Chapter 4
The sudden and embarrassing action made Irene’s body stiffen like stone.
“Hng…”
But only for a moment.
From the place his fingers had brushed, a strange sensation spread through her body, and an involuntary sound escaped her lips. Her grip on the clothes she was holding tightened.
Is he finally going to show why he brought me here?
She had suspected something like this might happen, so it wasn’t completely unexpected.
But she still hated it.
It felt humiliating.
Irene wanted to push him away and run immediately.
But she had already failed once when trying to escape, and his warning—that things wouldn’t end like they had this time if she were caught again—echoed in her mind.
Sleeping with him would be better than dying.
…Would it really?
While Irene wavered in confusion, his fingers moved from her shoulder blades and slowly traced down along her straight spine toward her waist.
A terrible feeling rose inside her—that if she let this continue, his hand would reach somewhere no one else should ever touch.
“P-Please… stop!”
This time her desperate voice must have reached him.
The fingers tormenting her finally withdrew.
Letting out the breath she had been holding, Irene looked at Karlos through the mirror.
He’s… smiling?
Not just a small smile.
He was smiling brightly, as if he were genuinely delighted.
So he can smile like that.
She had only ever seen his expressionless face before, so it felt strange.
With such a radiant smile on his handsome face, he almost seemed to shine.
It was so beautiful that Irene stared at his reflection in the mirror in a daze.
“……”
Perhaps sensing her gaze, Karlos erased the smile from his lips and looked down at her.
Only then did Irene come back to her senses and quickly lowered her head.
A cold voice spoke above her.
“Didn’t you say you didn’t have any tattoos on your body?”
Irene nodded.
Karlos placed his cold palm on her back.
Goosebumps rose across her skin, and her small shoulders shrank.
“Then what is this? There’s a tattoo here.”
A tattoo?
Startled, Irene twisted around, but unfortunately she couldn’t see her own back.
As she struggled to look, Karlos picked up a small hand mirror from the dressing table.
He held it up so it reflected her back into the large mirror.
Thanks to that, Irene could finally see the tattoo on her back.
Her eyes widened.
It was a branch with flowers.
On the long branch were four flower buds and three fully bloomed flowers.
“So this is the first time you’re seeing it.”
“…Yes.”
How many times had she ever seen her own back in her life?
Her house had only one mirror, so something like this had been impossible.
More importantly, Irene found the very existence of the tattoo strange.
She had no memory of getting one.
If it had been there since birth, her mother—or the man who was technically her father—would have mentioned it.
But they never had.
Then when did it appear?
And why had Karlos reacted that way when he saw it?
She was curious.
It felt like the tattoo might be deeply connected to the reason he brought her.
“Um…”
She had just managed to gather the courage to speak—
But suddenly a large coat was draped over her shoulders.
It was Karlos’s coat.
The unexpected action cut off her words.
Blinking slowly, Irene looked up at him.
Karlos adjusted the coat so it wouldn’t slip off her shoulders and said,
“Don’t tell anyone about this tattoo except me.
And don’t show it to anyone either.”
His somewhat commanding tone made one thing clear.
So it really is related to this tattoo.
Realizing that gave Irene a little relief.
But at the same time, the mysterious flower-branch tattoo made her uneasy again.
It almost made her feel as if she really had become a witch.
“I’d like an answer.”
Irene nodded.
Even if he hadn’t said that, showing the tattoo would require taking off her clothes in front of others—something she would never do anyway.
But one thing bothered her.
He had said “except me.”
Which meant he intended to see it again.
Just imagining being half-naked in front of him again made her cheeks flush with embarrassment.
Karlos straightened up from the crouched position he had taken to match her height.
“Finish getting dressed and come downstairs. We’re leaving.”
He turned and began walking toward the door.
But just before leaving, he suddenly stopped as if remembering something.
Turning his head slightly, he looked down at Irene, who was still sitting on the floor.
“Sorry for coming in without permission.”
What… did he just say?
Shocked by the unexpected words, Irene stared at him through the mirror.
Karlos frowned slightly, as if uncomfortable or dissatisfied with something.
Then he quickly left the room.
Left alone, Irene felt confused by his strange behavior.
But for the first time, she wondered—
Maybe he wasn’t as terrifying as she had thought.
*
When Karlos returned downstairs alone after going to get Irene, Dewey looked puzzled.
“Where is the young lady?”
“In the room. She hadn’t finished changing yet.”
“Really?”
It seemed he had given her enough time.
If she still hadn’t finished changing, perhaps it was difficult for her to do it alone.
“Then I should help her.”
Muttering to himself, Dewey started toward the stairs.
Suddenly—
Karlos grabbed the back of his collar and yanked him back.
Thud.
Dewey fell to the floor and rubbed his sore backside while looking up at Karlos.
He looked like he had many things to say, but nothing came out.
After staring at Karlos with a pitiful expression, he finally sighed deeply and shook his head.
“If you dislike something I’m doing, please just tell me with words.”
Karlos lazily nodded.
“I need wound medicine.”
“…What?”
Since “wound medicine” was a phrase completely unrelated to Karlos in Dewey’s mind, it took him a few seconds to understand.
“Oh. The young lady must be injured.”
