Chapter 44
“Then I will go check if Lady Lerit is alright. I already ordered the guards around her room to be strengthened.”
Calyx did not reply.
He had thought he would not save her. But he did. And now he had guarded her room all day, worried something might happen to her.
He told himself it was because he did not want her to die by someone else’s hand. But now that he thought about it, it felt strange. If she died, it would be the same in the end. Then why was he so obsessed with her life?
Calyx looked at his arm. It was wrapped in bandages, but from his wrist upward, blue veins stood out unnaturally.
“I wanted to kill her from the beginning.”
Herkel looked at him in confusion.
“You wanted to kill her? The scammer?”
“No. Lerit.”
Herkel’s eyes widened.
“But isn’t Lady Lerit the one you are paying more attention to than anyone else?”
Calyx stayed silent. Herkel carefully continued,
“And if we think about what happened before, maybe Lady Lerit is the princess—”
“Herkel.”
His voice was low and frightening. Herkel’s eyes shook with tension. Calyx slowly raised his head and looked at him.
“Make sure those words never leave this room again.”
“Then Lady Lerit is…?”
Herkel could not finish his sentence. He covered his own mouth, unable to hide his shock. When Calyx kept staring at him, Herkel quickly said,
“I will never speak of that carelessly again.”
I stood there blankly after hearing everything.
‘He wanted to kill me from the beginning?’
It felt like I had heard his hidden thoughts. My stomach felt sick.
I closed the door without listening further. I went back to my room, locked the door from the outside as before, and went inside. Soon, there was a knock.
“Lady Lerit, we brought the water.”
The two soldiers looked out of breath, as if they had run. I thanked them, drank the water, and returned the cup. After they left, the room became quiet.
I fell onto the bed.
“I wanted to kill her from the beginning.”
Calyx’s words kept repeating in my head. Then was what he wanted from me… my death?
I knew Calyx did not like me much, but I did not know he thought like that.
‘Then why did he save me?’
Now even that felt unpleasant. Did he save me only to kill me with his own hands later? After all, he believed I was a princess.
I remembered how he looked very displeased when I did not admit I was a princess.
Did it bother him because he had to kill me, but I would not admit it?
My heart sank heavily. I never expected anything from Calyx, but I did not know he was thinking like this.
I suddenly sat up in bed. I had heard where the scammer might be. There was no reason for me to stay here anymore. I searched my pocket and found the contract.
‘If he plans to kill me anyway, what is the use of this contract?’
I placed it on the bedside table. Was he planning to make me repay everything and then kill me? It was ridiculous.
I quickly changed my clothes. I was about to leave Calyx’s cloak behind, but it was too cold, so I took it.
‘I can’t freeze to death.’
After getting ready, I looked around the room again. Before, it looked comfortable and luxurious, like a hotel room. Now it felt like a prison.
I looked at the wall toward Calyx’s room. Before, I had small feelings of gratitude toward him. Now even those were gone.
There were already many people trying to kill me. I never thought Calyx would try too.
Then again, he always treated me like a scammer. Maybe it was only natural.
One thing was clear. I had to leave now. I did not know when Calyx might kill me if I stayed.
‘First, I’ll catch the scammer and then return to Rollend.’
Calyx wanted to end this quietly. But looking at the situation, it was impossible. The royal family was involved. The damage was huge. Many people were trying to kill me.
‘Trying to end this quietly is just greed.’
I took a deep breath and looked outside. Two guards were stationed in front of my room.
They seemed to change shifts two at a time, and there was a short gap between them. It was less than a minute, but if I ran quickly then, I should be fine.
My body had mostly recovered. Running would not be a problem. I gripped the cold handle of my sword.
Now all that was left was to catch the scammer and go home.
Thinking that made my heart calm for a moment.
10:20 p.m. I left a letter on the bedside table.
[Thank you for everything.
I will repay the remaining debt after I catch the scammer.]
I had no intention of not paying. The debt was under my name. And I had promised Calyx. I never fail.
With a nervous heart, I looked outside the window. The two guards checked the time and walked toward the end of the hallway.
Now.
I ran to the door and inserted the pin I had prepared into the keyhole.
My heart pounded, but I focused on the small sound of the pin fitting into place. My hands were sweaty from nervousness. I held the pin tightly so it would not slip.
For a moment, because of my pounding heart and sweaty hands, I almost dropped it. I held my breath and steadied it.
I focused on the faint sound inside the lock, even holding my breath.
‘I succeeded earlier. Why am I so nervous now?’
My heart was beating hard. All my focus gathered into this moment. Then I heard a small click.
It was a tiny sound, but joy rose in my head. I slowly turned the pin, carefully matching the sound inside.
My fingers hurt from gripping too hard, but I endured and kept turning it.
My hand trembled slightly—
Then the door slid open.
I looked around, quickly closed the door behind me, and stepped outside. Cool air wrapped around my face.
As I hurried forward, I heard someone running toward me, breathing heavily. I quickly turned.
Yellow eyes met mine.
“Vodka?”
I paused. Vodka’s eyes shone brightly. I threw several protein biscuits from my pocket.
“Vodka, I’m sorry, but I have to go now.”
I did not want to stay near someone who wanted to kill me. Especially someone who had planned it from the beginning.
If Calyx had been thinking that way while staying beside me, I never knew when I might die. No matter how serious his condition was, that did not mean he could kill someone.
I did not even know Solfein, whom the King had killed. Calyx had chosen the wrong person for revenge.
‘I thought he was smart.’
Without regret, I turned away. The only things Calyx had given me were a room inside the castle walls, food, some convenience, and he saved my life.
Though now, I could not understand even that.
I walked quickly. As soon as I left the castle walls, cold wind hit me. I pulled the cloak tighter and calculated the distance.
It would take about 30 minutes of fast walking to reach the village near the Lukru Kingdom border.
That was if I did not run into Berok. If I did, it might take another hour.
As I kept walking, Vodka followed me. I looked at him.
“Vodka, don’t follow me. I’m leaving this place for good.”
Vodka only looked at me with bright eyes. If only we could talk. He just looked like he wanted more protein biscuits.
I sighed and scattered the remaining biscuits on the snowy ground.
“This is the last. Don’t follow me.”
I hurried my steps. I glanced back, worried the soldiers might follow. Luckily, it seemed they did not know I had left.
It was already past dinner time. They probably would not check until morning when they brought food.
That gave me enough time to reach the border village.
I walked quickly. But beside me, I kept hearing soft steps.
Vodka walked next to me, tongue out, looking almost like he was smiling. His eyes looked strangely happy.
‘Is he happy because he ate protein biscuits as a late-night snack?’
For Vodka, eating must be happiness. Calyx said he gave good food—
‘As if Berok meat is good food.’
Anyway, nothing in this northern land suited me. If not for the debt, I would have left long ago.
I tightened my trembling fists and wrapped my cloak tighter. The wind was strong at night.
Vodka stayed close to me. In the snow, there were only our footprints.
Finally, I stopped and waved my arm at him.
“Vodka, go. You can’t walk the same path as me.”
Vodka only looked at me with bright eyes.
I spoke more firmly.
“You’re Calyx’s wolf dog. You eat the food he provides. You sleep where he lets you. You grew up beside him.”
He belonged to Calyx. Our paths were different.
I looked at Vodka, waiting for an answer.
Under the moonlight, his eyes shone purely.
So purely that it made my heart shake.
