CH 21

Then he halted. To be precise, he fixed his gaze towards the flowerpots. While the deep purple eyes were staring at this side, I wondered if my heart might burst out because it kept beating like crazy.

Did I get caught? Did I? Aigoo, Duke, Madam, Mom! Please protect this girl!

“Your Highness?”

Your wha…? More than that– it was a voice that sounded quite familiar.

In my frightened sight, I saw the Viscount Ipolit walking slowly into the balcony. The unexpected gaze that had been piercing toward this side finally moved.

“Ah, Viscount.”

“I was wondering where you were. Why are you here alone?”

“…I was just admiring the scenery.” 

So, that flower boy I had never seen before was not just a noble Young Master, but a prince. No, more than that, why did Jerome come all the way here again? Should I say it’s a relief, or not? 

[tl/n: did I already explain what a flower boy is? Just in case- is a word used to describe meek good looking men. Usually, flower boys have a ‘feminine’ attractiveness rather than looking sharp or strong]

“The glass greenhouse in the Serpente residence is famous for its romantic origins. Would you like to take a look around?”

“Next time. This much is fine.”

Perhaps my earnest prayer had been fulfilled, the flower prince turned around and left the balcony as if he had not seen me before. Viscount Ipolit also followed suit. No, it looked like it.

“Wheew…”

For some reason, everyone seemed to have a hobby of sighing alone. As Jerome, who seemed to let out a sigh of exhaustion, took out a cigarette and lit it, I moved my body behind the flowerpot. If not now, there was no other chance.

“What…”

I won’t mention how Jerome’s expression changed as soon as he saw me popping out of one corner of the balcony. The jade-colored eyes seemed to be almost the size of a plate, and the next moment, I found myself shaking to the point where my teeth clashed with my shoulders clasped in Jerome’s rough hands.

“Have you ever seen such a crazy girl! You– how the hell are you… How dare you get out and come here… What if someone even saw you?! If His Highness had seen you…”

“Miss is ill!”

At the same time as I spoke half-screaming, the shaking stopped. Jerome clasped my shoulder with his hand, looking into my eyes with the eeriest look. It’s not that I had not considered the possibility that Harris delivered the contents of the note I had written, and Jerome had deliberately ignored it. Nevertheless, Jerome was the only one I could cling to right now. At least last winter, he seemed sincere as he promised to get his niece and nephews out somehow.

“What did you…?”

“Miss Estelle is sick. It’s already been four days since her fever started, and if you don’t call a doctor right away, she’ll die!”

*     *     *

Just like when I had left, I was dragged back by our lunch service.

Thud! The mirror door was slammed shut behind my back, almost as if I was thrown in. As I staggered and fell to the floor, the two brothers literally ran up to me with shocked expressions on their faces.

“Sasha!”

“Where the hell have you been?!”

Apparently, they woke up in the middle of the night and found out that I was gone, so they were making a fuss. I barely opened my mouth, grabbing the hands they were holding toward me, and getting up.

“Well, I went out and talked to your uncle.”

“What? How the hell did you…”

“In the cart. I hid inside it.” 

Lettis’ mouth went agape. Lights of impression and astonishment intersected in his wide azure eyes. His expression inquired about how I was able to do such a crazy thing. Venya was equally astonished, staring at me blankly with a quite formidable expression on his face.

“So what happened? How things… Uncle?”

Lettis’ question was cut off as the mirror door, which had been tightly closed, opened once again. Soon afterward, Viscount Ipolit, with a seriously hardened face, and Harris, holding a booklet and a lamp in both hands, entered. The two went straight upstairs without looking at us. The three of us exchanged glances for a moment, then followed them. Inside the terribly hot hideout, an even more excruciating heat hit me.

“Estelle, dear.” 

“…Sa– Sasha?”

In the brightly lit bedroom with candlesticks and lamps, Estelle looked like a young ghost and blinked her wide eyes helplessly. She didn’t even seem to recognize her uncle. I walked over to the bedside and covered Estelle’s sweaty face with my hand. As it had been for a while now, it was like a fireball.

“Viscount, Miss needs a doctor. As you can see, it’s not a symptom that can be solved with just regular medicine. You have to bring a doctor here somehow!”

Jerome looked down at his niece’s body with a blank expression, then slowly lifted his gaze and looked at me. It was as if he couldn’t hear me, with his jade-colored eyes looking at me half-dazed as if he was out of his mind. So I cried desperately again.

“Certainly, there must be a way. You have to hurry. If she keeps going like this, she’s going to die!”

“…”

“Viscount!”

Jerome still remained silent. The one who responded was none other than Harris, who was standing upright like a stone statue next to him.

Slap–!

