Chapter 63

“…Aneta, Aneta.”

The low, whispering voice pulled her foggy consciousness back.

At first, the voice was barely audible, but as it grew clearer, her long eyelashes fluttered as if trying to shake off the darkness.

Aneta opened her eyes and blinked blankly. As her focus returned, the foggy view in front of her cleared.

The first thing she saw was Serce, who was lying beside her with a worried expression.

“Aneta, are you awake?”

“…Yes.”

With the response, a dull pain throbbed at the back of her neck. Frowning, Aneta instinctively tried to reach back with her hand, but something binding her body hindered the movement.

Looking down, Aneta saw that she was tied up with ropes around her torso and legs. Looking back at Serce, she noticed he was in the same situation.

Realizing they were both tightly bound and lying next to each other, Aneta recalled the moments before she lost consciousness. Her expression twisted with the realization.

She remembered Lily, who had boldly lured her to the mansion and blamed herself for her complacency.

“I should have brought guards with me, even if the visitor was Vernon’s servant.”

Not only had she followed without any means of protection, but she also failed to suspect anything when Lily showed suspicious behavior. It was her mistake.

“How long has it been?”

Aneta asked in a low voice, just as Serce had done, to avoid alerting anyone who might be outside.

“I’m not sure. Judging by the light coming through the window, it seems the sun has risen.”

“Where’s Chris?”

“She’s behind you.”

At Serce’s gesture towards her back, Aneta struggled to turn her bound body.

Ignoring the pain from her injured hand being pressed, she looked back and saw Chris lying unconscious, just as she had been when they faced the mercenaries.

Fortunately, there wasn’t a scratch on Chris’s body. Her hair was a bit messy, and her nightclothes were wrinkled, but she was otherwise unscathed. Aneta found some solace in this.

“It doesn’t look like there was a fierce struggle. Considering she’s still unconscious, it must have been a strong sedative.”

One common method in such situations was to use an inhaled sedative. Aneta considered this to be the most likely scenario.

“I agree. It’s the easiest way if they plan to use her as bait.”

Serce concurred with her thoughts.

“Lily must have been working with the mercenaries, promising a reward just like them. But who could have hired them?”

Though Aneta voiced her doubt, she still had one person in mind. She had long abandoned the thought that he lacked the funds to hire mercenaries.

‘He must have poured all his remaining money into this or sold his luxury items.’Aneta ground her teeth with this realization. She had a strong suspicion but no concrete proof.

“It’s Erez Bauter, I’m certain of it.”

Serce’s confident statement prompted Aneta to ask,

“Do you have any evidence?”

“Yes. While you were unconscious, I tried using my doppelganger ability but couldn’t manifest it. That means he’s here.”

Only Erez’s control could block the power of glory. Aneta found Serce’s certainty reasonable.

“I didn’t expect him to go this far.”

“Maybe he didn’t take yours and my glory because he didn’t have to, because there’s nothing he could do with it, but we have a miracle with you.”Erez was overconfident, unaware that Aneta had concealed the truth about her glory, Miracle. Aneta thought it was a really good decision to have misled him that day.

“There’s no other way but for you to use your doppelganger to escape and seek help. We can’t just wait for a rescue that might never come.”

Serce moved his bound hands, ignoring the red marks the ropes left on his wrists.

“I want you to escape safely. If your doppelganger stays here, it might avoid detection.”

“Thanks, but escaping with my real body is impossible.”

“Why?”

“To manifest another glory’s power through the Miracle, its owner must be nearby. That’s a condition for using the ability. I can only villa escape with my doppelganger.”

Even if there were no limitations on the manifestation, Aneta would not have attempted to escape in her real body. She kept this fact hidden, diverting her gaze from the hesitant Serce.

‘The door is likely locked, and the window has a heavy padlock. We can’t escape through there. We need to find a place to hide and then escape.’

Aneta scanned the room for an escape route.

The interior was spacious and grand, but nothing more. The thick layer of dust and the decrepit state of the furnishings suggested it had been abandoned for at least half a century.Aneta guessed this place might be a villa abandoned by a nobleman from her grandfather’s generation. The decor and furniture styles matched the trends of that era.

Her eyes fell on a wardrobe as she searched the room. The hinges were broken, and one of the doors hung a little crookedly, but it looked like it would be more than enough to hide a body.

“We can hide my doppelganger in that wardrobe over there. Once we’re taken away, there won’t be anyone left to guard this room, so it should move then.”

