Chapter 4

Without even having time to steady herself against the vibrations, her body staggered.

‘Ugh!’

Compared to the earthquake she had experienced exactly once as a child, what was happening now was dozens, perhaps hundreds, of times stronger.

‘F, first, my head…….’

When an earthquake happened, the thing to be careful of was objects falling from high places. The most important thing to protect was the head.

After looking around, she squeezed herself under a small table in the corridor.

“Kyaaaah! Hurry and run!”

“Get out quickly!”

While she protected her head, the other maids on the same floor ran to escape the mansion.

‘Angela……!’

Among them was Angela, the one she had been closest to. Angela, who had been fleeing with a pale face, lost her balance not long after and fell.

“Angela!”

She shouted Angela’s name loudly. D*mn it all, the place where Angela had fallen was directly beneath the chandelier.

“Rike! Why are you there……!”

Angela, whose eyes met hers, widened them in shock.

This was not the time for her to be surprised at seeing her.

“Angela! Protect your head right now! Hurry!”

“Ugh! R, run! Hurry!”

“Protect your head!”

Angela, not listening to her, struggled to raise her body.

Then, from the chandelier that had been swaying widely from side to side, came the sound of a cord snapping.

—Creeeak.

“Angela! Your head! Protect your he…….”

—Rumble!

The collapsed upper floor fell over Angela just as she was trying to run.

“…….”

It happened in an instant.

The thick cloud that had obscured her view gradually cleared away. In the place where Angela had been just moments ago, fallen objects had piled up into a massive mound that blocked the way ahead.

“Angela?”

Among the debris, she spotted one limp arm.

“An, gela.”

That was Angela’s arm, was it not?

Had she died?

No.

She had never seen an extra who had been kind to the heroine suddenly die in a romance-fantasy novel.

Right, she might still be alive.

Angela was usually strong, sturdy, and spirited.

Maybe she had only lost consciousness from the shock, but was still breathing.

‘Save her.’

Her body would not move well.

‘I have to save Angela.’

After protecting her head with the table, she pushed herself to her feet.

“Angela! Are you all right? Ugh!”

Her body was shoved sideways by the tremors that surged again. Her arm and shoulder slammed hard into the wall, and the table that had protected her head fell to the floor and rolled far away.

‘It hurts!’

Tears sprang to her eyes at the pain, something she had never felt before.

‘Was this really right?’

This place was a romance-fantasy novel, and she was a transmigrator.

In times like this, usually a transcendent being appeared and gave her powers, or some strength she had not known she possessed, awakened and saved everyone, or something along those lines to deal with the crisis, did it not?

Not a single one of those novels had treated a transmigrator this harshly.

‘Was there really nothing?’

She waited for anything at all, but what came toward her was nothing but falling debris.

D*mn it. Messages received loud and clear: reality and novels were different.

“Angela! Angela! Please wake up…….”

Giving up on waiting, she crawled forward and grabbed Angela’s arm.

As she desperately pulled on Angela’s arm, she spotted a person’s head protruding through a gap.

“…….”

The brown hair was, no matter who looked at it, Angela’s hair.

There was not the slightest trace of color in her face, and her bloodshot eyes had lost all focus. No matter who looked at her, it was not the face of a living person.

They said that when the shock was too great, not even a scream came out, and her state right now was exactly that.

Angela was dead.

Even from the arm she clutched so desperately, she could no longer find any warmth at all.

‘Even so.’

This was too much.

In <Rike Likes the Duke>, no one died.

There was no bloodshed, and there was no crime.

The worst villains had only been extras who liked the male lead, or some old-fashioned fool who opposed the protagonists’ marriage, and that was all…….

“Urk!”

Nausea surged up. For the heroine to die the very moment she met the male lead.

‘I really might die here.’

“Young Lord! This way!”

The voice from behind barely brought her back to her senses. When she lifted her head, a silver-haired man stood ahead, surveying the surroundings with a grave face.

Daemon von Garvan….

“Over here! Young Lo…… ugh!”

Bricks and broken pieces of furniture suddenly came pouring down from the ceiling. Even the situation over there, which had looked somewhat better, changed to something similar to hers.

“Kal!”

The knight walking ahead was buried in the shower of debris before he had time to dodge it.

“Kal, are you all right!”

Fortunately, the knight had not lost his life, but his lower body was pinned, and only his upper body thrashed.

“Y, Young Lord……. P, please get out quickly.”

Even though the male lead had pulled hard on his arm, the man was so badly injured that he was gradually losing consciousness.

“Do not talk nonsense!”

“Y, Young Lord. Hurry…….”

While they struggled back and forth, she looked up at the ceiling. It was breaking much faster than before.

‘I do not know when the shaking would end.’

Could he be saved?

If not for the shaking mansion, it felt like someone pinned down to that extent might be saved.

As it happened, part of the pinned knight’s waist was slightly exposed. Yes, if things went well, he could be saved. Angela was dead, but this man…….

Now that things had come to this, either she would die here or survive here.

“I will help too!”

“……!”

Daemon, who was holding one of the knight’s arms, spotted her and widened his eyes.

“When I say one, two, three, pull together!”

She shouted urgently.

“One!”

She looked up at the ceiling. There was not much time.

“Two!”

“…….”

“Three!”

Daemon and she pulled on the knight’s arm with all their strength.

“Uuuugh!”

As if something had him firmly caught, the knight’s waist showed no sign of coming free.

—Rumble!

The trembling of the ground, which had weakened for a moment, grew violent again.

‘D*mn it!’

The cracks signaling collapse became clearer. At this rate, she and Daemon would also be buried.

What should I do? Her expression did not last long. She pushed with all her strength against the chest of Daemon, who had been pulling on the knight’s arm.

“What are you doing……!”

“…….”

—Bang!

She and Daemon fell hard.

—Riiiing.

From the impact, a ringing filled her ears. Because of that, the sounds around her were cut off, but one faint breath was still clearly felt.

“Cough!”

After coughing dryly several times, she lifted her head with difficulty, and the knight was no longer visible.

‘Had he died?’

She could tell without even having to look between the debris.

That man was dead too.

‘This was supposed to be a romance-fantasy. A romance-fantasy…….’

In the end, she had not been able to save either Angela or the knight.

Transcendent being. This was too much…….

“Ugh!”

Cracks had formed in the ceiling above them too. This was no time to worry about others. Now it was their turn.

‘Someone to call for help…….’

There was no one.

The only people left on this floor were she and Daemon.

Everyone else had either evacuated, or been crushed to death, or were in no condition to make a sound. It had to be one of those three.

The front was blocked, and the back was blocked too. The only place left to run to was the drawing room, which had a large table and was a good place to hide.

If this really was an earthquake, then the shaking would stop soon. For now, she had no choice but to believe that and run.

“Daemon!”

After finishing her thoughts, she grabbed Daemon’s arm.

“Get up! Hurry!”

“W, what……!”

He had not yet fully grasped the situation and stayed planted on the floor.

“Hurry!”

Daemon’s eyes widened.

Even though he said nothing, his face clearly showed, ‘How dare a maid shout at me?’

D*mn this class system.

When they might die any second, did he really still want to be treated as a noble while she was only a maid? If this genre had been a romance-fantasy, then she would naturally have treated him properly, but the genre she was experiencing right now was not a damned romance-fantasy.

It was a damned survival story!

“I said get up already!”

She dragged Daemon with her and went into the drawing room.