Please Save My Child

The sun set twice and rose twice. Reina’s neatly organized hair had long since become matted. The person guarding the door did not respond no matter how much Reina tried to talk to him. Her dry eyes rolled in pain.

 

Reina’s fingers rubbed the cold, hard floor.

 

“…”

 

Her mouth suddenly became dry. In her confinement, not even a sip of water or a piece of bread was given to her, as if they were trying to starve her to death. For two whole days she had not slept a wink, and her cloudy eyes swept about her room.

 

‘If they kill me, how will they kill me?’

 

They would fake it as her suicide. Reina stares blankly at one of her walls, wondering if she would ever see Bonnie before she dies. She thought. For a moment, Bonita’s face flashed into her mind. Her fists tightened.

 

‘I can’t die like this.’

 

Without her, Bonita would also be in crisis. Besides, if they wanted they could get her kicked out. Now was the season when the birth of a star had passed and the bitter winter winds were blowing. It was clear that the child’s fragile body would not be able to withstand the cold for long. No matter how much she begged the servants guarding her door to at least let them know how Bonita was doing, they wouldn’t budge. It was truly a series of despair. Titania, whom she met in her dream, told Reina that this world would all move according to Reina’s will. What on earth means things going as they should? A portrait was captured in Raina’s dry eyes.

 

‘Have I ever met the Duchess?’

 

She was a person who had never seen a single photo or painting. That person appeared in her dream. Could they really say that it was a meaningless dream? Was it possible that seeing someone you have never met before in a dream was a vain dream?

 

‘Has she met Reina before I came in?’

 

So what did she want from herself or Reina? Reina slowly closed and opened her eyes.

 

‘What’s important now is not a question without a single clue.’

 

The Duchess’s problem was a matter of later. There was a problem that had to be solved immediately. Even though she had spent several years as a helpless single mother, and because of that she lived with everyone watching, there was no reason for her to die or to humbly accept the situation on the verge of death… She said she wanted Reina to live. Wasn’t that why she behaved differently when reminded of the contents of the novel in the first place?

 

‘It wasn’t even mentioned in the novel when the master would return.’

 

She repeated the vague words and scenes in her head. In the original, Damian only appeared at a desperate moment. Reina organized the events that must have happened before in her head.

 

‘Even if it can’t be described, it took quite some time.’

 

She also remembered the ordination ceremony of the 12 priests that Peter had mentioned. Unless something went wrong, it took quite a long time. That’s probably why she hadn’t used her hand to kill Reina yet. She woke up feeling weak after starving for two days. The sudden movement of her body caused her vision to spin. Reina leaned on the wall and slowly walked around the large warehouse.

 

‘This room probably wasn’t originally a warehouse.’

 

A few pieces of furniture covered with white cloth, and too few miscellaneous items to be considered a warehouse. Before she knew it, Reina looked up at the different portraits right in front of her.

 

“…portrait.”

 

It was said that the Duke loved his wife very much. It was a marriage that took place despite everyone’s opposition. There was no way that her portrait would be stuck in the storage room where she kept all her miscellaneous things.

 

‘Usually in a mansion of this size, there are several rooms with secret passages that outsiders don’t know about.’

 

During class with Peter, there was an explanation about the structure of a nobleman’s mansion. At that time, the huge mansion had many rooms with secret passages, they said. Her purpose was to safely deal with any possible enemy invasion. After starving for two days and staying overnight for two days, her head became clear. Reina looked at the wallpaper in the room. Although only high-quality wallpapers were used in the duchy’s castle, the wallpaper in this room had a similar pattern to Damian’s office.

 

‘This room may not have been used as a bedroom, but it was a place where the master or madam often lived.’

 

Reina looked at the large window on the wall. The sunlight came in comfortably. She was locked tightly and wouldn’t open, but at least the sunlight came through her and made her feel that she was alive.

 

‘That window will never break.’

 

Even if it broke, she couldn’t jump off because it’s the top floor. As if everyone had promised, they didn’t even look towards the warehouse where Reina was. She wondered how many people would be staring at an empty warehouse.

 

‘If my guess is correct, there will be a secret passage in this room too. Even Count Embron won’t try to kill me right now.’

 

He would try to placate Reina, and if he failed, he would try to kill her. And he needed something to placate Raina, or rather threaten her.

 

‘Bonnie’

 

Yes, as soon as she reached this point in her thoughts, Reina’s head flashed brightly, as if she had been doused in cold water. If Bonita was dead, he’d probably decide it was worth exploiting. No matter how much Reina begged them to tell her how Bonita was doing, she couldn’t see even a shadow of her child.

