Chapter 53

“A noble lady?”

I blinked as if possessed.

“Yes. You’re going to ride it quietly, right?”

I nodded vigorously.

Thanks to this, the staff who grabbed my arm loosened his grip.

I took advantage of that and went to the wheel of the carriage then stumbled.

“Ugh… I feel dizzy…….”

Then, with my hand covered with a hood, I hurriedly tied a pocket full of pipora pollen to the wheel.

The powder began to leak out like a grain of sand on a sand clock through the small hole in the pocket.

“Hey!”

The staff caught me.

“Do you have some chronic disease?”

It was clear that he was worried that there might be a defect in the product he found.

“No.”

I patted my stomach.

“It’s because I’ve been hungry for too long.”

The staff nodded as if they were relieved by my answer.

“Yes. If you want something to eat, hurry up and get on the carriage.”

“Yes.”

I calmly stepped into the carriage and the staff closed the door immediately.

Immediately, a heavy lock sounded with a click.

The inside of the carriage, which covered all the windows with wooden boards, was so dark that I couldn’t see an inch ahead.

It must have been blocked so that the way to the base could not be found, but when I was left alone in the dark, my heart pounded for no reason.

The carriage began to rattle with the sound of the whip.

I tried to gauge my position by looking at the direction of the carriage’s turn, but I quickly got lost.

There was no turning back now.

I have no choice but to hope that Knoxus will follow properly.

The carriage ran for a long time.

By the time my hunger, which had barely been soothed by the poor bread, began to squeeze my stomach unbearably, the carriage had barely stopped.

“Get off!”

The door thundered open and light poured down.

I closed my eyes reflexively.

I was dragged away by rough hands.

When I finally opened my eyes, I saw a courtyard in the forest. The crows roamed around, crying ominously.

And in the middle of the courtyard stood a giant wooden fort, like a cage.

Swallowing my breath, the large base is far more comprehensive than I thought it would be.

The coachman dragged me in front of the soldier guarding the entrance to the fortress.

“Newcomer. Take her to Baron Geoffrey once her wound is healed.”

“I understand. Well done.”

The guard put a bag over my head.

My field of vision was blocked again.

The door opened and a heavy hand led me.

So far, I had been dragged around and had to guess what was happening by the sound.

“Baron Geoffrey’s item has arrived.”

I heard the door open one more time and was dragged away.

Soon, the sack I was wearing over my head was removed

In the narrow room hung several sets of clothes of the same design.

The woman who was organizing her clothes handed me one of them.

“Change into this.”

As I looked around, the woman suddenly threatened as if she thought I would run away.

“I’m a female knight, so don’t do anything nonsense. I can suppress you even with one hand.”

“I’m not running away…….”

I began to take off my clothes slowly to relax her vigilance, but she remained on guard.

“Can’t you do it quickly?”

The guard began to take off my clothes herself, as if she didn’t like my slow behavior.

The shabby fabric was easily torn apart by the heavy touch.

“What’s wrong with you?….”

I sniffed and pretended to be afraid, but I didn’t rebel.

When I took off all my clothes, the guard scanned my body.

“You’re in bad shape.”

In the meantime, the Duke of Baloa’s body, which had not properly eaten due to the threat of poisoning, was perfect for disguising as a poor woman.

The guard, who deliberately examined the wounds drawn all over my body and the large bruise covering half of my face, clicked his tongue.

“It’ll take weeks to heal.”

It was what I wanted.

I smiled inside and tried to put on the clothes that the guard gave me, but she grabbed me by the shoulder again.

“What is this?”

Her hand felt at the back of my neck. The cheap necklace was ripped off with a snap.

“Oh! Mother’s keepsake!”

I clung to the arms of the guard.

“Why are you taking it away? Give it back!”

“How dare you touch me!”

She pushed me away at once. I fell on my butt with a thud.

“You are a slave now.”

The guard, who snorted at my funny backside, put the cheap necklace in her pocket.

“Don’t you know that slaves can’t have private property?”

“S, slave?”

“Yes.”

The guard came close to me.

“You are a slave who will soon be sold to a noble lord named the Baron Geoffrey. So behave like a slave.”

“B, but! He said he would give me a lot of bread if I rode the carriage.”

I squeezed out the tears again.

“I’ll give you a lot of bread.”

The guard grinned.

“If you obey, you will never starve or tremble in the cold again.”

“Really……?”

She swept my face lightly.

“Yes, wouldn’t it be better to live as a slave than to starve to death?”

I nodded slowly, as if to accept the words.

“Yes…. Yes….….”

When I picked up my clothes, the guard smiled satisfactorily and tapped on the pocket containing the necklace.

I sniffed around my eyes and covered my smile with the back of my arm.

That necklace was bait.

