CH 28

Yesterday evening, Estelle started coughing again, and I was worried. When I checked in the morning, it seemed that she had a little fever too. I warmed her up, and I placed wet towels here and there so that she could get as much sleep as possible. I was nervous. Although we would be getting out of here in a day, I couldn’t be sure how things would turn out.

While Estelle was sleeping, wrapped in a wool blanket, the three of us shared a cold sausage and hard bread, leftovers from yesterday’s meal, and started the operation in earnest. After lighting a single candlestick on the lower floor where you couldn’t tell whether it was day or night, we all dispersed to our respective positions. I sat down on a chair right next to the table with the candlestick and started sewing, and Lettis leaned against the wall next to the mirror door, pretending to skip through a book. On the back cover of the strangely titled [How To Count Gold Coins In a Way Of Preserving Traditional Values], there was a slender belt wrapped around the back of a worn-out leather binding. Venya picked up the piece of wood that had been cut nicely for several days using a blunt blade of scissors and settled down in the middle of the stairs. The stairway connecting the upper and lower floors was impossible to climb without a candle, so it was impossible to see if someone was there. 

And then it was just about waiting. A frenetic battle of patience and anxiety. We didn’t know when our meal would come today, or if it would come at all, so we couldn’t leave our positions. Because there was a strong possibility that even if one of us fails, the whole plot would crumble. 

In that endless waiting, not knowing whether the time had passed or not, I tried to concentrate by poking the needle. What I was making was like the fifth Mr. Wendy. Unlike the first attempt, which was sloppy, I was quite proud that it had a decent shape as it went on. 

‘Although it cannot be compared to the original real-fur and jeweled-eyed rabbit…’

When I finally caught a glimpse of the mirror door opening, I had just sewed the sixth Mr. Wendy’s ear. Even though I had vowed to stay calm, the needle slipped and fell to the floor as I unconsciously shivered. Oh, Gosh!

It seemed that the guess I made as a joke was right. As a matter of fact, after a long time, Harris was pushing a cart exuding a delicious scent rather than the sour smelly tray. He, finding Lettis sitting right next to him, halted for a moment. For a brief moment, as Lettis tried to put on a face that claimed to be frightened, I jumped up. Then, holding the sewing thread in both hands, I approached and mumbled,

“Um… Sir– mister Butler, Miss Estelle has a very bad fever. Can you bring some painkillers–?”

I was pretending to be timid as much as I could, but because I was so nervous, my voice came out trembling like an aspen tree. Right then, Harris turned his gaze away from Lettis and looked down at me. Black eyes gleamed with a mean hue.

“Speak again. What did you say?”

‘This son of a…? Looks like you’re aiming at my head again. If only I had a way to know what kind of resentment was built up in his head.’

“I mean… the lady is so sick, so, can you bring some painkillers… gasp!”

A shriek nearly came out. It was an instant until Lettis, who was slowly getting up from behind, jumped up like a spring and hung on Harris’ back. To be exact, the belt was hung around Harris’ neck and Lettis clung onto it as hard as he could! Exactly as we practiced dozens of times.

“Y—!”

I couldn’t exactly tell what Harris was trying to shout after the sudden attack. It was probably an insult. In any case, at the same time, the gangster-like attendant, who was waiting in the hallway outside the door, jumped in with a terrifying appearance like an angry King Kong.

“Again these–!!”

Whatever he was going to say next, he was knocked off by a boy that abruptly jumped from the right side of the stairs. As I took a deep breath, I heard a dull, sticky sound, and then a thick fishy smell pricked my nose. 

I opened my eyes wide. 

The servant, who was still standing stiff as a rod, and Venya, who was almost clinging to him, came into view. The object in Venya’s hand was not the wooden spear he had worked so hard to make. It wasn’t even the scissors he used to make the wooden spear. It was none other than a fountain pen. The fountain pen Lettis received on his 16th birthday last year. A keepsake from the late Duke. Narrowly missing King Kong’s eyes, about half of it was deeply embedded near his temple. 

As a few eternally short seconds passed, King Kong moved his lips as if he was about to say something, raised a hand that looked like a pot lid, and grabbed Venya’s shoulder. It seemed like he was trying to shake him off, but Venya was clinging on to him with all his might. 