 

‘As much as I look for Bonita, Count Embron will also think Bonita is worth using.’

 

And not bringing Bonita in front of Reina meant only one thing.

 

“…I couldn’t find Bonnie.”

 

“That day, she definitely said Bonnie was going to the gym.”

 

Even if Bonita knew the situation inside the mansion, it was impossible for the child to hide from everyone’s eyes on her own. In other words, it meant that there was someone who hid the child.

 

‘If there really is a secret passage, and Bonnie escapes through it, she won’t be in immediate danger.’

 

They just have to hold out until Damian returns. She seemed hopeful that her child and herself would be safe. Humans were so fragile that when they find a ray of light smaller than a little fingernail in the pitch-black darkness, they cling to it.

 

“…The question is whether there really is a secret passageway.”

 

A weak voice muttered to itself

 

‘Even if the passage exists, if you can’t find it, it’s as good as not being there.’

 

But if it was easy to find, it couldn’t be called a secret passage. They won’t tell anyone, and there’s no way they’ll be able to find it just by looking around.

 

“What should I do with this?”

 

As she was staring aimlessly at the window in despair, something came into Reina’s field of vision.

 

“Uh?”

 

A carriage coming from far away… The warehouse’s windows faced the back door, not the front door.

 

Customers always came through the front door, and the back door was mainly used by employees.

 

“That carriage.”

 

Nevertheless, that carriage, which boasts great majesty, can be seen from far away…

 

“How did they come already?”

 

The seal of the Winter Knight family was engraved on a large scale. Reina’s eyes shook greatly. Wasn’t it too early?

 

‘It’s fast, but it’s not bad for me.’

 

If she could get out of this room, it’s actually a good opportunity. Reina was able to find out before the news reached Count Embron’s ears through the back door, not the front door. Reina withdrew her gaze from the window and quickly moved her body. She had been deprived of any nutrients for two days and her head was pounding and her throat was parched. Reina bumped back and forth as she moved unsteadily. Her waist hurt as she hit the low, cloth-covered table. But her body steadily groped here and there, trying to find a secret passage. She moved so hard and fast that she bumped into some furniture, but she didn’t care. She knocked on the solid wall and felt the candlestick plugged into the wall.

 

“Don’t budge.”

 

Was it natural? After all, is there no such thing as a secret passage?

 

Dump.

 

Just as Reina was about to give in to frustration, she heard the sound of a heavy cloth falling to the floor. It seemed like the fabric that had come off when she hit it earlier had fallen off. It was a table in the corner of the room, attached to the wall. What was even stranger than that were the items on the table. Things were neatly arranged, which was surprising considering it was in a room that no one was using. As if Reina was fascinated, she approached the table and stretched out her hand.

 

“…It has wheels.”

 

Normally, you can’t tell because there is a fixing device, but when you release it, you can move it. The wheel was hidden. 

 

‘Is the presence of an object a sign?’

 

Reina, wondering if anything could happen, moved the items on the table one by one to a corner and carefully smoothed the top with her hands. There was nothing special about her on the outside, but when she focused her senses on her fingers, she noticed that there was something missing. It’s sweet. She pressed the area with her hand and the lid opened, revealing a small valve. Reina’s heart began to pound.

 

Carefully she reached for the valve and turned it, hearing a rattling sound beneath her. And the table was smoothly pushed aside.

 

“Also…”

 

A passage small enough to be called a dog hole was hidden behind it. When she bent down and entered, the inside was high enough for an adult to stand. It was dark, but it was clear that you could get there by holding on to the wall. She could hear the wind blowing inside.

 

“…So, hurry up.”

 

“Hurry…”

 

As she was groping the wall, she heard a conversation and the sound of urgent, heavy steps outside the Inagare Gate. She couldn’t tell how many footsteps there were. She couldn’t find Bonita, and it was clear that she wanted to deal with Reina now that the Duke was returning. She quickly grabbed the table with the photo on it, entered the aisle, and pulled the table forward.

 

It rattled.

 

As soon as she hid inside the secret passage, she heard the warehouse door open.

 

“Where did they go?”

 

“There is no way out! Quickly search the warehouse!”

 

As expected, it was a hostile voice. Reina covered her mouth with her hand and even silenced her breathing.

 

‘If I had been even a little bit late, I would have been in big trouble.’

 

And she moved forward, leaning against the wall in a space without a ray of light.

 

‘The timing was a little off…’

 

As she moved forward, making terrible assumptions that she did not want to imagine, the words she had heard in her dream came to mind.

 

“Eugene, the world is on your side. If you put your mind to it, everything will work out in the end.”

 

She had no idea why those words came to mind just now.

 

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Translator Note: