In The Basement Of Duke Ivanstein's Mansion - Chapter 8

The gaze examining Mel’s entire body was persistent. Her mother’s face was already soaked with tears she had shed once.

Her hands were busy, slightly lifting the hem of her clothes to peek inside, and massaging her two arms and legs. Mel decided to quietly submit her body until her mother’s anxiety was relieved. For her worrisome mother, nothing could be more terrible than Mel working alone in a place she couldn’t keep an eye on.

“You didn’t do too much work on your own, did you?”

“Of course not! It wasn’t as bad as I thought. The work was easy too.”

“As a mother, sending you, my young child, out while I stay here comfortably……”

Today, she spent all day doing odd jobs in the cabin. Mending torn blankets, sewing on fallen buttons, folding laundry — there was a lot to do, but it wasn’t difficult work. Considering that in her previous place she had to manage horse dung and dirty livestock, her body was very comfortable.

Nevertheless, she felt miserable about it. She felt guilty for being comfortable while sending out her young child.

“What sin could you have committed to go through such hardship……”

“Oh come on, why are you crying again?”

Her mother had always been weak. From what she heard from the slaves who were with them at the time, her mother became like that after giving birth to Mel. That’s when Mel decided. To take care of her mother until the end, who couldn’t take care of herself while protecting Mel to the end. Her mother was everything to Mel.

Mel hugged her mother tightly and said,

“As long as I can be with you, Mother, I’m happy with everything.”

At her young daughter’s affectionate comfort, her mother took a deep breath, burying her eyes in Mel’s small shoulders. Mel patted her mother’s back, which looked infinitely small, with her arms around her.

Despite being a slave, she was blessed to be with her family. Mel’s only wish was for her mother to rest comfortably and regain her health. As long as her mother could stay by her side for a long time, Mel could do anything.

“So, child, what exactly did you do there?”

“Well, that’s……”

Mel recalled the space where she had been. Just remembering it made her forgotten goosebumps rise again.

‘What would Mother say if I told her about this?’

She might develop heartburn from worry. Mel didn’t want to worry her mother, who was already weak.

“It was just like organizing a warehouse.”

“They wouldn’t give such a job to a small, thin child like you……”

“Because I’m small, it was good for organizing the lower parts.”

“……I see. They must have had some reason for doing so.”

Her mother nodded without asking further questions. But the dark look that spread across her face didn’t disappear.

‘The treatment is too good compared to the work. There’s no reason to treat a slave this well.’

She looked at her young daughter, who was examining her with a worried face. She had hoped the child would grow up without knowing anything, but in the end, she had learned about the cold, harsh world too early.

There was a time when she thought about dying together rather than enduring this harsh life with the child. But whenever such weak thoughts surfaced, seeing Mel’s innocent smile made her unable to put that decision into action.

Mel was her everything. Her child that she had to protect no matter what. But now, her poor daughter was protecting her sinful mother with that small body.

“Don’t you have any coworkers?”

“No, at first there were other slaves who went with me, but after putting on the blindfold, their footsteps gradually faded away.”

“……They must be working in different places.”

“I guess so.”

Mel answered casually while sipping water.

After finishing work, Mel followed another guide outside and waited for a long time afterward. When the footsteps of other slaves began to approach one by one, the blindfold was removed. Most of the slaves who had moved together in the morning gathered again and returned to their lodgings.

Of course, there were slaves who were there in the morning but had disappeared. Mel didn’t worry about it, thinking they might not have finished their work or had to do additional work. Rather, Mel was concerned about something else.

“I wonder if the bird in that tree ate the bread crumbs I gave this morning?”

Her mother’s face softened as she recalled the peaceful time she had shared with Mel that morning.

“I wonder about that too. I was so worried about you that I didn’t look out the window, but now I’m curious too.”

“Can I check?”

“Of course.”

Her mother opened her arms to Mel without any suspicion. As Mel hugged her mother, she recalled something else she hadn’t told her. It was the bread crumbs she had found in another branch of the passage where she had been working. The only foreign object in a place that was empty except for the items from the box.

