The person who arrived late was none other than Jerome.
Jerome stood in front of the front door, repeatedly glancing at Fresa and Lycaon with a nervous look.
Seeing his frustrated expression, Fresa finally spoke first.
“Are you not going to tell me why you came?”
“Well…”
“What?”
Fresa had been condescending toward Jerome since last time, but now it seemed Jerome didn’t even care about such things.
He hesitated several times before finally letting out a deep sigh.
“This…”
Suddenly, Jerome extended a letter to Fresa.
I don’t know what kind of letter he’s giving me out of the blue.
As Fresa looked back and forth at Jerome and the letter with suspicion, Lycaon, standing behind, took the letter instead.
Without hesitation, he opened the envelope and checked its contents.
“There’s no curse or magic trap, just a letter. Here.”
“Thank you.”
Impressed by Lycaon’s thoroughness, Fresa unfolded the letter.
It read:
A servant named Loren dared to covet the Thorpe family’s property and was imprisoned in the underground dungeon.
I heard she was very close to you, Fresa.
If you help our family, I will forgive the servant.
You have one day to think about it.
Send your answer through Jerome.
And if you want the servant to stay safe, come alone.
The message was concise and vile.
Loren wouldn’t have done such a thing; it was clearly a setup.
Fresa, unconsciously, furrowed her brow and crumpled the letter.
Crinkle.
As the paper was torn messily, Jerome blurted out an unsolicited remark.
“I told you I warned you, but my brother and Alicia pushed it through!”
“…Alicia?”
“Y-Yes! It was Alicia’s idea.”
It seemed Alicia was behind this.
No wonder the Gillepsie couple had been quiet since the last banquet.
Since Alicia had worked at the Thorpe estate for a long time, she probably sensed Loren and Fresa’s relationship.
She was careful not to attract attention, but clearly, the female protagonist’s intuition was sharp.
Still, to resort to such an obvious and foolish trick — they still looked down on Fresa as if she were nothing.
“If you begged on your knees, I might have helped a little, but it’s too late now.”
Fresa looked at Jerome with a gentle smile.
When their eyes met, Jerome was startled and darted his eyes around nervously.
“Jerome, is Loren safe?”
“She’s in the underground prison, but… still…”
“Still?”
Lycaon mumbled softly instead of Fresa.
“Fresa said she would starve until the family gives her money…”
His voice was so cold that Jerome paled and stammered.
No wonder. Jerome had already been struck by Lycaon’s lightning several times.
He must have internalized that pain, so he was afraid.
‘Power begets power, they say. Looks like that’s exactly what’s happening.’
Fresa clicked her tongue softly.
Anyway, she didn’t have time to waste on Jerome now.
Not only had they imprisoned Loren in that dark, gloomy place, but they also wanted to starve her — the Thorpe family was as ruthless as ever.
Since childhood, Fresa had often been starved for disobedience or for following Rowan, which damaged the family’s reputation.
Fresa glared at Jerome and then slammed the front door shut.
A fleeting look of surprise crossed Jerome’s face, but Fresa’s mind was entirely on Loren’s safety.
“Fresa! There’s no place to go back to, but if you just let me stay for one night…”
Jerome’s pitiful plea was heard, but Fresa simply responded by locking the front door.
Lycaon, glancing briefly at Fresa’s expression, subtly spoke.
“If you’re planning to leave now, I can make it possible with my magic.”
Fresa hesitated, staring intently at Lycaon, then slowly shook her head and replied.
“I’d love to go straight to the Thorpe estate right now, but I need to prepare first. Also, you shouldn’t use too much magic, Your Grace, Grand Duke Granadine.”
“You’re taking the medicine I gave you well, and you’re almost fully recovered. Isn’t that a bit overprotective?”
Lycaon argued against Fresa’s nagging, but she didn’t answer.
She was preoccupied, worried about Loren’s safety.
Being clever as always, Lycaon waited patiently until Fresa finished her thoughts.
Fresa was trying hard to stay calm.
‘Maybe I should have brought Loren here earlier.’
She felt uneasy for delaying her perfect plan.
Loren must be suffering in the basement of the Thorpe estate, even in the middle of summer, starving and tormented.
Just thinking about it made her head feel like it was going to explode.
When she read the letter, she didn’t feel much emotion.
Perhaps it was because Jerome was right in front of her, and she subconsciously wanted to hide her weakness.
Or maybe the absurd reality hadn’t fully hit her yet.
In any case, Fresa was furious and her whole body was burning with rage.
“First… I’ll pack… no, I mean, by dawn tomorrow…”
“Fresa, stay calm and look at me.”
Lycaon reached out cautiously, holding only her fingertips, and whispered.
