The clatter was getting closer and closer.

My heart was pounding like crazy and it was hard to even breathe because of the tension.

Then Richard grabbed my chin.

“… You have to breathe.”

“… What the hell are you going to do with me?”

I know what I did wrong to Richard that day.

But I explained the situation, and Richard said he understood too. But why are you doing this?

“I am not the one who imprisoned you! It’s not me! But why are you doing this to me?”

I was just a maid serving Richard’s meal.

Then I got lucky and became an exclusive maid.

“… Please let me go.”

When my anger didn’t work, I relaxed my body and called out to him as if begging.

Richard looked down at me like that and smiled softly. He was still holding me tight.

“Don’t worry. Do I have to sell you out?”

With those words he hugged me. I looked at him in amazement as my body floated up.

“What are you doing?”

“Did you say you didn’t want to be caught?”

Richard carried me into the forest. As I got further and further away from the carriage, my feelings grew darker.

“I have no intention of handing you over to anyone.”

* * *

How far do I have to go?”

Gilbert, who followed the count, gasped and exhaled harshly

The dark forest was shady as if a monster would pop out.

Gilbert saw the Count walking ahead, thinking the forest of the North was ominous.

He’s in good shape too. The Count showed no sign of exhaustion.

The body, which was steadily trained by training every day, did not seem to be tired.

“We’re almost there, Gilbert.”

“Didn’t you say that a while ago! How far do we have to go!””

“Didn’t I say we’re almost there”

The Count’s cold response was different from anything he had ever seen before, Gilbert bit his mouth.

“I have something important to tell you.”

“If you have something to say… ”

“It’s a secret story, so I can’t tell you here, so please follow me calmly.”

“… .”

What the hell are you talking about?

It didn’t seem like a normal story, so Gilbert followed the Count silently.

So they walked for a while.

He had never moved this far in his life, and he must have walked too much.

His legs trembled, and the discomfort he felt for a while came.

The Count stopped when he was about to shout at the Count once more with his anger soaring.

“We’re here.”

There was a hut.

Gilbert followed the Count into the hut.

Several men were waiting inside. At first glance, they looked like knights.

Gilbert looked at the situation curiously.

“… It’s important, but shouldn’t we just let them go?”

“Don’t worry about that, because…”

At that moment, the door to the hut opened again.

Who is it?

Gilbert quickly turned his head towards the door.

A slender man wearing a robe took off his hood.

“… Michelle?”

You’re talking about something in secret, but why is Michelle…

No way!

“Haha!”

Gilbert burst out laughing.

He thought he had brought him here to show how he was dealing with Michelle.

Gilbert believed so without a single doubt.

But that was only for a moment. The Count’s Knights approached Gilbert.

Looking back at them curiously, the knights grabbed Gilbert’s shoulder with strong force and shot him down.

“Ugh!”

All of a sudden, what…!

Gilbert was forced to kneel at the power of the knights.

“Count! What is this!”

“What the hell, you arrogant little bastard.”

The Count rolled his eyes round and smiled.

No way…

Gilbert, having grasped the situation late, turned to Michelle.

“You know that, Uncle. This northern forest is so wide that it is not strange if a person disappears without a mouse or a bird knowing.”

Michelle smiled brightly at Gilbert, terrified face.

* * *

Richard climbed the mountain with me in his arms.

He never took me out of his arms for a moment, never wanting to let me go.

In that state, there was no sign of exhaustion even when climbing the rough mountain. I tried to run away, but I think that’s wrong.

‘It’s because he’s a Transcendent.’

Why the hell are you doing this to me?

“Ech.”

The tip of my nose became cold as I was constantly blown by the cold wind.

Richard looked at me as he covered my cold cheeks with his palms.

“Are you cold?”

“Then wouldn’t it be cold? How many hours have I been exposed to the cold wind?”

He looks like he just found out.

‘You’re not cold.’

He’s a transcendent. I clicked my tongue for being unlucky, but Richard put me down without a word.

I was bewildered not knowing if he would drop me off like this, so I looked at him, and Richard took off his coat and covered me.

I was startled once more when a large robe slid over my shoulder, being kind to the subject of a kidnapper.

“Hold on a little bit. I will take you to a warm place.”

“…….”

“I’ll turn off the stove so it won’t be cold.”

Are you saying that now?

“Where are you going to take me?”

Richard bit his mouth as if he didn’t want to tell me.

He came back to hug me again. I stepped back.

It’s been a few hours and I can’t hold you back.

At first, I was so embarrassed that the accident was stopped.

Of course, it’s still there now, but at least my head seems to be spinning.

“Let’s have a conversation.”

“A conversation?”

“Yeah. I know you are doing this because you hate me.”

Richard smiled as if to say more.

“But do we really need to fight each other like this? Think carefully. There is nothing to gain from doing this.”

After all, just because I’m with you now doesn’t mean that your body will get better.

“I’m really sorry for what I did to you three years ago. But you know now that I had no choice back then.”

“…….”

“So I thought about it. I will give you compensation.”

“A compensation?”

Richard asked as if it was fun.

But I couldn’t even laugh together and nodded my head calmly.

“Yes, compensation.”

“How are you going to compensate me?”

“Tell me how much you want. I’ll give you as much as you want….”

“Ah.”

Richard let out a sigh and burst into laughter.

What the heck was so funny, he laughed out of breath.

When he stopped laughing, he became terribly expressionless. It was so terrifying that I almost took a step backwards for a moment.

‘You can’t back down.’

I must return to Michelle safely.

Michelle is the only one.

I have to go back and protect her.

I know. How Michelle changes when I’m away…….

‘Michelle is an unstable kid.’

Michelle didn’t show it, but she was terribly lonely. Without me, her psychology becomes extremely unstable.

Besides, her body is weak.

I have to go back and watch it.

So I had to convince Richard.

“Do you think I don’t have enough money?”

“… In general, everyone prefers money. If it’s not money, tell me something else. What do you want?”

“What I want….”

After pretending to ponder for a moment, Richard rolled his eyes.

Then he approached me with wide strides.

“Is here”

When he pointed at me, I was speechless for a moment.

“… Is there anything else?”

“What else would I want but you?”

So why me?

Now, to Richard, I was no longer needed.

Then there is only one answer.

‘Do you just want me to suffer?’

Just like he did to Argen in the novel. Does he mean to feel what he’s been through?

So you want to lock me up too?

There are definitely these types.

Those who say they don’t need everything else and are blinded only to revenge.

Richard must be one of them.

‘There is no way for these kinds of people.’

They are like beasts that drool and rush until they achieve what they want.

I calmly took a few steps away from Richard.

I thought about how to make a gap.

Richard watched my actions as if he watched a poor lamb.

If he thinks I’m out of range, he’ll run right away.

I stopped after a while.

“I will ask you one last time. Do you really want anything?”

“I said it was you.”

I quietly put my hand behind my back and dropped the hairpin I had been hiding in my sleeve into the palm of my hand.

I turned the pin invisible to Richard.

“I have to go back. There’s someone who really needs me.”

Richard moved slowly, narrowing his eyebrows as if he didn’t like what I said.

“I’m sorry for you, so I tried to compensate as much as I could.”

But I can’t help it if you say no.

I must go back

Watching Richard approaching closer, I grabbed the hairpin.

Let’s stab him.