Chapter 17
In a normal situation, one would assume that a young man and woman went out to get some fresh air together, but if the other party were from the Naitra family, it was a different story.
Known as the “Shadow Blades,” they specialized in finding prey amidst a complex crowd and quietly smuggling them away. Those who disappeared with them had a high chance of never returning, and there were no traces left, so no one could be held accountable.
Though they were vassals of Luferen, their true loyalty lay with the chairman of the Council.
“Where is Aramis?”
“He’s in the banquet hall.”
Before Theon could finish speaking, Callista had already dashed out the door.
Theon turned his gaze to me, kneeling on one knee and gripping my shoulder.
“Milady Harper, did you know that Vittori was going to disappear?”
He asked, seemingly in disbelief, but I didn’t respond, furrowing my brow in concentration.
I hadn’t done much in this life, so why was something that was supposed to happen in two years happening now?
But this wasn’t the time to ponder that. I needed to remember where Vittori had been found in my past life.
“Milady Harper, do you… know where Vittori is?”
Theon asked again in a trembling voice.
“R… Ril…?”
I mentally sorted through the information I had learned in my past life and recalled something.
“Pardon?”
“…Riley’s room?”
“Are you talking about Riley’s room? The one that was locked after the previous duke’s death?”
“That’s right!”
Yes. It was Riley’s room. That’s where Vittori’s body had been found. A hidden room somewhere on the third floor of the main building, difficult to find. A place with magical wards that made it invisible to the eye.
I had heard that Vittori’s body was found there days after her death. No one had entered that room, and finding her body there had been nothing short of a miracle.
“I’ve never been there myself. I don’t know how the Naitra family found it.”
Theon frowned, as if in a difficult position.
“I’ll instruct the Knight Order to search. Perhaps one of them knows a way to open the door…”
He tried to grab my hand, but I shook my head.
“There’s no time.”
Mobilizing the Knight Order would take too long. If the Naitra family sensed a dangerous atmosphere, Vittori could be truly kidnapped and taken far away.
Moreover, just knowing the location of the magically sealed room wouldn’t allow us to enter it right away. In my previous life, I had accidentally discovered a small opening like a hole in the wall to enter, and besides that, the only other person who had found Riley’s room was…
“Pardon?”
I swallowed dryly and whispered something into Theon’s ear.
“…Let’s go together.”
Even in this urgent moment, Theon’s eyes flickered slightly as he looked at me. Slowly, he nodded in agreement.
Vittori gripped her aching head and opened her eyes. She had been in the banquet hall, and she wasn’t drunk, so why did she have no memory of what happened in between?
“Oh, you’re awake.”
Someone watching her laughed softly and helped her sit up. Now that she looked around, she realized she was lying on a cold floor. Vittori slowly took in her surroundings.
From the golden walls, it was clear the room had once been opulent, but now it was completely empty of furniture. The only things in the room were barren walls and floors, and… seven or eight men.
The room had an odd feature: no visible door.
“…Ivan Naitra?”
Vittori frowned and called out to the man standing closest to her. She remembered him briefly holding her hand and dancing with her at the banquet, but she had no idea why he was here. What were the others doing here?
“Yep. Vittori Müller. And these are my dear cousins.”
The men beside Ivan all grinned wickedly. A little further away, a man dressed in more refined clothes, his head bald, was watching them from a distance, his masked face giving an air of watching over them.
A chill ran down Vittori’s arm.
“What the hell are you…”
“We won’t waste any more time explaining. We’ve come to assign you a new master.”
Ivan cut her off, as if he expected her to ask.
“A new master?”
A small smirk crossed Vittori’s face, but Ivan smiled even wider as if he had been expecting her reaction.
“It’s simple. Once you leave this room, you’ll go to the Duchess. When you meet her, you’ll bow your forehead to the floor and kiss her feet.”
“What?”
“If you don’t understand, should I show you how to practice right now? Whether you like it or not, you will be her maid. A beast who does whatever is told.”
As Vittori furrowed her brow, Ivan continued, his voice almost enjoying itself.
“Of course, you can continue your studies. Becoming a doctor would be beneficial to her, after all. She has this odd desire to keep a family physician at her feet.”
Ivan and his men chuckled as they spoke. The man in the back, who had been watching, wiped sweat from his forehead.
