I tried to pry Linea's body away from my shoulder to check on her condition.
But the child shook their head and clung tightly to me.
It seemed my startled heart hadn't calmed down yet, so I asked as cautiously as possible.
"Linea, are you hurt anywhere?"
Linea shook her head again.
"Thank god."
After letting out a sigh of relief, I pulled Linea even closer into my arms.
However, it actually took much longer for the child to feel relieved.
I closed my eyes as I stroked the hair of the child who had been clinging to me with all their might for a long time.
Then, Linea's heartbeat, which had been beating as fast as a kitten's, gradually subsided.
Linea soon pulled away from me with a determined look on her face and spoke.
"Mother, just leave today!"
"Yes?"
"You don't have to take me."
Linea was sincere.
"I'll be fine. Even though Grandma punishes me sometimes, she feeds me on time and makes sure I have a place to stay."
“Linea.”
"Grandma will keep doing this to Mother."
The child didn't even cry.
She just hurriedly continued speaking as if trying to persuade me.
The eyes of the child who had matured excessively early were dark, devoid of a single ray of light.
"And I know that Grandma is treating Mother even worse because of me..."
Linea continued rambling on.
Just like the day we first met, seeing Linea's empty eyes, I called the child's name firmly.
“Linea.”
Only when I called her name more firmly than before was I able to meet Linea's eyes.
“Look at me, huh?”
I cupped the child's cheeks with both hands and looked into Linea's eyes.
"I will never leave you behind. You are my daughter."
At those words, Linea's lips trembled.
I continued speaking.
"I am your mother, and I will always protect and love you. Even if you had abandoned me and run away today, I would have loved Linea."
Just as I did not abandon Linea, Linea did not turn her back on me today, even though she could have.
Did my mother-in-law really say she would let Linea get away with releasing me?
'Mother must have hurled all sorts of threats and intimidation at the child. Saying that if she let me go, it would be her who took my place.'
Even so, Linea saved me and even told me to leave on my own.
This child's way of loving is always like this.
I do good deeds believing that a good day will come someday, just like Cinderella.
"So, Linea, let's leave together today, right now."
Upon hearing those words, Linea's expression looked indifferent for a moment.
No, it seemed that way for a moment.
Soon, Linea's eyebrows drooped.
The sight of the child's face slowly crumbling was so heartbreaking that I felt like my heart was breaking, and I was left breathless.
The transparent film of water that slowly covered the child's blue eyes turned into tears and flowed down the cheeks.
"You'll go with me, right?"
Upon hearing those words, Linea finally nodded heavily.
I forced a smile at Linea.
"Thank you for being my daughter."
Upon hearing those words, Linea suddenly hugged my neck again.
This time, I felt my shoulder, where the child had buried their face, getting damp.
"Mom, Mother."
Afraid that someone might wake up, Linea buried her face in my shoulder and cried bitterly.
I just hugged the child's body even tighter.
After patting her, Linea stopped crying.
However, the sound of wheezing from a stuffy nose, cheeks flushed red from exhaustion from crying alone, and red hair matted on the face held the remnants of the tears.
"Linea, first, we need to gather all the evidence of the abuse before we leave."
I took a handkerchief out of my inner pocket and wiped the child's eyes and cheeks.
"Wait here for a moment, hmph."
As I held a handkerchief to the child's nose and spoke, Linea blew her nose with it.
"There's a doorman at the front door, so we're going to take the back door today. Got it?"
At the back, there is a door connected to the kitchen that servants use to enter and exit.
This side is locked, but the security is relatively weak.
"Shh, you have to be quiet."
Then Linea also nodded.
I walked out of the storage room I couldn't stand the sight of and quietly closed the door. Then I hung the chair back up.
Leaving Linea hidden in the darkness, I went upstairs and entered my room.
It took quite a while.
'I didn't even post a sentry in the ink, not thinking Linea would save me.'
I packed only the things I needed into my bag and came downstairs.
When I entered the drawing room, fortunately, the torn clothes and broken doll were still there.
I gathered the outfit Linea had worn in front of people and the doll and put them into my bag.
And even Linea's letter of apology was scattered on the floor.
'It's all done now.'
All the evidence has been gathered.
Now, the only thing left is to file a complaint.
'If Linea leaves and disappears today, my mother-in-law won't just sit idly by.'
I had to come early this morning with a lawyer to pressure my mother-in-law.
'For now, I have no choice but to contact Carcel.'
I was worried about how to get the child there, but for now, I had no choice but to hope that we would be lucky enough to meet a carriage.
"Linea, let's go."
***
Holding Linea's hand, I opened the back door and stepped out onto a path leading to the garden.
The garden side was unguarded, with only a gatekeeper patrolling at dawn.
I quietly made my way to the garden, unlocked the main gate, and stepped out.
I thought it was the moment I finally escaped...
"Good morning, Madam."
"Heh."
I almost let out a scream without realizing it, so I quickly held my breath.
Because a man I had never seen before suddenly appeared!
'The streetlights are on, so how can you appear in a place where there was nothing like this?'
Sensing that he was a dangerous person, I asked, making no attempt to hide my extreme wariness.
"What is it?"
A man dressed in black from head to toe answered my question, having hidden the squirming Linea as far behind me as possible.
"The Marquis is on his way."
“Carcel?”
My eyes still held a wary look.
The man still spoke calmly.
"I couldn't go inside the house, so I kept watching, and I confirmed that the light in Madam's room wasn't turning on."
The clock I saw in the room earlier was pointing to 12 o'clock in the morning.
Generally, Linea would fall asleep between 9 and 10, and I tended to fall asleep around 11.
"I judged that something was amiss and reported it, and I reluctantly revealed myself to inform you that the Marquis is almost here."
"Did Carcel assign a watcher to me?"
"He told us to ensure safety rather than just monitoring. He also told us to report any problems that arise..."
The sound of a carriage was heard behind the man who was speaking.
'It is Carcel's carriage.'
The black carriage, having traveled down the dark road where only the streetlights remained, finally stopped in front of us.
Carcel opened the door and got out before the coachman could even get out and open it.
“Asha!”
"Carcel? How, no."
Carcel was also not dressed neatly as usual, but was wearing only a black shirt.
With his hair disheveled, it was obvious that he had rushed over in a hurry.
He hurriedly got out of the carriage and checked my appearance.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere...?"
It seemed that perhaps not only Linea but I, too, was stressed about today's work.
Judging by how relief welled up in my throat the moment I saw him.
The moment Carcel, who had become a trustworthy person to me when I had nowhere to turn, approached me, I jumped into his arms.
Carcel wrapped one arm around me with a surprised expression.
“Carcel.”
The familiar scent of Carcel's body made me weak.
"Carcel, I... I..."
“I’m listening.”
Carcel held me in his arms and stroked my hair.
"I need Carcel. No, it has to be Carcel."
Because of him, I was able to boldly kick out of the house today.
If even Carcel turns his back on me, there is no one left to rely on.
I squeezed my eyes shut and spoke.
"So... Stay by my side."
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