Chapter 14
A drop of water falling from the ceiling woke Eloise as if it had landed on her face. The cold sensation made her open her eyes to a dark ceiling. In the corner, white cobwebs were filled with the corpses of insects.
As she carefully looked around and sat up, the old wooden floor creaked with even the slightest movement. The pile of old furniture haphazardly stacked in one corner of the room made her realize this was a storage room.
“Kylian.”
Eloise carefully shook Kylian, who was lying collapsed next to her.
“Eloise?”
“Shh!”
Putting a finger to her lips, Eloise pointed at the old wooden door. Seeming to grasp the situation, Kylian cautiously sat up.
“Where… are we?”
“It seems like we’re inside a storage room, but I’m not sure of the exact location.”
Eloise lifted her head and scanned the surroundings, but there was only pitch-black darkness. Having been knocked unconscious and moved here, it was hard to tell if they were still inside the Reston mansion or outside.
“Dammit! The magic stone broke!”
Rough curses seeped through the firmly closed door, making the children hold their breath even more.
*’We weren’t even supposed to be leaving the mansion…’*
Regret swirled in Eloise’s eyes, her vision still wavering from the lingering effects of the drug.
“Because of that, we’ve brought along unnecessary baggage, and the plan is ruined.”
The voices of a man shouting violently and a woman swallowing her sighs could be heard. Hearing the conversation that seemed to be referring to herself and Kylian, Eloise moved a little closer to the door.
*’What is that pattern on the man’s clothes?’*
Red wings drawn upside down. Black thorns surrounding them. She felt a sense of foreboding from the emblem decorating the man’s sleeve.
*’Why does my chest feel so tight?’*
The ominous feeling grew stronger from the dark energy emanating from the man’s body.
*’We have to escape somehow, no matter what. This won’t do.’*
Eloise looked around, but in this old room with no windows, there seemed to be no way out.
“Do you recognize where we are?”
Kylian, who was frowning as if the drug was still clouding his mind, looked around and shook his head.
“No… At best, I can only tell it’s not the mansion.”
The only exit from the dark room with no windows was the door in front of them. Eloise peered through the thin crack in the door to observe their movements.
*’He definitely seemed well-built before, but…?’*
Now, it seemed not only his physique but also his face had changed. Emily’s face also looked somewhat different from before. She was clearly standing and speaking, but it felt like something devoid of emotion. Yes, it felt mechanical, like a machine.
*’Something feels strange.’*
Feeling a growing anxiety constricting her chest, Eloise averted her eyes as if to avoid it. Ignoring the sound of her loudly beating heart, Eloise brought her eyes close to the crack again. Then she paused at the sight visible through the gap.
*’How couldn’t I have sensed it until now?’*
Dozens of *somethings* were visible inside the expressionless Emily. She couldn’t pinpoint exactly what they were. But one thing was certain. Dozens, no, hundreds of corpses and screaming souls. A instinctive sense of revulsion made Eloise’s body tremble.
“Are you okay? Your face… it’s terribly pale.”
Seemingly worried, Kylian grabbed Eloise’s hand.
“Don’t worry. You don’t need to mind me.”
She smiled at Kylian, who was examining her, but his expression remained unchanged. Still, she couldn’t just tell him exactly what she had felt.
*’It’s probably something only I can perceive, like the mist.’*
She didn’t even know what it was she had seen. There was no need to make the situation worse by telling him. As Eloise waved her hand, telling him not to worry, Kylian let out a sigh. It was filled with mixed emotions, as if he sensed she wouldn’t say more.
“Let’s look around first. There might be a hole we can escape through.”
Eloise moved away from the door and carefully examined the surroundings.
*’Riena needs to catch on quickly…’*
Pushing the anxiety into a corner of her mind, her eyes scanning the floor spotted a small gap. Lifting it, a staircase leading downwards was revealed.
“It seems to be a passage to the basement.”
“Let’s go down quickly.”
Eloise and Kylian quickly moved their feet.
How much time had passed since they went down the stairs? In the space of nothing but darkness, even the sense of time was lost. The sound of footsteps echoing through the corridor after the endless staircase clearly showed their exhaustion.
“Kylian, hold my hand.”
Eloise held out her trembling hand to him.
*’Even though she’s having a hard time holding herself together.’*
Kylian’s feelings became complicated seeing her unaware of her own condition.
“You should hold *my* hand. You look like you can barely stand.”
The corridor stretched endlessly into the darkness. They didn’t know if the path they were taking was leading them into danger or towards an exit. Though neither said it, the creeping anxiety was slowly consuming their bodies. The danger was right behind them, and the two young children had no power to resist.
*’If only I hadn’t been scared and hidden back then…’*
As the fear and anxiety grew, a deep sense of regret and remorse seeped into Kylian’s heart. Having fled from the memories he didn’t even want to recall, he had hidden inside his room.
After that, he hadn’t taken lessons in upper-class accomplishments like social dance and music. It wasn’t that he now regretted missing those things. There was only one regret: the sword he hadn’t grasped in his despair.
If he had learned the sword, he could have resisted them and protected Eloise. But contrary to his feelings, right now he could do nothing. On the contrary, he was only relying on Eloise. Remembering the hand Eloise had held out to him earlier, Kylian hung his head low.
“Sorry…”
“Huh?”
Eloise turned her head at Kylian’s apology. Why was he suddenly apologizing?
“For being scared and useless, unable to do anything… If I were strong, I could protect you right now.”
The “scared and foolish self” in his words seemed to point to his past. Self-blame was evident on Kylian’s apologetic face.
“I’m only seven, and you’re only nine. They’re adults.”
“But……”
“You’ve done nothing wrong. The bad ones aren’t the people who couldn’t do anything and had to suffer, but the ones who caused the pain.”
The bad ones weren’t us, but them. The world always points fingers at the victims, not the perpetrators. A world that pressures the victims. In such a world, the victims have no choice but to whip and belittle themselves even more.
“You’re really strange.”
At Eloise’s words, Kylian, choked up, pressed his lips firmly together. Then he turned his head away sharply.
“What? I didn’t hear you well. The sound echoes here because it’s underground.”
“…Let’s go.”
A slight dampness was detectable in Kylian’s voice. Letting go of Eloise’s hand to wipe his escaping tears, he covered his face. As if to hide his wavering heart, he ran ahead quickly.
“Let’s go together!”
As Eloise chased after him, something caught at her feet.
“Huh? Kylian, look at this!”
Eloise picked up a dagger lying on the floor and waved it.
“Put that down! It’s dangerous.”
“We should keep it just in case…”
In an instant, a pain overwhelming her prevented Eloise from finishing her sentence, and she dropped the dagger.
*’What is this? Did they give us something else besides the drug that put us to sleep earlier?’*
As the pain intensified, Eloise’s body, breathing heavily, collapsed with a thud.
“Eloise!”
Kylian rushed over to Eloise and picked her up with trembling hands.
“Finally, the drug seems to be taking effect.”
“Yes, it took quite some time.”
As if they had thrown off a cloak of concealment, the presence they hadn’t sensed before was rapidly approaching.
*’Drug? What are they talking about? Is it not the same drug that put us to sleep earlier?’*
Kylian pointed the dagger at them. But his body, holding the dagger, had frozen stiff, as if chained by the trauma of abuse.
“Don’t come any closer!”
“What is this?”
Emily, glancing at the obstacle in front of her, raised her hand.
“Taika, leave that one be. As the Empire’s sole heir, he might be useful.”
“Yes.”
“More importantly, the girl comes first.”
They turned their attention to Eloise.
