Chapter 118. Autumn Arrives

“Meow—”

“Yes, Lucy. I’ll play with you after I finish this.”

“Meooow…!”

Summer had passed, and autumn was in full swing.

Ellen was sitting on the balcony overlooking the garden, interpreting her mother’s diary.

[March 3, 1842.
I don’t think I can get along with Ellenore. I’ve met her several times through Karthus, but she’s too different from me. We don’t communicate well, and we have no shared hobbies.]

[I like active things, but Ellenore prefers to rest at home or quietly do embroidery… She’s really a boring person. Even if she made jokes, they wouldn’t be funny… She only talks about dull and tedious topics.]

[I know she’s a good person, but I really don’t like her. I don’t understand what Karthus saw in her. Her pure and pretty face?]

These contents, filled with malice and jealousy.

From February to March, the diary was mainly filled with such content, clearly showing how much her mother envied ‘Ellenore.’

The change began on April 2nd…

[April 2, 1842.
Finally, I have manifested my magic too.]

It was a highly interesting start, but it became difficult to concentrate because Lucy kept pestering her to play.

Sighing, Ellen got up from her seat and approached the cat drawer placed in one corner of the room. She took out a bunch of cat toys from the first drawer and scattered them on the carpet.

Lucy, who had been hopping around excitedly, tapped a fishing rod toy with her fluffy paw. It meant she wanted to play with it. Ellen plopped down on the carpet and picked up the fishing rod toy. She shook it vigorously in front of Lucy.

“Meow!”

The cat enthusiastically tried to catch the bait. Ellen, now a fisherman catching cats, skillfully and expertly shook the fishing rod.

After playing with Lucy for a while, 30 minutes had passed in no time. Feeling a bit of back pain, Ellen put down the fishing rod and slowly got up. If Lucy wanted to play more, she planned to leave her with Jasmine or Laila.

“Meow!”

The cat, sensing Ellen was about to escape, meowed reproachfully and tapped the floor with her fluffy tail in a slow rhythm. Ellen tried to ignore Lucy’s persistent gaze and mumbled.

“My back hurts… but I guess playing fetch would be fine.”

It was just a mutter. She didn’t expect the cat to understand.

Surprisingly, Lucy seemed to understand Ellen’s words and tapped a silk ball with her paw. Ellen’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Lucy… did you understand what I said?”

“Meow—”

The cat rolled the silk ball towards Ellen as if urging her to throw it.

Finding Lucy adorable, Ellen couldn’t help but smile. She picked up the ball and asked,

“Alright. So I just need to throw this?”

“Meow!”

She threw the ball, and Lucy quickly ran to fetch it. This time, Ellen threw it a bit farther.

…But did she throw it too hard? The silk ball hit the bookshelf. Moreover, Lucy, who ran to catch the ball, also crashed into the bookshelf. Ellen screamed and rushed towards Lucy.

“Lucy!”

Just as Ellen reached Lucy, a clunking sound came from the bookshelf, and one side of it slid open like a door.

“…Huh…?”

Ellen, stopping mid-action while picking up Lucy, stared blankly at the suddenly revealed secret passage.

What is this…?

After hesitating for a moment, Ellen comforted Lucy in her arms and cautiously examined the passage.

The passage was made of stone and very dark. It was wide enough for about three people to walk through, but someone tall like Enoch would have to stoop to enter.

‘Is it an emergency escape route?’

Even now, Rheinfelden was threatened by war, but when this castle was built, Ceres’ military power was strong, so having such a passage wasn’t surprising.

After a brief hesitation, Ellen decided to explore the passage and placed Lucy on a cat cushion. She made sure to make eye contact with the cat and firmly instructed her.

“Lucy, I’m going to explore this passage now, but you can’t follow me. Understand? It might be dangerous for a cat. If you listen well, I’ll give you a treat later.”

“Meow—”

Though Lucy grumbled a bit, she obediently sat on the cushion and watched Ellen without trying to follow.

Smiling at the smart cat, Ellen carefully entered the passage with a gas lamp in hand.

The air inside the stone passage was cold, like a cave. Ellen, grateful she had draped a shawl over herself, walked slowly.

How long had she walked?

It felt like 20 minutes had passed.

Finally exiting the long passage, Ellen was greeted by an old hunting cabin. The secret passage was connected to the basement of this cabin.

