Chapter 12.1 – Hide-and-Seek

It was as if someone sensed Liat and Alvin had let their guard down—someone slowly began to tighten their grip around their necks.

A strange m*rder occurred in the Marquisate. The culprit was nowhere to be found. For some reason, the body was clean, and the cause of death couldn’t be determined.

Liat suspected Himbrid, but the search party assigned to him reported nothing. In fact, there was no news at all.

The culprit closed in like a tightening net, approaching the mansion where Liat stayed. When even the servants of the Marquisate were targeted, Roigi and the Marquis led the search to prevent further damage.

To make matters worse, Alvin’s father, Duke Deiars, collapsed. Alvin, unable to resist Liat’s urging, went to the capital to be with his father.

Sending Alvin was her own decision, but ironically, his absence shattered her composure. The shadow of Himbrid, which never appeared when Alvin was around, now haunted her every waking moment.

With misfortune piling up, the circles under Liat’s eyes never faded. To relieve her helplessness, she buried herself in the library, reading until she fell asleep.

Seeing his daughter’s face darkened by guilt, the Marquis decided to send her somewhere safe to recover her spirit.

The Marquis decided to send his daughter to the capital. The journey might be dangerous, but once she arrived, she’d be under Imperial protection and truly safe.

The Marquis wasted no time and sent Alvin a letter.

* * *

“My Lady, can’t you reconsider coming with me?”

“You stay here. It’s safer for you.”

“But, My Lady…”

“I’m just going to the mansion next door, it’ll be fine. There are three escorts with me. The head of the Himbrid family is away on foreign business today.”

A new magic stone strategic point was discovered in the kingdom beyond the northern border, far from the Empire, and he had left to attend to it, according to the news.

But Delin couldn’t hide her expression. Her mind was filled with ominous thoughts, but she was afraid to speak them aloud, fearing they’d become reality, so she just held onto Liat.

“I don’t feel good about this. I’m anxious. Sir Alvin is coming up from the capital tonight—couldn’t you just wait until then…?”

Liat shook her head firmly, refusing.

“I’m not the only victim of this, Delin. Alvin is already exhausted and busy—I don’t want to be a burden to him. So, will you let me go?”

Despite her master’s resolute voice, Delin didn’t move the carriage. Disobeying her master was disgraceful for a first-class maid, but to Delin, her master was more important than honor.

“If I may speak, My Lady, if this is happening because of you, who do you think is in the greatest danger?”

Liat’s faint smile faded. The mask of a smiling face slipped off, and Delin raised a handkerchief to wipe under her eyes.

“No one in the mansion thinks of you as a burden… Oh, it’s awful even to say.”

“…”

“We’re worried about you, My Lady.”

Delin’s heartfelt concern made Liat start to cry. Within her crumbling walls, the mistress had nowhere to lean and was left sobbing.

“Why am I so weak, hm, why can’t I do anything?”

Since Alvin’s absence, Liat had been reading every magic-related book she could find. If, as Liliana had said, she had some talent, maybe she could find a way to resolve this.

But it was truly impossible to master the mysterious art of magic in such a short time.

“My Lady.”

Delin’s heart ached at Liat’s tears, her own eyes welling up, but she calmed herself, recalling the mindset of a first-class maid.

“My Lady, I think you’re the only one who doesn’t know how strong you are.”

“…”

“My Lady, do you remember when we first met?”

It was not long after Liat’s mother returned to nature, on a morning when young Delin came to the Marquis’s mansion.

Delin, who had come to be her companion, had a bad first impression of Liat.

‘Creepy.’

The child always smiled, as if she didn’t know what death meant. Delin found it strange that Liat hadn’t shed a single tear after her mother’s passing, so she asked her bluntly if she wasn’t sad.

Looking back, it was a disrespectful thing to say, but Delin had been young then, and now she realized it could have cost her her head.

The answer she received was this.

“I have to be okay. If I’m sad, Father and Brother will worry about me and have a harder time.”

“…”

“That’s what you told me, My Lady. I never expected to hear something like that from a child.”

Delin, who had also lost her mother early, felt both admiration for Liat’s strength and sadness at her concern for those around her.

“My Lady, you share your joy, but never share your sorrow.”

Delin had come to be Liat’s companion, but since Liat never leaned on her, she took on the role of maid and stayed with her until now.

“If your idea of strength is just physical, then that can’t be helped for now. But that’s something you can learn. The strength I see in you isn’t that.”

“Delin…”

“My Lady, you are strong. You always stand alone. You never try to pass anything onto us.”

Liat’s tears had stopped, leaving only tracks across her cheeks.

“It’s the same now.”

“Delin.”

“Say anything.”

“…I’m sorry. I don’t want to put you in danger.”

Liat focused her consciousness on the magic stone at her chest, recited an incantation, and snapped her fingers.

“M-My Lady…?”

“You’re right. I’m the easiest target. I’m exactly what he wants.”

Ironically, being targeted by Himbrid also made her safer. He would not kill her—she was certain of that.

Beloved maids, servants, and gardeners had died one after another. The fear she felt seeing familiar names in the obituary still clung to her back.

“…I’m not as strong as you think.”

