Chapter 25. Proposal

Elena slowly moved her eyelids, trying to adapt to the darkness.

Though not a single ray of light entered, the surroundings were faintly visible, perhaps because it was bright outside.

She didn’t know how long she had been unconscious, but her entire body was stiff, making it difficult to move even a finger, and her neck continued to throb.

She wanted to relax her uncomfortable body and soothe her startled muscles, but……

‘I’m not alone.’

She restrained her desire to move because of someone’s breathing that she had heard since regaining consciousness. Her eyelids trembled, and her nostrils flared. Lying on the floor, coldness was creeping up her body. The soil mixed with her breath made her feel like coughing.

Elena closed her lips, suppressing her cough while trying to understand her situation.

‘Kidnapping.’

After the candle went out, she was hit on the nape and fainted shortly after.

The damp smell touching her nose confirmed she was in a different place, and soon the word “kidnapping” came to mind.

‘There’s nothing restraining my body.’

The reason they hadn’t tied her up was likely one of two things. Either they underestimated Elena, or they were confident in their abilities.

From the fact that they had taken her out of the Grand Duke’s mansion, there was no need to doubt the kidnapper’s skills.

‘Who could it be?’

This wasn’t a situation to make a fuss about being kidnapped. Thinking this, Elena deliberately looked around to get used to the darkness while calmly considering. It wasn’t as if there weren’t people who opposed the Grand Duke, and kidnapping his aide was something anyone with enough power could do.

‘Marquis Emeth, Crown Prince Suharto……’

Marquis Emeth was most likely to have instigated the kidnapping, thinking his daughter was dead. It could also be Suharto, who might have been grinding his teeth over the valley incident. However, it could also be an unexpected third party, so she couldn’t be certain who the culprit was.

‘Anyway, I haven’t been killed immediately, so there must be a chance.’

It was too early to be frightened just because she had been kidnapped. At the very least, they must have kidnapped her for a reason that required keeping her alive. She judged that even if they tortured her, they wouldn’t kill her immediately. It was fortunate that she had been taken while on her way to Rudfelix. She could clearly imagine how the Grand Duke’s mansion would have been turned upside down by now.

‘Alix must be extremely angry.’

I hope he doesn’t harshly drive people around him because of this incident.

“Cough.”

Elena’s thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice nearby.

‘This sound is……’

Roina.

She hadn’t moved because she thought she wasn’t alone, and it seemed to be Roina.

‘So she was kidnapped too.’

“Aah……”

The sound of Roina moving her body was heard as she moaned. As dust rose when her clothes dragged on the ground, Elena could no longer hold back and coughed.

“Cough!”

“Who, who’s there?”

Having regained consciousness and risen immediately, Roina trembled with anxiety in her voice.

“There’s no one else here.”

There was no way to find out if someone was deliberately hiding anyway. Elena raised her upper body while loosening her stiff body one by one.

“W-who are you?”

“It’s me, Roina.”

“……Elena.”

The sound of Roina sighing in relief came vividly.

“What in the world happened?”

“It seems we were kidnapped while talking.”

“Who on earth would kidnap us?”

“I don’t know that either.”

“What should we do now?”

“We need to get out.”

“Do you think someone will come to rescue us?”

“They would if they knew where we are. But I don’t know when that would be.”

Elena’s unsatisfactory answer seemed to intensify Roina’s anxiety. Her voice was getting quieter and quieter. Eventually, the questions stopped altogether, but Elena rather preferred it that way. She didn’t know anything either and was in the same situation. Even if Roina kept asking, her answers would all be the same.

“Roina, first, calm down.”

Having looked around the interior to some extent, Elena slowly rose. She thought she was kidnapped due to someone’s animosity toward the Grand Duke, but Roina was also here. So the kidnapper’s intention was equally confusing.

“But it’s so sudden and frightening.”

The distinctive smell of wood and soil.

Though there was no wind, occasionally a faint breeze brushed past her cheeks.

Based on the smell of fresh grass carried in the air, Elena gradually assessed her surroundings.

‘There must be a forest nearby……’

Elena reached out her hand in the darkness. When her fingertips touched a wall, she felt along it and moved forward little by little.

“I don’t know much either. All I can do is smell and feel around to make inferences. So I don’t have much to say to you right now.”

