BE 56

BE

Chapter 56

What could be happening? Why?

I was anxious—but the moment I saw Madeleine, I forgot everything for a while.

“Madeleine!”
“Adele!”

The moment my friend came to visit my room, I ran up and hugged her without thinking.
A friend is truly a friend. A friend gives you a sense of peace that family sometimes can’t.
Just like family gives a happiness that a friend cannot.

I smiled brightly.

“Madeleine, you’ve been well, right?”
“Of course! Thanks to a certain amazing friend, I even got to experience dorm life. Actually, they said I could start the academy early, so I’ve been going there for a while now.”

That was news to me. My eyes widened.

“How was it?”
“It was so fun! Really exciting!”

I think the thought ‘I’m jealous’ crossed my mind.

I had always wanted to attend the academy, too.
But I didn’t show it. Madeleine was looking around my room, full of awe.

“Wow, this is incredible. Your room’s huge!”
“……Yeah.”
“I even saw a fountain inside the building on my way here.”
“Right. The fountain glows at night.”
“That’s so cool! So it’s true the Alcibiades family is the richest!”

She took out some snacks from her pocket and handed them to me as she spoke.

“But why won’t they let anyone go outside?”
“I don’t know…… all of a sudden.”

When I first heard I wouldn’t be abandoned, I’d been so happy.
But this… this was something else.

I didn’t even know how to explain it. I just grew quiet and popped one of the snacks into my mouth. Chew, chew.

It was sweet, and that sweetness lifted my mood a little.

“I miss Khan, and I miss your brother too.”
“Wow, you call Lord Blake ‘brother’?”
“……? ……Yeah.”
“You’re amazing, Adele!”

I didn’t really get what was so amazing, but she looked so impressed that I just stayed quiet.

Madeleine got up and wandered around the room, examining every corner.

If I really thought about it, this was imprisonment.
Before, I could wander around the duke’s mansion freely—but now I wasn’t even allowed out of my room.

They won’t even tell me why.

And I hadn’t seen Sarina either.

“Wow…”

I looked at Madeleine.

Did I have that same expression the first time I came here?

Everything seemed fascinating to her—
The huge mirror decorated with jewels, the enormous bed that dwarfed the one at the orphanage.
She poked things with her fingers and rubbed her cheeks against the carpet.
“It’s so soft!” she exclaimed.

“Adele, you don’t even seem like Adele anymore. I feel like I should talk formally to you.”
“Don’t.”
“Kidding, hehe.”

After exploring for a while, Madeleine sat down in front of me with a fruit basket.

Fruits so fresh we could never have imagined them back at the orphanage.
I took out a tangerine and began peeling it carefully.

“But Adele, I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this…”
“What is it?”
“Can I tell you what’s been happening outside?”

Madeleine tilted her head nervously.

I popped a peeled slice of tangerine into her mouth and nodded.

“What is it, what is it?”
“Um… it’s kind of a lot.”
“I can hear everything. I can’t go outside anyway, I’ve got time.”
“Well…”

She mumbled as she chewed the tangerine.

“The academy’s kind of weird.”
“Weird?”
“Like… dangerous? Or maybe just unpleasant. There are a lot of kids like that.”
“Hm… unpleasant how?”
“They say stuff about my social status. I don’t let it get to me, but still.”
“They bullied you?”
“Not exactly… or maybe they did?”

I felt my chest tighten.
If she said that much, then they definitely did bully her.
Who would ever bully such a cute, kind girl?

Anger boiled in me as I bit hard into another tangerine slice.
If I’d gone to the academy, I’d have punched them for her.
I’d done that a few times back at the orphanage.

Then Madeleine said:

“Anyway, that’s not all. They were talking about buying something—some kind of code, I didn’t understand at first, but I looked it up. Turns out they were buying illegal stuff.”
“Illegal?”
“You know, those people who kidnapped me before? The guards said it was the black market or something. Anyway, those academy kids seem to be going there—as customers.”
“……Customers?”

I froze.

Madeleine quickly pressed her finger to her lips. “Shh.”

I flinched and nodded.

She hesitated, then motioned for me to come closer—she wanted to whisper.

Was there something she needed to say secretly in this room?

But there’s no one here…

Still, I leaned in. Madeleine whispered very quietly.

“The kids from the orphanage were kidnapped.”
“What?!”
“Shh! You can’t tell anyone! They said I mustn’t!”

I bit my lip hard and nodded.

Madeleine glanced toward the door, lowering her voice even more.

“They told the maids and attendants not to say anything to you, that you mustn’t be startled. They even said not to mention the war.”
“Tell me everything. I need to know.”
“The war broke out, and it’s chaos. The country called Theos betrayed everyone.”
“Yeah.”
“So now they’ve gone to destroy it.”
“……Yeah.”
“Anyway, the adults are all too busy with that. While that happened, all the kids from Panaso Orphanage got kidnapped—and no one cares. If I’d still been there, I might have been killed too.”

