Chapter 11
Ellen stared blankly at the small hole in the wall, then quickly looked around. No one was there, right?
She stuck her head into the hole. It wasn’t so small that her head or body would get stuck, so there was no danger of that happening.
Carefully—but easily—she slipped through and stood up, brushing the dust and dirt off her hands and dress.
“What’s going on with the marquis’ estate security?”
Casting one last worried glance at the hole, she turned forward again. Now that she was outside, she thought she might as well take a look around before going back in.
“Wow!”
Right before her eyes lay a small field, and beyond it a forest path. If she crossed the field, she’d reach the entrance to the woods immediately.
And to think such a place was right next to the house!
Excited, she scampered forward but stopped short at the edge of the forest.
Should I really go in there?
Her body was still small, and she was still a child. No one in the estate knew she was thinking about going into the forest right now.
If something happened inside or if she got lost, she’d be the one to suffer for it. And if the family went into an uproar because their young lady had vanished… she might even end up with a “guardian” who would actually just watch her every move around the clock.
“That’s no good. What a pain.”
After a brief hesitation, she decided to turn back for today and come again tomorrow.
Lingering a bit at the forest’s entrance, craning her neck to peek inside, she finally returned to the wall where the hole was.
Standing in the same spot as before, Ellen studied the hole with a serious expression.
“How has no one noticed this?”
Then something seemed to occur to her. She roughly measured the hole with her arms, then ran back toward the forest entrance. While peeking earlier, she thought she’d seen a boulder about the same size as the hole.
“Perfect. Just perfect. My eye for detail and memory are impeccable, honestly.”
Ellen congratulated herself after measuring the boulder with her arms. It was only a little smaller than the hole.
She tried lifting it once and immediately gave up, instead rolling it along the ground like she was making a snowman. It was a bit heavy, but manageable.
Once back at the hole, she stuck only her arms through to drag the boulder over and block the opening—just enough so that from the outside it wouldn’t be obvious. Then she pulled over the ivy she’d set aside earlier and covered it back up as it was.
She planned to use this escape again tomorrow. Whether in her past life or this one, she’d never crawled through a hole in a wall before, so she was too excited to even remember that her arms hurt from rolling the stone.
Beyond that hole lay a field and a forest! Wasn’t that just amazing?
Ellen ran back into the mansion to prepare for her trip into the forest tomorrow.
She had something in mind, so she headed straight for her bedroom—only to run right into Marsha as soon as she entered the mansion.
“Young lady! Your clothes… And your hair, again… Did you fall? Roll on the ground?”
At Marsha’s words, Ellen finally looked down at herself. Not only was she covered in dirt and bits of stone, but there were grass stains all over her skirt.
“No, I didn’t fall. I just rolled around a bit in the garden.”
Despite her answer, Marsha checked her over thoroughly. Once she confirmed Ellen really wasn’t hurt, she whisked her away to get cleaned up and changed. Only after the maids had taken away the dirty water could Ellen be alone in her room again.
She searched everywhere, gathering as many long cords as she could find: five hair ties used for braiding or styling, eight decorative dress ribbons, and even cords pulled from her bedroom decor—nine in total.
Then she tied them all together into one long rope. She rolled it up neatly and put it in a drawer, hiding the now-messy decorations in the playroom.
That night, when Marsha came to attend her, she tilted her head as if something in the room had changed. But no matter how many times she looked around, she couldn’t figure out what was different.
As usual, Marsha read to her until she fell asleep. But Ellen, nervous that Marsha might notice the missing decorations, couldn’t fall asleep for real and had to pretend until Marsha closed the book and left.
✿ ✿ ✿
“Let’s see how much you’ve practiced.”
The next day, her etiquette teacher said that without warning. As a result, Ellen had to demonstrate over ten different eye expressions.
Slow blinks, quick double blinks, gentle glances, saying “I’m innocent, I know nothing” with her eyes, subtle side glances, smiling with her mouth while cursing with her eyes… and so on.
It might all be useful, but she wasn’t sure if this was really what an etiquette teacher ought to be teaching. It was, without a doubt, a practical education.
After etiquette class came writing lessons. Today, her tutor told her the story of the Empire’s founding. Near the end of the lesson, Ellen asked about the area around the estate.
“Teacher, what’s around our estate?”
It was about time for her to start wondering about the village, the tutor thought. He assumed she was curious about the local townsfolk.
And since she didn’t just blurt out “Tell me about the village!” but instead started from the outer area and worked inward, he found her approach charming and decided to play along.
He began with the village.
“There’s a small clearing near the estate, and not far beyond that, there’s a village.”
A village? Ellen’s ears perked up.
But her real interest today was in the forest. She filed away the knowledge of the village for later and asked again.
“Is there only the village around here?”
Her unexpected question made the tutor pause, wondering if he’d misread her. Then he answered:
“The village is off to the side past a small field. But if you go straight across the field, there’s a forest. It’s not very deep—inside, there’s a small lake and a clearing.”
“If it’s not deep, then there aren’t any big dangerous animals, right?”
Now catching on to her true intentions, the tutor smiled.
“You’re curious about the forest, aren’t you?”
Ellen just grinned instead of answering.
The tutor seemed to recall the place, then went on.
“I’ve only been there once, so I’m not entirely sure, but it’s definitely not deep. It’s too small for big animals like bears or boars to live in—maybe just squirrels.”
The more he explained, the more Ellen’s lips curled upward.
“It’s not dangerous for you to go in, but you should take at least one escort with you, understand? And don’t go near the lakeshore. You might slip and fall in, so be careful.”
Meeting his gaze directly, Ellen nodded earnestly.
“Of course. I’ll be careful not to fall into the lake.”
Though she had no intention of taking a knight with her.
Feeling reassured by the confirmation that there were no dangerous animals, Ellen replied with confidence.
As always, she politely saw her tutor out, then rushed back to the study to tackle the mountain of homework.
Maybe it was just her imagination, but the homework felt heavier today—probably because she had something she wanted to do after.
When she finished everything, she went to find Marsha, since Gloria and Gerald were busy as usual.
“Marsha! I finished my classes and all my homework! I’m going to the garden now!”
Before Marsha could even respond, Ellen dashed back to her bedroom and pulled out the long cord she’d prepared the night before.
This was in case she came to a fork in the path or thought she might get lost—she could tie one end to her wrist and the other to a tree trunk as a guide.
“Will it be long enough?”
A little worrying, but that only made her more excited. Wrapping the cord around her wrist, she headed out to the garden.
It should be right here…
She quickly found the ivy she’d arranged yesterday.
Carefully pushing the leaves aside, she put her hands on the stone and rolled it away with a clatter. The hole was revealed in full.
Like a turtle poking out its head, Ellen looked around before slipping through and heading straight for the forest entrance.
She walked confidently to the edge, but grew more cautious once she stepped inside. Occasionally glancing back to check her path, she went deeper into the forest.
The path was wider than she expected, and it stretched straight ahead with no forks—meaning her rope wasn’t all that necessary. At least she didn’t have to worry about getting lost.
After humming a tune and walking for some time, she finally saw the small lake her tutor had described.
The ground near the shore was soft with grass, dotted here and there with daffodils. Next to the grassy area was a clearing like a small training ground.
Ellen untied the yellow ribbon from her hair and fastened it to a branch in the direction she’d come from. After tugging on it several times to make sure it was secure, she sat on a rock in the grass.
She sat there for a long time, just staring at the water. She’d always had plenty of free time in the house, but coming all the way here made her feel the leisure and stillness more keenly.
Not having anything to do and having free time aren’t quite the same thing, yeah.
Free time brought back things she’d been trying to forget.
Here and there. This family and that family. Friends here and friends there.
One side she wanted but could never have again, the other she hadn’t asked for but had been given. It wasn’t that she disliked the new things—in fact, she truly liked them. But…
She wanted to protect what she had now, and at the same time, reach out for what she’d lost.
Dragons… Should I go looking for a dragon?
Half joking, half serious, she pondered, but eventually shook her head and slapped her thigh.
“How would I even find one? And even if I did go looking, I’d have to grow up first before I could leave… At this rate, it’ll take ages before I’m grown.”
She muttered to herself.
Though, even grown, there would still be problems.
Ellen was the heir to House Quinter. There was too much to learn from her parents. What heir in any noble house would abandon their training to run off searching for a dragon they weren’t even sure existed?
She also vaguely understood that the wellbeing of the villagers depended on the lord’s capability. She couldn’t just leave them behind to chase after something uncertain.
Abandoning the certain for the uncertain recklessly—that wasn’t her style. And she knew herself far too well.
Hugging her knees, she lowered her head. Feeling tears threaten, she squeezed her eyes shut.
