat expensive fish roe someday!
Lost in these happy thoughts, I soon reached flat ground.
“Haa…”
I fully exited the mountain and stepped onto the field.
“Lucina!”
Hearing someone call me, I turned around and saw Bayer running toward me from the end of the field, waving his hand above his head.
“Bayer, what’s going on?”
He ran up and grabbed the basket from my hands.
“Give it to me, Lucina.”
“I could carry it myself…”
Even while saying that, I let him take it easily.
“What’s up?”
“My father sent me to help you.”
“The village chief?”
Well, that’s helpful.
Bayer stood beside me with a kind smile. He was one of the few people my age in the village and helped me sell herbs by dealing with merchants.
As the village chief’s son, he was well-liked and responsible—basically the perfect son-in-law in everyone’s eyes.
He had deep blue hair like a clear sky and ocean-blue eyes. In sunlight, he looked like a shining emerald sea.
With that kind of face, of course parents would like him.
But today, he seemed a bit strange.
He was walking stiffly, like a broken wooden doll.
“Bayer, are you okay? Are you sick?”
“Huh? N-no.”
He denied it nervously. But his arms and legs were moving awkwardly together.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
Is he hiding something from me?
When our eyes met, he froze, then suddenly stopped as if he had made a decision.
“Bayer?”
He swallowed hard, turned around, and looked at me seriously.
“Lucina, do you know?”
“Of course I don’t. What is it?”
“This year’s harvest festival is going to be even bigger than last year.”
He covered his mouth with his fist.
“So… I was thinking… at the festival, maybe we could go together—”
“Whoa! Isn’t that Indel?!”
“What?”
I rushed past him like a gust of wind.
I covered the plant and looked around. Luckily, no one was there except Bayer and me.
I carefully examined it.
“Oh my… this really is ‘Indel’?”
Indel was a rare herb that had almost disappeared, and people desperately searched for it.
It was originally poisonous, so it could be deadly if used wrong. But if used properly, it was said to cure all diseases.
If sold at auction, it could cover a whole year of a common household’s expenses. It might even pay off a good part of my debt.
I swallowed the urge to shout “I hit the jackpot!” and smiled brightly.
Carefully clearing the soil and grass around it, I took out a handkerchief and placed the Indel inside.
I couldn’t mix something this precious with other herbs.
While wrapping it carefully, I suddenly remembered I had been talking to Bayer.
“Bayer! Sorry, I found Indel. What were you saying earlier?”
He looked at me quietly, then gave a small resigned smile.
“It’s fine. Go ahead.”
He came closer and looked at the herb.
“So this is Indel… I wouldn’t even recognize it. It looks just like any other herb.”
I put the handkerchief in my pocket and stood up.
“Bayer, if you don’t mind, can you go back first? I’ll look around a bit more.”
“Ah…”
He looked a little disappointed and touched the back of his neck.
After a moment, he laughed softly.
“Alright, but don’t push yourself too hard.”
“I won’t.”
He stared at me for a moment, then sighed.
“Let’s talk when you get back.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
He smiled, turned around, and walked away. Before leaving, he lifted the herb basket high as if showing off.
“If you don’t come back quickly, I’ll sell all of this!”
He wouldn’t actually do that.
I smiled and watched him disappear, then turned back to search for more Indel.
After a long search near the border of the field and mountain, I gave up and sat down.
“If there were more, it would be a miracle.”
As I looked around again, my eyes suddenly stopped.
“A child?”
It was a little girl, about five years old, with curly cherry-colored short hair and a cute face.
At first, I thought she was just resting against a tree.
But when I looked closer, she had fainted and her body was limp.
“Hey!”
I ran over and checked her condition. Her breathing was very rough, and her chest was rising and falling quickly.
Sweat poured down like rain, and her hair was stuck to her face.
I shook her shoulder gently.
“Hey, wake up.”
“Ugh…”
Slowly, the girl opened her eyes with difficulty.
“Can you hear me?”
Her eyes were half-closed.
“Mom…?”
She murmured in a cracked voice.
When I touched her forehead, it was burning hot.
“This is bad. She’ll die like this.”
I quickly lifted her and carried her on my back, running full speed toward home.
“Where are the herbs… where did I put them?”
After laying the child on the bed, I threw my straw hat aside and wet a towel. I wiped her face and searched the house in a panic.
I was sure I had dried fever-reducing herbs somewhere, but I couldn’t remember where.
“Ah! Maybe in the backyard?”
I opened the window and looked outside, but there were only herbs used for wound treatment that I had dug up yesterday.
What should I do? It looked like heatstroke.
This region, Haeington, was known for its hot and humid climate. Outsiders often collapsed from exhaustion here.
Seeing the child lying without a hat in the open sun made it obvious.
I glanced at the bed. Her breathing was still rough, but she looked slightly better.
“Maybe she’ll recover if I leave her to rest—”
“Uwek!”
…Nope.
The girl suddenly vomited on the bed.
I quickly ran over and caught it with my hands. It was mostly clear fluid—she hadn’t eaten anything.
I stayed with her until she had finished vomiting, then washed my hands. She lay on her back, groaning weakly.
Seeing a five-year-old child like this made my chest tighten.
Should I call a doctor?
But no—what if something happens while I’m gone?
“I shouldn’t have sent Bayer away…”
I sighed and took out the handkerchief from my pocket.
“No choice.”
I would have to use Indel.
I had planned to sell it at auction…
I stared at the herb inside the cloth.
But I shook my head.
I carefully washed and boiled it many times. Since it was poisonous, it had to be purified repeatedly before use.
Sweating heavily, I boiled it, strained it, again and again.
By the time it became safe to drink, steam filled the entire room.
