【 Chapter 9 】
Just before I was about to ask “What?”, the cold face of Esadien who was speaking sharply crossed my mind.
“That’s not Esa… No, that’s not it!”
I couldn’t find the right word to refer to Esadien, so I hurriedly wrapped up my sentence.
“Anyway, what happened earlier was my fault. I’m sorry.”
By the way, did Esadien buy this cotton ball because of that?
His reaction was clearly different from a few days ago when he warned me before entering the garden.
“I cannot return the same amount of emotion that you show me.”
But just like yesterday, Esadien’s actions kept making me look forward to it.
“Would you like to walk?”
Look, how can you refuse such a gentle(?) invitation? In addition, it was the first suggestion Esadien made while meeting me so far.
“Yes!”
I linked my arm with Esadien without a second thought.
Even though both of us looked completely different from usual, his unique cool scent tickled my nose just as familiar.
“So what does this do?”
“It’s supposed to grow when you cuddle with it in bed.”
….yes?
As I stared at him, Esadien’s cheeks flushed as he was unsure how to interpret it.
“Well, my explanation was short. I heard that you can hug it comfortably because it grows similar to the owner.”
“I see. So it’s a body pillow.”
It was interesting.
The cotton ball was soft and squishy, making it perfect in bed. When I touched it, it didn’t feel like real cotton and didn’t seem like it would shed fuzz.
“What’s making you so embarrassed…?”
“I, I’ve never done that.”
“Hmm.”
Who is the prince who just avoided eye contact from me? From which country is he? But instead of dwelling on it, I turned my head in a different direction.
“Thank you again. I’ll hold it in my arms every night, thinking of you… No, I’ll thinking it’s you.”
“Minuelle…..”
“Isn’t that why you gave it to me?”
“Are you making fun of me?”
Oh, you finally noticed.
‘I guess meeting outside the palace was the right answer.’
Observing Esadien’s various reactions that I had never seen before was enjoyable.
“If you’re going to keep doing that, give it back.”
“No! Where is there a case of giving something and taking it back?”
I stuck out my tongue and giggled mischievously. Then, I took a few steps back from Esadien.
“Aaah! Run away!”
“Kyaa!”
In the distance, a faint scream echoed. Although it was heard vaguely, the confusion contained within it was clearly felt.
“What’s going on?”
“Minuelle, first….”
The commotion approached rapidly. Between the moment Esadien firmly grabbed me and the next, the chaos had arrived from outside the square and reached us in the blink of an eye.
“Run away! The cows have gone crazy!”
“Co—Cows, you say?”
Not even a Spanish bull festival. Why now? Here?
While I froze in surprise, Esadien remained composed.
In a matter of seconds, as the noise and dust that shook the ground grew closer, he pulled me into a small alley between nearby buildings.
“Come over here for now.”
And in the next moment,
Rumble rumble rumble!
A herd of bulls passed by with an almost intentional timing.
“Wha…..”
If it weren’t for Esadien, I would have had a close call here. This time, it was real!
“Thank you. You saved my life.”
“You also saved me, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t realize it, but you’re not the type to hold gratitude for a long time, aren’t you?”
I let out a sigh-mixed laugh while facing Esadien. Looking into his calm eyes, my surprised heart felt a little more at ease.
“It seems like the walk is over, so let’s go back now…!”
It was when I leaned against the wall behind me with my relaxed body. The wall that should have been solid and sturdy felt like a revolving door.
“Uuh!”
If you are too scared, you can’t even scream, right? I fell down in that exact state, feeling the terrifying sensation of being at the mercy of gravity without wings or a parachute.
‘It’s a trap.’
In the midst of this, a thought flashed through my mind. Why would the cows suddenly go wild? Even if they were stung by bees en masse, was there a reason for them to charge into the square?
‘I was foolish.’
Not long had passed since the garden incident, so I thought that the side who ordered the assassination would be cautious as well.
I also thought that the sudden decision to go outside the palace walls would be fine. But these are all excuses to justify my foolishness.
I put Esadien in danger.
“Minuelle!”
This person hugged me tightly and jumped down without any hesitation.
💧
“… nuelle.”
A familiar voice approached and then receded.
“Minuelle.”
Once again.
“Open your eyes.”
And again.
I opened my eyes and blinked in confusion.
I was on a dark red floor, and the furniture around me was covered in crimson fabric.
“This is…”
“Wake up, Minuelle.”
“Esadien…”
I finally realized it.
“Wake up, Minuelle!”
The day I fell into the lake in the Imperial Garden, it wasn’t the Emperor’s knights who saved me. It was Esadien.
My heart was stabbed with pain.
‘How many times have you saved me….. Rather, it was me who should have thanked you.’
But why can I only hear the voice and not see the figure?
“Minuelle.”
“Esaa…!”
Nod. I nodded my head, and I shut my mouth.
I finally spotted Esadien in the adjacent room connected to where I was.