Although it was crucial to escape and seek help as soon as possible, rushing too much could ruin everything.

Aneta decided to wait for the mercenaries to gather in one place and then seize the opportunity to escape.

“Serce, where’s the doppelganger?””It’s ready. But since both our wrists are tied, I’ll have to roll it over to you.”

“Okay, let’s do it.”

Passing the doppelganger ring while tied up was challenging. Serce, like Aneta, forced himself to roll over and managed to set the ring upright, rolling it towards Aneta.

Fortunately, the doppelganger ring reached Aneta, but the next part was more problematic. Aneta had to locate and grasp the unseen ring while lying on her side.

“Okay, I got it.”

As she extended her hand as far back as possible and groped the floor, the state of her injured hand worsened, but she eventually grabbed the ring.

“This feels stranger than I expected.”

Manifesting the ability took only a moment. She could see two perspectives, but it didn’t feel like controlling two bodies as one.

It was more like manipulating a separate entity in her mind.

Moreover, moving the doppelganger required intense concentration. The more precise the movements, the more it drained her mental energy. She wondered how Serce managed to evade the mercenaries’ attacks with two bodies.

The first thing Aneta did with the doppelganger was to secure the ring that the real body held. Then, she stealthily moved towards the wardrobe to hide.’It doesn’t look like it’ll collapse immediately from up close.’

Smelling the characteristic scent of old wood, Aneta’s doppelganger carefully opened the wardrobe. Fortunately, it was empty inside, though she doubted if the shelf could bear any weight.

However, there was no time to hesitate in a situation where someone could burst in at any moment.

Aneta cautiously moved the doppelganger into the wardrobe. By being extremely careful with every small movement, the wardrobe didn’t collapse.

Aneta finally felt a sense of relief and closed the wardrobe door. Light seeped through the misaligned door, and she thought she could watch for any movement through the gap without being detected.”The way it looks at you, it looks like it’s trying to kill you this time.”

Meanwhile, Serce had also been observing the room’s interior and spoke while biting his lip. Aneta felt the weight of the intense hatred directed at her, realizing how meticulously the place had been chosen.

“I’m sorry I was so powerless. I should have made you escape when I sensed something was wrong.”

“I’m the one who should be apologizing. You got caught up in something you didn’t have to go through because of me, so don’t say you’re sorry.”

“I insisted on coming with you, Aneta.”

…

Aneta couldn’t deny Serce’s insistence, though this wasn’t the time to dwell on right and wrong. Footsteps were approaching.

Serce, having heard the sound as well, fell silent immediately.

As expected, the footsteps stopped right outside the room they were in. The two exchanged anxious glances.

There was a lot of rattling at the door, indicating multiple locks. Finally, the rusty hinges screeched horribly.

The first person to appear through the opened door was Randolph. The moment Aneta saw him walk in with a smile, she felt another heavy throb at the back of her neck.

“Fortunately, you’re awake. I was contemplating whether to splash water if you were still unconscious.”

Randolph’s words were casual and nonchalant. Seeing his subordinate holding a container that probably had water, Aneta frowned.

“Should I be thankful you didn’t try kicking me awake? ”

“I wouldn’t be capable of such barbaric behavior.”

“Pretty bold talk for someone who has kidnapped us.”

Randolph simply shrugged in response to Aneta’s incredulous retort, seemingly unfazed.

“Anyway, thanks to that, we can move straight to the next part of our plan.”

The relaxed smile on Randolph’s face quickly disappeared. With a sudden change to a blank expression, he drew a dagger similar to those used by the other mercenaries from his coat.

The sharpened blade gleamed menacingly despite the dim light.

“Wait, what are you planning to do? ”

As Randolph approached with the dagger in hand, Aneta asked sharply.

If he attacked now, she would be helpless. With no way to dodge or defend herself, Aneta clenched her teeth. The feeling of powerlessness was infuriating.

“Don’t worry. I only intend to cut the rope around your ankles. But don’t misunderstand; it’s not to free you, but to drag you along. Let’s start with this one first.”

Randolph calmly explained his intentions and moved closer to Serce, who was the nearest.

Lowering himself, he effortlessly knelt on one knee and cut through the rope. It was done swiftly and neatly.

Then, as he stood up to head towards Aneta, his expression suddenly turned peculiar.

Aneta, who had been warily watching Randolph, quickly followed his gaze.

Randolph’s eyes were fixed on Serce’s empty fingers.