PLTSVA 05

Miss Rayola finally burst the door open.

The children quickly distanced themselves from her and quietly played, each trying to stay as far away as possible.

Only Felix remained by the laundry room, waiting for her.

I was hiding beside the huge laundry bag placed outside the laundry room.

There was a wall next to me, so the other children couldn’t see where I was.

Rayola threw the key to Felix, and he caught it, inserting it into the doorknob as if he’d done it a thousand times.

The moment the door cracked open, the scent of laundry soap began to drift out.

Beep— Beep— Beep—

A buzzing alarm noise rang out from somewhere, and Rayola sharply turned toward the trash room where the sound came from.

Now’s my chance!

I took that split second—when even Felix had turned his eyes—and hurled myself into the laundry room.

“What was that?!”

I flinched at her sharp, angry voice.

Had she seen me already? Was I caught?

“Where the hell is that crappy noise coming from?! Just let me catch whoever it is. How dare they make noise and bother me!”

I clutched my thumping chest and quietly crawled into an old blanket beside me.

“Felix, hurry up and dump the laundry and get out!”

“Ah, yes! Miss Rayola….”

Felix entered with the heavy laundry bag—far too heavy for him—and threw the clothes into the magical washer before exiting.

The door slammed shut, and just before the lock clicked, I stuck a thin wire I had into the keyhole.

From outside came the sound of Felix fiddling with the key, confused about why it wasn’t fitting. But at Rayola’s furious order to find the culprit, he abandoned the door and handed the key back to her.

No matter how much she searched the trash room, she’d only find a self-defense buzzer, going off on its own after being triggered and tossed into the heap.

Terry will be fine.

As I listened to Rayola’s hysterical yelling, I remained alone in the humming laundry room, the magical washing machines rumbling around me.

At most, I had one hour.

Felix would come back to collect the laundry.

Okay, where do I start?

Normally, only the bigger boys did the laundry, so unless I was fixing something, I had no reason to come in here.

The room was surprisingly large, and piles of clothes had accumulated over who knows how many years.

Rayola would dig through those piles to toss us clothes that seemed to fit us as we grew.

Between the stacks, I spotted a few pieces I used to wear when I was little.

The walls were covered in wooden boards, so it was hard to tell what the original room had even looked like.

Alex couldn’t have thought from the beginning that there’d be an escape route here.

Which meant… it was probably an accident.

A place suitable for hide-and-seek, somewhere a seven-year-old boy could have hidden.

I approached the column beside the noisy magical washer and started pulling away the pile of clothes there.

Sure enough, a wooden-planked wall began to appear.

I began removing the boards one by one. Years of patchwork made the job seemingly endless.

“Ah—ouch.”

I gashed my finger on the seventh board I removed.

It stung—really badly. But worse than that…

Luca is going to scold me again.

Thinking bitterly about how my younger brother had become the one I had to answer to, I resumed my task.

I couldn’t pull down the entire wall, so I had to focus on the one spot that gave me a gut feeling.

If this wasn’t it, I’d have to wait until next week and try again.

Huh?

After removing two more boards, I heard it—a faint “wind” sound.

A sensation I hadn’t felt since I was a baby in this life. My heart pounded as I sped up.

One, two, three, four, five… The boards were messy and uneven, cutting up my hands, but I didn’t care.

“I’m seriously going to get yelled at so much… Wait—”

Finally, I found it. The passage Alex had used!

A small hole, just large enough for a child to crawl through.

The wind was coming from the other side.

And in that moment, a gentle spring breeze stirred in my heart—a yearning for freedom that I had almost forgotten.

More than anything, I wanted to give that same feeling to the other children here, who were like family to me.

Innocent, pure children who hadn’t committed any crimes.

I couldn’t let them grow up to be villains just because of adult greed. Even if that went against the plot of this novel.

The sound of children’s laughter… The hopes they’d whisper about what they’d do after leaving this place… The questions they’d ask about whether they’d be free once they turned fifteen.

No. Once you turn fifteen, you become a thug under the Duke of Cablos. That’s what I had wanted to say.

My eyes stung. But I refocused and looked at the escape path before me.

I crawled through the tunnel—just large enough for my body.

Not far ahead, sunlight streamed through. I even saw hints of green grass.

It’s really outside. I actually found it…

Clunk—

Huh?

I heard the sound of a key being inserted into the door.

Come to think of it, the washer noises had stopped a while ago. I’d been so focused on finding the tunnel that I lost track of time.

Damn it!

I rushed back the way I came and, before the door opened, pulled down the mountain of clothes to hide the mess I’d made and buried myself beneath them.

Bang—

The door opened, and Felix’s footsteps drew closer.

He dutifully packed up the laundry into his bag and left the room.

Just as he was about to close the door—

“Wait!”

Miss Rayola?!

Why had she stopped Felix from closing the door?

“These clothes are way too messy!”

They were always messy—!

…I wanted to yell, but didn’t dare. Maybe she had some intuition after all, because she kept complaining about how messy the room was.

“Should I just clean all of this today?”

The children groaned.

Of course, all the cleaning fell on them.

No. If she discovers the tunnel, we’ll lose it—and she’ll increase her surveillance. And…

The plot of the original story flashed in my mind.

She might break my leg. No, she definitely will!

I thought about all the worst possibilities while trembling under the pile of clothes.

Even if the kids saw me and didn’t snitch, I wouldn’t stand a chance under Rayola’s watchful eye.

Just as I bit my lip, trying not to cry, a voice rang out.

“Let’s do it next week.”

It was Luca!

“The kids are still cleaning the trash room right now.”

So Rayola’s earlier screaming had been about the trash room after all.

“Hmph… Fine. That’s more important anyway. Ugh! Can’t you brats move any faster?”

And with that, the door slammed shut again like a miracle.

Click—

It locked.

Wait, she locked it?!

I scrambled out from under the clothes and carefully turned the doorknob.

But the wire I’d stuck in earlier was now lying useless on the floor, and the door was securely locked.

Seriously? She wants me to be stuck in here for a week?!

Rayola’s scolding voice could still be heard from beyond the wall.

She clearly intended to supervise the kids until the cleaning was done.

I leaned against the door and looked up at the ceiling draped with cobwebs.

But the truth was, I wasn’t trapped anymore.

Not since the moment I found that tunnel.

On the other side was the world I’d longed for.

A place where I could breathe fresh air and climb trees.

A place where I might find a cure for my incurable disease.

Yes. Everything I wanted was outside this orphanage.

Should I just escape now?

How am I supposed to wait a week here? I’d starve to death first.

I’ll get adopted by the Duke eventually and come back to save everyone anyway. What’s the point of hesitating?

“Wherever Lia goes, I’ll go too.”

Luca will be taken by the heroine soon. In about a year, if I remember correctly.

But—

In the original story, I was the one who helped Luca when Rayola tried to break his leg for attempting to escape before the heroine arrived.

[“Then I’ll just break your leg instead!”]

That was part of the male lead’s flashback—a deep, traumatic memory.

If I run away now, will anyone else step up to help Luca like I did in the original?

If I disappear and that scene plays out tomorrow, what will happen to him?

He’ll definitely try everything to escape too.

My mind told me to leave the male lead’s safety to the heroine, but my heart wouldn’t let me abandon Luca so easily.

I was the one who whispered to him every night, telling him I’d stay by his side during his nightmares.