Chapter 15
I hesitated for a moment.
Remembering how I had walked alone yesterday, tripped over a stone, and fallen, I accepted reality.
I put my arm around Daniel’s neck, and my view rose higher.
“Sorry I’m heavy.”
“Huh? You feel light as a feather, what are you talking about?”
That’s not the kind of expression one should use so carelessly…
Still, it didn’t seem to be an empty compliment.
I could feel resilient muscles through his shirt, something hard to imagine from his slender build.
Is this how your body gets conditioned from working in the stables?
Anyway, the ride was comfortable, so nothing else mattered anymore.
“Lacey, come again in the evening. If you’re starting work again tomorrow, you need to build up your strength.”
“……”
I take back what I just thought.
Grandma Vianu was probably just happy to have a useful means of transport.
“How long do I have to take the medicine?”
“How long? Until I say you’re better.”
She was casually declaring indefinite torture.
“…That’s ridiculous.”
“Ridiculous? What’s ridiculous about it?”
It was a moment where I genuinely felt like crying. Feeling utterly drained, I buried my face in Daniel’s shoulder.
“We’ll be going now!”
Daniel cut off the conversation and we left the dispensary.
Even after the dreadful smell of medicine faded into the distance, my mood didn’t improve.
“Is the medicine that bad?”
“The taste of hellfire described in the scriptures must taste just like that.”
“I, I see…”
Instead of offering an awkward consolation, Daniel changed direction.
We left the castle and entered the woods. The fresh wind rustling through the branches finally made me feel like I could breathe again.
Daniel set me down on a wide, bench-like rock and sat down beside me.
“Your probation ends today, so you have to cheer up.”
As I rolled up my sleeves to steel my resolve, a giggling sound tickled my ears.
“What’s so funny?”
When I puffed out my cheeks sulkily, Daniel quickly stifled his laughter.
“Other people want to get hurt so they don’t have to work, but you’re the exact opposite.”
If I were a real maid, body and soul, I suppose I would be.
To be selected as a dance teacher, I first need to restore my credibility, which has hit rock bottom.
To do that, I need to return to work as soon as possible and show a diligent attitude, but…
Even though I’m returning to being a cleaner starting tomorrow, what chance is there to earn bonus points there?
“But why did you get put on probation?”
Does he not know I was involved in the incident where Blake was driven out?
“Um, well, you see…”
“Is it difficult to tell me?”
“It’s not that…”
I met Daniel’s eyes as he tilted his head. Seeing his innocent emerald-green eyes, I felt like I shouldn’t hide anything from him.
“Actually…”
And before I knew it, my lips were moving.
Even if I couldn’t take back my words.
It would probably be better than him hearing a distorted rumor.
Rationalizing it like that, I told him about the things I’d experienced since coming to Canis Castle.
Maybe because Daniel was so empathetic.
I almost ended up spilling things about my time as a princess, or about meeting Blake.
Why does my heart become so lax around him?
I never felt this way even in front of Father or Tritan.
On the contrary, I had to be conscious and choose my words carefully, breaking out in a cold sweat.
When my story ended, Daniel was making an enigmatic expression.
“…Do you really want to go back to Euphorian?”
Daniel didn’t seem to have any particular attachment to Euphorian. Did he move here when he was young, so his memories are faint?
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“You’ve tidied up the house you lived in, right? Do you need a separate reason for wanting to go back to a place?”
“……”
I couldn’t tell him it was to clear my name, or that I was going to catch the real king-slayer.
“You must have had your own reasons for leaving Euphorian too.”
It was because of my father’s gambling debts.
But that was Lacey Thiel’s circumstance.
“Right. There’s no longer a place for me in Euphorian.”
A sharp pain pierced deep in my chest. As if being poked by a thorn.
Even though it was a fact I’d known since the trial, hearing it come from my own mouth carried a different weight.
“But I want to go. I can’t go back to how things were before…”
And once I just reach the capital, I can be a free woman.
Even if I was a princess stuck in the back palace, surely I could get money to pay off the lifetime contract fee?
Of course, by the time I was framed as a traitor, the annex would have been emptied without a single speck of dust left behind.
All the things I wore and used were probably incinerated and scattered as ashes.
“So when I heard the family head was going to Euphorian in the fall, I thought… I’d like to go, even if just for a little while.”
But Father always used to say:
“Lacey, you always hide the things that are truly precious in a place others don’t know.”
I believed those words.
And I hid all my treasured belongings in a place I felt secure.
In the secret spot only Father and I knew.
If I can just get to the capital and retrieve them…
“But are you really good at dancing? Enough to teach others?”