For a moment I almost thought it was the sound of my skull being magnificently cracking. The shock came first, pain came second. I think I now know exactly what the expression ‘lightning strikes in front of your eyes’ means. Tears welled up and at the same time, the strength drained from my knees. 

Waaaaahhhh! My brain!

As I sat down, whining, clutching my head, Harris, who mercilessly slapped my head with the booklet he was holding, turned to look at Jerome. Then, he opened his mouth as if he was displeased.

“This is why I told you to just leave it to me. The banquet was at its peak, and at such a time you stepped back and…”

“Hey! Who are you to hit her?!”

Harris, who had been speaking calmly, and Jerome, who had only rolled his eyes as if he was absentminded, flinched and turned their heads at the same time. I also raised my head, rubbing my throbbing head. Then I saw Lettis, deadly pale and stiff as if overwhelmed, and Venya, who was advancing with his deep blue eyes burning.

“Who do you think you are to touch her!”

Oh my gosh, my eardrums. Still, the painful head rings more painfully… emotionally. Humans, we are in front of a patient now remember?!

Harris, who willingly committed violence in front of the patient, whether he was startled for a moment or something, he just looked at Venya in a way that was no way to look at your superiors. And Venya didn’t seem to like that reaction.

Crash! The lamp fell to the floor and shattered. It happened so quickly that I didn’t even have a chance to stop him. Even if I tried to stop it, it would have been useless.

It’s true. Venya was just about to have his fifteenth birthday. But no matter how much he grew, he still had the body of just a boy. And the opponent he was attacking was an adult twice as big as him.

“I asked who you are to lay a hand on Sasha!”

At this sudden attack, Harris seemed very startled at first and staggered trying to avoid him, but then, as if he couldn’t stand it any longer, he grabbed the arm of the boy who was throwing fists at his body and pushed him with all his might.

Crash–! A scream erupted from my mouth.

“Venya!”

Venya, who flew to the table and collided with it, jumped up immediately. But Lettis was faster than that. In the blink of an eye, he snatched the candlestick from the table and ran, swinging it mercilessly.

Pack! If Harris had not raised one arm and blocked it by a narrow margin, his brain, smashed by a rusty five-tier candlestick, would have stained the carpets. At the same time, the whole place was dyed black. It was a natural result as both the lamps and the candlesticks had lost their life.

While all the commotion unfolded in an instant, Jerome continued staring blankly at the scene. It seemed that he had no intention of stopping or protecting his nephews. And no matter how much we sank, our spirit fled along with the arrival of darkness. 

I thought there was a bustling movement in the dark, and then I heard the sound of footsteps rushing down the stairs. And finally, pang! The majestic sound of the mirror door slamming shut with a bang made the grand finale.

There was silence for a moment. Only the low moans and heavy breaths that Estelle made while ill were floating in the quietness.

I crawled and opened the shelf drawer near the bed. Then I took out a match and candles and barely lit it. Only then I could see the bedroom transformed into a shipwreck. Fragments of the shattered lamp were scattered everywhere, and in the middle of it was Lettis, standing with a candlestick in one hand, gasping for breath. Behind him, Venya staggered toward me.

“Are you okay?”

Okay? Am I okay? I tried to show a smile. But, as if the muscles around my mouth had been paralyzed, it didn’t move.

“Are you okay…?”

It was a voice that didn’t sound like my own at all, it felt as if I was about to cry.

We said nothing more. Instead, I turned on some more lights and started cleaning the floor. The two boys mopped diligently while I swept up the debris with a broom. Our slippers were on the verge of falling apart because they had become ragged, so it would be a big deal if there were shards left.

After cleaning, I drank some water and returned to Estelle’s side. While I was wiping Estelle’s hot face and back of her neck with a towel soaked in cold water, the two boys dragged chairs, sat down, and whispered something among themselves.

“…Do you still like your birthday presents so much?”

“…It’s because of my father’s keepsake, you idiot.”

Then they started begging me to tell them what I saw when I went outside and what happened. I confessed how I hid on the balcony and everything else except that I almost got caught by some prince.

That’s how my reckless night of adventure ended. Even though it was a gamble with my own life, all that remained were questions. Will Viscount Ipolit bring a physician? Did he really know nothing for the past four days? How will Harris come from now on? What should I do if they shamelessly play with food in revenge for being beaten by children? No, if it doesn’t come at all… if you decide to kill us all… 

But even if that really happened, even if my risky adventures had been futile, I couldn’t blame Venya or Lettis. Even if one day I would die again, or even if I had to be reincarnated in another world and live a new life, what happened that night would never be forgotten and would be imprinted on my soul forever.

I will never forget and treasure that memory for a long time.