“…You’ll need a mental check, Ivan.”
Vittori said, almost in disbelief.
“Why should I listen to you?”
“Oh, you’ll understand soon enough.”
Ivan spoke nonchalantly, and then he grinned.
“You’ll realize it when you’ve been 24 hours without eating the Kori fruit.”
He pulled a pocket watch from his pocket and showed it to her.
“Kori fruit?”
“Yep. It’s the demon seed known for its addictive withdrawal symptoms. Soon, your whole body will feel like it’s being stabbed with needles. You won’t even be able to breathe, gasping and begging for the fruit.”
Vittori’s face paled, and Ivan’s men laughed like they were watching a show.
“Alright, 5 seconds left. 5, 4, 3, 2… 1, now the convulsions start.”
Ivan dramatically pointed to the watch, his eyes filled with excitement.
But instead of the scream he expected, the room fell into silence.
“What, what is this?”
“…”
Vittori just blinked at Ivan, staring him down.
“Wait. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… now?”
“…”
“What’s going on! Did the watch break? Hey, give me yours.”
Ivan frantically jumped up and searched through someone else’s pockets.
“Look! It’s been more than 3 minutes? Is this watch broken too?”
He threw the watch away, grumbling in frustration, and began tearing at his hair.
“This shouldn’t be happening… I definitely gave you the fruit…”
“Enough already.”
Sitting on the floor, Vittori brushed off her bottom and stood up.
“Call me when the watches are fixed. I’m leaving.”
“Where are you going?”
Ivan snapped, his eyes narrowing sharply as he caught her again.
“You think I’m letting you go just because the addiction didn’t take? No.”
He stepped forward and whispered into her ear.
“You failed, so I can’t let you go now.”
“…What?”
Vittori’s black eyes darkened in confusion, and Ivan twisted his face into a cruel smile.
“Whether you succeed or fail, we don’t leave witnesses. There’s no turning back now.”
Swish—
Ivan pulled a dagger from his clothes and slowly raised it above his head. His men had already surrounded Vittori.
“Your life ends here, don’t blame me.”
The moonlight streaming through the cracks in the window made the blade glimmer silver. Just as Ivan was about to strike her neck, something heavy flew from behind and hit him in the back of the head. No, it stuck to his neck.
“What—what is this!”
Ivan reached back and wiped the substance off, his eyes widening in confusion. The brown, sticky object felt like…
“Is that… poop?”
One of the Naitra men watching grimaced and asked. The others, standing nearby, stepped back, disgusted.
“Yuck! Walking around with poop on your head?”
“You crazy fool, you should do that in the bathroom.”
“Idiots! This isn’t poop…”
He sniffed the sweet smell coming from his hands and then slapped the back of the head of the man who had been making the most noise.
“It’s chocolate!”
“Eh, chocolate?”
Ivan’s men began to chatter in confusion. No one could understand how the chocolate ended up on Ivan’s head.
“Who… who did this?”
Ivan looked around the room, his sharp gaze scanning every corner. His eyes finally stopped at a spot in the far corner.
“You… what are you? When did you get here?”
He pointed at a small blonde girl standing there, staring blankly.
Wearing a dress that blended with the walls, one hand holding a chunk of what seemed to be chocolate cake.
It wasn’t until they realized who the girl was that they froze.
“Milady Harper!”
Thud—
“Ah!”
I threw the remaining piece of cake at the small man standing next to Ivan Naitra. He was still in disbelief that the object was chocolate, and he recoiled in shock, brushing it off.
“Let go of Vittori.”
“…Milady, when did you get here?”
Ivan Naitra asked in a low voice, as if gritting his teeth.
“This is a room that no one is allowed to enter.”
“Hmm, well… I saw you counting backwards while looking at your watch earlier.”
I answered honestly. The situation was too urgent to leave to anyone else, so I rushed over. I never expected my ugly dress to actually act as camouflage.
Thanks to that, I had to throw the cake I brought instead of a weapon. Such a waste of that delicious cake.
In response to my answer, everyone surrounding Vittori exchanged confused looks.
“Sigh… nothing is going right today.”
Ivan chewed his lips in frustration and tugged at his disheveled hair. After a few seconds, his eyes, visible through his messy hair, flashed with dangerous intensity.
