Jarvis lay atop his bed. His red hair looked striking against his pale complexion. I reached out and felt his cold hand.

I flinched. I expected it, but it was still alarming how cool it felt.

It was my first time seeing him dead. In my original life, shortly after I got notice of his demise, the manor was burned down, so I never got to bury him or even see him.

"The Silver Eels put out a hit on him first, but it was a member of the Spiders that ultimately executed him under the guise of an accident," Micah explained. "It hasn't been confirmed if they were working together or had their own individual agendas, but both factions wished him dead."

Micah stood beside me in Jarvis's bedroom while I sat in a chair by the bed. The space fit Jarvis's personality well; there were green plants and blooming flowers in every nook and cranny of the room. The air was full of fresh oxygen and life. One might have thought it was a greenhouse rather than a bedroom.

And yet the one that had brought life to everything in this room was dead.

I leaned back in my chair and gazed up at Micah.

Only one aspect that had changed significantly enough in this round compared to my original life to result in Jarvis's death: the thievery of his research. It was the most glaring and obvious of explanations for why he was murdered two years early.

"I understand what the Silver Eels would gain from Jarvis's death," I mused. "With him gone, they can continue monopolizing the few untainted farm fields without the threat of competition. And if they had stolen the research, they might either destroy it or utilize it themselves to expand their fields. But what would the Spiders gain?"

Even as far as my knowledge of the future held, the Spiders had a chokehold on the mage market and the creation of mana-embedded artifacts and jewelry. Farming was outside their realm of interest.

"Unfortunately, I do not know that either," Micah replied. "However, given how vast their web is, with many members secretly part of other factions and organizations, it might be that one of them is also connected to the Silver Eels. Or another party that would hold interest in the state of polluted soil."

I sighed.

Either way, the way to prevent Jarvis from dying in the next round was simple. If word about his research didn't get out, he would remain without a target on his back.

I just need to prevent Kathy, or anyone else, from entering his greenhouse.

It was silly of me to have been so lacking in caution just because Kathy was someone close to Kleave, a dear friend of mine from my original life. It was about as foolish as brushing away suspicions just because someone was a cherished sister of Fin, an old friend from my original life.

"Should we head out for Jasper's and Denise's funeral?" I stood up from my chair.

Jarvis's burial ceremony would wait until Father and Mother would return tomorrow. However, the burials of my attendant and maid were to be held today.

"Yes, we should head out for it before the weather worsens." Micah gazed out the window.

The trees rustled in the wind outside. Nighttime had not come yet, but the sky had darkened with heavy clouds.

I smiled at the change in weather.

At last! It should rain tomorrow, and I'll be able to see my favorite information broker.

With Natalia Ashford dead and the System unable to provide me with the information I needed about the present, Freida Stran would be my salvation for all the countless questions I had piled up.

Technically the weather was bad enough that she had likely opened up shop already. Still, there was only use going to see her once I collected all the information needed to pose the best possible questions to her. Her services were costly, making Natalia Ashford's gossip appear like some shoddy discount store in comparison. But even if money was not an issue, she allowed for only one to three requests at a time, depending on her mood.

"And what of Fin, Denise's younger brother? Has he been located?" I inquired. "He's her only family. He should be present."

If I put in only one request to Freida, it would be Fin's location. However, I hoped Micah had been able to locate Fin through his network first.

We walked out of Jarvis's bedroom and through the manor's long hall. Our steps blared against the stone floors. Guards and staff nodded at our passing, some offering words of condolence.

"Unfortunately, no," Micah replied. "I had Denise reinvestigated when I heard the news about her betrayal. It appears her brother had been missing for a little under a month. Given she had the Spider's runic tattoo on her back, it's likely the Spiders have him, but given how much time has passed, it's impossible to gauge where they've taken him. Or if he's still even alive."

"He's alive," I mumbled automatically.

Micah gave me an odd look, raising one eyebrow.

"He's a mage," I replied. "They wouldn't kill him without putting him through a few experiments."

"Ah." Micah nodded his head.

I peered at my older brother.

It was strange. In my hurry for answers to fix everything in my next round, I spewed out questions my younger self would have never even had the knowledge to ask about. And yet, apart from a few raised eyebrows, Micah didn't question my abrupt change. Unless I didn't change as much as I thought?

No.

I shook my head.

Any idiot would be able to tell that I had changed. A day back, Leona relayed to me the whispers she overheard between the manor's guards and servants regarding my sudden maturity and shift in demeanor.

