Chapter 10 - A Guest of the Count & A Midnight Encounter

As a guest personally brought back by Count Felix—one whom anyone with eyes could tell had caught the young lord's interest—the maids assigned to care for Wei Wei were naturally extremely attentive and spoke with her freely.

However, having worked in the castle for many years, they knew little about the outside world. Their knowledge was mostly limited to the affairs of the Williams family.

So, most of what they could tell Wei Wei revolved around life inside the castle.

When Felix introduced himself earlier, he had naturally skipped over his hardships, so it was only now that Wei Wei learned that he had inherited the Williams family title after his father and elder brother passed away, making him the new Count.

The Williams family was small in number, consisting of only three members. Aside from Felix and Dolores—whom Wei Wei had already met—there was also a young girl under two years old, the daughter of Felix's late brother.

"Lady Caroline was born prematurely, and her health has always been poor. She rarely leaves her room, and Lady Nancy takes care of her."

Curious, Wei Wei asked who Lady Nancy was.

The maids explained that Lady Nancy was the wife of Butler Barton. Her daily responsibilities included managing all the maids and attending to the lady of the house, essentially making her the head maid.

However, both previous Countesses had passed away young, so Lady Nancy had spent most of her time caring for the two young ladies instead.

At this, Penny sighed and added, "The former Countess died giving birth to Lady Dolores. Because of that, the late Count, who deeply loved his wife, never liked Lady Dolores much."

"And Lady Perenna also passed away shortly after giving birth to Lady Caroline. If Lord Elic had survived, perhaps Lady Caroline—"

Before Penny could say anything more inappropriate, Jean reached out and smacked her, shooting her a warning glare.

Penny immediately realized she had spoken out of turn, shrank back, and shut her mouth.

Lying there as they massaged her, Wei Wei hadn't noticed the silent exchange between the maids. She was merely sighing internally about how dangerous childbirth was in this era.

The massage session ended quickly. After thoroughly enjoying the maids' services, Wei Wei put on her clothes and returned to her room.

The castle servants were truly diligent. In the short time she had been downstairs, her room had already been cleaned, and several new items had been placed inside. The candles had been lit, a pitcher and cups were set on the table, and a light, silky nightgown had been neatly laid out on the bed—judging by its length, it likely belonged to Dolores.

From the maids, Wei Wei had learned that Dolores was even younger than she had initially guessed—just twelve years old. Meanwhile, her own body was around sixteen. Yet aside from their height difference, their faces made them look about the same age.

Easterners tended to look younger, while Westerners matured earlier—it was no surprise.

Wei Wei declined the maids' help in changing clothes and preparing for bed.

Before they left, Jean informed her, "Butler Barton has already contacted the tailor. They will be arriving tomorrow afternoon to take your measurements."

Wei Wei thanked them.

Just as she was about to close the door, a thought struck her. She turned back and asked, "Are you both supposed to stand guard outside my room at night?"

Jean nodded. "Yes, Miss Vivi. Penny and I will take turns keeping watch."

Wei Wei shook her head. "That won't be necessary. I'm a deep sleeper—I don't need anyone outside my door. Just come wake me in the morning. You should both go rest now."

The two maids exchanged looks of surprise.

They had never met a noble who refused to have nightguards.

"But Miss Vivi, night watch is part of our duties—"

"I really won't need anything in the middle of the night. Besides, I'm not used to having people standing outside my door. If you get a little extra rest, you'll have more energy to accompany me during the day, won't you?"

In the end, Wei Wei convinced them to leave.

With the dim candlelight flickering in the room, Wei Wei changed into her nightgown and sat before the unclear, metallic mirror—either bronze or gold-plated—to comb her hair.

To be honest, the scene felt eerily like something out of a horror movie.

So, she quickly gave up on combing, picked up the candlestick, and moved to the table, grabbing the pitcher to pour herself a drink.

Only to discover that it wasn't water—but red wine.

Wei Wei: …Now I feel even more uneasy.

"I already noticed during dinner—does no one drink water here? It's either ale or wine."

After a moment of silence, the Reincarnation System finally responded:

[Correct. Clean water is rare, so most people drink alcohol instead.]

That made sense.

Thinking about the filthy moat outside, Wei Wei suddenly felt a strong aversion to whatever they called "clean water." Who knew where it came from? Even underground sources were probably contaminated by all the waste above.

That said, the bathwater she had used earlier had seemed clean—so at least the castle had access to decent water.

In the end, Wei Wei took a few sips of the red wine.

She wasn't much of a drinker, but even she could tell that this wine was mediocre at best—it was sour, slightly impure, and unrefined. Still, the alcohol content was low enough to quench her thirst.

"Next time, I should ask them to bring me plain boiled water instead."

Lying in bed, Wei Wei didn't immediately sleep.

Her afternoon nap had been restful, and right now, it was only around midnight—still way too early for a night owl like her.

She decided to test her encyclopedia ability, intending to find a book on European history.

Even though the Reincarnation System had said this world was different, she figured some knowledge would still be useful.

Unfortunately, despite being called an "encyclopedia library," it only contained records of past events—and the latest historical entries stopped in the 11th century.

[Just because it's a cheat skill doesn't mean it makes you omniscient. You can't access future events, and even certain books that reference them won't be available.]

The Transmigration Package granted winners plenty of advantages, but it wouldn't break the balance of this parallel world.

Even if Wei Wei compared the pre-11th century records to what she saw in reality, she would notice that things didn't fully match up.

The Roman Empire had still risen and fallen, but not in the same way. The Pradi Empire, where she was now, had never existed in Earth's history.

Seeing through the system's subtle restrictions, Wei Wei was slightly disappointed—but she got over it quickly.

Still, the historical cutoff at the 11th century at least confirmed that her current period was roughly the 12th century—which aligned with the Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1279).

And considering the system had mentioned that the Southern Song would win against the Mongols, it was clear that history here had already diverged.

Since history was off the table, Wei Wei decided to read a cookbook instead—after all, she had promised to cook something at dinner.

When she accessed the encyclopedia, a blue-bound book appeared in her hands.

To anyone else, its pages contained only poetry from the Classic of Songs. But to Wei Wei, the real text was perfectly visible.

And as an exclusive cheat skill, the book couldn't be lost or stolen—it was completely safe.

The system hadn't lied—as soon as she flipped through the recipes, she instinctively understood how to cook them and could even adjust ingredients if needed.

Fascinated, she read intently until the candle burned halfway down.

Eventually, the system had to step in.

[Even with a strong body, straining your eyes in poor light will still damage them.]

Realizing her vision already felt uncomfortable, Wei Wei put the book away, blew out the candle, and lay down—doing eye exercises to induce sleep.

She was just drifting off when—

Rustling noises in the corner snapped her wide awake.

The moonlight spilling in from the balcony illuminated a small figure scurrying past.

A rat.

Wei Wei instantly wrapped herself in her blanket.

Forget being brave—most girls (and even some men) are terrified of rats!

For the first time, she regretted sending the maids away.

But since they weren't here, Wei Wei turned her gaze toward the tiny, glowing system icon on her nightstand—her only hope.