OLOTV 13

Chapter 13

‘I never thought I’d be the one to jump into such cold water.’

To be precise, I didn’t jump; I first waded in slowly and then submerged just my head to check if the pocket watch was even there. But there was no way I could find alone, in a short time, what others had searched for and failed to locate.

‘Of course, that doesn’t mean I plan on giving up.’

I was already in the water, and my clothes were soaked. My body was growing cold from the icy water, and I had long lost feeling in my limbs. Keeping my head above water for so long had made my eyes sting. If I went through all this and still couldn’t find it, I’d feel utterly cheated.

I had been at it for quite a while. A few people passing by the lake had seen me and stared in surprise, probably thinking I was taking a cold bath, but I paid them little mind. Finding the pocket watch was paramount.

But was it my imagination, or were the onlookers increasing? It wasn’t my imagination. More and more people were gathering, as if to watch what the crazy woman was doing in the lake.

“Miss? Good heavens…! What are you doing there!”

Anne must have heard the news about me swimming in the lake, as she had arrived at some point and was shouting. But I didn’t have time to respond to her either. When I didn’t answer, Anne seemed to ask someone nearby.

“Excuse me, how long has she been like that?”

“Huh? I only got here a while ago, so I’m not sure, but I heard she’s been at it since around sunset. What in the world is she doing in the lake, and is she insane…”

“She’s been there that long?”

I faintly heard Anne exclaim in shock at the person’s answer and urge me to get out quickly. But I had no intention of leaving the lake. Because I had spotted something glinting at the bottom.

To be honest, I’d seen a few glinting objects before this one. They were just things like coins, completely unrelated to the pocket watch. But this time, I held onto hope that it really was the watch and reached out to grab the shiny object.

And what ended up in my hand was unmistakably a pocket watch.

‘Wow, I finally found it.’

I still couldn’t be sure if this was the specific watch I was looking for. But it was unlikely there were two people who had dropped a pocket watch, right? I emerged from the lake.

Soaked to the bone, I climbed out just as the steward himself was approaching. It seemed I had unintentionally started a neighborhood spectacle. The steward looked at me with an expression of sheer incredulity and annoyance. Anne, standing behind him, looked troubled, her eyes darting between me and the steward.

The steward gave my disheveled state a once-over, then asked in a hostile, icy tone.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“……”

“If you are a guest of the Layton family, I expect you to behave accordingly. This current behavior is in no way helpful to the Layton family—”

I silently extended my hand, which was tightly clutching the pocket watch. Though wet, it hadn’t been submerged for too long, and its exterior looked intact. The steward, who had initially looked at my outstretched hand with distaste, widened his eyes the moment he recognized what it was.

“Is this… yours, by any chance?”

“This is… Where on earth did you…?”

“I had a hell of a time finding it. This was the only pocket watch I found at the bottom of the lake. Is it yours?”

The steward, dumbfounded, took the proffered watch and examined it slowly before nodding.

“It is indeed the pocket watch I lost. But how did you know I had lost it?”

At the steward’s question, I scratched my head slightly with my finger before answering.

“I just heard about it by chance.”

I deliberately answered that way, worried that if I outright said Anne told me, she might face some unforeseen trouble. The steward’s voice softened somewhat.

“So you were in the lake all this time to find this?”

“Of course, when I first heard you’d lost the watch, I didn’t plan on going this far. But I found out what the pocket watch meant to you. I couldn’t just pretend not to know.”

I believed in being honest when necessary. I thought being open about this part would help me more than hiding it. And upon hearing that, the steward reacted favorably, just as I had hoped.

“……Thank you.”

However, I hadn’t expected a thank you so abruptly, so I was momentarily flustered and couldn’t say anything.

Regardless of my reaction, the steward seemed lost in his own thoughts, his eyes tracing the air as he continued.

“This watch is the only memento I received from my former master. To be honest… after dropping it in the lake, I thought I’d never see it again. But you swam in this cold water to find it for me.”

Honestly, I hadn’t expected his attitude to change so dramatically and instantly. Just by retrieving the pocket watch, the steward was acting like a completely different person. Then again, even the villagers who felt sorry for him and tried to help hadn’t found it, so it made sense.

As the steward thanked me, I could feel the villagers murmuring as they looked at me. It wasn’t the malicious whispering I was used to, however.

“Who is she?”

“I heard she was in the lake the whole time trying to find the watch.”

“In this cold weather…?”

It seemed they had formed a good impression of me for retrieving the precious watch of the steward, who was dedicated to the territory. Finding myself suddenly being praised by everyone, I felt oddly embarrassed.

‘I didn’t intend to gain this much favor.’

Still, it was good that people were starting to think well of me. I looked at the steward, who couldn’t take his eyes off the watch. A thought occurred to me, and I asked.

“Even though it was found relatively quickly, it was in the water for a while. Do you think it’s broken? Can it be repaired?”

“It’s fine even if it isn’t repaired. It wasn’t originally for telling time anyway. Thank you again, truly. I would like to properly express my gratitude someday.”

And so, the pocket watch incident seemed to be settled.

The cold weather felt twice as harsh because of my wet clothes. Anne urged me to hurry back to the mansion and change. My body was already starting to feel chilly, so I obediently followed her.

After the incident, Anne treated me more familiarly. The steward also said he would have my room warmed up for me. The other servants in the mansion, unaware of what had happened outside, all looked at me with puzzled expressions as I returned with the steward. It was probably surprising to see me returning with the steward, who had been my most vocal detractor, not to mention my drowned-rat appearance.

‘But I’m getting colder.’

Was jumping into the lake in this weather the problem? I could feel my body starting to shiver uncontrollably. I didn’t even have the energy to care about the other servants’ stares.

Anne drew a warm bath for me. After a hot soak, I was finally able to go to my room and rest. Laying my exhausted body on the bed, I didn’t have the strength to move a single finger. While it was good that I’d found the watch and secured the steward’s favor, jumping into the lake on a whim had clearly been too much.

‘I thought I was okay after the bath, though…’

I was not okay at all. A fever started in my head, and soon my whole body felt like it was burning. Even in my dazed state, I thought I should tell the servants I was sick. But the pain was already unbearable, and there was nothing I could actually do.

‘I went through all this to try and live well in this territory… Am I going to die like this?’

It was a somewhat ridiculous thought, but I felt that bad. As my vision gradually blurred, I weakly thought of Keris on the bed.