Chapter 9.1 – Hunting Festival (Part 10)

While it was the proper dose for the Countess, in Ria’s case, who was still unable to properly control her body, it would exceed the proper dose as she absorbed the anesthetic into her body again. However, the man, whose eyes had already rolled back, had momentarily forgotten the instruction to bring her carefully.

The masked man who had soaked the handkerchief with anesthetic approached Ria first. But the moment he brought the handkerchief to her mouth while supporting her head, the man’s body trembled slightly.

Due to an inexplicable unease, the man immediately moved away from Ria, but his touch as he put her down was surprisingly gentle, even to himself.

However, once he moved away from Ria, he returned to his original doll-like state as if nothing had happened. With blurred focus, he used the anesthetic on the Countess in the same way, then climbed onto the driver’s seat, took the reins, and asked the man in a monotone voice.

“Where to?”

The man, who had just finished smoking a cigar, said firmly.

“We’ll go around following the border connected to the north.”

***

The tightly closed eyes trembled finely at the bumpy movement. Soon, as the carriage’s movement completely stopped, the eyelids lifted, revealing dark brown eyes.

‘……Where is this?’

Due to the anesthetic, Ria’s mind was still hazy, and she had to fumble through her thoughts for a while. Fortunately, thanks to the moonlight seeping through a small window high on one wall and her vision gradually becoming clearer, albeit slowly, she could tell that she was still inside the carriage.

‘It’s night.’

After briefly looking at the moonlight that had settled on her body, Ria soon discovered the Countess collapsed on one side and opened her eyes wide. Come to think of it, she had heard her screaming before succumbing to the anesthetic.

When she wiggled her bound hands and feet, fortunately, the effect of the drug seemed to have worn off completely, as there was no difficulty in moving.

“Madam, Madam!”

However, due to being tied up, she couldn’t easily move towards the Countess. Ria called out to her desperately in a slightly lower voice, fearing the man might hear. But no matter how much she called, there was no response. For a moment, the blood drained from her face at the ominous feeling. 

Surely she wasn’t dead……

Just then, with a rattling sound, the carriage door opened. Before the startled Ria could close her eyes, the masked man was standing blankly in the wide-open doorway.

It was too late to pretend to be under the influence of the anesthetic. Meeting the gaze that was staring intently at her, Ria clenched her fists and turned her eyes towards him.

The eyes she properly faced for the first time were strange. They were hazy as if covered by fog, yet there was a clear light within. Due to an inexplicable strange feeling, Ria looked into those eyes for a moment, then remembering the collapsed Countess, she asked the man.

“Did you kill the Countess?”

“……”

Of course, there was no answer. Belatedly realizing how foolish it was to expect something from her kidnapper, Ria firmly closed her lips that had been about to open and inwardly scolded herself to be smarter.

But suddenly, with a rustling sound, the man entered the carriage. As he stopped right in front of her, Ria had no choice but to freeze in place. She was just afraid, not knowing what he was going to do this time.

However, the man began to say and do things she never expected.

“Ah…, you……”

“……”

“Medicine, measures…, taken……”

When he raised his hand, she thought he was going to hit her and tightly closed her eyes, but he only gently grasped the ends of her hair. When she opened her eyes again, he continued speaking slowly in an eerie voice. His intermittent mumbling of only the key points informed her that the Countess was not dead and her injuries had been roughly treated.

The man’s words didn’t end there.

“Outside…, wind…, stuffy……”

He kept repeating just those three words. This time, she couldn’t understand at all and frowned, but the man kept repeating those words regardless of whether she understood or not. Really, countless times, over and over. To the point of being scary.

‘What’s wrong with him!’

If this was a new method to instill fear in her, it had succeeded perfectly. It was as terrifying as a scene from a horror movie. Just as Ria was about to move her body away to distance herself from him, the man’s voice was heard from outside.

“Hey! Let’s get going now!”

At that moment, Ria saw emotion appear on the man’s face for the first time, albeit faintly. It disappeared in the blink of an eye, but it was clearly ‘anger’.

‘……Why?’

Why do you feel anger? Why you, who did this to me? 

The emotion that welled up was so absurd it was disheartening. As Ria bit her lip and turned her head sharply, her hair that had been precariously held by the man’s fingertips slipped out smoothly.

The man, who had been chasing after what was slipping from his hand with a somewhat desperate expression, returned to his original doll-like state as soon as all the hair had slipped out, as if nothing had happened.

The light that had briefly flashed in his eyes also disappeared behind the hazy fog once again.

The carriage stopped frequently after that. Judging by the increasingly bumpy ride, it seemed the road was becoming rougher.

The problem was that every time this happened, the masked man would open the door and approach her.

‘Here he comes again.’

Ria inwardly let out a hollow laugh as she watched the man open the door and enter again. She really couldn’t understand what he was thinking.

His actions after entering were always the same. Carefully grasping the ends of her hair and speaking intermittent words.

At first, she would flinch at the contact, scared, but as it kept repeating, now she felt nothing. The fact that he didn’t do anything else also played a part. Moreover, whether it was fortunate or not, she had become quite able to understand his words.

“The road is, rough…, any painful…, parts……”

“No. The parts where my hands and feet are tied hurt.”

“Sorry……”

“If you’re sorry, you shouldn’t have done this in the first place.”

“……”

Watching the man bow his head silently at her reproach, Ria was certain. That these people really couldn’t do any harm to her.

Objectively speaking, in the current situation, she was nothing more than a hostage. Yet the man showed a polite attitude towards her. Even when she deliberately spoke more sharply, he had never used violence or threatened her.

After pondering for a moment, Ria looked straight at him and spoke.

“I feel stuffy. I want to get some fresh air.”

This was a kind of gamble. A gamble to see how much was allowed for her. If the man granted this brazen request, her range of movement would widen, and if that happened, the methods and chances of escape would increase compared to now.

But if this time he got upset by her behavior and resorted to violence…… 

Ria waited for the man’s answer with an anxious and tense heart.

Finally, the man raised his head. Somehow, she had the illusion that the light in his hazy, fog-covered eyes had become clearer.

“Let’s get going now!”

However, just as the man’s lips moved as if to say something, the man at the door berated him, and she couldn’t hear any answer.

Back in the bumpy carriage, Ria sat with her knees pulled up and her head lowered over them. She briefly had the not-so-funny thought that it was somewhat fortunate that her hands weren’t tied behind her back.

‘What will happen now……’

The attempt she had made with great resolve had become meaningless because of the man outside. She had tried it while suppressing her fear. 

Would there be another chance to say such things again?

Perhaps she would be trapped in this carriage like this until they reached the place of whoever ordered the kidnapping. Even the man who had been polite to her might behave differently next time.

That brought fear again. She wondered if she had done something unnecessary. 

What would really happen if I was taken away like this?

‘……They must be very worried.’