It was clearly the bread crumbs that Mel had put in the tree hole as bird food that morning.

‘I need to check if the bread crumbs I put there really fell into that passage.’

If the bread crumbs she had thrown into that tree had entered that passage, the place where Mel was working was underground. Right under this cabin.

“Don’t lean too far out the window, okay?”

“Yes!”

Mel, in her mother’s arms, opened the cabin window. The small window was just the right size for Mel’s body. As she stuck her head out the window, the cool night air brushed her cheeks.

“Ah, the sky……”

In the sky she looked up at without thinking, a brilliant moon hung next to a river of starlight. Thanks to the clear moonlight, the area in front of the cabin was as bright as if it were illuminated.

Mel leaned her upper body out, placing both palms on the window. From that position, it seemed she could reach the tree if she stretched out her hand.

“Be careful!”

At her mother’s worried words, Mel softly replied “Yes,” and reached out towards the tree. She could barely see the inside of the hole.

‘Just a little, more….. Just a little.’

As she was thinking this and putting strength into her outstretched hand, suddenly the moonlight reflected from below, piercing Mel’s eyes. When she instinctively looked down, Mel blinked and let out an unbelieving groan.

“Huh?”

A boy with disheveled silver hair that shimmered brightly in the moonlight was looking up at Mel from below the window. She felt as if she could be sucked into his mysterious purple eyes at any moment. Faced with a beauty that seemed inhuman, Mel unconsciously muttered,

“An angel?”

Did he hear Mel’s voice? The angel’s red lips curved into an elegant arc. The sight was so beautiful that for a moment, Mel’s hands, which were supporting her upper body, lost their strength. Her body swayed greatly, and Mel tumbled down from the window.

“Mel!”

At that moment, her mother’s scream was heard from far away.

* * *

For a moment, Mel couldn’t come to her senses. Her vision spun greatly, and the last thing she saw was the night sky visible through the tree branches stretching towards the sky.

“Mel! Are you okay? Please tell me you’re safe! My child!”

Her mother’s screams could be heard from inside the cabin window. Mel, who had been squeezing her eyes shut in anticipation of pain, only then realized that she had fallen from the window. But she only felt that her body was supported by something soft yet firm, and didn’t feel any pain. Mel slowly opened her tightly closed eyes.

“……!”

Mysterious purple eyes, like the Milky Way had condensed in them, were right in front of her. When their eyes met, the way his eyes curved was beautiful. So much so that she couldn’t think of him as the same kind of person as herself.

Mel’s heart started to race uncontrollably. The sound of her pounding heart grew louder and louder. It was enough to make her ears feel muffled.

Then, the angel’s lips parted, and a voice like singing flowed out.

“Are you okay?”

The angel speaks. Surprised, Mel flapped her body like a fish out of water and rolled backwards. Only after rolling on the hard ground did Mel realize that she had been in the angel’s arms until just a moment ago.

“……That must hurt.”

The angel reached out to Mel, who had a dazed expression even though she was covered in dirt. Mel wondered if she dared to take that hand. The boy, who looked inhuman despite being human, inspired awe just by his existence. To the point of being frightening.

“Who, who……”

Seeing Mel stumbling over her words, the boy’s face clouded.

“Oh dear. You must really be hurt.”

The boy reached out first to the frozen Mel. He helped her up and patted the dirt off her clothes. Then he examined Mel’s face and limbs, checking for any injuries. During all this, Mel was busy staring blankly at the boy’s face.

“Are you, are you human?”

Mel reached out and poked the boy’s cheek with her finger. She felt soft, plump skin at her fingertip. It gave her goosebumps. He was really human.

“Do I not seem like one?”

The boy laughed softly. It was a smile that seemed to have a halo shining behind him.

Mel struggled with the urge to poke her own eyes with her fingers. She felt like she should stop looking. It was bad for her heart.

‘How can a person look like this?’

People don’t get scared only when they see frightening things. Sometimes, when they see something excessively beautiful, people get scared too. That was exactly Mel’s state right now.

“Then are you a noble?”

At Mel’s question, the boy opened his eyes wide, then soon smiled gently.