“This month... I haven’t had my period yet.”
She had completely forgotten. Almost three weeks had passed without the monthly lunar month. It should have started around the day she had difficulty with Leticia in the chapel.
What happened? By any chance...
No, that's not it. There's no way she's pregnant. Kai's never been like that before...
It wasn't completely impossible even though she had never done that before. When she first started menstruating, the book she read at the local library said there was no perfect method of contraception. But Angie kept wanting to deny it.
“No, the book also listed other reasons why menstruation stops. Such as extreme nervous breakdown, mental and physical exhaustion due to emotional shock, etc...”
It seemed that the shock and heartbreak she felt at Kai's wedding had taken its toll on her body. It was certain. It had to happen. Otherwise...
Suddenly, there was a sound from the door. Angie turned around in surprise. The doorknob clicked from the outside. It wasn't the sound of a key being used to open it, but the sound of someone forcing it open. Angie froze in fear, then quickly walked up to the door. A familiar voice flowed in from beyond the heavy door.
“Who’s here?”
Michael?
“Is anyone there? Is... Angie, inside?”
“Michael!”
Angie cried out involuntarily. The doorknob rattled again.
“Angie! You’re stuck here after all! Just wait a minute. I’ll open it for you.”
“Michael, how... ”
“The young master and the captain went to see the ship anchored on the eastern shore. It seems that the storm last night caused some trouble with the hull. Jerome went with them and brought a bunch of keys. Where can I find a key that fits the lock in this room? Wait a minute.”
After dozens of keys were inserted and removed, one finally fit. The heavy door creaked open.
“Angie, are you okay? Let’s talk later and get out of here! We’ll get caught when it’s completely dark.”
“Thank you, Michael...!”
Michael bought himself some time by relocking the door and hiding Angie behind a pillar in the hallway. He then quickly returned to the keys and led Angie up the deserted fire escape.
The two of them hurriedly left the annex without being noticed by anyone and hid in the Generalife gardens. Angie looked back at Michael, catching her breath.
“If you go through the forest to the cliff, there is a North Shore cottage below. My parents will be here, so I will be safe there. From here, I will go alone, so you should hurry and return to the main house. If you get into trouble because of me...”
“It’s okay, it’s my day off today. I’ll get you home safely.”
“That won’t do! If the master comes to the house... it would be better to go to the North Shore for now.”
As Angie trembled with anxiety, Michael did not ask any more questions. He took her hand and led her into the forest. He seemed to be going in the right direction without hesitation, so it seemed that he also knew the path that led to the cliff.
Finally, they reached the cliff. Just before they descended down the shortcut, Angie looked down at the beach. She remembered the sea fireflies she had seen three weeks ago, standing side by side with Kyle. How could she forget that night, when the mysterious light, bluer than the moon, danced quietly along the shoreline?
The sea just before dawn was also beautiful. But it didn't have the dark blue sparkle of that time. Angie took Michael's hand, which was trying to support her from below, and stepped onto the North Shore hill. There was no one in the villa because it was early. The living room, which was used as a resting place for the workers, was extremely quiet.
“Angie, go sit in the living room and wait. I’ll make some tea. I’ll stay here with you until Mrs. Ridsdel gets home.”
Michael lit a fire in the fireplace and brought blankets, a teapot, scones, dried fruit, and other food. Angie wrapped herself in the blanket and shivered, but gradually calmed down. However, when she found out that she had run away in the morning, she was worried about how the master would react. She was also worried about Michael.
“Michael. What if the Master finds out that you let me go? Of course, I will never tell. I will make up some excuse to make sure that you are not harmed...”
“I’m fine, Angie. How many days have you been stuck there?”
“Four days... no, five days...?”
Michael lowered his head as if he wanted to say something more. It seemed like he had a lot to ask, but couldn’t bring himself to do so. Angie hesitated and then spoke. It was only right that she should at least give him a minimal explanation since he had saved her.
“The Master... wants to take me to the capital. But I don’t want to do that.”
Michael also knew about their relationship. There was a sad look in his eyes. It seemed like he was remembering the moment when he confessed to Angie a while ago and she confessed that she already loved someone.
