Chapter 5 – A Fateful Encounter (5)

Three days had passed.

In the meantime, I saw neither hide nor hair of Dale.

I had been locked up in the mansion and passed the time in the same way every day, but before that, I ran into Dale twice.

Yet ever since I struck that proposal to Dale, I hadn’t seen him.

It was obvious that he was avoiding me.

I tried to think about it calmly.

He’ll need time to consider it.

I won’t retract my suggestion, and so the nervousness I felt calmed down a little, but it didn’t abate completely.

My anxiety only increased due to the nightmares I suffered every night.

‘Did I make the wrong choice?’

There wasn’t actually any special reason why I chose Dale even at the risk of losing it all.

I excluded Bane from the beginning because he was constantly hostile to me, and Peran’s thoughts were a mystery to me, so I couldn’t have possibly been able to convince him.

The only person with a weakness was Dale.

And I couldn’t help but take advantage of what I knew.

However…

I couldn’t fall asleep.

I’d usually rather be sleep deprived than suffer from nightmares—but right now, I wanted to fall unconscious.

I was tasting hell several times a day because of Dale.

‘Let’s get some sleep.’

I closed my eyes again and pulled the blanket over my head.

But at the same moment, the door opened and cold air entered the room.

Startled by the sudden entrance, I sat up on the bed.

Both the hallway outside the door and the room itself were shrouded with darkness, only the faint moonlight illuminating the area through the small window.

I couldn’t see the person’s face.

But the person who paused for a moment finally stepped forward.

Would there have been anyone else to come see me at this hour?

No. Of course not.

Was it my father?

Without a chance to continue my thoughts, I slipped my hand under the pillow.

The gun was hidden there.

The intruder suddenly stopped when I had just grabbed the gun.

The man stopped about three steps away from the bed, his breath shaking. It made me think that he was about to assault me.

Even in the dark, I could see his chest heaving.

It didn’t take long for my pounding heart to calm due to the voice that spoke.

“Alright. I’ll take your offer. But I have a condition.”

It wasn’t raining outside, but there was a metallic scent in the air.

“Take me with you.”

“……”

A prolonged silence commenced once more. Neither of us said anything at the moment, and I didn’t move to light a candle.

I realized who it was that came to see me. I needed to see what kind of expression he had while he was talking to me.

Was he just trying to test me, or was he really accepting the deal?

But I didn’t light the candle in the end. I could still tell if he was sincere or not without doing so.

Dale’s fingertips were shaking badly.

He ran to get here.

Was he so cornered that he had to come here in the middle of the night?

I knew what it was that he ‘handled’. With the intention to soothe him, I spoke.

“What do you mean by taking you with me?”

“I don’t want to see my parents. No, I can’t. But when I think about getting out of this place, I can’t think of anywhere else to go. I have nowhere else to be…”

“Wait, Dale…”

I hurriedly cut him off.

This wasn’t good.

“I don’t intend to leave with you.”

“What—then why, with me…”

“I told you. I just need someone to help me. And I’m only encouraging you since you haven’t even thought of running away before. Just use my escape as an excuse or as a stepping stone so that things would go your way.”

“…I have nowhere to go.”

“That’s too bad.”

Dale was a bystander.

He was the one who turned a blind eye to my abuse.

Even if he couldn’t help it because he was bound to this place, that wasn’t something I needed to understand.

To me, this family, the employees, and Dale were all the same.

“Why don’t you hear me out first? You still don’t know how I’ll help you. You must have thought about it.”

Dale was quiet for a long time.

His panting breaths subsided gradually and soon he breathed normally again.

“…There’s a secret passage.”

“Secret passage?”

“Yes, but I won’t tell you about it until you change your mind. I need insurance, too.”

I agonized for a moment.

A secret passage.

There were knights stationed at the front and rear gates, and I was only allowed to go out with my father’s permission.

If I didn’t come back after a while, I would be tracked down right away.

I was just thinking about going as far away as possible, as quickly as possible—but if I went through a secret passage, then my plans would change drastically.

“What do you want?”

“I… I just want to be near you. That’s enough for me. I don’t want anything else.”

“Then show me how sincere you are.”

I changed the subject and never gave him a straight answer.

* * * 

The escape plan was quickly decided.

Dale’s plan was made after he obtained information that the family, including our father, would be away from home.

And the day that I had been waiting for finally came.

The downcast sky threatened to pour rain at any moment.

Because of the chilly air, my body shivered whenever the wind blew.

Two carriages had been prepared.

He seemed to have made an excuse about catching a cold, so he went back halfway through the trip.

Dale made a fake cough and headed towards the other carriage, avoiding the carriage that the rest of the family would ride.