THUD- soon after, King Kong fell to the floor with a huge noise. 

“…Haak!”

There was another thud, and at the same time, Lettis let out a scream. With him hanging from his back, Harris rushed towards the wall with all his might, stretched his hand, and grabbed the boy’s face. As if possessed by something, I threw away the needlework on my arms and moved to pick up the candlestick on the table. Then I closed my eyes tightly and swung it as hard as I could.

Puck–!!!

‘Gosh, I was supposed to use the needle. What can I do if I dropped it earlier?’

As the candle went out, the room suddenly became dark. A faint light from the lamp was coming in from outside the open door. A moment of silence passed. We were all gasping for breath and staring at the two men stretched out on the floor with blank, astonished eyes. Then, all at once, we looked at each other alternately.

“Did they die…?”

It was a question whispered by all to one another and ourselves at the same time. Of course, there was no answer. Whether two died or were unconscious, It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We immediately came to our senses and moved quickly. While Venya picked up the wooden spear he had left on the stairs and watched the two unconscious adults, Lettis and I ran upstairs to wake Estelle.

“Estelle, Estelle, wake up. Let’s go.”

“Mmh… What’s the matter? Where are we going?”

“We’re leaving here.”

“Today…? Can’t we go tomorrow?”

It may be because of the heat, Estelle couldn’t come to her senses. While Lettis was carrying Estelle, I pulled out my gown and wrapped it around her shoulder. As we went down the stairs again, Venya was half poking out the door, holding a lamp in one hand and a fountain pen soaked in blood in the other. The blood-stained snake decoration engraved in the center of the pen was particularly conspicuous.

“Let’s go.”

My heart leaped as if it was going to explode. We clung to each other and walked fast through the long hallway to the front of the lift. After getting on the lift side by side, there was a moment’s hesitation. Our agitated gazes moved silently. The same fear and suspicions filled our still young eyes. What if there were guards out there? Or other servants? It was as if truly loud noises were coming from out there. Maybe it was just an auditory hallucination caused by our anxiety. Whatever it was, it would be better than dying and decomposing inside. With that determination, I grabbed the handle above my head and pulled it down.

Clank-! Something was strange. It wasn’t like that when I hid in the cart alone, but now, as we all went down on the lift in anxious silence, strangely, the last moments of my past life keep coming to mind.

‘What kind of prognosis is this? Do I think we’ll never get out of this lift? Or is it the fate of my soul to be locked up in some place, whether it’s an elevator or in a well-decorated bell tower, and eventually die? Why does it feel like the loud noises from before are getting closer and closer?’

Clank- The floor shook lightly as the clanking sound resounded again. A narrow and dim passage could be seen outside the wire-netted lift door. 

I took the lead and moved forward. Venya was next to me, and Lettis followed behind with Estelle on his back. We were all barefoot, so there was no sound as we walked across the hard stone floor. Only when we reached the small wooden door at the end of the passage, did we stop and look at each other again.

No sound seemed to be coming from outside. As expected, what I heard earlier was just a hallucination. If not… All sorts of thoughts came to mind throughout the brief moment I raised my hand and grabbed the doorknob. 

What if there’s someone out there? What if there are traps set?

Nevertheless, I opened the door. No, It’s better to say it opened. As I grabbed the doorknob and tried to pull it, the person on the other side pushed.

“Uuk–”

The sound of someone breathing heavily rang out. It might be me, it might be Venya, Lettis, or Estelle. Maybe it was all of us. In any case, we all stared blankly at each other on the spot. Me, the three siblings, and the people we encountered.

A giggling sound seemed to ring in my ears. It was as if the god of April Fool’s Day was laughing into my ears. Beyond the door was the dazzling spring glow. Under the golden sunlight, golden epaulets, bronze buttons, scabbards, and gunstock gleamed dazzlingly. But the most dazzling of all was the badge on their berets.

A pair of snakes wrapped around in a gold coin. All of a sudden, the hands that were holding each other became even tenser. The next moment, a voice rang out. It was an unbelievable, polite, and upright voice.

“I found you, Young Duke.”