It was necessary to smuggle flares into the base, but there was no place to hide them.

So I purposely wore a noticeable necklace to distract them from searching my body.

The really important flares was woven into a bunch of thick hair.

The security guard, who confiscated the cheap necklace as expected, fell into the illusion that he had finished the search, and only tapped his pocket with a proud face, but did not look at me more.

When I finished dressing, the guard handed me a small ring.

“It’s a parasite medicine. You can’t be infected with a parasite. It’s good for your body, so swallow it all at once.”

What do you mean by parasite medicine? It’s probably poison.

I sniffed at the pills.

There was a bitter smell. I quickly reduced its possible identity to dozens of poisons.

“What are you waiting for? I told you to swallow it.”

I shrugged and groaned as the guard became nervous.

“I don’t like medicine…….”

I looked into her eyes and licked the ring slightly.

Starting with a slightly sour bitter taste, the end taste ends with a spicy taste that makes my tongue sting slightly.

The possibilities narrowed down to ten.

“Can’t you swallow it quickly?”

The guard raised her hand at my procrastination.

If I dilly-dally more, I’ll be forced to swallow.

I hurriedly put the pill in my mouth and chewed it tightly instead of swallowing it.

The spiciness spread in my mouth.

Now, there are five candidates.

The guard began to threaten sharply when I coughed at the spicy taste.

“Why did you chew it? Swallow it!”

No matter how much I chew and savor the taste, the possibilities did not decrease from five.

Do I have to swallow it and see the symptoms of poison?

I ended up gulping down the pill.

And I waited for the symptoms to develop.

“Look, are you pretending to eat?”

The guard’s hand opened my mouth in a ferocious manner. She nodded satisfactorily only after confirming that her mouth was completely empty.

“Why are you chewing so cluelessly? You can swallow it.”

“Is this… is this it?”

I frowned.

“Yes.”

The guard put a bag back over my head and dragged me away. A little anxiety began to bloom inside me.

Soon after, with a thud, the woman pushed me somewhere.

The bag came off immediately. The place I entered was inside the detention center.

“Don’t think about running away.”

The guard locked the door of the detention center and smiled fishyly.

“The pill you took is actually poison. If you don’t take the antidote we give you, you won’t last long.”

The guard pointed to other slaves crouching in the detention center.

“Ask them if you don’t believe me. What happened to those who tried to escape.”

The anxiety that was gradually getting bigger eventually reached its peak.

I ended up sitting down.

The guard snorted as if he thought I was scared to hear him, but I wasn’t nervous about the fact that I was poisoned.

It was the other way around.

“I definitely ate…….”

No matter how long I wait, I have no symptoms.

The possibilities are no longer narrowed down to five.

☆*: .｡.  .｡.:*☆

“Right, find it! Find it!”

Cardan looked pitifully at Knoxus, waving a pouch containing pipora pollen to the search dog.

The wagon from the Gubinwon followed well to the center of the capital.

However, after arriving at the center, it became difficult to follow. The wagon of the Gubinwon quickly disappeared after mixing among dozens of similar wagons laid on busy roads.

Knoxus, who missed the carriage, immediately released the search dog.

“Good boy! Good boy!”

Thanks to the strong support of the Knoxus, the search dog began to sniff at the floor. After going around for a long time, he barked furiously toward the road leading to the outskirts.

“He must have found a clue, Your Majesty!”

Knoxus made a fuss pointing at the search dog.

“The carriage went out to the side of the boulevard!”

Cardan walked past a search dog still sniffing on the road with his tongue clattering.

“Leave your dog behind.”

“Where are you going?”

Knoxus gave a snack to the dog as if it were a reward and cried out.

“The slaves base.”

Cardan glanced up at the sky where a crow was cutting through.

“I’ve located it.”

Looking at Cardan striding away, Knoxus scratched his head.

“How do you know that?”

“Arf!”

The search dog barked in agreement.

“Are you not coming?”

When Cardan turned around and came to work, Knoxus looked at Cardan with suspicious eyes.

That emperor, apparently, was suspicious.

During his time as a captain of the Guards, he’s always seen him running around and playing like a jerk.

It seemed that the method the master left behind was more certain than the emperor.

“You’ve found a clue at best, but I’ll go as the dog leads.”

Cardan smiled in vain at the irreverent look of the Knoxuss.

“Whatever.”

Without hesitation, Cardan turned around and hurried his steps.

It was quite funny to see himself not being trusted by just one of those poor guys, but there was no more time to delay.

The anxiety that had occurred from the moment Erina got on the wagon suddenly grew bigger and began to tighten his heart.

“Eleanor.”

Cardan murmured softly.

If something happens to Erina, even Eleanor is in danger.

This anxiety must be caused by his concern for Eleanor.