Theodore, the last child of the Fenrir clan who had not yet been met, had entered.
“What are you! Who are you? Who are you to make Lara kneel?”
Theodore, who was taller than the other children, grabbed Odette's shoulder with a wary expression.
Lara pleaded with Theodore in an anxious voice.
“Brother Theo! Don’t do that! It’s Lady Odette! Let’s kneel together quickly! She is our benefactor!”
Theodore's expression turned even more sinister when he heard Odette's name.
“Why did you come here? You, wicked woman, get out of here!”
Only then did she regain her composure.
It was easier to meet eyes filled with disgust than with sparkling eyes. Odette was really used to meeting people with eyes like that.
When she came to my senses, Odette grabbed Lara's hand and tried to carefully help her up. Then.
“Don’t touch her! You damn witch. What are you planning to do with Lara?”
Theodore's grip on her shoulder grew stronger.
Odette sighed inwardly.
'I was complacent. I knew it was bad, but I didn't know it would get to this point.'
Isn't this treatment bordering on abuse?
There were descriptions that only the Fenrir clan had to wear armbands, and that taxes were levied for survival, but it was described that food, clothing, and shelter were okay. It was as if they were treated better than commoners.
So, she was able to accept the description that Karl did not hold any resentment toward the villainess even after three years of being in the detention center.
'But what is this?'
Isn't this an environment where the kids can't help but feel bad about me? How can I convince them to go out with me?
'There is no time to try to dispel these ill feelings and persuade them. If we do, it will lead to disaster.'
Odette boldly gave up on persuasion and chose a hard-line approach. First, she grabbed Lara's ankle chains and said.
“Luka, subdue Theodore.”
“Uh...? Oh, yeah! Okay!”
Perhaps because he had been receiving orders in her name all his life, Luca, whose hands and feet were free at the sound of Odette's firm voice, subdued Theodore without a moment's hesitation.
“What the heck is this!”
“Luka, let Theodore put his ankle towards me.”
She commanded as she grabbed Lara's ankle first.
“Get your hands off Lara! What dirty intentions are you-”
“Brother, don’t do that! The dirty ones are the Fenrir tribe. What if they kill us?”
It's a no-brainer.
“What are you! Who are you? Who are you to make Lara kneel?”
Theodore, who was taller than the other children, grabbed Odette's shoulder with a wary expression.
Lara pleaded with Theodore in an anxious voice.
“Brother Theo! Don’t do that! It’s Lady Odette! Let’s kneel together quickly! She is our benefactor!”
Theodore's expression turned even more sinister when he heard Odette's name.
“Why did you come here? You, wicked woman, get out of here!”
Only then did she regain her composure.
It was easier to meet eyes filled with disgust than with sparkling eyes. Odette was really used to meeting people with eyes like that.
When she came to my senses, Odette grabbed Lara's hand and tried to carefully help her up. Then.
“Don’t touch her! You damn witch. What are you planning to do with Lara?”
Theodore's grip on her shoulder grew stronger.
Odette sighed inwardly.
'I was complacent. I knew it was bad, but I didn't know it would get to this point.'
Isn't this treatment bordering on abuse?
There were descriptions that only the Fenrir clan had to wear armbands, and that taxes were levied for survival, but it was described that food, clothing, and shelter were okay. It was as if they were treated better than commoners.
So, she was able to accept the description that Karl did not hold any resentment toward the villainess even after three years of being in the detention center.
'But what is this?'
Isn't this an environment where the kids can't help but feel bad about me? How can I convince them to go out with me?
'There is no time to try to dispel these ill feelings and persuade them. If we do, it will lead to disaster.'
Odette boldly gave up on persuasion and chose a hard-line approach. First, she grabbed Lara's ankle chains and said.
“Luka, subdue Theodore.”
“Uh...? Oh, yeah! Okay!”
Perhaps because he had been receiving orders in her name all his life, Luca, whose hands and feet were free at the sound of Odette's firm voice, subdued Theodore without a moment's hesitation.
“What the heck is this!”
“Luka, let Theodore put his ankle towards me.”
She commanded as she grabbed Lara's ankle first.
“Get your hands off Lara! What dirty intentions are you-”
“Brother, don’t do that! The dirty ones are the Fenrir tribe. What if they kill us?”
It's a no-brainer.
“You devil! If you do anything to Lara, I will kill you.”
Theodore would have bitten her neck to death if Luca hadn't been there.
She grabbed Lara's ankles as they were. The shackles responded to her touch, glowing white, and fell to the floor with a clank.