‘There’s no one inside…’

The cabin, seemingly well-maintained by the gamekeeper, was clean, with bear and wolf pelts, fox tails, rabbit feet, taxidermied birds, and deer antlers adorning the walls. But it didn’t seem to be used for living.

After briefly looking around the cabin, Ellen stepped outside. The cabin was surrounded by a forest of birch and maple trees, their red and yellow leaves adding to the scenery’s charm. The white trunks of the birch trees made the landscape feel even more mystical.

‘This must be… the forest south of Rheinfelden.’

If she headed east from here, she would reach a river, and crossing that river would lead to a train station.

As she recalled this, a thought flashed in Ellen’s mind.

‘…When I leave Evitern Castle, I can use the secret passage.’

She wasn’t sure if Enoch knew about the passage, but it wouldn’t matter much even if he did. The important thing was that she could escape unnoticed through the passage to this forest…

Starting now, she had to ensure no one discovered she had found the secret passage.

‘I should hurry back.’

She left around 4:30 PM, so it was probably around 5:00 PM now. If she walked back without resting, she would return by 5:20 PM…

‘The physician usually comes for a check-up at 6:00 PM…’

She just needed to return before then.

Ellen quickened her pace. Discovering the passage felt like a heaven-sent opportunity. She didn’t want to waste it by getting caught.

‘I…’

Her blue eyes, tinged with the darkness of the passage, sank deeply.

‘I can’t live a few remaining days of my life by your side, knowing you hate me.’

If she had to spend her remaining days somewhere, she hoped it would be a place where she could find peace.

And yet… I hope you wouldn’t know.

That I’m terminally ill…

Call it stubbornness. After all, this stubborn personality had kept her going until now.

It was still September.

Her lifespan was nearly exhausted, and the love magic had a long way to go before it wore off…

Time flows in the blink of an eye.

‘It will be soon.’

The day she leaves this castle, the day she says goodbye to him, the day she prepares for the end of her life…

‘I want to die without misery.’

That’s why she was practicing resignation, giving up, and letting go.

Dying filled with sadness, regret, and longing was too miserable…

In about nine months, she hoped her heart would be empty, leaving nothing behind, allowing her to sleep peacefully.

Ellen repeated to herself like a mantra. To give up, resign, and let go completely.

* * *

This September, the retainers of Evitern Castle were especially busy.

September 18th was the birthday of their Grand Duke, and from the 27th to the 31st, a hunting competition, a commemorative banquet, a theater performance, and a ball were scheduled to be held in Rheinfelden.

Naturally, the retainers were so busy they wouldn’t notice if their noses were cut off, and Ellen’s maids were no exception.

The humans who usually played with the cat Lucy were mainly Ellen or her maids… but Ellen was busy, and so were the maids, leaving Lucy in a bit of a sulky state.

Sitting on the dining table and swishing her tail in discontent, Lucy quickly snatched a freshly delivered fish for tonight’s dinner and dashed off.

The head chef yelled from behind, but Lucy leisurely escaped and devoured the fish in a secluded spot.

Back at the Lopez mansion, she had never seen such high-quality fish… Feeling momentarily grateful to Ellen, Lucy raised her tail proudly and headed to the fourth floor.

The main building of the castle had a total of seven floors, with three additional underground levels. On the fourth floor was ‘that annoying guy’s’ office, and Lucy often went there to bother him.

Tomorrow was supposedly his birthday, but she didn’t care. Lucy was bored, and he was annoying. So she nimbly climbed the stairs, crossed the corridor, and entered the office, immediately jumping onto his desk to disrupt his work.

“This crazy cat again.”

“Meow!”

This guy talks too much. He must think I can’t understand him. He’s nothing like Ellen, who always speaks kindly. This useless guy, useless guy!

“Move aside. You’re in the way.”

“Meooow!”

Scolding him sternly for bothering Ellen every night, Lucy swiped her claws at him.

Of course, Enoch blocked or dodged all her trivial attacks. As the human and the cat tussled, the door suddenly opened without a knock, and Ellen walked in.

She had come to fetch Lucy after hearing that the cat was there again.

Ellen’s face showed a mix of astonishment as she witnessed the cat fighting a human and the human engaging the cat on equal terms.

“…Enoch, what are you doing?”

“……”

Silence.

In the awkward atmosphere, Enoch cleared his throat lowly, and Lucy seized the opportunity to bite his hand hard.