“When are you coming back?” I asked my father as I saw them off.

“Well… It depends on the luck of the heavens.”

When he looked up at the dreary sky, the image that my father presented was quite unbecoming.

He talked about nonsense, then got on the carriage without any further explanation. After our father, Peran and Bane followed.

“Alright. Then it would be better that you leave as soon as possible.”

Bane, who was about to get on the carriage, paused. He whispered to Peran while looking at her, then seemingly after getting permission, he walked towards me.

“You’re like a housekeeper’s child. Tsk.”

It was pathetic that the reason he approached me was just to provoke me.

I would normally retort with a similar remark, but I just smiled.

It’ll be over today.

There was no need to argue.

“Don’t even smile like that. I’m already in enough of a bad mood…!”

“Young master, you have to go.”

The butler stopped Bane, whose ire was suddenly roused.

Bane glared at the butler, then abruptly turned back to the carriage where his brother and father were waiting.

I stood by the gate until the carriage disappeared in the distance. Then, I turned my back when I couldn’t see it anymore.

The servants who came to see them off had already returned to their stations.

“You heard Father’s orders to retire early today, right?”

As I said this to the butler, he was surprised.

“Pardon? I didn’t hear anything like that…”

“You didn’t? That’s strange. Father told me yesterday that you should rest well. All the employees should leave.”

“But I…”

“You really didn’t hear?”

The butler looked unconvinced, but he muttered.

“Ah, right, that’s what Milord meant…”

He swept his hair nervously, bit his lip, then sighed, but I didn’t give him a chance to think about it more.

“Vacate everyone from the main building.”

“……”

“If you don’t want to, then just stay there. Father would love to hear about it.”

My own words carried no weight, but it was a different story when my father was mentioned.

Funnily enough, there was nothing else that my father did for me.

Just eating together was a reward bestowed upon me when I did something well during my studies.

By the time I reincarnated here and possessed this body, I was already at the lowest position in this mansion. Of course, that meant that I couldn’t eat with my family.

But right now, my position was better than before.

It was a small change, but it still couldn’t be ignored from the butler’s perspective.

My father would always say that his children must not show mercy to any servant.

Even in the novel, he had tortured a servant who betrayed him, running away until he eventually died.

The butler wouldn’t want to be singled out by my father.

And my assumption was correct.

“……We’ll move to the detached building. But some of the other employees and knights must keep watch…”

“No. Get everyone out of here. I’ll sleep all day anyway, so I’ll call you if I need anything.”

“…I understand. Then please, make yourself comfortable.”

I walked past him and ascended the stairs.

As I climbed, my steps grew more rushed, and by the end, my pace was almost to the point that I was running.

I avoided tripping by barely holding onto the baluster.

Not realizing that I had just cursed, I felt that my hands were soaked with cold sweat.

“Haa…”

I repeatedly breathed in and out deeply.

When I returned to my room, I started pouring the oil that I had gathered little by little.

I wanted to burn the basement first, the place that gave me endless nightmares, but I knew that I wouldn’t finish everything on time if I went down there first.

I listened intently to the sound of the match I had lit.

My hands were trembling, and so it wouldn’t catch fire well.

Then, the door suddenly opened.

My heart sank, but I was relieved to see those familiar blue eyes.

“There you are.”

It was Dale.

“Who did you meet on your way here?”

“A few servants, but they were about to go to the detached building.”

I nodded, then turned to the window. I focused on the task at hand again and struck the match.

Dale sighed and took the matchbox from my hand as he saw me struggling to light one.

It didn’t work when I did it, but after just one try from him, a flame instantly appeared.

And when he threw the match to the floor, that flame grew at once.

I hitched up the bag on my shoulder that I had prepared beforehand.

It was time for me to catch up behind Dale.

“What? Is it underground?”

Dale told me the other day that there was a secret passage inside the mansion, but he never told me where it was exactly.

I didn’t expect it to be underground. I couldn’t keep up with Dale’s pace as he rushed in front of me, and as I paused, he looked back to see me.

“What’s wrong? Do you feel sick?”

“No… No.”

I could feel the small tremor in my voice.

Rubbing my sweaty hands on the hem of my dress, I could feel a jolt of anxiety that made me snap at Dale.

“You really didn’t tell anyone, did you?”

“What?”

“Are you sure you didn’t tell anyone about this plan?”

Although I was trying my hardest to be calm, I felt terribly nervous from the moment I opened my eyes this morning.

Until now, I couldn’t help but be suspicious of Dale despite him returning to the mansion right now.

“Do you think I betrayed you?”

Up until now, Dale had been our father’s faithful dog.

He was forced to do so, but he was an experienced killer because of our father’s commands.

I kept thinking of his past as he turned away from me.