Mel unconsciously covered her mouth with both hands, feeling like she might scream.

“Hup!”

A straight trail of red blood stretched from where the male slave had fallen to the waterway, as if someone once with him had been dragged into its current.

The door the male slave was desperately pounding seemed to be made of steel. Mel saw that it gave no response, not even a sign of movement. Just then, there was a splash as water overflowed from the waterway.

“Uugh, uuuugh!”

The male slave collapsed where he stood, his body convulsing as if seized by a fit. His head twisted with a sickening creak toward the waterway. The current had quickened. Water gushed out with a splash, spreading across the floor.

“Huh, no. No……”

The male slave now had a face that realized what was about to happen to him. He gave up pounding on the door and crawled backward on his b*ttocks, pressing himself against the wall as much as possible. His face showed he realized the door would never open no matter how much he pounded.

Seeing that despairing expression, Mel’s heart raced.

“What on earth is happening here?”

Mel hurriedly looked around. The room where the male slave was located wasn’t connected to the passage where Mel was now. The only link to another room was the door that the male slave had been pounding on. This meant that door was the only way in or out.

“Huk, huk……”

The male slave sat down and began to sob. Mel wanted to help him somehow. But she had no tools that could help the male slave. She didn’t even know exactly what was happening there.

“Ah, the dagger! At least that……”

Mel bit her lip hard and quickly turned around. Then she began crawling back the way she had come. She thought giving him something to protect himself might help. But the gap where she had placed the dagger was quite far from the window.

“Quickly, quickly.”

As soon as Mel retrieved the dagger, she crawled through the passage as fast as she could. Actually, she wanted to give him a sturdier sword or an axe that could break down the door. But the window through which Mel had peeked was so small that even a dagger would barely fit through.

“Huh, huh.”

When Mel approached the window again, breathing heavily,

“……!”

There was no one left in the room. Only another blood trail had been added to the floor. Mel now fully realized that those blood trails on the floor were traces of people being dragged away. Something had dragged people into that waterway.

Clang, the dagger fell from Mel’s hand. Her pale white hands were trembling.

“Urgh!”

Mel bent forward and began vomiting everything in her churning stomach.

“Weeeeugh.”

Her eyes burned as tears fell drop by drop. Continuous retching tightened her airway, making it hard to breathe.

‘What kind of place have I come to?’

Mel became frightened of this work she had thought insignificant.

* * *

“……”

“……”

Mel walked with a blank, dazed face.

The ducal family servant who was responsible for escorting her to her lodging glanced at her expression. Normally, Mel would have been mindful of the servant’s gaze, but she had no energy for that now.

She had indeed felt that the number of slaves had subtly decreased compared to the previous day. The slaves who disappeared had died here.

‘As I thought, he’s not here……’

The slave she had seen today ultimately didn’t appear at the gathering place. Mel now understood what she needed to tell Genoa, and what he wanted from her.

“Thanks for today too. Tell me a more interesting story next time. I’ll look forward to it.”

This was the true nature of the expectation Genoa always set when he patted her head at the end.

If Genoa came today as promised……

‘Could I tell the young master about this?’

Would he believe her if she said that there seemed to be something killing people where she worked? Though she sometimes forgot because Genoa had treated her well until now, he was a nobleman. A nobleman who might punish her for insulting him if she said such things were happening in his mansion.

Moreover, the work that Mel and the other slaves did maintained extreme security. They wore blindfolds so they wouldn’t know where they were going, and the guides were different people each time, so there was a high possibility that even they didn’t fully understand the whole situation.

“Haah……”

Mel’s legs weakened as her mind suddenly turned blank. She staggered momentarily, then tried to walk again by forcing strength back into her legs. Seeing this, the ducal family servant addressed her.

“Um, is something wrong?”

“What?!”

Not expecting the servant to speak to her, Mel trembled all over and answered loudly. The servant also seemed startled by her reaction and frowned deeply. Mel felt the gazes of nearby slaves briefly turn toward them.

“What are you looking at? Huh? Hurry up and walk! Do you all want to skip dinner?”

When the servant snapped in a stern voice, the slaves quickly lowered their gazes and walked. Once the attention disappeared, the servant cleared his throat again and asked Mel quietly.

“……Ahem! I was wondering if you were sick somewhere. Anyway, I’m in charge of you, so I need to check if you’re injured.”