He was silent for a moment. Now that he had a rough idea of the situation, there was really no need to ask anymore. Master Kyle was a formidable man. He had been told that he had acquired his title through his aunt Hester, but he seemed to be a nobleman to the core, noble and arrogant, yet sometimes raw. There was something more to him than mere intimidation.
When persuading Angie didn't work, they probably resorted to confinement. In the worst-case scenario, they might have rendered her unconscious and forced her onto the ship.
“Then what are you going to do now? The young master won’t give up until the end.”
“I don’t know. I’ll tell Mom and Dad everything once they come. Even though this entire island belongs to him and we all work for the Duke, if your parents find out, he won’t be able to force them to do anything, right? Even if it’s because of the respect and loyalty people have for the Blackwell family.”
“Angie, you’re right. But this Cullinan Island is no longer the whole world. If this is the only world, even the young master can’t do whatever he wants. But now that the isolation from the outside world is over, the route to the mainland will soon be open. If by any chance the fog or the sea monsters come and the young master takes you away and you never return to the island again... things will go back to how they were before.”
“In the past...?”
“I heard the captain talking to Mrs. Dunst. The Trieste Empire is a monarchy where the word of the monarch and the nobles is law, and now that the war is over and they are recovering, they are trying to strengthen the system. If that is the case, then the word and will of the Duke of Blackwell are law. You and I... won’t everyone on this island eventually become a community where each household is subordinate to the Duke and each household is strictly controlled by rank and order?”
"What...?"
Angie's head spun quickly. It was terrifying to imagine that the atmosphere on Cullinan Island, where everyone helped and cared for each other, could change like that.
“That’s ridiculous. The peace of this island would be broken like that...”
“Angie, this island is not really peaceful. It just looks like a peaceful paradise. We have to get off this island eventually. Otherwise...”
Angie's heart sank. Martin Silva- He had also appeared in her dreams and said the same thing. She had to escape from this island. That's why she had stopped drinking the rose tea that diluted her memories, as he had told her to do. But for some reason, the memories she had managed to retrieve had faded again, and Martin Silva had no longer appeared in her dreams, which confused her.
“Michael, do you know Martin Silva? Did he appear in your dream too?”
“Martin Silva? Who is that?”
Those weren't lying eyes. They really seemed ignorant. Angie's green eyes trembled faintly.
“No, nothing.”
"For a moment."
Michael got up from his seat and walked over to the door. After confirming that the door was locked, he sat down across from Angie again. His face was solemn.
“Angie. Could you listen to my story before your parents get here? I know you’ll be very surprised... but I hope it won’t be too shocking.”
“What are you talking about?”
Michael clasped his hands together and hesitated for a moment before finally opening his mouth.
“Angie. If you still have feelings for the young master... you’d better hurry up and get over it. The young master... the Blackwells are not our benefactors. They gathered the survivors who had nowhere to go during the war and brought them to this island to care for them for a purpose. The Dukes... they are monsters.”
Angie frowned slightly. There was both confusion and suspicion in her eyes as she looked at Michael. It wasn't unreasonable. Even so, if someone had said that to her, she would have made that face.
“Angie. Have you ever heard of the Black Mass?”
Angie shook her head. A sense of foreboding suddenly came over her. It seemed as if Martin Silva had once asked her the same question in a dream.
“What the hell is that? It’s not some kind of devil worship ritual, is it? That’s ridiculous.”
“Angie, I have been eavesdropping on Mrs. Dunst, Yasmine, and the late Edward’s inner circle ever since I came to the Duke’s house. I have heard much more from my Aunt Hester, though. So trust me and listen to me. Everything I tell you is true. But I know only part of it, so I think it is part of the truth. The really important thing is that I don’t know anything at all.”
Angie's eyes were filled with deep anxiety. But she nodded obediently. It was a signal that she would listen to Michael's story. He continued without hesitation. There was no time.
“All minors on this island are Remedies, Angie. Including you and me. Everyone else is the helper for the Duke.”
He hesitated for a moment. Angie would be deeply hurt if he revealed that the Remedy children and their parents were actually strangers and that they had been artificially designated as a family based on things like eye and hair color. After a brief moment of hesitation, he decided to keep that part to himself for now.
