102. Pretending to be a Couple (2)

As I tossed a small pebble into the water, a shadow fell over me.

Did another leaf fall? I reached up to brush my head, but nothing came off.

“Linia.”

A dry voice mingled with the wind.

“Linia.”

When I didn’t turn around, the voice came again. The dim silhouette of a man appeared by the riverbank where the ripples spread.

Someone was calling my name.

Right, here my name was Linia. Sometimes I forgot the name I had chosen for myself. Startled, I lifted my head.

“Linia, you need to touch up your roots. How could you be so careless?”

Timo looked down at my scalp as he spoke.

The hunter’s cabin didn’t have a mirror, so I couldn’t check my roots myself. I had to rely on someone else to tell me when it was time for another dye job. Timo was always the one to do that.

“How much?”

“About a hand’s width? If it grows any more, your natural hair color will show.”

It had grown again.

Time passed quickly. I gauged its passage by the need to regularly dye my hair. This was already the fourth time.

As Suren had said, the red tint could only be masked with black. Initially, I had dyed it brown, but in strong sunlight, a reddish hue would appear, something that couldn’t naturally occur with true brown hair. Eventually, I had to use black dye.

Using cheap, harsh chemicals made my hair emit a constant foul odor. The bedding, furniture, and even the hearth in the hunter’s cabin were permeated with the smell of hair dye.

As my stay lengthened, I felt guilty about the ever-stronger odor, but the hunter didn’t seem to mind. Despite the potent smell, he never complained and always procured more dye for me.

The hunter’s nephew was named Timo. Initially, he only visited occasionally to collect weapons, but as he started talking more, he gradually let down his guard. Since I asked him to get hair dye, he began visiting the cabin daily.

As the hunter had said, the cabin was deep in the mountains, far from the village and extremely isolated, yet Timo crossed the mountains almost every day.

“Is there anything new outside today?”

“No, just the usual.”

My excitement about successfully escaping was short-lived. I couldn’t move freely, always wary that the knights might show up at any moment.

It was almost as if I were self-imprisoned. How long would this harsh, tedious life on the run continue?

A sigh escaped my lips.

The hunter’s cabin was in the remote outskirts, far from the capital. There were no common newspapers or noble estates.

Thus, Timo was my only source of outside news.

Occasionally, knights would visit the village to inquire about someone’s whereabouts, but that was all.

Rumors from the capital said the Emperor was gravely ill.

As time passed, the search parties quietly withdrew as if nothing had happened. With the armed men in uniform gone, the village returned to its peaceful state.

I kept my guard up, wondering if this was a ploy to lower vigilance, but it seemed the search was truly over.

Quite some time had passed. Even Deon, oblivious as he was, must have realized by now. I had drowned and my body lay at the bottom of the river, while the next blood vessel was now within his grasp. With the next child born, there was no reason for them to continue searching for me.

Unless, of course, he had ordered them to kill me if they ever found out I was alive.

The newborn was too young to draw blood from immediately. I had at least three more years before the main plot began, when they would try to draw blood and eventually discover I was still alive.

Despite the prior blood vessels being dead, the blood samples collected by the specialized medical team would show that mine was mysteriously diluted.

Until they noticed this discrepancy, I still had some time to breathe.

The time to move was approaching. I had already informed the hunter that I would be leaving soon.

“Eat.”

Timo handed me the bread he had brought.

Timo was my only friend and the sole source of food. Without him, I would have starved to death.

“Thank you.”

I took the bread he offered and bit into it. Whether he had carried it close to his body or ran all the way here, the bread from the village was still warm.

“If you’re going to the village, you should definitely hide your red hair. Even though you dyed it to prevent anyone from the village from recognizing you if they came to the cabin, you mustn’t get too comfortable. Missing the right moment could be dangerous.”

His voice was serious.

Timo was right. The cabin’s isolation often made me lower my guard.

“Because it shows I’m from a minority?”

I was beginning to understand why Deon had chosen me as a shield for Isella. Whenever I visited Timo’s village, not once did I see anyone with hair like mine.

Even though the search had stopped, I was still a fugitive. Attracting attention would do me no good.

“It makes you stand out. There’s a rumor that red-haired women are being captured and sold for a high price. If kidnappers realize your hair color is natural, they won’t leave you alone. Human traffickers are likely on the lookout.”

I paused mid-bite. This was news I hadn’t heard before.

Living in the cabin had naturally distanced me from the outside world. In fact, I had deliberately avoided it. As someone trying to live a normal life among commoners, rumors from the capital weren’t my concern. But this news was different.