Fresa, feeling the cool touch on her burning fingertips, slowly looked up at him.
“What’s so worrying? I’m here. You’re just too shocked right now. Calm down, cool your head, and we can leave now. If you need more preparations, tomorrow is fine too.”
Hearing Lycaon’s calm and composed voice, her turbulent mind settled down peacefully.
As if she had cast a spell, her unpleasant feelings sank to the depths below.
Finally, Fresa snapped back to her senses, staring at Lycaon’s held hand, and responded.
“Yes, Lycaon. You’re right. I need to ask Cade for a few more magic scrolls. And once I return, I’ll make a better medicine for you. I think I can create something more effective than the current one. If it’s okay, would you like to go together tomorrow morning?”
The moment her thoughts cleared, words she had only been thinking echoed rapidly in her mind.
Fresa finally took a deep breath and exhaled.
“Anytime you want.”
Lycaon nodded, showing his usual respect for her opinion.
Fresa took the ribbon from her wrist and quickly tied her messy hair into a tight ponytail.
~·~·* . *^.^* . *·~·~
The basement of the Thorpe estate was so dark that it was hard to tell whether it was day or night.
Loren, trapped after being falsely accused of theft, felt wronged but also understood why the Thorpe family had imprisoned her.
‘They’re trying to threaten Miss Fresa.’
Somehow, Elias, who had come to Loren’s room unexpectedly, discovered her rocket necklace — the very necklace Fresa had secretly sent her last time.
It was definitely hers, given by Fresa, but Elias, of course, didn’t believe it.
Loren couldn’t even properly protest and was dragged down to the basement and imprisoned.
It had been about half a day.
She was still managing, but she worried about Fresa.
‘Miss is so soft-hearted; it’s dangerous. If only I could contact her…’
Whether on Elias’s orders or to check Loren’s condition, the butler periodically came and went.
But a loyal servant of the Thorpe family, even if Loren begged desperately to be released, would not listen.
‘I should have left long ago. Only causing trouble for Miss.’
Loren sat on the floor, curled up tightly.
How much time had passed?
Her throat was dry, and she was hungry, but it was nothing extraordinary.
She only wished that Fresa wouldn’t come here.
Thinking about how cruelly the Thorpe family had tormented Fresa made Loren want to cry.
People called Fresa a foolish, odd, and crazy wicked girl, but Loren knew the truth.
Fresa was only afraid of the wounds she might receive from others.
Her cold, icy gaze was always as calm as a reflection in a still lake.
At that moment, Loren understood this as she looked into Fresa’s eyes, which she was holding back.
Getting close to Miss’s closed-off heart hadn’t been easy, but Loren felt happy because of it.
So if Fresa appeared here and, because of her, got entangled again with the Thorpe family, Loren wouldn’t be able to endure it.
Thud, thud.
Someone was coming down the stairs.
Loren looked up through the thick bars.
It was Elias and Amy.
“By now, she should be here.”
“This servant and not at all close to her, right? Onii-san, you shouldn’t believe everything Alicia says.”
“Quiet, Amy.”
“What about this servant? Just kick her out. She’s no use anymore. Ugh, maybe I should just hand her over to some slave trader…”
Amy loudly and deliberately made a fuss, as if telling her to listen.
Slave.
That word made Loren’s heart sink.
“Slave.”
Even Elias seemed to agree, muttering as he looked down at Loren.
It seemed they really would do that.
Since they’re selfish people who only care about themselves.
They had no sympathy for servants.
Yet, Loren had stayed because she had nowhere else to go.
All her savings had been stolen by her rural parents.
Otherwise, her siblings would go hungry, so she was begged to stay out of pity.
It was hard to find a noble willing to take in a servant who had worked for another family for so long.
“If Miss Fresa doesn’t come, I guess I’ll have to do that to get money.”
As Elias muttered this, suddenly a loud bang echoed through the basement.
As if a hole had been punched in the ceiling, a huge lump suddenly burst out and fell down.
“Ah!”
Elias let out a scream and tumbled down.
“Brother!”
Amy screamed and staggered back, startled by the sudden intrusion.
No — more precisely, she fell because something fell from the ceiling.
Loren quickly stood up in shock, grasping the bars with both hands, staring at “it.”
And soon, she realized what it was.
“…Miss Fresa?”
“Hello, Loren. How have you been?”
Fresa, standing confidently on two legs over Elias, smiled and waved at Loren.
~·~·* . *^.^* . *·~·~
Hey there, It’s Green Rose 😉
Since I human I might have make some mistakes while translating so please if you find them let me know here in the comments or in the Discord group so I can correct them and be careful in the future so they do not repeat.
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
~~~Next Chapter~~~
Next chapter will be released Tomorrow.
See you then!!
