However, deep down, Laila agreed with those words.
What was her dream? It was to live until she reached ninety, wasn’t it?
Compared to ninety, thirty-five was certainly a very young age.
Laila assumed a kneeling position in front of Vilhel, aligning their eye levels.
“Do you remember what I asked you to do a little while ago?”
“…….”
“If you do that, I’ll forget about you tampering with the account ledger.”
“…….”
“I swear.”
Threatening others is not a very pleasant thing to do. Laila understood it better now that she had done it herself.
However, she wanted to live. She was desperate. In such a situation, there was nothing she wouldn’t do.
Although Vilhel seemed hesitant, he eventually gave Laila the answer she desired.
“…… Are you sure that’s all I need to do for you?”
Relieved, Laila smiled faintly.
“Of course.”
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
Hiding the “item” Vilhel had stolen, Laila quickly moved.
Regardless of the foolish act he would commit three years later, Vilhel was indeed competent.
In just one short hour, he managed to steal the item Laila had mentioned and hand it to her.
‘I did say one hour, but to actually bring it within that time.’
But even though Vilhel did the job on time, Laila was still running out of time.
She was in a state of constant urgency from the beginning, so what choice did she have?
Laila headed to the carriage storage.
“Yes? You want to ride this carriage?”
It wasn’t a regular carriage, but a luggage carriage.
“Yes!”
“But this carriage is meant for carrying goods. Even though there are some people in it, they’re all maids and servants…….”
Although the words were a polite refusal, Laila didn’t back down.
She looked up at the servant and teared up.
“But if I don’t ride this carriage, I won’t be able to follow the hunt.”
Then, Laila lowered her head and began to sob.
“There’s no room left in the carriage for my father, sister, and brothers. It’s my fault for speaking up too late, so…”
“Oh, miss! Please don’t cry!”
The servant, who had inadvertently made his young mistress cry, jumped up from his place. After looking around, he quickly opened the back door of the luggage carriage.
“I’ll give you a ride. Uh, well, not that I offered it, but rather, you secretly got on.”
“Alright, promise.”
Laila quickly climbed into the carriage; her face was as clear as if she didn’t cry.
The carriage seemed about to depart, as it was loaded with luggage.
‘I’m glad I’m not late.’
With a sigh of relief, Laila went to a seat near the wall where the maids were sitting.
The maids, upon seeing Laila, exchanged a few puzzled words with each other.
It was at that moment, with the carriage door still open, that a servant forcibly pushed something inside.
“Get in!”
The thing turned out to be a person.
One that Laila recognized.
Glancing at the child in the carriage, Laila’s expression hardened.
“So, he did get on this carriage after all.”
Considering various factors, she had expected him to board this carriage without a doubt.
However, even though her prediction had come true, she wasn’t particularly pleased.
Perhaps it was because she had briefly witnessed how the servant handled the child.
It was the same servant who had given Laila such a hard time…….
Laila clenched her fist placed on her lap.
If it had been different, would things have changed?
If the only villain in this mansion is the Marquis, and everyone else has been good…
Perhaps the man’s revenge 10 years later would not have been so cruel.
Laila pondered this, then suddenly realized how absurd her thoughts were.
A good person?
In other words, someone who is kind to the weak and unable to ignore injustice?
Such a person would find it challenging to stay in the Marquisate.
If they possessed such values, inevitably, they would raise objections to the Marquis, leading to an inevitable conclusion.
Laila’s stomach churned.
Perhaps it was because the carriage had just started moving.
The carriage, originally not designed for carrying people, did not provide a pleasant ride.
Laila, suppressing nausea, hunched her shoulders, making an effort not to attract the child’s attention.
Although she deliberately chose the innermost seat, there was always a chance.
‘I must not be discovered.’
This place was not an underground prison where only the two of them existed.
If the child were to show disdain towards Laila in a place with many watching eyes, it would surely cause trouble for both of them.
Fortunately, the carriage was spacious, and the child and Laila were quite far apart.
Laila glanced briefly at the child, who seemed oblivious to her presence.
The child was sitting haphazardly near the back door of the carriage, not on a chair, but directly on the floor without any insulation, surrounded by various belongings.
Laila observed the child for a moment, then lowered her head.
…Is a luggage carriage always this nauseating?
Her stomach still didn’t feel well.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
The carriage stopped in an open field right next to a forest owned by Marquis Hildegarde.
As soon as the carriage stopped, the maids hurriedly got off and began to quickly organize the luggage.
“Hurry up!”
“We need to finish preparing before the Marquis arrives!”
In the midst of this, a servant who had suddenly appeared at the back of the carriage grabbed the child as if he were luggage and led him into the forest.
Laila glanced around. While the maids were busily setting up tents in the open field, she hurriedly followed the servant and the child.
‘They must have entered here… Ah, there they are.’
The forest used for hunting had sparse trees, providing good visibility. Despite being large and tall, the sparsely spaced trees made it easy to spot the servant and the child, who hadn’t gone far yet.
Laila occasionally hid behind trees, silencing her footsteps as she stealthily followed the two.
It was her first time tailing someone, so she naturally felt tense, but fortunately, the servant seemed completely unaware of his surroundings.
Thanks to that, Laila became more at ease as she continued to follow them.
How long had they been walking through the woods?
The sparse vegetation became slightly thicker. The sounds of forest birds became clearer. Most of all, Laila’s feet and calves began to scream.
Suddenly, the servant stopped walking.
Quickly, Laila pressed her back against the nearest tree.
“Listen… Carefully.”
‘What is he saying?’
The servant’s voice echoed intermittently.
Laila tried to listen, but she could barely hear the servant over the loud chirping of the birds in the tree she was hiding in.
Much to Laila’s chagrin, when the servant had finished, he turned and left the child, as if he had done his job.
The servant walked back the way he came.
Laila remained glued to the tree, holding her breath, until the sound of the servant’s footsteps faded into the distance.
After a while, there was no longer any sound of the servant’s footsteps, and the birds ceased their chirping, leaving an eerie silence in the surroundings.
Laila cautiously stepped away from the tree.
‘Where is the child?’
The first thing she did was to look for the child, who was still in the same place where the servant had left him.
He seemed not to have taken a single step.
His expression was blank.
……What could he be thinking?
Regardless of his thoughts, he might not realize that this place could be his own grave.
“I won’t let it come to that.”
Laila cleared her throat and moved slowly toward the child.
Then it happened. The child suddenly turned his head towards Laila and fixed his gaze on her.
Laila was startled. Her heart dropped. Not a loud thud, but a soft one.
‘What? I haven’t even spoken yet; how did he know? Did he know I was following them from the beginning……?’
However, the child now seemed to have just noticed Laila for the first time.
The child’s eyebrows furrowed sharply as he looked at Laila.
“What?”
“…….”
“Tell me, where are we?”
The sharpness of his voice and the intensity of his gaze made Laila flinch, but she did not step back.
Since she had come this far, there was no backing down.
The child doesn’t know that.
Laila approached the child a few more steps and said,
“…We’re in the forest.”
The distance between the child and Laila narrowed to about two steps.
Instead of moving from his spot, the child commanded Laila,
“Leave.”
‘He’s telling me to leave again.’
It was a familiar command.
Well, the child had been like that even in the underground prison.
