“But what’s this smell of blood?”
“ā¦!”
At the same time, Ashid drew his sword at a rapid pace before they could even react. Rowell and the five knights instantly surrounded the two of them. The butler’s face turned pale, and he trembled with fear as he hastily explained.
“Th-That’s! We were just hunting a beast to serve to the Grand Duchessā!”
“Is that so? Didn’t you just say you hadn’t seen the Grand Duchess?”
“ā¦!”
Ashid sharply pointed out the butler’s contradictory statement. The butler gasped in panic. Without hesitation, Ashid swung his sword at the butler. Blood gushed out of the butler’s body like a fountain, and his old body fell to the floor lifelessly.
The maid, who was covered in the butler’s blood, screamed silently and sank to the floor.
After shaking his sword once, Ashid asked Rowell, “Did these people crawl out from over there just now?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Hearing Rowell’s answer, Ashid immediately ran toward the servants’ quarters. Just like in Mona Forest, a sense of anxiety and fear he had never felt before took over him. Ashid roughly opened the closed front door and went inside.
“ā¦!”
At that moment, he found Gray lying on the floor, bleeding. He felt as if his heart had plummeted to the floor.
Ashid hastily knelt beside her and checked her breathing. She had been pierced through the shoulder, and there were bruises and deep contusions all over her body, but fortunately, she was still alive. He grabbed Gray’s shoulder and shook her wildly, shouting.
“Where is your mistress, the Grand Duchess?”
“ā¦”
“Damn it! I asked you where she is!”
But Gray, who had already lost consciousness, couldn’t say a word. Ashid cursed roughly and let go of Gray’s shoulder as if throwing her away.
His hand was trembling faintly. Ashid forced himself to take a deep breath, trying to control his gasping. A strong sense of despair, which he couldn’t possibly express in words, came over him. Just like when he had helplessly watched his mother’s death before his eyes.
‘Is she, Daniella, dead?’
No. That can’t be.
She was a cunning woman. She would have found a way to at least save her life. Ashid desperately denied the ominous thoughts that were dominating his mind. Then, he firmly gripped his sword and twisted the corners of his mouth.
‘Do you think I would just let you die so meaninglessly, Daniella?’
He would use black magic, white magic, whatever it took, to bring Daniella back to life.
To do that, he first had to find her body. Finding and killing everyone involved in this incident was a task for later. It was something he could do at any time if he just made up his mind.
Ashid thought so and slowly got up.
When he came out, he approached his knights and the maid who was surrounded by them. Then, he looked at the maid with a murderous gaze and said, “Who is behind this?”
“ā¦”
The maid, frozen in fear, couldn’t say a word. Ashid smiled faintly and continued, “You can’t talk? …Fine. Then, I’ll have to make you talk even if you don’t want to.”
Ashid gripped his sword again. At that moment, his sharp sword pierced her left shoulder and came out. Just as Gray had been.
“Ahhh!”
The maid clutched her shoulder and let out a terrible scream. Ashid looked at the maid with a scornful gaze and said in a cold tone to Rowell and his subordinates, “Search the mansion thoroughly, as well as every corner of this territory. Everywhere the Grand Duchess might be. Understood?”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
Rowell and the knights answered in unison. After confirming that they were scattering inside and outside the mansion, Ashid quickly left the mansion.
‘I will definitely find you.’
No matter where she was, or who she was with. Definitely.
Even if she was in paradise, he would surely bring her back to his side.
How much time had passed?
During that time, Daniella had continuously shouted and begged to be let out, to be saved, hoping her voice would reach someone. Until her throat became hoarse and her concussion symptoms became unbearable.
Finally, Daniella gave up, closed her eyes, and lay down. No one was responding, so she couldn’t keep screaming. She had to rest for now.
How long had it been? Gradually, her headache and dizziness subsided, and her vision became clear. Daniella struggled to sit up. Then, she huddled up, burying her head between her two knees.
‘What happened to Gray?’
‘Is Mella safe?’
‘What if both of them are dead?’
‘What’s going to happen to me? …Am I going to die here like this?’
Negative thoughts continued endlessly. Her whole body was trembling from the guilt she felt toward the two of them and the fear of her situation.
She huddled up even smaller. How could she escape from here? No matter how much she thought, she couldn’t find a suitable solution.
‘The only person I can trust is Ashid. …Will he come to save me?’
Daniella let out a bitter laugh.
‘I said such harsh words to him, and now I’m hoping he’ll come to save me. I have no conscience.’
If she had known this would happen, she should have at least properly said sorry to Ashid. She had judged that giving him the ‘Duke Enchantor’s letter’ he so desperately wanted would be better than a mere apology to appease his hurt feelings, but now that she thought about it, she regretted that decision.
‘If Gray and Mella are dead, it’s all because of me.’
Tears welled up in Daniella’s eyes again. She hugged her knees tightly and sobbed silently.
After a bout of sadness passed, anger came over her.
‘I have to get out of here alive somehow. And I have to get revenge on those who did this to me, Mella, and Gray.’
Daniella roughly wiped her eyes and gritted her teeth. She couldn’t just despair and wait to die. That would be exactly what they wanted.
‘Sooner or later, Ashid will definitely come here. He might not want to save me, but he needs these letters for his revenge.’
Daniella thought as she tightly gripped the letter box in her robe pocket. Until then, she had to endure somehow. And when he came, she had to let him know she was here.
To endure until then, she had to conserve her energy as much as possible and minimize her movements. Daniella gathered the letters that had spilled out of the broken letter box, put them back into her pocket, and slumped her body.
It was then.
“…Daniella!”
“ā¦!”
“Damn it, if you can hear my voice, answer me! Please!”
Ashid’s voice was heard from outside the well.
“I’m here…! Ugh!”
Daniella screamed to respond to his voice, then let out a painful groan and grabbed her throat.
Because she had been screaming continuously earlier, her voice wouldn’t come out properly. Daniella became anxious and fidgety, thinking.
‘How can I let him know I’m here?’
At that moment, Daniella found a stone on the floor. It was the shining magic stone that Gray had given her when she was looking for clues earlier. The one that was supposed to glow when you caress it.
‘Ah!’
At that moment, an idea flashed in Daniella’s mind.
Daniella crawled over, picked up the stone, and caressed it. The light that flowed from the magic stone chased away the darkness that filled the well.
Soon, his footsteps got closer.
Ashid panted roughly as he searched every corner of the Asland territory. He passed by several old and dilapidated empty houses and came out onto the main road of the Asland territory. In the center of the road, where the pavement was broken in places, there was a well with a huge lid that looked like it had already dried up.
Ashid wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead with his hand and looked around. Time was short, as he didn’t know what her condition was, but there were still so many places to look.
Ashid felt his vision go blank with despair and frowned. Then, as if to vent his frustrating feelings, he shouted loudly.
“…Daniella!”
“ā¦”
“Damn it, if you can hear my voice, answer me! Please!”
Ashid’s shouts echoed through the empty ruins. But the answer he was hoping for didn’t come back. Ashid cursed and swept his hair, which was soaked in blood and sweat.
A maddening sense of anxiety that he might never find her came over him.
“…Here…!”
At that moment, Ashid heard a faint woman’s voice, almost inaudible. No, he thought he heard it.
Ashid stopped all movement and listened carefully. But there was no voice that followed.
‘Did I mishear?’
It was then, when Ashid was losing hope.
