CH 26

[Edith’s Lamp]

[The lamp of Edith, who aimed the blade of revenge towards her husband at the lighthouse in the Crete Sea. Watching the event for 10 minutes reduces stress by 100.

Durability 30/30]

Blanche used [Edith’s Lamp]. A bunch of colorful lanterns appeared in the prison, which she didn’t know where they came from. In addition, the lanterns floated leisurely through the prison room without a single wind, and disappeared like a mirage when it met the ceiling.

Thanks to this, Blanche and Ricardo were able to gaze at each other quietly under the warm lights of the lanterns.

Unlike yesterday, the air surrounding the two was warm and dreamy.

After Blanche had used [Edith’s Lamp] three times, the light began to return from Ricardo’s blue eyes.

Finally, Ricardo opened his white, swollen lips.

There was a shrill sound in his voice.

“… Is this not a dream? Who are you?”

Blanche confirmed that Ricardo’s stress stat had dropped to 699. Slowly, she stood in front of Ricardo through the lanters that filled the cold prison.

In line with Blanche’s steps, Ricardo also changed his posture and sat neatly on the old bed. So an amazing thing happened.

Blanche was kneeling in front of him. It was to reassure Ricardo, whose stress stat was still high.

“My name is Blanche. You?”

“Ricardo. Ricardo Giotto.”

Blanche put down the lamp on the floor of the cold prison, took out Giulio’s elephant pendant from her inventory and held it out to Ricardo.

“I’m here to give you this.”

Ricardo picked up the elephant pendant with trembling hands. Suddenly, tears welled up in his blue eyes.

Stuttering, Ricardo asked without hesitation.

“Are you from the family? No, did Father send you?”

“No.”

A ripple broke out in his blue eyes like a clear lake at the resolute answer.

Blanche emphasized.

“I came to save you. I didn’t receive any orders or requests from Illia.”

“I see…”

As he shook his head with a bewildered expression, Blanche narrowed her eyes.

“Are you disappointed?”

“No. I…”

“Yes?”

“I have a question for you.”

“What?”

“Did the Giotto family lose the war?”

“Yes.”

Ricardo shook his head and blamed himself.

“It’s my fault. If I had completed my mission safely…”

[System/ Ricardo’s stress increases.]

Blanche used [Edith’s Lamp] one more time, which stopped just in time as she clicked her tongue quietly.

Clumsily she comforted Ricardo.

“You don’t have to blame yourself. Even though they lost the war, the family is now the ruler of the East.”

A look of surprise crossed Ricardo’s face.

“That can’t be possible!”

“Is it possible. Because 『Your Majesty』 helped them.”

“What do you mean by 『Your Majesty』? Amerigo from the Miele family helped us? No way!”

“He didn’t help. Amerigo is dead.”

Ricardo smiled brightly like a flower.

“Then, a new 『Your Majesty』 came out of our family, right? It must be my father! The new 『Your Majesty』 is my father! Right?”

Blanche nodded her head roughly as she didn’t want to raise his stress stat again, and she wanted to run away from the Count as soon as possible.

“Hmm. How similar.”

“Similar?”

Ricardo frowned.

She got up from her seat.

“Go back to Digitalis and see with your own eyes for the details.”

“Okay. Come on, untie this!”

He hurriedly swung his arms tied in chains. However, Ricardo’s expression darkened noticeably as she lifted her jailer’s bundle of keys.

“That’s not it. Those keys, no…! The jailer doesn’t have the key to the restraints. Giacomo has the key!”

Ricardo’s blue eyes contorted as if he was about to cry.

Blanche asked.

“Giacomo? Who is that?”

“It’s Count Juan’s right hand… … .”

As things got complicated, she sighed. In an instant, Ricardo’s heart was impatient as he understood what he had read in Blanche’s expression.

“Don’t go! He comes to me regularly! So…!”

Blanche calmly cut his words.

“It’s okay. I don’t have time to listen anymore.”

Ricardo cried out evilly.

“I will scream if you leave me! I’m going to make a fuss so the soldiers can come and catch you!”

“…….”

“Please, don’t leave me alone! Get me out of this hell! Please!”

Observing his reaction without hesitation, Blanche informed the truth.

“I didn’t say I was leaving you.”

She grabbed the restraints that were thickly wrapped around Ricardo’s wrists with both hands. Blanche cut the restraints like slicing an apple in half.

