Etienne was soaked in the pouring rain.
Crouching at the back of the annex, he strained to tear off the panels.
It was quite difficult to work with bare hands and poor visibility due to the rain.
"Don't stay like this. Go see our young lady right now! She's terrified of the underground. Oh my God! Diana!"
If he just tears down this tightly locked door, he'll find a passage leading to the basement where Shioana is trapped.
"Shit!"
He kicked the lock, but the old, moss-covered door wouldn't budge. Only by tearing at the wood with his shabby hands could he open the shutter. Descending the ladder, he saw a dark basement.
'...'
As Etienne crawled in, he soon saw a thin ankle.
As he crawled out from under the bed, Siona screamed and stood against the opposite wall. Seeing her tremble with her eyes tightly shut felt familiar.
'Etienne, I was so scared.'
Whenever he found Edwin, who his brothers had locked in the closet as a joke, his younger brother would hug him and cry. He didn't know why he thought of his dead brother when he saw Shioana.
'It's not my brother.'
He wiped his bleeding hands on his pants and approached her.
Then, blue eyes gleamed in the darkness and stared at him. Etienne was taken aback when his eyes met Simona's.
He couldn't figure out why he was here.
It wasn't Martha who asked him to come.
As he had nothing to say, she pulled the front of his wet clothes long, and Shioana spoke.
"...get out."
"...?"
Etienne's eyes widened at her words.
He didn't expect to be thanked, but he didn't expect to be told to leave.
As Shioana pushed him away with her weak arm, the package of food fell from Etienne's arms.
"Elijah won't stay still."
She muttered, looking at the apples and bread scattered on the damp floor. Only then did Etienne realize what she was worried about.
He sat down and silently wrapped the apple and bread in the cloth again. Then he handed it to Shioana.
It didn't seem strange that he was so tired that he fainted.
"You're going to get in trouble! Go back quickly."
Shioana's eyes were searching beyond him, not at him.
Etienne realized that Shioana was now in a slightly dazed state.
“I told you to go!”
Etienne stood, taking a few punches from her that didn't hurt. A flash of life returned to Simona's eyes, which had been gasping for breath.
"...Etienne"
A myriad of emotions were written across Shioana's pale face as she called his name. As Etienne kept his distance and stared at her, Shioana held out her hand.
"I, I..."
Her tired body lurched forward, and Etienne quickly stopped it.
"...Ah."
The moment her forehead touched Etienne's chest, his body stiffened.
"...!"
As if things weren't bad enough, Shioana's body fell limp as she passed out. If he left her like this, she'd end up hitting her head on the floor.
Etienne had no choice but to hug her.
"...Mmm."
An unidentified moan escaped from Simona's mouth as she hugged him.
She was much lighter than Etienne had expected. But as he tried to avoid contact as much as possible, a cold sweat began to run down his spine.
He doesn't know how long it took to walk just a few steps. He laid Shioana on the shabby bed, then turned on the light and dragged the blanket to cover her.
"...Ha."
Having finished all that, Etienne collapsed to the floor. He'd been shivering from the rain, but now he felt suffocated, as if he'd swallowed a fireball.
“...What is this?”
Etienne's two cheeks must have been cold as he wiped away the water droplets that flowed down his body with his big hands.
The rain pouring down outside the window pounded loudly on the floor, and the sound of the rain drowned out the heavy breathing coming from Shioana's mouth.
***
The next day, the Count, who had returned to Regbel without any contact, was eating breakfast. His face was still aching from the travel poison, having arrived late at night.
"Father, how is the capital these days?"
"There's a lot of commotion over foreign news. I heard the Emperor of Urzeca is in critical condition. The Crown Prince is still young, so we'll have to wait and see how things turn out. And the barbarians from the west keep invading and pillaging, so the army seems to be having a hard time."
"It would be good if the one who benefits my father's business becomes the Emperor."
A satisfied smile appeared on the Count's face at Eli's answer.
"By the way, where did your sister go? Dad's here, and she hasn't even shown her nose."
The Count made a displeased expression, and only then did Shioana appear.
“Father, you are here.”
Her hunched face looked somewhat sore, but he didn't really care.
"Tsk, when are you going to use someone as an excuse? Bring me a glass of wine. not tea."
As the Count spoke, Eli added softly.
"Shioana, you'd better break your habit of sleeping late."
“S-sorry.”
After answering awkwardly, Shioana lowered her head.
She had just returned from the annex, supported by Martha. Had it not been for her father's visit, she might have left late in the afternoon. Having slept in the dark, her whole body ached, and she felt hot.
'I have to endure it.'
If she showed her pain here, it was obvious that her father would look at her more pitifully.
As Shioana tried to scoop up the food as naturally as possible, her hand holding the spoon started to tremble. She was afraid that the tip of the spoon would touch the plate and make a loud noise, so she quickly grabbed her wrist with her other hand.
"Yeah, I guess nothing will happen to Regbel."
"Yes. Thanks to my father, everyone is at peace."
"I think we'll have to collect a little more tax this year. The capital city business is costing a lot of money.'
"I will handle it well.”
The conversation between the Count and Eli gave Siouna a severe headache.
'What more taxes are you going to collect?'
The land in Regbel is not suitable for planting anything, and this year, it has only received sudden, torrential rains. So, grain harvests were sure to suffer.
Even though he didn't know, Eli probably knew nothing about the Regbel Estate, so she couldn't understand why he was so confident.
"I've just started taking Shioana's etiquette lessons. Viscountess Hooper is a person of fine appearance and culture, and I think she will be an excellent teacher."
The Count, who spent a long time in the capital, brushed his mustache as he watched Eli, who always handled his work without a hitch.
"If Shioana gets married, I think it would be a good idea for you to come up to the capital soon. There's a lot to learn about business from the ground up."
“Just trust me.”
It was the story of Shioana's marriage without her, the person getting married.
Shioana, who had been suffering below, smiled bitterly. She deliberately sat up, her back arched, trying not to show her frustration.
After all, they were Shioana's only family, so she didn't want to incur hatred.
***
After finishing his work in the barn, Etienne scooped up some well water and poured it over himself.
Swoosh!
The well at Regbel was so cold it was mind-boggling.
His hometown, with its warm breezes year-round, was a constant source of comparison. As he gazed at the water flowing from his head, a longing flashed through his red eyes.
'I guess you had a less difficult time.'
Seeing that he hasn't been able to shake off the guilt of the past.
Now, neither name nor family name meant anything to him. He was merely a wandering, lowly being. Etienne looked down at the slave mark tattooed on his wrist and smiled bitterly.
"...!"
At the sound of a human presence, his keen senses quickly scanned the area, hoping to grab something that could be used as a weapon.
But Etienne relaxed after seeing the person's face.
"..."
Shioana came straight to his side and lifted her chin.
Seeing her brought back memories of a night he thought he forgotten. In his arms, Shioana wasn't just light. Her body was incredibly soft and warm.
Etienne never wanted to feel that way again. So he naturally turned away from Shioana.
Shioana frowned as she watched the slave pretending not to know her.
'What? Why are you doing that again?'
Just when she thought they were getting closer, Etienne would start to distance himself.
Shioana recalled the nightmarish night she'd been trapped in the annex. Just when she thought she couldn't overcome her fear, he appeared.
She couldn't figure out why, but seeing Etienne brought her relief. But now, Etienne refused to even look at her. Her complex emotions were pounding with anger.
"Why are you being so cheeky again!"
When he slowly turned at Shioana's urging, her fire flared.
His toned body shone through his wet white shirt. His broad shoulders and fine muscles stood out with every movement.
A surprised Shioana turned her back.
Comments
Post a Comment