“Why? Why target red hair specifically…?”

I asked in a tense voice.

Could it be that they had realized I was still alive?

No, the knights who had been scouring the village were nowhere to be seen. It was as if they had never searched for me in the first place.

The disappearance of an insignificant noble’s daughter had caused a brief stir, but the situation had quickly quieted down. Sending out more search parties to find me would have been an act of stubbornness.

I thought Deon had given up on me. But now, suddenly, red-haired women were being captured again. My heart sank.

“Could it be an order from the royal family?” I asked cautiously, trying to keep my voice steady.

“No, I don’t think so,” Timo replied firmly, shaking his head. He looked into my trembling eyes and continued.

“You always get so tense when it comes to matters of the capital, even though you said you worked there only briefly.”

“That’s true, but…”

I had told Timo that I had worked as a maid in a noble household for a short period. He hadn’t been suspicious. Many maids in low-ranking noble families worked on short-term contracts and then left.

“They’re not just taking redheads; even those with hair close to brownish-red are being captured. According to rumors, one of the new Empresses has red hair. It seems that because it’s so rare and now associated with high status, some nobles are coveting it.”

His expression was serious, and it didn’t seem like he was exaggerating just to alarm me.

“A new Empress, you say…”

Since hearing the news that the Emperor was gravely ill, I had shut myself off from further news about the palace.

If the Emperor was still alive, perhaps a young new Empress had been brought in to replace the current Empress. It had happened before with Deon’s mother. Power always shifted. Maybe the Emperor had recovered and taken a new Empress.

Or, it could be a new Emperor who had brought in a new Empress.

Given their youth, it was entirely possible.

If the new Emperor was Deon, could the red-haired Empress be Isella?

I thought back to the last time I saw them in the capital but quickly shook my head.

No, it couldn’t just be an Empress. It wouldn’t end there.

But if the Emperor had passed away, someone must have succeeded him. There were three royal bloodlines.

Had Azanti claimed the red hair as a trophy? The new Emperor could be Azanti, a son of the late Empress, or…

Deon. His familiar name echoed in my mind. I quickly shook my head to erase it from my thoughts.

These speculations were premature. There had been no coronation yet. If a new Emperor had been crowned, even this remote corner would have been buzzing with the news.

News of a new Emperor would eventually find its way here.

“If nobles capture you to show off and brag, that might be the least of your worries. What if they lock you in a cage and cut your hair to make wigs, waiting for it to grow back to sell repeatedly? You wouldn’t survive that, Linia.”

Timo, I’ve already experienced exploitation. I’ve been locked in cages many times.

Because of my delicate appearance, Timo often treated me like a fragile flower in a greenhouse. He was always protective, as if I might be blown away by the wind.

I’ve experienced protection to the point of exasperation in the North. But unlike the surveillance that used the guise of safety, Timo’s concern felt genuinely warm.

“So, you’ve decided to go to the village?”

“Yes. I can’t stay here forever. I need to leave soon.”

The reason I fled was to live freely without the threat to my life.

But since escaping Deon, the riverbank, the surrounding forest, and the cabin were all the places I could move around. This small cabin couldn’t be my whole world forever.

It was time to move.

I needed to cross the border before he consumed the blood. Before he discovered I was alive.

Timo’s face fell into a frown.

“Linia, the outside isn’t as safe as you think. If it’s because of me, you can stay longer. You can use this place as your home. You’re not in good health. Can you really go alone? It’s dangerous.”

“What do you take me for? I’m not as young as you think.”

When I first arrived, the hunter had laughed heartily at my formal language to Timo. He had then revealed that Timo was two years younger than me.

Despite his large build, Timo was indeed young.

“Still… there are strange rumors, and the Empire is in turmoil. And you’re a stranger here.”

“I have to go out even if it’s dangerous. I can gather the necessary supplies in the village.”

I had briefly gone down to the village, hood pulled low. It was easy to win their favor. Claiming I had worked in the capital and could provide recommendations for another noble house worked like a charm.

At first, I felt guilty, but I soon grew used to the lies. I could speak smoothly without blushing or stammering.

I could obtain a travel pass and, if lucky, find a good job in the next country by claiming to be an ex-imperial maid. The etiquette I had observed in the palace might come in handy.

When I shrugged nonchalantly, Timo’s face darkened. He hesitated before speaking again.

“Linia, you don’t know this, but the village isn’t as peaceful as it seems.”