He was hanging from the ceiling with his arms tied behind his back. In other words, he was calling me through the open door, swinging back and forth like a clock pendulum.
“Are you okay?”
“What are you talking about, right now…!”
I was almost startled to the point of collapse.
“Who is worrying about whom?”
Esadien was bleeding with all his upper garments stripped off, and I knew well what caused those wounds.
“Wh—whip….”
When I first met and brought Ramande, his back was full of marks like that.
“Who did this to you! Who dares!”
Although I had wanted to see Esadien’s muscles, I had never wanted to see him like this. I was so angry that my vision became dizzy. At the same time, a hot feeling and the stench of blood rose up my throat.
“Ugh….”
It had been a while since I felt nauseous, but I swallowed and forced myself to calm down. I suppressed my emotions. I couldn’t afford to vomit blood and pass out in a situation like this. That would be absolutely unacceptable.
“I’m fine.”
“Please, ugh, don’t lie.”
I felt like I wanted to jump up and run to Esadien, but I couldn’t regain my balance properly because my hands were tied behind my back. I felt like a turtle turned upside down.
“Ughh!”
Despite my efforts and best attempts to regain my balance, I couldn’t manage it. I was like an upside-down turtle. I tried to use my strength several times, but it was all in vain.
‘You have no muscles.’
A voice said, almost as if to sympathize with me.
“Stay there. If you get a chance, you can escape…”
“I don’t want to!”
Indeed… humans are not limited to moving only by walking. Isn’t there such a thing as “rolling forward” too?
However, what I chose was to roll around.
“Eck!”
I could tell by the furniture completely covered in dust that the house had clearly not been lived in for a while. Every time I rolled, dust clung to my body, covering my head and face without discrimination.
“Whew!”
“Didn’t I tell you to stay there…..”
It was clear that my appearance was far from ideal. But I had to stick with Esadien no matter what. In that alley, as soon as I thought I might fall behind, I immediately pressed the communicator I always carry, which is a magical device that calls the knights of my family.
‘We’re going on a date in disguise, but my family let me go without a word. That’s more suspicious.’
I don’t know about the imperial family, but I’m sure my parents or sisters would have secretly assigned guards to escort me. We couldn’t predict when the guards would enter, but it was natural that it would be easier to rescue us if we were together.
“Ugh, acho!”
With a loud sneeze, I finally arrived in front of Esadien.
“I’m asking just in case. You can’t cut that rope with force, can you?”
In the movies I’ve seen in the past, when someone is caught like this, they either break the rope or strangle the person who’s coming to torture them. But when Esadien heard my question, he bit his lips with a strange expression.
‘I guess it’s not working.’
It seemed that even though Esadien was a skilled knight, as the movies had suggested, breaking free from the rope or using his own strength to overpower someone coming to torture him was not possible. So, what I needed to do then was to find a way to stand up, by any means necessary.
“Whoa!”
After several attempts, I was able to stand up this time. Despite feeling incredibly exhausted, I gritted my teeth and leaned forward toward Esadien. The necklace slipped out from between my collar and shook above his face.
“Minuelle?”
“I’m sorry it must be hurt, but please break this necklace.”
The pendant hanging from the end of the necklace was a sword-shaped pendant, exactly like the Karinen family crest. It wasn’t a regular pendant, but a magical tool that could change in size according to the owner’s will.
“I see.”
Esadien took a short breath and then lifted his upper body and grabbed the pendant precisely.
‘It’s impressive….’
I felt embarrassed comparing myself, who was rolling around and struggling, to Esadien who didn’t even seem to flinch. But I couldn’t waste any more time on self-criticism. I cautiously knelt down and approached Esadien’s face again.
“I’ll give you this to hold. Imagine a short sword and it will grow to that size. Use it to cut the rope.”
Of course, it was inevitable that his hand would be cut in the process. It pained me to think that I would hurt Esadien even more here, but it was an unavoidable choice.
I couldn’t risk cutting my own throat just because my hand was in pain. However, if I held on too tightly, my hand could be completely severed.
“……”
Although Esadien remained silent, I could feel his breath trembling as my face got closer to his. I couldn’t tell if it was because he was uncomfortable with the proximity or because my dusty appearance amused him. Our breaths were mingling together just like yesterday, but the circumstances were completely different.
‘If I’m nervous, I might stab somewhere weird.’
So, I quickly bit the end of the pendant without looking at Esadien’s eyes, on purpose. After that, everything happened in a flash. Esadien cut the rope tying our wrists like he had practiced dozens of times before, and finally, he folded his body completely and even untied the rope around our ankles.
‘I thought it was some kind of foldable phone.’
In awe for a moment, I quickly took off the earring. As I turned the dangling crystal and removed it, which had been smaller than my fingernail, it suddenly grew with a “pop!” sound to the point of tightly filling my hand.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a healing potion.”
It was holy water that contained Ramande’s divine power.
💧
Thank you for reading!