Micah, a genius, by all means, would have been able to catch on quicker than most.

So why?

Then again, as Grandov liked to say, what use was there to inspect the teeth of a horse that was gifted? I was lucky that my brother was helping me and not questioning my abrupt change.

"Ah, Luca?" Micah paused before the exit out into the courtyard. Several carriages were awaiting us to take us and the two caskets to the burial grounds.

Micah turned and gently placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Today, you've lost three people near you. And Henry and our grandmother passed away recently as well. How are you feeling? How is your mental state?" He asked. His green eyes looked down at me with sincerity. "I'm worried about you. You know you can talk to me, right?"

I blinked.

Where was this coming from? It reminded me of the talk he gave me each morning, the last three rounds of my first day after breakfast. He might not have questioned my change, but he seemed overly concerned about my mental state.

"I'm fine," I replied. "Well, obviously not entirely fine. People I care about have died. But I'm fine, given everything. Really."

Honestly, it was surprising how calm and collected I was, even to myself. But perhaps it was because I knew I had a chance to save everyone. Yes, I had managed to expedite the deaths of several people, and seeing Jarvis's corpse was especially jarring. Still, in the end, I knew it was temporary. In the next round, I was going to make sure none of them would die. I was going to fix all of this.

Micah gazed down at me with his bright green eyes, inspecting my face.

"Micah, what about you? Are you alright? Jarvis died," I said.

Yes, I was perhaps acting too calmly about all this, but so was Micah. Not that this was unusual for him. He was always the most cool-headed individual in our family.

But maybe he was projecting onto me? He was always the stable pillar and overly mature for his age, but what if he was suffering more than anyone of us could tell?

Micah smiled and released his hands off my shoulders.

"I'm alright. No need to worry about me," he said. "And I'm glad you're fine, but again, I hope you know that I'm here. You can talk to me if you need to."

I nodded.

"I will," I reassured him.

But in truth, there was nothing to talk about. Yes, people I cared about had died, and any average person would have been in a state of shock, but I was looking ahead. I just needed to do better in the next round.

 

***

 

Rain that felt as light as fog began to sprinkle just as the funeral came to completion.

The burial grounds were north, at the far border of the capital city. Bright green grass stretched across the land, and a smell of rich dirt and rain filled my nostrils. Carved stone plaques, indicating who died and when, covered the grounds.

My stomach turned, seeing the sheer number of these plaques. When the Kobar Empire attacked, they raised a demonic army, utilizing grave sites like these to produce their soldiers. Unfortunately, there had been far more dead than living. Hence, their army was an impossible match for any country standing in their way.

I'm going to have to figure out a way to combat that.

"Thank you for your attendance on this day, most unfortunate. May these two souls continue on peacefully to their next life." The cemetery minister completed his speech.

Ironically, even if Jasper's and Denise's souls could move on, a few years from now, their rotting corpses would be utilized as weapons.

Not that I would ever allow that to happen again on my watch.

The minister rolled up his ceremonial scroll and signaled for the two gravediggers beside him. The two men began to cover the coffins with mounds of dirt.

He looked distinguished in his garb of white, gold, and purple silks. However, he was hardly a holy or revered minister. The pay as a cemetery overseer did not compare to that of a body broker. Hefis Aaron, the minister before us, was the same man I had purchased a severed hand from for one of my pranks. Of course, his other clients had far more nefarious intentions.

"I must be off to my next appointment." Hefis bowed toward Micah and me and walked away.

It was a small and simple ceremony. The number of attendants was purposefully limited, given the dangerous nature of recent events.

While Denise didn't have many well-wishers post her betrayal, Jasper had many connections and friends that would have wanted to be presented had they been informed of his passing. In my original life, his funeral was attended by several hundred people, many coming from all over the continent.

Most shocking was the degree of importance of some of the attendees. Until then, I didn't pay much attention to where and what Jasper did on his holiday breaks. I knew that he was an avid gambler and was rather good at it, but I had summed most of his recollections of adventures and mishaps up to be works of fiction. However, at his funeral, I realized that Jasper had been telling the truth all this time. What seemed to be far-fetched fiction, he had truly lived out.

But today's burial ceremony was attended only by those of the Frey Manor. There were only Micah, me, a handful of servants, and a dozen guards.

I gazed up at the dark sky. The sun was close to setting on the horizon, making the day appear even darker and gloomier.

It's a shame his funeral wasn't as good as in my original life, but in the end, it doesn't matter. I'm going to save him in the next round. I'm going to save everyone.