Chapter 22
“How ridiculous. You won’t land a single hit.”
The man who had effortlessly seized my cane sneered at me.
But listen here—this cane was just a decoy, you bastard!
While he stood there gripping my cane, I drove my foot hard into his unguarded groin.
“Ghk—!”
He let out a strangled groan, as if all the air had been knocked out of him, and his grip on the cane loosened.
I didn’t miss the opening. I started beating him with the cane with everything I had.
“Ugh! Ack! Ghk!”
His screams, rolling across the forest floor, echoed through the woods.
Now’s my chance. I have to run—now. There was no time to think about direction.
With only one thought in mind—to get away from this man—I bolted forward blindly.
But I hadn’t gone far when a sharp pain exploded across my scalp.
The man, having regained his senses, caught up to me and grabbed a fistful of my hair.
“You bitch!”
“You bastard!”
I flung my hand out at random and grabbed his hair in return.
At this point, it’s all or nothing!
I can’t see anything anyway—if it comes to this, let’s die together today.
Using all my strength, I yanked at his hair.
“You damn bitch!”
As the man thrashed about, trying to shove me away—
“Ah…!”
Suddenly, the ground beneath my feet gave way.
At the same time, both his body and mine began to tilt in the same direction.
From the instant my footing vanished, fear crept up from my toes.
“Aaaah!”
The terrifying grip that had been on me a moment ago disappeared. Instead, the man’s shrill, tearing scream rattled my eardrums.
Ah—no way.
Am I dying here? Like this?
And so, the man and I began tumbling down into some unknown place.
“Huff… huff… Young master!”
Brandon burst through the door in a panic.
Kalios, who had been sitting at the table, frowned and lifted his head.
“What’s all the commotion?”
He asked calmly as he lowered his gaze back to his book. But at Brandon’s next words, he shut it completely.
“Miss Lizzie hasn’t come here, has she?”
“What are you talking about?”
Kalios’s voice sharpened instantly.
“Lizzie went into the forest this morning with the other maids to pick wild raspberries.”
“Yes… but she’s gone missing. The maids searched for a long time, but they couldn’t find her. So I wondered if perhaps she had returned here…”
Kalios rose from his seat, feeling his heart turn ice-cold.
“How… how did she disappear?”
“No one knows. There were no signs of an animal attack, and no suspicious traces to speak of. Ah—but one maid said she thought she heard the voice of a stranger nearby…”
“A stranger’s voice?”
“Yes. She thought it sounded like a man’s voice. She assumed Miss Lizzie was speaking with the forest keeper.”
Brandon’s words spun chaotically through Kalios’s mind.
What on earth was all this supposed to mean?
Lizzie had gone out smiling, saying she’d enjoy a pleasant picnic—so why?
“…Send people to search immediately.”
Kalios finally spoke, his voice cold.
“I’ve already sent four servants to comb the forest.”
“No—send more. Everyone in this estate. Find her—no matter what.”
“Yes, young master!”
Brandon answered sharply and turned to leave the room.
…The voice of the man Lizzie had spoken to before disappearing. Had he taken her?
Kalios tapped the table with his fingers, anxiety seeping in.
Could it have been intentional—someone with the aim of harming her? But who would go to such lengths?
There was no reason to kidnap a mere maid.
Then suddenly, two faces surfaced in Kalios’s mind.
The two maids who had openly spoken ill of Lizzie right in front of him.
“Wait, Brandon!”
He hurriedly called out to his attendant, stopping him just as he was about to leave.
A sense of foreboding washed over him.
“Why is there still no news? It’s already getting dark!”
Crunch. Crunch.
In front of the ducal estate.
Mary and Dorothy gnawed relentlessly at their already ragged fingernails. Their unease only grew by the minute.
“Don’t you think something’s gone wrong? He should’ve ditched that girl and come back by now!”
“We never should’ve entrusted this to that idiot, Dean.”
Dean was one of the servants of the ducal household.
He possessed a peculiar talent—the ability to mimic other people’s voices.
“That brat could imitate that attendant Brandon or whatever pretty well, so I thought we could trust him!”
While agonizing over how to get rid of Lizzie Swan, the two had recently overheard that Lizzie would be going to harvest wild raspberries.
The forest was home to wild animals, and there were dangerous places like cliffs.
If they could just lure Lizzie Swan deep into the forest, then no matter what happened afterward, no suspicion would fall on them.
With that in mind, the two put their heads together and devised a scheme.
How do we lure such a cautious girl?
If we use the fact that she’s blind, it might be easy… Ah!
That was when Dean came to mind.
Not long ago, Dean had perfectly mimicked Kalios’s attendant, Brandon—so well that with one’s eyes closed, anyone would be fooled.
“Miss Lizzie, the young master is urgently looking for you!”
“Good. That really sounded like Brandon just now.”
After promising him money, they secretly sent Dean to the raspberry harvest—something they themselves couldn’t attend.
They then waited for Dean to return and report the successful completion of the plan.
But no matter how much time passed, he never came back.
Instead, maids came rushing back from the forest with news that Lizzie Swan had disappeared while picking raspberries.
The report soon reached the estate’s chief butler, and a full search party was organized to find her.
Seeing so many servants mobilized over a single maid, Mary and Dorothy couldn’t hide their panic.
“H-how did things get this big? It seems like we succeeded in luring Lizzie away, but why hasn’t Dean come back?!”
“Let’s wait a bit longer. Maybe he already took care of that girl and is off drinking himself senseless at some tavern.”
Mary spoke calmly, but inside, she was just as anxious.
If something went wrong and Dean was discovered, it wouldn’t be easy for them to escape blame.
“If that bastard Dean gets caught, do you think he’ll keep his mouth shut? He’ll spill everything and say we ordered him to do it!”
“What was that you said?”
At the sudden voice, Mary and Dorothy startled and spun around.
Standing there was the real Brandon—Kalios’s attendant.
And beside him was the head maid, Melissa, her expression terrifying.
It seemed they had heard every word—deep contempt was etched across Brandon’s and Melissa’s faces.
“…The young master told me to question you first. I never imagined it really was your doing.”
At the same time, soldiers of the ducal house came running toward Mary and Dorothy.
When they saw the ropes in the soldiers’ hands, the color drained from their faces.
Ah—this feeling.
I’ve felt it once before. Right before possession—when I was hit by a truck.
Back then, just like now, it felt as though my body had floated up into the air. The next moment, I’d crashed onto the road.
So in a few seconds, will I fall somewhere again?
Am I dying again? If I die, what happens? Don’t tell me I’m going to possess another life?
…No—how am I even having such long, drawn-out thoughts while I’m dying?
With that question lingering, I opened the eyes I’d been keeping shut.
To my surprise, white fur filled my vision once more. I wasn’t floating in the air, nor was I falling.
Instead, I seemed to be slung like baggage across the back of an enormous white wolf.