Mel needed to show gratitude to the servant who was looking after her. This ducal family servant seemed to harbor a slight sympathy for Mel. She knew that acting as politely and respectfully as possible in these situations would win the servant’s favor.

Mel tried to force a smile and express her thanks, but it was beyond her ability.

“My mother is a bit sick, I think I caught it.”

It was an excuse-like answer. Mel wrapped her arms around herself as she barely responded to the servant’s words. Her face was already pale, and her pupils were empty.

“I see.”

When she said she was sick, the servant believed her without doubt. He immediately withdrew his attention from Mel. It was his own way of being considerate.

But even after arriving at her hut lodging, Mel couldn’t hide her complicated feelings. Her mother, sensing something was wrong with Mel’s condition, sat up abruptly despite being ill.

“Oh my, my child. Was work very hard today?”

“……No. I just feel a bit under the weather.”

Mel cut off her worried mother’s words and threw herself onto the bed. Despite her mother’s nagging to change clothes before lying down, Mel pulled the blanket over her head. She needed some time to organize her thoughts.

‘How should I tell Mother? If I tell her honestly, she’ll try to escape this place by any means necessary……’

Given her mother’s personality, she would be prepared to escape the moment she learned Mel was working in such a dangerous place. But since being assigned to work in Ivanstein’s hidden areas, Mel had realized something. This family was dangerous. She might not be able to leave alive—Mel fully realized this fact today.

“By the way, Mother, did he visit today?”

“No, come to think of it, there’s been no word.”

Her mother shook her head. The slight upward curve of her lips looked pleased.

“A nobleman wouldn’t keep promises made to people in our position. He probably won’t come anymore.”

“That’s not it.”

Mel shook her head at her mother’s words.

Even if not today, Genoa would appear before Mel again anytime. Because the answer he wanted was now in Mel’s grasp. But for now, it was fortunate that he hadn’t come back.

Mel’s body trembled under the blanket.

‘I’m scared.’

She both wanted to see Genoa again and didn’t want to. Mel tried hard to shake off the bloodstains that remained like afterimages in her mind. But it wasn’t easy.

“My child?”

Just as her mother, noticing something was wrong with Mel, carefully tried to lift the blanket, there was a knock at the door of their lodging. Knock, knock, knock.

Whenever Mel met with Genoa, he always came through the window. Only the servants managing the slaves could lock and unlock the lodging door. So whoever was knocking at the door must be someone in charge of the slaves.

Mel’s mother muttered in a voice that couldn’t hide her anxiety.

“At this hour, what…… We should have finished all our work for today.”

“Mother, stay in bed.”

Mel, who had been hiding under the covers, threw off the blanket. Her startled mother grabbed her wrist, but she gently removed that hand with a small smile. Mel approached the lodging door after taking a fork from the table and hiding it in her sleeve.

“What is it? I’ve finished all my work for today.”

“……”

Though she sensed someone’s presence outside the door, there was no answer. After waiting a moment for a response, Mel glanced at her mother, who was looking at her anxiously. Then she extinguished the candles lighting the room one by one.

“Mel, my child.”

“Shh. Hide in the blanket, and when I run outside, that’s when you escape. It’s dark inside, so they won’t see you right away.”

“How could I leave you behind!”

“I made a deal with the young master in this mansion. They won’t harm me because I know the answer he wants. So if you escape first, later, I’ll……”

As Mel was giving instructions to her mother, there was another knock at the door. Knock, knock, knock.

“Run when I give the signal. Understand?”

“……Alright, I will.”

Only after seeing her mother nod did Mel stand in front of the door again. From the attitude of the person waiting without opening the door immediately, she could tell this wasn’t an ordinary matter.

As Mel swallowed hard and tried to respond to the knocking, a faint low male voice was heard.

“I’ve been sent by the young master.”

“Gasp.”

Mel hurriedly pulled the door handle. With a clank, the chain was pulled, and through the slightly opened door gap, an unfamiliar face appeared.

“……So you’re Mel.”

“Who, who are you?”

“Bane. The young master’s attendant.”

Seeing Mel’s youthful face that didn’t erase its wariness, Bane quietly swallowed a sigh. He saw that her innocent-looking face was filled with fear, more than he had expected. Bane felt guilty, as if he had harmed Mel, even though he had only come on an errand for Genoa.