CH 65

Bang.

The iron door closed in front of me.

Things got messed up again.

I looked at the iron door in vain.

They took Richard to the annex where the construction was completed this morning. It happened so suddenly that I stood blankly in front of the iron door.

I didn’t expect him to make ‘it’ already.

Argen, you crazy bastard. 

Argen made a “punishment room” as if he planned to keep Richard in line.

‘I didn’t care because it came out later in the original story—’

Perhaps because of Richard’s frequent escape, he brought the case forward.

Argen, who came with his knights early in the morning, dragged Richard to the punishment room, where he punished him for his recent rampage.

<For a crazy bastard, punishment is medicine>

<Even if your body hurts, if you keep moving, you can break your mind.>

Leaving a line like a punishment. 

As Argen said, the punishment room is a room that makes people suffer mentally.

There was a spell hanging in the room. It brings up a person’s trauma over and over again and makes it worse.

I know that Richard is mentally strong, but—.

Can he stand it? 

He endures it well in the original story, so won’t it go well this time too?

I’m worried.

Besides, I was the one who told him to pretend to be crazy— I’m going crazy.

Things have already gone wrong twice before my eyes.

And come to think of it—.

<I’m sorry I won’t be able to see the maid soon.>

Richard said that.

Did he expect this situation? It’s as if he knew beforehand of the existence of the punishment room—.

Richard’s spy worked in the annex, so his spy might have noticed.

But Richard had no way of knowing unless the spy told him about it.

‘How did the spy get the news to Richard?’

Perhaps Richard had already guessed that he could enter the punishment room.

…He knows, but he has to act like he’s crazy to fool Argen.

I looked at the iron door. 

To be precise to Richard, who must be suffering beyond the iron door.

I wanted to ask if he was right. But this place was guarded by gatekeepers.

“Rosie, didn’t you hear the news that you don’t have to come for a while?”

This voice—.

I sighed and turned back to the man.

“It’s been a while, Eric-ssi.”

“Why don’t you pretend to be happy to see me?”

“It’s nice to see you.”

Eric’s eyebrows wriggled when I answered with no sincerity.

“Why are you still standing here? You must have grown quite attached to being the monster’s exclusive maid, haven’t you?”

It seems that Eric has a bad feeling for me because of the last meeting.

“But what to do? There is magic in this room.”

I know that.

“Until the ‘punishment’ is over, the door can never be opened using any force. So, Rosie, you can’t see that monster even if you want to see it.”

“So, why is Eric-ssi here?”

“That’s because I was assigned here.”

I’m not so lucky.

I nodded roughly for now.

Not only did I feel tired when I talked to him, but I didn’t feel like dealing with him.

“Then, Eric, will you deliver the meal?”

“Didn’t you just hear it? The door won’t open until the punishment is over there.”

“…Then how does he eat?”

“I already put it in there in advance.”

—Oh, is that so?

I don’t have to worry about Richard starving.

“I guess you’re worried about the monster, huh?”

“My role was to be an exclusive maid, so I was just asking out of curiosity. I’m done, so I’ll just leave.”

I took a quick look at Eric and the guards standing there.

…As I can see, they didn’t look very good.

When I’m talking to Eric, there are some who give me a stinging look.

Sure enough, not-so-good things happened here while I was away.

******

It was when I came out of the annex.

“You’re Maid Rosie, aren’t you?”

A servant approached me.

“Who are you?”

“I am a servant of Herthas’s first Young Master.”

A servant of Dylan Herthas.

Why the hell did you come to me?

‘…you don’t recognize me as Rose, so I guess you haven’t been serving Dylan for long.’

Should I be grateful for this fact?

“Does Herthas’s first Young Master have anything to do with me?” 

“The Young Master I serve wants to see maid Rosie.”

“…Damn it.”

“Yes? I’m sorry, but I didn’t hear what you said.”

“It’s nothing.”

Why is Dylan asking me to see him?

“…I’m sorry, but I have something to do.”

“Then, can you tell me when you can meet him?”

A nobleman can’t keep his time on the maid’s schedule.

Is that how much he wants to meet me?

Just why? 

“For what reason is the Young Master of Herthas calling me?”

“…I don’t know that either.”

“I see. I should go if the Young Master called me, but I don’t think I can go unless there’s a good reason.”

The servant seemed surprised because he had no idea the answer of refusal would be returned.

“I don’t think the Marquis would like me to have a personal meeting with another aristocratic son. I hope you understand.”

“Maid Rosie, don’t—” 

“I’m sorry. I’ll be on my way.”

The servant said something and tried to grab me, but I acted like I didn’t hear and ran away.

‘I’ll be in trouble if I see Dylan.’

I don’t want any more trouble.

But Dylan was more persistent than I thought.

It was in the afternoon.

I had nothing to do as an exclusive maid when Richard entered the punishment room.

So I spent time with the chef in the kitchen after a long time.

The chef gave me the leftover dessert because he thought I was having a hard time. I was happy and ate the dessert all up.

But then, I heard a commotion outside the kitchen.

“I heard there is a maid named Rosie here, right?”

…Damn it.

That voice was definitely Dylan.

I looked at the chef with trembling eyes.

But the chef didn’t seem to understand my call for help. Damn it.

I looked around hurriedly. I need a place to hide, a place to hide.

I quickly grabbed a large plastic bowl and hid in the kitchen corner.

“…What are you doing, Rosie?”

The chef was bewildered when I suddenly did something strange.

“Chief, please hide me. If that person comes in and finds me, please say you don’t know unconditionally!”

“Why—”

“You’ll do it, right?”

“Y, yeah. I won’t let him in at all.”

The chef looked shaky but walked out of the kitchen as if to do my favor.

“I heard a loud noise and came to check it out. Aren’t you a guest from Herthas? What’s the matter—” 

“I heard there’s a maid named Rosie here, right?”

“It’s true that Rosie just came, but she’s not here now.”

Chef, you’re good!

I cheered for the chef in my heart.

“Really? Then where did she go?”

“I don’t know….”

“So you don’t know.” 

It seemed like things were going well. But the moment I was about to take the bowl in peace.

“Can I go into the kitchen and check by myself?”

Dylan throws the bomb.

What is he saying now?

“Y, you can’t!” 

“Why?”

“The kitchen is a place where meals are served to the Marquis, so it must be kept clean at all times. So we can’t bring in outsiders.”

The reason he was trying so hard to stop Dylan from going in was so strong that it felt like he was a chef who loved his kitchen very much.

It feels like it’s not as important as other things.

“…I see. I’m leaving.”

Fortunately, Dylan wasn’t more stubborn.

As he left, I breathed a sigh of relief and took off the bowl.

…But why is he suddenly looking for me?

I hope he never comes again.

But my wish could never come true. This was just the beginning.

From the next day onwards, hell really unfolded.

Dylan started looking for me in earnest.

*****

It was all dark.

It was a room that showed trauma.

Richard was stunned.

Does he have anything called a trauma?

It wasn’t because he was mentally strong or because he had a healthy mind. 

Still, many of his memories were not very clear.

His memories were scattered to pieces.

He lost his very childhood memories and some of his growing up.

The point where his memories started and kept going was fairly recent.

But trauma—.

In a yard, where he doesn’t know his identity because he doesn’t have memories—.

Richard laughed. For some reason, this situation felt insignificant. 

The magic got into Richard’s mind and brought up the trauma he had been through.

Even though he didn’t remember anything, a strange, painful, angry, and helpless feeling filled his throat.

That was the beginning of hell.