Though she wanted to tell Roina to stay alert, Elena understood her situation. Who wouldn’t be scared after being kidnapped? From Elena’s perspective, Roina was merely trying to reduce her fear by relying on someone else who was with her. However, Elena wasn’t relaxed either as she forcibly tried to expand her increasingly narrowing nerves.

“Roina, if you’re afraid, put your back against the wall.”

Instead of blaming Roina’s desire to depend on someone, Elena explained calmly and methodically.

“Alright.”

Roina followed Elena’s instructions like an obedient child. She must have found a wall nearby because when she leaned against something, the vibration transmitted to Elena.

‘She was nearby.’

Though Elena hadn’t realized it when she first regained consciousness, she now assessed the distance by retracing her movements. Then she discovered that the wall had grooves at regular intervals. As she walked along the wall, her fingers entered and exited these carved spaces at regular sections.

‘It seems like…… logs.’

It didn’t seem like grooves carved into a wall, but rather walls made by attaching logs together.

Elena looked ahead while keeping her back against the wall like Roina.

‘A log cabin in the forest.’

“Elena.”

Roina called Elena with a voice that had become calmer than before.

“Still, being together gives me comfort.”

“This isn’t really the situation for that, but it’s not wrong either.”

Elena smiled slightly while continuing to look around.

“Roina, stay sharp. Someone will come looking for us, anticipating when we would wake up.”

“What should we do then?”

Roina’s voice sounded muffled with tears. Elena’s eyes became resolute, though invisible in the darkness.

“First, we need to hear why we were kidnapped. It’s also important to find out who brought us here.”

“Shouldn’t we get out of here first? Let’s escape from here rather than wait for the kidnapper.”

“How?”

“……What?”

Roina was taken aback by Elena’s question.

“How can we get out when it’s difficult to take even a single step here?”

“That’s……”

Roina had suggested they escape quickly since they were forcibly brought here, but when Elena responded negatively, she couldn’t continue.

“We’re not physically trained. As ordinary women, our bodies have limits when it comes to escaping.”

Roina was flustered by Elena’s methodical analysis of each point. On the other hand, she wanted to rely on Elena and didn’t have the confidence to leave alone without her.

“Then what should we do?”

“We have to wait.”

“Wait?”

“We have to wait for someone to come. Trying to leave by ourselves carries too much risk.”

“But……”

As Roina trailed off, Elena turned her head.

“Isn’t it dangerous to wait for the person who kidnapped us?”

“It’s better than no one coming at all.”

Clap, clap, clap.

Elena and Roina froze simultaneously at the sudden sound of applause.

‘Where is it coming from?’

Elena looked around diligently. However, she couldn’t determine where the echoing applause was coming from.

“I thought I might have brought the two of you for nothing, but this is unexpectedly entertaining.”

The young man’s voice contained an inappropriate cheerfulness for the situation. His manner of speaking briefly reminded her of Wei.

To think he was laughing like a madman while looking at the people he kidnapped! Elena rubbed her arms, which had goosebumps. Her vigilance was now stronger than when she first regained consciousness.

‘How long has he been here?’

His presence now felt so enormous that she wondered why she hadn’t noticed it before.

“Who…… are you?”

Roina asked the most clichéd question. She mustered the greatest courage she could display.

“If you ask who I am, very politely and gentlemanly……”

When the door opened, light poured onto the man’s face. Elena and Roina momentarily closed their eyes to avoid the strong light, and only after adapting slightly did they lift their eyelids. As the previously hidden face was revealed, the man bowed while swinging one arm widely.

“I should pay my respects to the ladies, shouldn’t I?”

The face of the man, who raised only his head while keeping his body bowed, was clean-cut. Elena racked her brain trying to remember where she had seen him. Anyway, since he wasn’t going to reveal who he was, she needed to somehow recall her memory.

“Ah, we’re not meeting for the first time.”

The man pointed at his own face while making eye contact with Elena. Though he wouldn’t tell her where they had met, his attitude suggested he wouldn’t stop her from figuring it out herself.

‘I have no idea where I’ve seen him.’

“Judging by your expression, it seems you don’t recognize me.”

The man peered at Elena from various angles.

“Do I have such a weak impression? Or is it because I’m dressed more plainly today? I thought I was quite a character.”

The man turned up his collar. Though his clothes were generally simple, they were tailored to fit his body.

‘Was it when I went to the ball?’

The term “plain” was too vague a standard. For nobles, it wasn’t just about dressing grandly for balls; even a change from everyday attire could be described as “plain,” which made it confusing.