Chapter 26
“Hmm-nyanya-.”
After eating dinner and stopping by the apothecary on the way back, Sonia was already asleep.
Seeing Sonia, freed from cleaning the consciousness room and sleeping soundly, made me want to roll around on the bed too.
But I just changed into my pajamas and lit a candle.
The flickering flame illuminated the name ‘Nina’.
Given the circumstances, I had no choice but to bring it.
“What should I do…….”
I could understand Louis’s feelings of being unable to discard or burn it.
After all, this was a letter sent to ‘Lacey’.
After a brief struggle, I changed my mind.
Considering the sender, Nina was likely a servant at the townhouse.
If the plan succeeded and I went to the Euphorian Kingdom following Ash Canis, I would surely meet her.
Louis had kept six of them for me.
Even before the delivery person changed, letters might have arrived at this castle.
If she had been contacting this consistently, it was highly likely they had a close relationship or Nina was someone who knew Lacey’s circumstances deeply.
So, me opening someone else’s letter now was to prepare for any eventuality.
*Scribble-*
The letter began with, ‘Lacey, are you doing well?’
It was written in clumsy, crooked handwriting, using only simple words.
Nina must have learned to write solely for the purpose of writing letters.
Thanks to you, I’m doing well. Thank you.
Write back if you feel like it.
……and ended like that.
After reading this, I understood why Louis judged that their relationship had soured.
The next letter, and the one after, ended with the same phrases.
It felt touching, but also somewhat inevitable.
Lacey at that time was managing a country estate. Since the letter arrived at Canis Castle, it was natural there was no reply.
Out of shallow sympathy, I could write a simple letter of well-wishes. Louis also offered to help, so it would definitely reach the Euphorian Kingdom.
However, the handwriting I saw on the resume and the lifelong contract was different from mine.
It was impossible to mimic a handwriting style from just a brief glance. Suppressing a slight impulse, I unfolded the next letter.
An update on recent events decorated the beginning.
The handwriting has improved a bit.
It will probably conclude with similar content to the first letter I read.
Just as I was about to rub my drooping eyes…
“This is…….”
Today at the market, I saw a person being assaulted by a group.
When I asked why they were hitting her, they said they couldn’t stand her pink hair, like Princess Lacey’s.
I imagined if it were you, and I got so angry and scared I couldn’t sleep.
You made an excellent choice leaving with the Head of the House.
Goosebumps rose along my spine.
To be a target of violence simply for resembling me in appearance.
Could the capital’s guards have seen this and done nothing?
Did Tritan know about this?
“Sigh……. That’s not what’s important right now.”
In short, the problem is this pink hair.
When moving, whether in a carriage or under a cloak, I could hide my hair.
But I can’t wear a cloak forever. I can’t even say for sure it wouldn’t blow off in the wind.
Just in case, maybe I need to get a wig.
It might have been easy if I had asked the Carrot maid.
“Sigh, why am I bothering with someone who’s already left…….”
I can’t keep expecting Blake’s help.
If worse comes to worst, there’s always the option of dyeing my hair, so it’s best not to be too hasty.
If I hadn’t read this letter, I would have gone to the Euphorian Kingdom knowing nothing.
Just as Nina said, who knows what hardship I might have faced.
Without realizing it, I swallowed dryly and simultaneously thought it was good I read the letter.
Personally, I’d be overjoyed if you came back, but that would just be my own selfish desire, right?
Every time I saw words dripping with longing, an ache spread near my chest.
Why did Louis decide to return this letter to me now?
If this was also part of repaying a debt, she got the wrong address.
It made me acutely aware, all over again, that I had stolen someone’s life.
* * *
Spring was past its midpoint, but the night air was still cold.
What if it had been midwinter instead?
I wish even the moon had been covered by clouds.
“Louis, how could you…….”
Myta’s appearance, pulled from the sack, was a mess.
It seemed the journey by carriage had been rough.
“Abduction, imprisonment……. What were you thinking, plotting something like this? Do you really think you’ll get away with this?”
“Myta, this isn’t my doing.”
