CH 24

The first time it happened was on a nice afternoon when the freezing weather wasn’t as bad as previous days. Estelle and Lettis were in the library, and Venya and I were changing the sheets in the bedroom downstairs. The mirror door opened silently and someone came in so unexpectedly unannounced that we froze without tucking the edge of the sheet under the mattress. It was Harris. Behind him, another man dressed as an attendant, who had always brought our meals sneakily like a spy without even the rats knowing, was pulling a new cart.

As if we weren’t staring blankly like fools, the two of them didn’t even look around, they changed carts and closed the door before leaving. It happened so suddenly and in the blink of an eye that I thought I might have had a hallucination. But it wasn’t an illusion. For whatever the reasons, from that day on, Harris showed up at any time to leave the meals without even caring about his role as a spy. Regardless of whether we are watching or not. In addition to that utmost bizarre phenomenon, our meals were beginning to deteriorate.

In the past, even though it was tasteless and you could get sick of it, food that could be called a meal came, but as if we had stayed for longer and had given us more than they thought, hard bread, white stews with unknown ingredients floating around, cheap brick-like biscuits and sour smelly sausages took place. In addition to the quality, the quantity decreased considerably to feed four growing children. Even the tableware didn’t come properly. In the end, it got to the point of tearing down the bookshelf and using it as a substitute for a plate.

Estelle, whose food refusal symptoms were getting worse day by day, often locked herself up somewhere at mealtimes and played hide-and-seek. Lettis and Venya were disgusted at first but eventually forced themselves to eat due to the unavoidable hunger and to set an example to their younger sister. Even so, they couldn’t eat enough.

If they had finally decided to kill us, it would be much quicker and simpler to cut off the supplements altogether or just use poison. But no matter how much I thought about it, there was only one reason why they kept coming to the point they brought garbage-like food we could barely eat without dying.

Whatever the reason, they kept us alive but they didn’t kill us, and now it was clear that even Viscount Ipolit didn’t care about his nephews and niece. Harris, who noticed the atmosphere, along with the servants who knew we were living in this place, did whatever they wanted, being fully aware no one would care. It must be quite cumbersome to bring four meals every day and to make excuses for it. Perhaps it was some kind of revenge for being beaten by Venya and Lettis the other day.

I thought that maybe that was why they went back and forth as they pleased, regardless of whether we were awake or not. I mean, even if we tried to nitpick about the situation, there was nothing else for us to notice anymore, so they started to come just recklessly. 

When I shared my thoughts, Venya agreed. These days, the two of us entrusted each other with any doubts or opinions. The bottom line was always one, let’s find a way to escape from this place somehow.

The problem was Lettis and Estelle. For the four of us to escape, we must all work together, but the condition of the two was absolutely the worst. Especially Lettis. He did not commit any more reckless attempts since last time, but he chatted significantly less and moved with no energy. No matter what I said or asked him, there was no response. His eyes, drained of all energy and life were the same as Estelle’s. She was the only person who provoked a reaction from him. It was sad and eerie at the same time to see the ghost-like siblings sitting together all day whispering incomprehensible words and folding the paper.

Naturally, Venya couldn’t stand the sight of his elder brother. If I hadn’t begged him not to provoke him, just in case, Venya would have probably beaten Lettis until awakening his survival instincts and rekindled his feelings of anger.

As we approached the end of winter, the days began to warm up, but it felt colder because of hunger. To make matters worse, the kerosene for the stove was also running low. There were only a few candles left and no matter how much I tried to save them, they wouldn’t last for two winters. 

Sometimes, I stand in front of the mirror door and stare at it, wondering who the hell it is. Who the hell is that girl in the mirror– that sack of bones, that ghost-like girl with hollow eyes and long, brittle hair? No matter where I look, it’s not the me I knew.

After the New Year’s bell rang, I started marking the date every day. It was to keep a sense of time again. 

And on the day we had been here for 500 days, Estelle started coughing.

*      *      *

My head pounded because of the lack of sleep. Fortunately, Estelle was sleeping soundly upstairs after the dry cough that had been rising all night long had cooled down. The fever didn’t rise like the last time, but I was still worried and couldn’t stand it. Even a simple sore throat could become God knows what in this poor environment.

Lettis sat on the edge of the bed, and Venya sat on a chair by the wall. Neither of them asked any questions when they saw me descending silently and crouching at the end of the stairs. It seemed that we all had the same thoughts. When the mirror door finally opened and Harris came in, we had been silently waiting for hours.

I sprang up from the stairs right away and approached. I opened my mouth calmly towards Harris, who was laying the tray down on the floor.

“Mister, Miss Estelle is very sick.”

Harris didn’t even look at me and spat out.

“Give her painkillers.”

“We ran out of painkillers. She keeps coughing and needs soft food that she can swallow. I also need kerosene to warm our bodies.”

As Harris finally turned towards me, Venya came up behind me and grabbed my shoulder. Meanwhile, Lettis cut in between us and Harris. It all happened in the blink of an eye.

Lettis’ blazing sharp eyes stared at Harris defiantly. The ghost-like figure of the past had vanished in thin air. Even for a moment, he was the same as the little duke from the past, and even stone-wall-like Harris flinched for an instant. 

‘My sister is sick. Aren’t you supposed to bring something other than this garbage for food to eat, butler?”