If something happened to Delin, she wouldn’t be able to keep her sanity.

“Take Delin inside.”

Liat ordered the escorts to move the fainting Delin inside, then left the mansion.

Using magic required considerable strength. It was her first time using magic directly on a person, and the strain left her exhausted.

Even as she tried to keep her eyes open, her body wouldn’t obey. She looked out the window—three escorts on horseback guarded the carriage.

‘When was the last time I slept properly?’

Bad dreams had kept her from getting enough rest. Her body felt heavy, her eyes gritty, and everything was blurry.

Everything was hazy.

And there was a strange sweet scent clouding her senses. Opening her eyes felt impossibly hard. Liat wondered about it.

It took about ten minutes to reach Alvin’s mansion.

‘Just a short nap…’

Liat surrendered to sleep, finally resting deeply without even dreaming—her first time without Alvin in a long while.

But that brief carelessness led to a reality more terrifying than any nightmare she’d ever had.

Thunk.

The carriage jolted over a stone, waking Liat. She forced her eyes open.

When she’d left, the carriage was bright with sunlight, but now it was dark. Suspicious, she drew the curtains and saw an unpaved dirt road bathed in moonlight.

The escorts were nowhere to be seen.

It should have taken about ten minutes from the Marquisate to Alvin’s.

Liat’s face grew pale with anxiety. That wasn’t the only strange thing. Tom, who always hummed as he drove, was silent. In the eerie quiet, Liat opened the window to check outside.

The coachman’s seat was empty. The carriage moved on its own, driven by an unknown force.

Feeling a chill, Liat gripped the door handle with sweaty hands and tried to turn it, but despite being a door that locked from the inside, it wouldn’t open.

She tried again and again, but the latch didn’t click and the handle spun uselessly.

“Ah, ah…”

Then she began to shake the handle wildly, as if possessed.

She tried to break the window, but her elbow and thrown objects bounced off with a thud, repelled in midair. With no exit, Liat scratched at the door until her nails bled, leaving gruesome marks, but she didn’t care.

“Open. Open! Open up!”

Eventually, the carriage stopped as if it had reached its destination, and the once immovable door swung open, letting outside light in. Fresh air rushed into the freed space.

Even though the handle finally turned, Liat couldn’t step outside.

She knew that the moment she did, something horrible would unfold before her eyes.

Her sweat- and blood-soaked hand clutched the brooch at her chest.

She was never good at using magic, and her emotional turmoil made it worse. The brooch flickered faintly with weak magic.

The protective spell would only activate if she was attacked, so all she could do was send a signal to Liliana.

“Are you not coming out?”

A hand suddenly reached in front of the door. The pale palm glowed in the moonlight as if it had never seen the sun.

Liat followed the hand with her eyes.

“My hand hurts.”

She slowly raised her gaze at the voice and saw a familiar mask. As soon as she saw it, the sound of rain echoed in her ears.

The man grabbed Liat’s hand and dragged her out of the carriage, kissing the back of her hand as if escorting her. The breath on her hand was colder than Alvin’s.

“It’s been a while. No, we met at the last banquet, didn’t we? Did you get the letter I left in your room?”

His friendly tone made her tremble. The gray eyes behind the mask curved sweetly.

“When I saw you at the banquet, it was hard to hold back, but I’m glad I did.”

His cold hand brushed her face gently, sending goosebumps across her skin.

“If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have seen this expression.”

Right?

His fingers, which had only skimmed her face, dug in and squeezed her cheek.

“That face is nice too, but… hm, you showed a different side to Deiars’s precious son.”

“Ugh…”

He squeezed her cheek hard with his thumb.

He made it clear he was in a bad mood. The unrestrained grip and sharp jaw proved it.

“How, how are you here…”

“You read the newspaper! Did you look for the part about me? Cute.”

He grinned, showing perfect teeth. Suddenly in a better mood, he relaxed his grip.

“I thought this would make you come out.”

“It said you moved to another Empire…”

“I’m more skilled in magic than you think, you know?”

It was a long way to the kingdom beyond the border. She’d naturally dismissed the idea he could travel that far. That was Liat’s mistake.

He stroked her reddened cheek, then reached behind her neck, searching for his mark. Feeling the rough scar, he shuddered.

Karden brushed her hair forward to see the mark for himself.

“…Something dirty is on you.”

“Don’t touch me!”

“Did you know? If a product is damaged, it can’t be sold. That’s why I left you with him for a while, but the damage got worse. …You smell like that man.”

Smack. The familiar sound of a slap rang out.

Dragged out of the carriage, Liat’s body lost strength and slumped forward.

“When you wake up, you’ll be completely mine. Now, nothing can stop me.”

Again, the sweet scent lingered in her nose. Drowsiness overcame her, and Liat closed her eyes. Just before her eyes were swallowed by her eyelids, she saw Alvin’s image. Tears she couldn’t stop fell to the floor as she saw his blurred figure on her retina.

“Al…vin…”

“You’ll never get to call that name again, so say it all you want now.”

But contrary to his words, he cast another spell to close her eyes. His afterimage vanished as she shut her eyes.

Karden picked Liat up and, looking pleased, carried her into the mansion.