“Curious?”
I braced myself on the rock, stood up, and grabbed Daniel’s wrist.
“But your ankle…”
“Don’t worry. If you help me, I can dance without it hurting.”
Daniel stood up, seemingly without thinking, and I put my hands on his shoulders.
I knew he was tall, but he seemed about the same height as *that person*.
In that case, he was perfect to play the part of the student.
“You have to tell me right away if it hurts.”
“Okay.”
Just by closing my eyes and recalling the melody, my body moved naturally.
I guess memories ingrained in the body aren’t easily forgotten.
If only I could open my eyes and find myself back in the days when I was learning to dance.
Knowing full well such a miracle wouldn’t happen, I lost myself in the dance.
So, at that time, I didn’t know someone was watching us.
* * *
The next morning.
This happened while Sonia was in the washroom.
*Knock knock-*
When I opened the door at the sudden knocking, I found a note left at my feet instead of a visitor.
I’ve relayed the situation to Mr. Blake.
He said he’s sorry he can’t visit.
He also said to let him know if you need anything.
Write the contents on paper and slip it into the crack of the third window from the end of the hallway.
This note confirmed it.
The fact that Blake had an accomplice within Canis.
To bribe someone within Canis, a veritable impregnable fortress.
I was impressed by Blake’s resourcefulness.
I was also grateful for his willingness to help, even while exposing a weakness.
“But by what means am I supposed to write a letter?”
I could use the back of this note for paper, but where would I get a pen and ink?
Sonia, who returned shortly after, showed her sharp observation skills.
“Crutches? Where did you get them?”
“These? Daniel brought them right after you left to wash up.”
Sonia tilted her head quizzically.
“Daniel? Daniel from the stables?”
“Yeah. He said he made them himself from leftover wood. He’s really handy, isn’t he?”
They were perfectly sized for my height, as if measured with a ruler. They weren’t hard to walk with either.
It seemed Daniel possessed observational skills rivaling Sonia’s.
“Hmm… I guess so. I’m hungry. Let’s go to the dining hall.”
“Huh? Oh, okay.”
I got the feeling she was deliberately changing the subject.
Even though we hadn’t known each other long, Daniel seemed like a good person.
He felt responsible for my sprained ankle, and he tried hard to cheer me up.
Especially when I talked with Daniel, I felt at ease.
To the point where I wanted to confess secrets I’d even hidden from my father and Tritan.
So Sonia’s reaction was unexpected.
It felt awkward to ask if they were on bad terms, so I just chewed my lip all through breakfast.
But my frustration was short-lived.
“What’s your relationship with Daniel?”
I had to stop in my tracks on the way to the place I was assigned to today.
The maids blocking my path were Annette and her crew, who wielded power among the cleaners.
“We’re just friends.”
Their eyes were so fierce they could roast beans. It didn’t look like they’d let me pass easily.
“How absurd.”
“You think you’re fit to be Daniel’s friend?”
Was this some kind of guard squad?
I didn’t think I’d experience the extent of Daniel’s popularity in this way.
Annette approached and looked down at me.
“You. What. Gives you. The right. To be carried around. By Daniel?”
With each poke of her index finger, pain shot through me and my shoulders were pushed back.
Now I understood Sonia’s attitude.
She clearly didn’t want to get involved with Daniel to avoid being caught up in a love quarrel.
“And those crutches, they’re the ones Daniel was working on past midnight yesterday, right? Why do you have them?”
Don’t tell me they were following him around or peeking into his lodgings?
It seemed I’d been marked by troublesome people.
In situations like this, you need to seize the initiative early to avoid future trouble.
“Um, I guess Daniel just has a strong spirit of prioritizing the weak and elderly.”
But I decided to just submit completely.
It would be problematic to become the center of conflict again right after my probation ended.
Moreover, I’m a foreigner, outnumbered one against many.
This situation was absolutely disadvantageous for me.
“…What is she saying now?”
“Is she trying to be witty with words?”
Bear it, just bear it. This is all groundwork for becoming a dance teacher, right?
“Haha, sorry. I’m not very familiar with Canis-style humor.”
The moment I finished speaking, Annette’s expression turned demonic. This seems ominous…
“I was already irritated because my pay got cut, and now *you* have to get on my nerves?”
She raised her hand at the speed of light.
Ah. I’m going to get hit.
I squeezed my eyes shut. I clenched my teeth tightly so my mouth wouldn’t get busted open.
“Lacey!”
But at the urgent call that came before the slap, I opened my eyes. Sonia was running towards me frantically from behind.
“The Family Head is looking for you!”