She had completely forgotten. Almost three weeks had passed without the monthly lunar month. It should have started around the day she had difficulty with Leticia in the chapel.
What happened? By any chance...
No, that's not it. There's no way she's pregnant. Kai's never been like that before...
It wasn't completely impossible even though she had never done that before. When she first started menstruating, the book she read at the local library said there was no perfect method of contraception. But Angie kept wanting to deny it.
“No, the book also listed other reasons why menstruation stops. Such as extreme nervous breakdown, mental and physical exhaustion due to emotional shock, etc...”
It seemed that the shock and heartbreak she felt at Kai's wedding had taken its toll on her body. It was certain. It had to happen. Otherwise...
Suddenly, there was a sound from the door. Angie turned around in surprise. The doorknob clicked from the outside. It wasn't the sound of a key being used to open it, but the sound of someone forcing it open. Angie froze in fear, then quickly walked up to the door. A familiar voice flowed in from beyond the heavy door.
“Who’s here?”
Michael?
“Is anyone there? Is... Angie, inside?”
“Michael!”
Angie cried out involuntarily. The doorknob rattled again.
“Angie! You’re stuck here after all! Just wait a minute. I’ll open it for you.”
“Michael, how... ”
“The young master and the captain went to see the ship anchored on the eastern shore. It seems that the storm last night caused some trouble with the hull. Jerome went with them and brought a bunch of keys. Where can I find a key that fits the lock in this room? Wait a minute.”
After dozens of keys were inserted and removed, one finally fit. The heavy door creaked open.
“Angie, are you okay? Let’s talk later and get out of here! We’ll get caught when it’s completely dark.”
“Thank you, Michael...!”
Michael bought himself some time by relocking the door and hiding Angie behind a pillar in the hallway. He then quickly returned to the keys and led Angie up the deserted fire escape.
The two of them hurriedly left the annex without being noticed by anyone and hid in the Generalife gardens. Angie looked back at Michael, catching her breath.
“If you go through the forest to the cliff, there is a North Shore cottage below. My parents will be here, so I will be safe there. From here, I will go alone, so you should hurry and return to the main house. If you get into trouble because of me...”
“It’s okay, it’s my day off today. I’ll get you home safely.”
“That won’t do! If the master comes to the house... it would be better to go to the North Shore for now.”
As Angie trembled with anxiety, Michael did not ask any more questions. He took her hand and led her into the forest. He seemed to be going in the right direction without hesitation, so it seemed that he also knew the path that led to the cliff.
Finally, they reached the cliff. Just before they descended down the shortcut, Angie looked down at the beach. She remembered the sea fireflies she had seen three weeks ago, standing side by side with Kyle. How could she forget that night, when the mysterious light, bluer than the moon, danced quietly along the shoreline?
The sea just before dawn was also beautiful. But it didn't have the dark blue sparkle of that time. Angie took Michael's hand, which was trying to support her from below, and stepped onto the North Shore hill. There was no one in the villa because it was early. The living room, which was used as a resting place for the workers, was extremely quiet.
“Angie, go sit in the living room and wait. I’ll make some tea. I’ll stay here with you until Mrs. Ridsdel gets home.”
Michael lit a fire in the fireplace and brought blankets, a teapot, scones, dried fruit, and other food. Angie wrapped herself in the blanket and shivered, but gradually calmed down. However, when she found out that she had run away in the morning, she was worried about how the master would react. She was also worried about Michael.
“Michael. What if the Master finds out that you let me go? Of course, I will never tell. I will make up some excuse to make sure that you are not harmed...”
“I’m fine, Angie. How many days have you been stuck there?”
“Four days... no, five days...?”
Michael lowered his head as if he wanted to say something more. It seemed like he had a lot to ask, but couldn’t bring himself to do so. Angie hesitated and then spoke. It was only right that she should at least give him a minimal explanation since he had saved her.
“The Master... wants to take me to the capital. But I don’t want to do that.”
Michael also knew about their relationship. There was a sad look in his eyes. It seemed like he was remembering the moment when he confessed to Angie a while ago and she confessed that she already loved someone.