Then Theodore looked as if he had been hit.
“I’ll take off your ankle shackles too, so after I do that, quickly change into the clothes in that trunk.”
Odette pointed to the trunk and gave a cold command. Theodore glared at her without letting his guard down.
“What is this scheme?”
“No matter what my plan is, the Fenrir tribe must follow my orders. There is no reason to explain to you. Today, you must follow me out of the holding cell.”
Even though Odette spoke in a firm and cold voice, she felt bitter inside. She didn't intend to take him away and hurt his feelings like this.
But Luca reacted unexpectedly to her cold words.
“Sister, can we go outside...? Can we go outside the detention center?”
He said that in a voice that sounded very moved. Then Lara asked in an excited voice.
“If we go outside...shall we go see the circus?”
'Why the circus all of a sudden?'
As he scratched his head at the strange word, Lara jumped up and threw her arms around Theodore's neck.
Odette blinked and looked at Theodore.
Theodore's face had turned pale. It was only then that she noticed.
'There's no way a child as innocent as Lara could adapt to such a harsh environment.'
Every time Lara cried because she wanted to go out of the cell, Theodore would comfort her by saying that she didn't have to go.
Under the pretext that there was no circus that Lara wanted to see.
‘...What should I do with this?’
Since a disaster was about to strike here, they planned to move to a safe place. To the mansion where they had saved Gisela.
The mansion was perfectly located between the capital and the prison, with few people around. Security was also tight.
From the beginning, she had intentionally built such a mansion intending to place the Fenrir children under Gisela's protection.
Her original plan was to take the kids there in a carriage she had purchased in advance...
'The circus is at least six stations away. It's a lot of work to take care of it while keeping three Fenririans out of sight.'
The Fenrir tribe had striking black hair and eyes.
To prevent these kids from being found out as Fenrir, they bought wigs and hats for the kids and dressed up in fancy clothes to make sure they couldn't be searched...
It was only a precaution against any eventuality during the moving process.
After all, taking the train was dangerous. If they were unlucky, someone might hear about it.
'Besides, in places where there are a lot of people, like a circus, the difficulty level goes up dramatically.'
“Lara, the circus is...”
But Theodore's face looked cruelly miserable.
It was a deep sense of humiliation that could only come from a tired father. One who had been accustomed to the feeling of guilt that he could do nothing for his child for a very long time.
It wasn't the kind of expression a child would make.
'...Oh, okay. So what? If someone tries to bully the kids, I'll just take them down with gold coins.'
No matter what the nonsense is, she can just counter it with an equivalent amount of money. She's decided to believe in the power of gold.
“That’s right, Lara. We’re going to the circus.”
At Odette's words, Luca and Theodore turned to her, startled. She could see joy welling up in Luca's eyes.
“So change your clothes. As soon as possible.”
“Wow! This is exciting.”
Lara was jumping for joy, and Luca looked so happy that his face turned bright red and he seemed speechless.
Theodore, on the other hand, said nothing.
“...”
Instead, he didn't resist even when I grabbed the chains around his ankles.
'It must be his way of showing his gratitude.'
The last remaining chain on Theodore's ankle glowed white and fell off with a clatter.
“Make sure to wear your hat and wig properly.”
Fortunately, Madame is so good at making wigs because they're indistinguishable from real hair.
'Yeah. If I can take the kids out in a nice way, that's the best.'
It's also better for winning Karl's favor. Besides, children have wishes that must be fulfilled before they grow up.
In the orphanage, in the Count's attic, and again in the orphanage.
Circus.
There was a time when she too was excited all night by that word.
***
The bell in the prison's bell tower rang loudly. It was the sound of a bell that meant a disaster had occurred.
You must quickly get out of the place where the bell tower announcing disaster is sounding. However, going against such instructions, a man was driving in the opposite direction, cutting through the sand and dust. His sleeves and pants were a hand's length short. It was Karl, wearing the armband that meant third-class citizen.
With strength far superior to that of an ordinary human, he ran frantically toward the receiving area at a speed faster than a steam locomotive.
Blood was seeping from his shoulder, where he had just been given the slave penalty and had been branded with an iron, but he ran quickly as if he felt no pain at all.
“Fuck. Please, please.”
He couldn't even breathe properly.
He felt as if he was endlessly struggling in a swamp. A terrible despair came over him.
“Luca!”
He headed into the cell. The door made of magic stone was enormous. Since there were no shackles, Karl was able to pass through it.
Karl, who entered the prison like that, was shocked.
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment