MLCIEF 10

Chapter 10

“Could it be… this is really all you could find? I feel like there should be coconuts or durians nearby.”

When the two guards failed to answer, Theodore calmly spoke instead.

His tone was flat, almost cold.

“We are still at the edge of the jungle. We couldn’t find any. If we go deeper in a few days, we might.”

Delphien, pale as a sheet, refused to eat the larvae despite everyone’s urging.

Instead, she seemed to eat the chocolate she had saved earlier.

Jeffrey shook his head and scoffed.

“That lady must have read too many survival novels. She thinks coconuts and durians just grow everywhere within reach.”

He had started enjoying mocking the Marquis family.

Imitating Delphien, he snickered.

Martin and Benjamin also began to laugh along.

“Wow… if I survive eating things like these larvae, I’m definitely starting a new life.”

“Please do.”

Jeffrey, now convinced that Alice was the real leader of this survival group, followed her instructions well.

When she showed him edible seeds, he brought back similar ones.

When she pointed out edible roots, he found and dug them up.

He was proving quite useful as an assistant.

Still, he kept whispering to Alice that they should separate from the nobles as soon as possible.

At first, Alice didn’t care.

But as time passed—

She began to consider it.

Ten days passed in the jungle.

One day, Alice’s group found sago palm.

They grated the trunk, filtered it with water, and wrapped the starch in leaves to cook it.

As it baked, a warm, nutty smell filled the air.

Right on time—

Kettler appeared.

Without hesitation, he took it and gave it to Delphien.

Whenever they boiled dirty stream water to make drinkable water—

He would take it, saying,

“The lady is thirsty.”

After this happened several times, Alice began to wonder—

Was it really okay for a noble family to act like this?

But then she changed her thinking.

She might have already cut off the Parhan family line.

If Theodore truly had a problem—

Then Delphien might never be able to have children.

Alice might have already ruined her life.

‘I can at least provide things like this…’

Maybe she was just feeling guilty for nothing—

But she couldn’t confirm it.

‘I can’t exactly ask him directly…’

He seemed to walk just fine, though.

Lost in these thoughts, Alice had no idea—

That a big problem would arise that very night.

“Kettler… my necklace is gone.”

That Night

“Kettler! Ribeyong! Wake up! My necklace is gone—it was my grandmother’s keepsake!”

Delphien’s sharp cry woke everyone.

For a moment, they thought a wild beast had entered.

Alice’s group, sleeping near the cave entrance, also jumped up.

Everyone felt a bit helpless—

She was crying over a necklace in a situation like this.

Still, Kettler responded seriously.

“My lady, could you have dropped it along the way? Or do you remember when you last had it before sleeping?”

To Alice, Kettler was extremely loyal.

No matter how unreasonable Delphien was, he never showed annoyance.

Martin muttered as he lay back down,

“In a way, he might actually be an admirable person. He’s completely devoted to his duty.”

Alice agreed.

“Yeah. He’s consistent.”

But Delphien refused to give up.

Her anxiety turned into something like hysteria.

“But I remember having it right before I slept! I was holding it and praying!”

“Now that you mention it, I did see you praying. Then it must be nearby, my lady. A torch! Is there anyone who can make a torch?”

At his loud command, Alice’s group sat up, stunned.

Kettler always demanded things—

But never did anything himself.

“Haaam…”

Alice yawned, slightly confused.

Was a necklace really important right now?

But nobles might think differently.

She was about to lie back down—

When she noticed Theodore.

He was sitting up, watching Delphien—

Shaking his head slightly.

For a moment, Alice felt a strange sense of agreement with him.

Then Delphien cried again,

“That ruby necklace… it’s a keepsake. I must find it… If I don’t, it feels like I’m leaving my grandmother here in Atis… How can I leave her in this bottomless green pit…?”

“That cannot happen! But it’s strange… you were wearing it when you went to sleep.”

“Yes… I was…”

Kettler kept questioning her, building his own theory.

After eating five larvae earlier, he seemed full of energy.

“I definitely had it before I slept.”

After listening carefully, Kettler suddenly spoke in a threatening tone—

Looking straight at Alice’s group.

“If it was there before you slept and gone now… then it must still be in this cave.”

His suspicious gaze fell on Alice and Jeffrey.

Logan, who had woken up, finally spoke,

“Yes, it must be here. Let’s look for it in the morning. Everyone needs rest now.”

At the end, he glanced at Theodore—

As if asking what he planned to do.

Not just about the jungle—

But about the future, after marriage.

Still, Kettler ignored this.

He approached Alice and demanded her lighter.

Then he began searching—

Wasting precious fuel.

‘Sigh…’

They could have used fire from the campfire—

But he insisted on using fuel.

Thankfully, Theodore stopped him briefly,

“Save the fuel.”

But Kettler continued pushing the situation.

“Everyone, stand up. I need to check.”

He approached Alice, speaking harshly.

His eyes clearly showed—

He suspected them.

Alice felt annoyed.

But she thought it was better to prove innocence quickly and go back to sleep.

So she honestly told what she had seen earlier.

“It seems a creature passed by. From what I saw, it looked like a meerkat-type monster.”

At her words—

Kettler’s eyes filled with undisguised contempt.