Ricardo’s eyes widened as if they were about to pop out at the astonishing sight.

He smiled as Blanche passed by him who had become quiet.

“Are your hands really that strong?”

Suddenly, the boy’s face heated up.

[System/ Ricardo’s stress increases.]

Blanche sighed and spoke to herself.

“If you tease me one more time, it’ll be a big deal.”

“… what?”

“Nothing. More than that, can you stand up?”

“Of course.”

Ricardo answered confidently. But Blanche already knew. The fact that he only has 12 stamina.

As soon as Ricardo got up from his seat, he staggered like a newborn giraffe, and fell on his bu++.

She chewed up, swallowed and digested her irritation as much as she could.

“Don’t overdo it. Let’s wait a little longer to escape. The wedding starts in a week, so we’ll take advantage of the chaos and escape.”

But Ricardo shook his head as if he would die if he didn’t escape now.

“No! Then again, that man, Giacomo, will come to visit me!”

Rather than asking what the hell Giacomo did to him, Blanche calmly thought of a way to restore the boy’s stamina.

She asked.

“Do you like pork loin stew?”

“What? What’s that all of a sudden?”

Ricardo opened his eyes wide while asking back. He didn’t understand, but in the blink of an eye, a stew that was steaming appeared on Blanche’s hand.

Ricardo was able to forget the disgusting face of Giacomo that had been engraved in his mind at the delicious smell he had not smelled in a long time.

He swallowed his saliva without realizing it. The thick appearance of the stew made with sliced meat and carrots cut into large pieces was alluring.

Belatedly, Blanche let out a short exclamation.

“Ah. Isn’t it a bit greasy for someone who has suffered in a place like this for a long time? I have an apple, would you like to eat an apple?”

Instead of answering, Ricardo quickly took the stew from her hand.

In a hurry, the boy was able to eat a proper meal for the first time in months.

Blanche even gave him the blanket and pillow she had brought from when she ran away from home.

After food, when a blanket and pillow appeared in the air, Ricardo opened his cute lips in wonder.

Blanche introduced herself as a kind of wizard.

But why? He did not hide his anxiety.

“Is it okay…?”

“What?”

Suddenly Ricardo shook his head.

“Giacomo will not stand still when he sees this.”

“Is that person that scary?”

Instead of answering, Ricardo kept his mouth shut. She quietly checked his status window.

She wondered, his stress stat broke through 720 at once, then soared to 742.

At this rate the durability of [Edith’s Lamp] will wear out in one day.’

Blanche sighed and wrapped the soft, warm blanket around his body again.

“If you can’t answer, just look at the lantern. Seeing that puts your mind at ease, right?”

Ricardo’s blue eyes were filled with Blanche’s reliable image. He asked in a trembling voice.

“Actually, I think I’m already dead. It was so painful. Aren’t you also a fantasy I made up?”

Blanche held his hand quietly. At fifteen, Ricardo’s hands were as cold as ice.

She sat right next to him and watched the lanterns rise together. She gave strength to her hand holding the boy.

“Feel it. My hand. Isn’t it warm?”

“… Warm.”

Suddenly, Ricardo was shedding tears that resembled dews. In a tone full of conviction, as prophesied, Blanche promised.

“It’s okay. Giacomo will never see you again.”

Ricardo trembled with his lower jaw and lips.

“How…?”

“Because I will make it that way.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Blanche felt Ricardo’s gaze staring at her from the side. So she promised one more time.

“I promise in my name.”

In an instant, darkness passed through her eyes as she smiled at Ricardo.

* * *

Leaving the dungeon, Blanche gave [Edith’s Lamp] to Ricardo.

It was a consumable item, so she asked him to use it only when he was afraid, afraid enough to cry. Also, she gave him all the apples she had and asked him to restore his stamina in the next six days.

Blanche did not go back to the maid’s quarters, but slept in the laundry room. Despite the fact that it was built of stone, the laundry room was warmer than the accommodation of temporary maids because it had a fireplace or a hearth.

Roxanne appeared in the laundry room after Blanche had just eaten her stew for breakfast and put her empty bowl into her inventory.

So diligent, she seems to have come to waste her breakfast time in order to harass Blanche again.

“Irene!”

“Welcome. Roxanne.”

Roxanne, still filthy, lifted the crane from her laundry hanging in her laundry room.