Chapter 40
Before I realized that the man was Ricardo, I ran in the direction he pulled me.
He took me to a hidden space under the floor. As soon as the door opened and we went down the underground stairs, Ricardo quickly closed the cover. Then the ground shook as if there had been an earthquake.
After a loud noise, like the house had collapsed, there was a scary silence as if we were cut off from the world. Everything happened too fast.
“Haah.”
I let out the breath I had been holding. My rough breathing seemed to echo around me.
I tried to lift the cover door Ricardo had closed, but it did not move. It felt like everything was buried above us along with the huge sound I heard earlier.
Feeling relieved that I had barely survived, I realized I was still holding Ricardo’s hand, so I quietly pulled my hand away.
“Thank you.”
I thought he would get angry and ask why I entered such a dangerous place, but he turned around and checked my body first.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Yes.”
Even after my answer that I was fine, he checked the shoulder of my dress, which was torn when I tried to escape earlier.
“It’s… it’s okay.”
I felt embarrassed because the torn clothes exposed a little skin, so I pulled my shoulder up. Then he took off his own cloak and covered me with it.
Even though it was a cold storage-like place, once I wore his cloak, his warmth and scent seemed to sink into me.
Ricardo took a flint from his chest, struck it a few times, and lit the candle on the wall. The surroundings became a little brighter.
“By the way, how do we get out of here?”
I looked around while turning my eyes away. Even in this situation, I was strangely conscious that it was just the two of us.
After the hunting competition, I had been avoiding meeting him at the mansion, but now I was trapped in such a closed place.
“If someone saw me entering, people will come soon.”
He said calmly, as if he was not worried about the situation. He tapped the ground and walls with his sword to check if there were weak points.
“According to Ena, this place used to be a brewery. So they might have made storage spaces like this.”
The maid I was thinking about was Ena.
I thought about the person I had mistaken for Ena earlier. When I entered, there was clearly no one there.
“Did I see a ghost for a moment? It really looked like Ena.”
Hearing my muttering, Ricardo turned to me.
I was not trying to make excuses, but I thought I should explain why I came here.
“I saw my maid Ena enter here earlier. I’m not sure because it was only from behind… But I saw children lighting fireworks near the ruins, so I ran to call her. I think I may have mistaken someone else.”
“If it was your maid, she is outside. She was surprised when she saw you enter and asked me to save you as soon as she saw me.”
His tone was dry as usual, but it sounded like he was telling me that my maid was safe.
“Good. Then we can leave today, right? Maybe the outside is chaos because all the festival explosives have gone off.”
Ricardo seemed to want to say something but closed his mouth again.
I thought as long as he didn’t say it would take several days to get us out, everything would be fine.
I limped slightly with one bare foot that had lost its shoe and sat on a round wooden barrel.
The pain in my leg, which I had forgotten because of the panic, came back. When I realized I was barefoot, I felt dirty and wet on the sole of my foot, along with a stinging pain.
Seeing the blood stuck to my skin, it was clear I was in bad shape.
Ricardo, who had been checking the wall to see if there was a secret passage, looked at my leg.
Feeling a little embarrassed that my bare foot was visible, I straightened my back and lowered the hem of my dress as if nothing was wrong.
“Did you hurt your leg?”
When he came closer, I smiled and shook my head.
“No. My foot is just a little…”
Suddenly, he knelt on one knee in front of me.
“!”
When he stretched out his hand as if to check my wound, I was shocked inside. I hated the idea of putting my dirty bare foot on his hand.
I shook my head and pulled my leg deeper into the dress, but he did not give up easily.
When Ricardo looked at me with that urging gaze, I realized something.
My stubbornness would not last long against him.
When I slowly extended my toes, he lifted the hem of my dress slightly and checked my foot.
His big hand held my ankle with careful, unhurried movement and gently touched the injured area.
I didn’t know where to look, so I kept looking elsewhere.
It was too unfamiliar for someone else—especially Ricardo’s hand—to touch my foot.
The strange sensation starting from my toes slowly spread to my chest. My ears felt hot.
“The sole and heel are injured. It’s badly swollen.”
Ricardo’s brows slightly furrowed as he looked at my foot.
Even though he said I was injured, I didn’t feel pain. I felt more embarrassed than sore.
He slowly looked around, then seemed to find something and raised his hand toward my face.
I felt nervous for a moment, but he simply untied the ribbon decoration used to tie my hair.
As the loosely tied ribbon came off, my long hair flowed down below my shoulders.
“This will do for now.”
The ribbon taken from my hair was wrapped around my injured foot.
Looking at his hand tying the knot carefully, I could tell he had treated wounds more than once.
Probably because he spent much time on the battlefield.
As soon as he stood up, I tucked my foot back into the dress.
“Thank you.”
Ricardo stood up and went to sit on a rock that stuck out across from me.
He brushed his shoulder and arm once, then slowly folded his arms.
Because the place was dark, his shadowed face looked unusually pale.
‘Come to think of it…’
I was wearing Ricardo’s cloak, so I did not notice how cold the underground air was.
Unlike the outside where spring had passed and early summer had come, this place felt like frozen winter ground that had not melted.
When I breathed, I could faintly see my breath.
It was no wonder that Ricardo’s face looked pale, wearing only a thin shirt after giving me his cloak.
Feeling uncomfortable, I touched the cloak and spoke hesitantly.
“This place is very cold… and we don’t know when we can go outside… so… um…”
I gathered my courage and said to Ricardo.
“Come closer and share the cloak with me.”
Ricardo had been worried about the woman who was massaging her leg with an uncomfortable face.
While checking if the ground was weak and might collapse, he turned to her. She noticed his gaze and quickly hid her leg inside her skirt.
“Did you hurt your leg?”
He approached her, but she shook her head in panic. However, he felt he had to check the wound himself.
When he lowered his body and reached out his hand, her frightened body pulled her leg further inside.
He had seen her limping slightly earlier, so he had no intention of stepping back.
Maybe his firm gaze worked, because she finally hesitantly stretched out her foot.
When he held her foot and slowly pulled it closer, the purple-like eyes inside her round eyes trembled.
Her face, which had been pale like blank paper, suddenly turned red as if fire had spread.
While he lowered his head to check the wound, a faint smile almost appeared inside his mind but quickly disappeared.
Not long ago, a rumor reached his ears.
“The madam severely punished the third prince’s maid in front of everyone.”
It was told by Earnhart, who went to the imperial palace on his errand.
The story was hard to believe, so Ricardo looked at Earnhart suspiciously.
Earnhart even pretended to slap his own cheek to show it might be true.
“They say not only the maid but also the third prince’s consort was insulted. The prince’s palace was in chaos that day. After the consort went in, there was not a single flower vase left in the room.”
Gary, who was beside him, also found it hard to believe.
It was understandable.
Many people said that the power of the third prince’s consort was almost like the empress, and even the crown princess felt pressured by her.
Therefore, what Earnhart said was hard to believe.