He was silent for a moment. Now that he had a rough idea of the situation, there was really no need to ask anymore. Master Kyle was a formidable man. He had been told that he had acquired his title through his aunt Hester, but he seemed to be a nobleman to the core, noble and arrogant, yet sometimes raw. There was something more to him than mere intimidation.
When persuading Angie didn't work, they probably resorted to confinement. In the worst-case scenario, they might have rendered her unconscious and forced her onto the ship.
“Then what are you going to do now? The young master won’t give up until the end.”
“I don’t know. I’ll tell Mom and Dad everything once they come. Even though this entire island belongs to him and we all work for the Duke, if your parents find out, he won’t be able to force them to do anything, right? Even if it’s because of the respect and loyalty people have for the Blackwell family.”
“Angie, you’re right. But this Cullinan Island is no longer the whole world. If this is the only world, even the young master can’t do whatever he wants. But now that the isolation from the outside world is over, the route to the mainland will soon be open. If by any chance the fog or the sea monsters come and the young master takes you away and you never return to the island again... things will go back to how they were before.”
“In the past...?”
“I heard the captain talking to Mrs. Dunst. The Trieste Empire is a monarchy where the word of the monarch and the nobles is law, and now that the war is over and they are recovering, they are trying to strengthen the system. If that is the case, then the word and will of the Duke of Blackwell are law. You and I... won’t everyone on this island eventually become a community where each household is subordinate to the Duke and each household is strictly controlled by rank and order?”
"What...?"
Angie's head spun quickly. It was terrifying to imagine that the atmosphere on Cullinan Island, where everyone helped and cared for each other, could change like that.
“That’s ridiculous. The peace of this island would be broken like that...”
“Angie, this island is not really peaceful. It just looks like a peaceful paradise. We have to get off this island eventually. Otherwise...”
Angie's heart sank. Martin Silva- He had also appeared in her dreams and said the same thing. She had to escape from this island. That's why she had stopped drinking the rose tea that diluted her memories, as he had told her to do. But for some reason, the memories she had managed to retrieve had faded again, and Martin Silva had no longer appeared in her dreams, which confused her.
“Michael, do you know Martin Silva? Did he appear in your dream too?”
“Martin Silva? Who is that?”
Those weren't lying eyes. They really seemed ignorant. Angie's green eyes trembled faintly.
“No, nothing.”
"For a moment."
Michael got up from his seat and walked over to the door. After confirming that the door was locked, he sat down across from Angie again. His face was solemn.
“Angie. Could you listen to my story before your parents get here? I know you’ll be very surprised... but I hope it won’t be too shocking.”
“What are you talking about?”
Michael clasped his hands together and hesitated for a moment before finally opening his mouth.
“Angie. If you still have feelings for the young master... you’d better hurry up and get over it. The young master... the Blackwells are not our benefactors. They gathered the survivors who had nowhere to go during the war and brought them to this island to care for them for a purpose. The Dukes... they are monsters.”
Angie frowned slightly. There was both confusion and suspicion in her eyes as she looked at Michael. It wasn't unreasonable. Even so, if someone had said that to her, she would have made that face.
“Angie. Have you ever heard of the Black Mass?”
Angie shook her head. A sense of foreboding suddenly came over her. It seemed as if Martin Silva had once asked her the same question in a dream.
“What the hell is that? It’s not some kind of devil worship ritual, is it? That’s ridiculous.”
“Angie, I have been eavesdropping on Mrs. Dunst, Yasmine, and the late Edward’s inner circle ever since I came to the Duke’s house. I have heard much more from my Aunt Hester, though. So trust me and listen to me. Everything I tell you is true. But I know only part of it, so I think it is part of the truth. The really important thing is that I don’t know anything at all.”
Angie's eyes were filled with deep anxiety. But she nodded obediently. It was a signal that she would listen to Michael's story. He continued without hesitation. There was no time.
“All minors on this island are Remedies, Angie. Including you and me. Everyone else is the helper for the Duke.”
He hesitated for a moment. Angie would be deeply hurt if he revealed that the Remedy children and their parents were actually strangers and that they had been artificially designated as a family based on things like eye and hair color. After a brief moment of hesitation, he decided to keep that part to himself for now.
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