IBODBF 33

We deliberately ran in the opposite direction from where Erisen and Shirea were. I figured if fewer of those guys were nearby, maybe they could escape on their own.

At some point, the thugs stopped chasing us. I guess they saw through our plan. Sooner than I expected, too.

“Think we’ve played along long enough?”

Rizley’s voice, once light, dropped low as his gaze sharpened. Maybe we really had underestimated them.

Standing atop the wall, Rizley looked at me—like he was asking, What now?

Honestly, I didn’t know either. If only Joshua would show up right about now… that would be perfect timing.

“Ahh!”

A sharp, sudden cry rang out. It was followed by more of the same—short, clipped sounds.

When we turned toward the direction of the noise—not where the thugs were standing off with us—we saw exactly what I’d just been wishing for.

It’s Joshua and the knights.

In the blink of an eye, Shirea and Erisen had already been rescued.

“Seize them,” Joshua ordered calmly.

At his word, two knights leapt forward and, faster than I could blink, they took down the four thugs in front of us—just like that.

Silence fell. It was so heavy, I could hear someone gulp.

I lightly tapped Rizley’s hand. He got the message and gently lowered me to the ground.

“Phew…”

Joshua let out a long, quiet sigh as he approached me.

It was a look I’d never seen on his face before… but I could still tell what it meant.

He was furious—barely keeping a lid on his simmering anger.

There was no mistaking it. This was all my fault and I wasn’t shameless enough to pretend otherwise.

“…Shushu, I’m sorry.”

“My lady, haah… Do you have any idea how worried I was?”

“…S-sorry…”

“If I could rip open my chest and show you the ashes of what’s left of my heart, I would.”

Just imagining how pale and distraught he must’ve looked while I was missing made my guilt feel unbearable.

Once we were back at the estate, Joshua would probably be held responsible, too.

I hated my past self for thinking everything would be fine.

“This was all my fault.”

“No.”

His answer came immediately and without hesitation, so firmly it startled me.

“I’m not letting this go quietly.”

“Shushu, please—”

“I’ve already reported everything to Lord Hale, so brace yourself.”

…I’m doomed. Daddy’s gonna kill me. So is Rita.

* * *

“….”

“….”

We were dragged straight back to the estate. It had already been thirty minutes since we were brought into Hale’s office.

In all that time, he hadn’t said a single word. He just looked us over once—and then silence which made it even more terrifying.

I had dropped to my knees on my own a while ago and no one even told me to. My legs had long since gone numb.

I bit my lip and glanced at Joshua, who was standing behind me with his hands folded behind his back. The moment I looked, our eyes met.

Shushu…

I mouthed his name silently.

Joshua instantly turned his head away.

I get it. I ran off and caused a huge mess. He’s angry and hurt.

So I lowered my head. Begging for help now would only make me feel worse. I had to face this.

“Lord Hale.”

Just as I resolved to accept whatever came, Joshua’s calm voice broke the silence.

I looked up.

“Young lady and the young masters have all reflected on their actions.”

Joshua dropped to one knee and bowed his head to Hale.

“Above all, the fault lies with me. I let my guard down and put her in danger. Please hold me accountable.”

That hit me like a wave. The guilt surged up from deep inside me and I could feel my nose sting.

I stood, wobbly from numb legs, and knelt beside Joshua.

Hale had his back turned to us but the pressure rolling off him made it impossible to meet his gaze. I stared at the floor instead.

“N-no! Shushu didn’t do anything wrong! Daddy, it was all my fault—I’ll take the punishment!”

I was way too small to block Hale’s line of sight to Joshua, but maybe I could at least shoulder the blame.

Then—finally—Hale moved. He turned to face us.

I felt his piercing gaze land on the top of my head. Then a long, heavy sigh escaped him.

“I trust you all understand.”

His first words after that long silence.

“What you did wrong. And…”

He paused—maybe to heighten the tension.

Whatever he was about to say… I could tell it wouldn’t be good.

“…how difficult a position you’ve put me in.”

…Yeah, this was bad. Really bad.