“Funny. If it’s not your doing, then why are you here?”
Should I say it was lucky she was even alive until now?
“To say goodbye.”
“Goodbye?”
Myta questioned back with a bewildered gaze that moved oddly.
It soon stopped at Louis’s collar. Seeing the silver badge reflecting the moonlight, Myta twisted her lips.
“Goodbye? You’re here to mock me, right.”
When had her personality become so twisted?
Louis and Myta had been peers who shared a room after entering Canis Castle as maids.
Back then, it was the rule for four to share a room, so personal space was barely a span wide, but thanks to the roommates, there was no time to miss the families left behind in their hometowns.
Starting with menial chores, all four were lucky enough to become ladies’ maids. Apparently, their mistress liked their friendly dynamic and wanted to keep them close.
At first, they served their lady purely, but as they grew older and wiser about the ways of the world, they couldn’t remain as carefree as in childhood.
Especially Myta, who was very achievement-oriented. She was always competitive and full of zeal.
That point was admirable but also burdensome, and Louis developed a habit of yielding to Myta in everything.
Inspired by Myta’s lead, the other maids also became enthusiastic.
For a brief moment, Louis even dreamed they might change the closed-off atmosphere of Canis Castle.
But Myta’s goal-oriented personality ended up becoming a poison.
“Myta, I confessed everything about the past to the Head of the House.”
“What’s that? What does that have to do with anything now?”
Does she remember nothing?
Or did she deliberately forget?
Memory is so convenient, isn’t it?
“About the fever the Young Master suffered from.”
The color drained completely from Myta’s face, which had been flushed red.
“You……! Louis!”
Myta sprang up.
*Slap-!*
The cloaked men stepped forward, but Louis raised a hand to stop them.
“You should have stopped with that one time. How could you use the same method to put Lacey, that child, in trouble?”
“I won’t let anything stand in my way, young or not!”
“Is that why you framed Judy for treason?”
“If she had just stayed quiet, it would have passed without any problem!”
She felt not even a sliver of guilt for killing a peer she had shared a room with.
Appalled by that viciousness, Louis cast aside her hesitation.
“Do you know where this is, Myta?”
Sensing something unusual in the calm voice, Myta looked around.
The dense trees didn’t allow even a single ray of moonlight.
Myta’s face contorted violently.
“It’s just a forest.”
And an unfamiliar one at that.
Louis’s chilling expression was also unfamiliar.
“……Are you sure it’s just a forest?”
“What are you trying to say? Enough of the games.”
Until a few years ago, there was a village about fifty paces from this spot.
The buildings still remained, but no one lived there anymore.
Most had been devoured by the masters of this forest.
Awooooooool-!
“W-what is that sound?”
Had she finally grasped the situation?
“T-the Forest of Wolves? Are you out of your mind?”
The Forest of Wolves.
A forest said to be imbued with the spirit of Eurf, the divine beast revered by House Canis.
Hence, a sacred forest where wolves gathered to live.
However, the forest’s exact location was not known.
It was information not even granted to Myta, who had been loyal to House Canis for over thirty years.
So why was it given to Louis, who had just become Head Maid!
“Of course, I didn’t want to come either.”
Louis took out a palm-sized crystal from her bag.
“D-don’t!”
Disregarding Myta’s pleas, Louis drove the object in her hand straight into the ground.
The transparent crystal instantly turned crimson.
A dome of light, the size of a house, formed centered on the two women.
Realizing escape was impossible, Myta slumped down.
“It’s a relief you seem to know already. I don’t have to explain.”
This is a kind of trial.
One whose loyalty to House Canis is firm, whose innocence is certain, will be safe until dawn.
But if there is even a speck of falsehood in their heart…….
“Then why are you inside here too?”
“I told you. To say goodbye.”
“What guarantee is there that you won’t die either?”
Indeed. Even residents not trapped in the magic prison were massacred.
“The Head of the House told me to return alive, so of course I must.”
It would be a lie to say I’m not afraid.
But I have to see it through to the end.
That is the punishment for hiding the truth all this time.