“……”

Just the thought made me dizzy.

Madeleine whispered even softer.

“And those weird academy kids… they said they’d buy some of the orphans from the black market—to play with and then throw away.”
“……‘Play with’? What does that mean?”
“I don’t know, they’re weird. They said since we’re lowborn, it’s fine if we die.”
“What does that even mean…”

I wanted to cry.

Was this why everyone kept secrets from me?
The more I heard, the more horrifying it became.
But I believed Madeleine. She wasn’t the type to lie.

I hadn’t been especially close to all the other orphans—but it was still my home, and they were still my friends.
Even if we weren’t that close, how could I stay calm hearing they’d been kidnapped and sold off?

“Do the guards know? What are they doing?”
“I told them, but they ignored me. It was weird.”
“Then shouldn’t we rescue them?”
“Huh?”
“If we don’t, they’ll die, right?”
“I guess so?”
“Then what should we do?”
“I… don’t know?”

We both sat there, stunned.
My mind was spinning, but somehow, I managed to speak.

“Khan will know what to do. After that, we’ll save them—first we save them, then we think.”
“His Highness the Crown Prince? Should I call him?”
“……? You can do that?”
“I just have to tell him Adele wants to see him, right? Then he’ll come.”

I nodded eagerly, and she nodded back just as hard.

If anyone could help, it was Khan.

And if it was Khan, he could surely sneak me out—
just like he had secretly grown the tree with a scroll spell before.

No one had caught him that time, either.

“When does the black market open?”
“If I follow those weird kids, I can find out. I’ll tail them.”
“When will Khan come?”
“I’ll tell him first thing tomorrow at the academy.”

Maybe he’d say it was too dangerous.
That now wasn’t the time to act.

Last time, when I said I’d rescue Madeleine, he said it was too risky.

Maybe he’d lock me up again like Blake did.
But he was the only one I could rely on now.

But in the end, he still listened to me before.

The situation seemed even more serious than I thought.

And I finally understood—I was being overprotected.

Knock, knock.

That was when we heard it.

“……!”

Madeleine and I jumped.
A maid I’d never seen before came in carrying a tray of treats.

“Lady Adele, please enjoy these while you play.”
“Ah… thank you.”

Madeleine pretended to hum casually.

She wasn’t one of the duke’s personal servants.
I fiddled with a tangerine peel, and Madeleine awkwardly sang under her breath.

Thankfully, the maid didn’t seem to suspect anything.
She soon left the room.
Madeleine and I locked eyes, and we both nodded silently.

They’re all trying to protect me.

That was what Madeleine’s story boiled down to.

That was why I couldn’t go outside, couldn’t attend the academy—
and why no one told me my orphanage friends had been kidnapped.
They didn’t want me to worry.

But I’ll save them.

I would.
Now that I’d heard it, there was no way I could ignore it.

I couldn’t go to the battlefield like Father or the knights,
but I could still do something.

Maybe it’s lucky everyone’s away right now.

It seemed there was some kind of protective magic on my room,
which might be why no guards were stationed here.

And right now, everyone—Michael, Terana, Logue, Fabian, and Chopin—was away at war.

Khan can enter the mansion without being detected.

Blake might find out, but still—it was Khan.

Khan was strong.

Time passed quickly.
Madeleine and I played board games to avoid suspicion,
and when she wasn’t here, I practiced archery alone in my room.

Three meals a day, plus dessert.
Pretty clothes, warm baths.

Madeleine was secretly jealous,
but I was jealous of her freedom—her academy life.

What do I do when we reach the black market?

If we got caught by them while rescuing my friends…

Maybe I could ask the spirits for help?

How should I ask them to save us?

I thought about it until I fell asleep.

I wanted to see Khan soon.

“They said you had a fever, but that was clearly a lie.”

…A voice.

Half-asleep, I blinked—and there was Khan, standing before me.

Am I dreaming?

For a second, I was confused, but no—it was real.

“……Khan.”

Bathed in moonlight, the Crown Prince was almost too dazzling.
He pressed his palm to my forehead again, then shrugged as if confirming I wasn’t sick.

Madeleine must’ve told him I was sick so he’d come.

Half in a daze, I sat up suddenly. My blanket slipped down.

Khan flinched slightly.

I hadn’t even rubbed the sleep from my eyes yet, but it didn’t matter—we were friends.
I rubbed my eyes with my knuckles and asked:

“Did Madeleine tell you everything?”
“……Mostly.”

So he knew.

That my friends from the orphanage had been kidnapped,
and were about to be sold on the black market.

I wanted to say a thousand things, ask a thousand more,
but when I finally met his eyes, only one word came out.

“Help me.”

My friends must be terrified—
so afraid of dying.

If war orphans were being sold, the reason was obvious.

Madeleine had said so too.