Karlos nodded, remembering the wounds he had seen on Irene’s back and arms.
The scabs were still fresh, meaning the injuries were recent.
She had probably been hurt when she was imprisoned after being accused of being a witch.
From the villagers’ perspective, she was a witch.
So their treatment wasn’t surprising.
But Karlos still didn’t like it.
If something had happened to her, he would have been forced to wait again.
And he had no intention of waiting any longer.
There wasn’t much time left.
“That place… was it called Silros Territory?”
“It’s Silas Territory.”
Correcting him, Dewey cautiously asked,
“Shall I… take care of it?”
When Dewey said take care of it, it meant completely wiping out not only the territory but also the Silas family.
Karlos glanced toward the second floor where Irene was.
Then he nodded.
“I don’t want to hear that name ever again.”
Just then—
A distant sound echoed, like the howl of a dog.
*
When Irene finally came downstairs after changing clothes, Karlos handed her the wound medicine Dewey had brought.
Confused, she looked at it.
“Apply it.”
“…Am I injured?”
“You didn’t know?”
When Irene shook her head, Karlos let out a small laugh.
She had so many wounds, yet she didn’t even realize it.
Either she was unusually insensitive—
Or she was simply used to pain.
Karlos suspected the latter.
After all, her body had many old wounds and scars.
They weren’t the kind caused by simple accidents.
They were clearly marks of beatings.
Perhaps he should have asked Dewey to bring medicine to remove scars as well.
I’ll tell him when we return to the castle, he thought.
Karlos placed the medicine into Irene’s hands.
Blinking slowly, Irene stared at it before speaking softly.
“…Thank you.”
There was no reply.
After fiddling with the medicine for a moment, Irene put it into her pocket and held out Karlos’s neatly folded coat.
But he pushed it back toward her.
“It’ll get colder the farther north we go. Keep wearing it.”
“I’m fine—”
“Keep wearing it.”
Showing absolutely no intention of taking it back, Karlos walked away.
Irene stared blankly at his retreating figure before hurrying after him.
A carriage was waiting in front of the inn.
Just like before, Dewey sat in the driver’s seat.
Only Karlos and Irene would ride inside the carriage.
Feeling uncomfortable about that, Irene quietly asked Dewey if she could sit in the driver’s seat instead.
He refused.
He said he couldn’t allow her to sit somewhere so dangerous.
Then was it fine for Dewey and the coachman to sit there?
Irene found it strange, but since Dewey firmly refused, she had no choice but to climb into the carriage.
Throughout the ride through the forest, she shrank back like a turtle and cautiously watched Karlos sitting across from her.
Even though she had begun to think he might not be as frightening as she imagined—
She was still afraid of him.
But as time passed and nothing happened, her tension slowly eased.
Feeling slightly more relaxed than when she first rode in the carriage, Irene looked out the window.
What she saw took her breath away.
A beautiful lake stretched before them, like something from a painting.
Sunlight sparkled across the water as if fairies were dancing above its surface.
Irene stared at the sight in awe.
Seeing this, Karlos thought for a moment before knocking on the small window connecting to the driver’s seat.
Soon the carriage stopped, and Dewey opened the door.
“Did you call for me?”
“Let’s take a short break.”
Dewey’s gaze naturally shifted to Irene.
There was no way Karlos was tired.
This stop was clearly because of her.
But Irene didn’t know that.
She was simply happy she could admire the beautiful lake a little longer.
Of course, she didn’t show it outwardly.
But she couldn’t stop the slight smile on her lips or the way her eyes kept drifting toward the lake.
Karlos glanced at her and said to Dewey,
“We’ll need some water for the journey.”
Quick-witted as always, Dewey immediately understood what he meant.
“I should inspect the carriage anyway, so perhaps it would be best to ask the young lady to fetch the water.”
Karlos turned his gaze to Irene.
“You heard him. Will you go?”
“Yes—yes!”
She agreed immediately.
There was no way she would refuse such a perfect chance to see the lake up close.
“Here’s a water container.”
After she stepped down from the carriage, Dewey handed her the container.
Irene hugged it carefully as if it were a precious treasure.
“Carriage maintenance will take at least an hour. Since you’re going anyway, you might as well enjoy the lake.”
“Is that really okay?”
“Of course.”
Irene’s face brightened instantly.
It was the first genuine smile she had shown since meeting Karlos.
“Then I’ll be back soon.”
After bowing politely, Irene quickly ran toward the lake.
Dewey watched her until she disappeared from sight.
Then he turned back to Karlos, who had just stepped out of the carriage.
“Are you sure it’s fine to let her go alone?”
What if she runs away?
The hidden meaning in the question was obvious.
Karlos glanced toward the direction Irene had gone.
“It can’t be helped. I can’t send you with her, and I can’t follow her myself.”
Dewey had already said he needed to repair the carriage.
And if Karlos followed her, Irene would feel uncomfortable.
“So even if she runs away, we can just catch her again.”
Just catch her again?
Dewey smiled.
“It seems you’ve taken quite a liking to the young lady.”
Karlos snorted and leaned against the carriage.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
The only reason he was being kind to Irene—
was simply to avoid repeating the same mistake.
Yes.
That was all.