It wasn’t only my fault, but the incident had happened on our estate. So the bulk of the blame still fell on me.

I glanced back, wearing my best guilty expression.

Erisen looked like he was already dead. Rizley was frowning a little. Shirea, on the other hand, was completely expressionless—like a statue.

I tried to get a closer look, but Joshua lightly poked me in the back, signaling me to turn around again.

“I’ve already contacted the Cheongryong and Hwangryong families. They’ve replied.”

“….”

“They said they’ll handle their own punishment. So I’ll leave it at that.”

“….”

“I trust that was enough to make my point.”

“…We’re sorry, Lord Hale,” Rizley finally spoke, barely above a whisper.

I started to turn toward him, but the weight of Hale’s stare pinned me in place.

“This happened because I didn’t act properly as the eldest among us. It’s my fault.”

Startled, I looked back. Rizley had bowed so low, his forehead nearly touched the floor.

I immediately checked Hale’s expression. He raised an eyebrow, coldly regarding Rizley.

I had no idea what was going through his mind.

“Are you saying you’ll take responsibility?”

I could guess where his thoughts were going—but still…

“…Well…”

Rizley hesitated. “Responsibility” was a big, scary word for a kid. Of course he froze.

Bet he didn’t expect to get caught in this. He should’ve just kept quiet like me then maybe Hale would’ve let him off easy.

Still, at least it seemed like Hale wasn’t planning to come down any harder on us. His expression had softened, if only slightly.

“Save those words for your own family. That’ll help me more.”

“…Yes, sir.”

“Joshua. Take the children to their rooms.”

“Yes, Lord Hale.”

Joshua and the others got to their feet and began heading for the door. I followed after them.

Phew… it’s finally over. But wow, my legs are seriously dead.

I gave my thigh a few taps with my fist as I stepped over the threshold—when—

“Senika.”

My body froze. Pure instinct. Like prey in the presence of a predator.

Hale’s voice was so chilling, it made my whole body tremble. Anyone who heard that tone would’ve obeyed without question.

“Where do you think you’re going? We haven’t even started yet.”

I swallowed hard.

It was clear what was waiting for me once the others left the room.

I turned back without complaint. No point resisting. This was his estate, after all.

Once we were alone, the office was dead silent—like the eye of a storm.

I stole glances at Hale, pretending to look elsewhere. The others might be off the hook, but I was probably still in hot water.

“…Daddy…”

“….”

I called to him softly, but there was no reply.

Now what? I already showed I was sorry—so what did he want from me?

I had to come up with something clever. A normal apology wouldn’t cut it.

Then suddenly, an idea hit me.

“Daddy!”

This time, I raised my voice with purpose. I knew this would work.

Sure enough, his eyes widened slightly in surprise. He must’ve thought I’d stay small and pitiful the whole time.

Pfft. You really don’t know your daughter, do you?

“I want to learn swordsmanship!”

“…What?”

“Sword! Manship!”

I said each syllable clearly so there was no mistaking it.

Hale blinked a few times, then slowly furrowed his brow.

“Senika.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think this is the time to be saying that?”

His voice turned stern—he clearly thought I was being inappropriate but come on. If I were scared, I would’ve just stayed quiet.

“Honestly, I think this is partly your fault too.”

“My fault?”

He let out a dry laugh—definitely caught off guard.

Then he folded his arms and tilted his head, as if to say, Go on.

“You coddle me too much, so I can’t do anything on my own!”

“….”

“I know you’re worried about me getting hurt, and I appreciate that but think about what happened today.”

“….”

“I told you before, remember? People need hardships to grow. Protecting me from everything isn’t the answer.”

With each word, Hale looked more and more like he’d been hit over the head.

“To overcome hardship, I have to be able to protect myself—at least a little.”

“….”

“So please, Dad.”

I stepped closer to him. Normally, he would’ve knelt to meet my eyes by now but not this time.

Given the circumstances, I understood.

I craned my neck to meet his gaze. Blue eyes locked in the air between us.

Then I smiled and said, “Teach me swordsmanship!”

At last, Hale’s stiff expression softened.