CH 78

Author: rolypoly

The fever has risen.

I feel like my whole body is boiling as if I’m in a fire.

My consciousness was faint, and I felt like I was going to collapse, but I forcibly grabbed the rope that was getting thinner and thinner as if it were going to break.

I couldn’t figure out if this were right or wrong.

I just followed the plan that was made with poor judgment. 

“The monster is trying to steal the knife and escape!” 

When I shouted, the knights immediately moved. 

The knights who had been standing guard all day were tired, but this was their chance to move forward.

They knew very well how dangerous Richard was.

They drew their swords and approached Richard, and I’m going to take back the knife. 

Only Richard looked at me, not knowing how things were going. 

We were supposed to run away together, maid. 

It was definitely such an eye.

I turned my head, pretending not to see.

When I faced those blue eyes in the midst of the fever, my whole body felt cold.

“Put down your weapon now!”

“Throw it out of the carriage!”

The knights drew their swords and shouted while alerting Richard. 

Richards looked at me, holding on to the blade I dropped.

In an instant, He turned his blue eyes into deep hatred.

“Ha….”

Richard laughed.

Suddenly he burst out laughing. But then, the knights got stiff.

They didn’t know what the monster was thinking, so they didn’t know what to do.

Soon, Richard grabbed the restraint ball as if tearing it apart. 

Clank—.

There was a sound as if the restraint ball had been breaking. The restraint ball endured Richard’s power until the end as if struggling not to break. 

Soon, light erupted from the restraint sphere.

The restraint ball’s power exploded like a rebound, trying to dispel Richard’s power.

Argen gave him drugs, so now Richard must have no power to resist the restraint—.

Crack—.

It was as if the restraints were about to break.

“Cough.”

Red blood flowed from Richard’s lips.

The knights couldn’t believe what they saw. Apparently, the restraints also break even after taking drugs—.

“What are you doing! Knock that monster out right now!”

“Don’t let him break the ball!”

Here, the words of the highest-ranking knight brought the other knights to come to their senses.

The knights jumped at Richard.

The trained knights knew where to hit a person to fall. 

It was a one-sided beating.

“You cockroach!”

Someone shouted at Richard, who was strongly resisting.

I froze at the sight. Was it right for me to try to do this?

Maybe because of illness or this situation, I can’t think straight at all.

Only instinct and the plan I remembered moved me.

When Richard was overpowered, he was covered in blood.

I thought I’d stop all this plan, but—.

There are 10 minutes left until the time predicted by Anri.

That thought got me hooked.

How foolish. Even after seeing that scene, I spit out the words written in the plan.

“The Marquis told me to throw the monster in the punishment room if he did something wrong.” 

There is a big difference between these knights and the guards at the banquet hall’s entrance. 

“…Is that what the Marquis said?”

“Did I then say something I shouldn’t have?”

“…No.” 

The knights here are familiar with me.

They know how Argen treats me.

They have no doubts about what I just said. Stupidly.

I saw Richard kneeling.

The pretentious feeling disappears, and the blue eyes containing nature and primal hatred also look at me.

I still don’t know if the kindness in his blue eyes that once looked at me was sincere or a lie.

But now it doesn’t matter.

The goodwill has faded. His feelings disappeared, and all he felt toward me was anger and hatred.

I had a hunch.

Even if I don’t run away today and stay here and explain to Richard, he will never believe me.

This is what he believed in me.

His red lips, which were tightly closed, made an arc as I thought about it. 

Richard, who looked at me with hatred, suddenly smiled softly.

I thought I was mistaken, but I’m not.

“Did you say your name was Rosie?”

Richard said something completely irrelevant to this situation.

He definitely knows my name.

Hasn’t he called my name a while ago?

Still, asking that question—.

A perfect line was drawn between Richard and me. Maybe now it can never be turned back. 

“I will never forget what happened.”

What Richard had said before was added on top of those words.

<You must never betray me, maid.>

“I will remember your name, too.”

Why the hell did I think Richard laughed softly?

The cold laughter contained a distorted emotion that could not be described in words.

“This bastard! How dare you say something to the maid!”

The knight shouted at Richard.

But Richard didn’t care about the knights and looked at me fiercely.

Those looks made me feel like I was in prison.

In an instant, the knights here disappeared and I felt trapped in the darkness from which I could not get out by myself.

But I turned my head away from him.

I have already turned away from him many times.

I heard Richard’s laughter laughing at me from somewhere. 

And so Richard was taken away. To the punishment room.

I’m left alone here.

Then I leaned against the wall as if I was about to collapse and sat down. 

I stayed still for a while.

When I came to my senses, I managed to get up and see how much time had passed.

The time that Anri had said had passed.

—They said they would kidnap Richard, so I thought maybe a demon worshiper was watching this place.

The punishment room is enchanted, and he can’t leave until the punishment is over. 

So, did I give up on what I had planned, or did Anri lie from the beginning? 

‘Is it important to come now?’

Richard only knows that I betrayed him.

No, in a way, it’s true about the betrayal.

Because I was thinking of tricking him and running away on my own.

Still, if all went according to plan, it wouldn’t have been such a bad relationship.

“…Cough.” 

A cold swept over my body.  I slumped down as I walked like I was swimming in the heat.

I don’t know if it hurts enough to collapse or if I don’t have the strength to move because of what happened today.

In the end, I couldn’t get to my room and go into the annex. 

And went into a nearby empty room.

—Let’s rest for a while and get up.

Then my body will be fine.

As I lay casually on the floor, something fell from my pocket. 

I picked up a rolling bottle.

It was the medicine the chef gave me when he saw me sick.

The warm kindness made me laugh in vain.

I also remembered Emily, who brought me the medicine. 

—What has she thought of me all this time?

Was Emily also a demon worshiper? Like Anri, has she snuck into this place?

So, was I part of her plan?

—Come to think of it, Emily and Rosie had known each other before they came here.

The more I think about it, the worse it gets.

I’m not even Emily’s real friend anyway.

It’s Rose. 

Besides, what kind of personal feelings am I worried about Emily when I hurt someone today?

I stopped thinking about Emily and swallowed the medicine the chef gave me.

The cold liquid flows into the throat.

I closed my eyes tightly, hoping that the medicine would make me get better soon.

When I came to my senses, the surrounding was quiet as if I had fallen into silence.

The annex far from the main building was originally quiet, but today it was especially quiet.

‘I don’t feel sick anymore.’

The medicine must have finally given the effect. 

I forced myself up like I was fixing a broken toy. 

Then I opened the door and went outside.

At that moment, an unidentified fishy smell wafted in.

What does this smell like?

I looked around to figure out the situation.

And soon I found a red liquid on the floor.

Following the liquid, I saw a bleeding knight.

As I followed the liquid, I saw a knight who had fallen and was bleeding.

I knew who this knight was.

It was the knight who swore at Richard that he was like a cockroach.

I don’t know whether the knight was dead or had lost consciousness.

It wasn’t strange to scream, but for some reason, I couldn’t make a sound.

I looked around calmly.

And looked around the mansion.

As I was walking through the mansion, I saw fallen knights.

Instead of making a fuss, I just looked at them and walked.

And then I walked to the front of the punishment room.

The door to the punishment room was wide open.

And there was nobody in it.

Then, the back of my neck became cold.