Chapter 69

69

My heart plummeted as if falling off a cliff. Losing my composure for a moment, I stared blankly at him, swaying slightly.

The moment Zen grabbed me, Theodore reached me. His gaze, which had briefly glanced at Zen, soon fixed on me.

I was dressed as a maid, yet he seemed to be looking at 'Lily.' Blinking in confusion, I quickly regained my senses, realizing I needed to act like a maid, and bowed my head. Then, with a trembling voice, I said,

"His Excellency, Count Valentino."

"......"

After staring at me in silence for a while, he let out a faint sneer. Suddenly, his hand shot out and grabbed my arm. I jumped in shock.

As I opened my eyes wide and stared at him, Theodore curled his lips in a mocking smile and said coldly,

"I've been thinking it was strange. The expressions and movements of a maid I've never seen before were too familiar."

"......"

"Was your midnight escape partner Zen Delacroix? ...Tell me, what did the two of you do at the cabin?"

His question was so absurd that I could only open and close my mouth, but Zen interjected.

"No, Count Valentino! What are you saying—"

"Shut up."

When Theodore glared at him and shouted, Zen clamped his mouth shut. Theodore shot another glare at Zen, who was stepping back.

"Did you find it amusing to hide my wife and then act as if nothing happened? I will protest to Delacroix about this, so just wait and see."

Intimidated by Theodore's fierce demeanor, Zen pressed his lips together and said nothing.

Stunned, I finally opened my mouth to correct Theodore's misunderstanding.

"Prince Delacroix only helped me out of pure kindness. He wasn't my midnight escape partner."

But Theodore tightened his grip on my arm and growled like a threatened beast.

"Pure kindness? Do you still believe in such nonsense? The feelings he has for you are not pure kindness!"

I couldn't understand why he was so angry. Everything was confusing. If he was angry about the midnight escape, that was one thing, but it seemed he was angry for other reasons as well.

It was as if... he was jealous that I had been with Zen.

"......"

Was I imagining things? I blinked in disbelief, unable to comprehend.

"......Why are you doing this?"

"Why am I doing this? Do you really not know?"

"I don't... I don't know."

I shook my head, on the verge of tears. His incomprehensible anger was overwhelming, and I didn't want to be dragged away by him. But I didn't know how to escape in this situation.

At that moment, a blue flame sprang from Theodore's fingertips and swept over my body.

In the next instant, my long, white hair cascaded down to my waist. The arm that had looked healthier due to the disguise returned to its original thinness.

I realized my body was back to its true form.

Just now, Theodore's elemental power had dispelled the magic of the magical artifact that had been cast on me.

"I can't tolerate you leaving my side. You can't do that."

"......"

His azure eyes blazed with a fierce emotion I had never seen before. The feelings in his eyes were somehow different from what I was used to.

But before I could think about what it meant, the situation changed again.

"Ventus!"

Zen summoned the spirit, creating a golden wind that moved me away from Theodore. Theodore's angry voice echoed as he lost me.

"Zen Delacroix!"

"Since it's out in the open, I'll help properly! Run, Lily!"

Zen created another strong wind, pushing me farther away from both him and Theodore.

Theodore, with a furious expression, glared at me as if he could burn the world. He lunged toward me, but Zen blocked his path.

"Zen Delacroix... do you want to die?"

"I knew it. You've lost it again, Count Valentino."

Zen clicked his tongue and began to block Theodore with all his might.

In the once peaceful harbor, blue flames flickered, and golden winds raged. People screamed and fled from the two spirit contractors.

I also started running, trying to find Charlotte. I didn't know where to go, but I just kept running.

'So tiring...!'

My body, unused to such exertion, quickly ran out of breath, and my heart ached. Eventually, I stopped, and Charlotte turned to me, worried.

"Miss! Are you—"

At that moment,

The crowd surged, and Charlotte and I were swept away. In an instant, the wave of people separated us. I tried to find Charlotte and grab her hand, but I was continually swept along by the crowd.

"Miss!"

"Charlotte...!"

Just as I was about to call out, "I'm here!"

A hand reached out from behind and covered my mouth. The smell of chemicals hit me. I opened my eyes wide and struggled fiercely.

The unknown assailant grabbed my waist firmly, immobilizing me. The intense smell of the chemicals made my head spin, and my vision began to flicker.

My arms and legs went limp, and soon I lost all strength in my body.

I soon lost consciousness.

* * *

Ice-cold water was poured over my head.

I flailed like a drowning person and suddenly came to my senses.

Drops of water trickled down my hair and eyelids. ...I had no idea what was happening. I tried to clear my vision, but for some reason, I couldn't see well.

'Where... where am I...?'

As I blinked, my vision gradually cleared. The scenery that came into view made me lose my breath.

Everything was desolate.

A barren wasteland with no grass. An endless expanse of arid land stretched to the horizon.

And I was not alone. Someone... no, several people were surrounding me.

They were all dressed in black, but one person stood out. She was wearing a black, elaborate dress, like funeral attire. ...And she looked at me with a sad expression, as if she were at a funeral.

"This is all your own doing, Lily."

"......?"

Adeline sighed regretfully, as if she truly pitied me.

"You shouldn't have married Theo in the first place... You should have known your place. How could a lowly bastard like you ever be suitable for Theo?"

Her face, stripped of its mask, was still lovely. But her eyes were filled with a venomous glare, and her words were laced with thorns.

Adeline pressed her heel into my head and said,

"I've been waiting and working hard for a long time to stand by Theo's side... and you got that position just because you met a good father. Don't you think it's unfair? Who are you? I worked hard, so why should you take the place that should have been mine?"

...Because of a good father? That was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard.

I shook my shoulders and laughed. If there was someone I hated more than anything in the world, it was Duke Kazef Everett.

He adopted me for his own selfish desires and brought me nothing but misery. I would hate Everett until the day I died, and that fact would never change.

...But, what do you know about me to speak so presumptuously?

"Being treated like a princess has made you blind, hasn't it, Adeline?"

"......What?"

"Your actions will come back to haunt you one day. That's how the world works."

"......What?"

Adeline laughed in disbelief. She removed her heel from my head and shook her foot as if it had been contaminated by touching me.

"How do you know what I'm going to do? Oh, don't think too badly of me, Lily Everett. I'm giving you a chance to be reborn. See that pitch-black pit over there?"

Adeline pointed to something with her black-laced gloved finger.

I followed her gaze. ...As she said, there was a pitch-black pit, so deep that it was impossible to gauge its depth.

Moreover, it... didn't look like a natural formation. It was more like a 'structure.'

'Could it be...?'

"That's not a pit, but a prison. It's called a Panopticon. It's a circular underground structure with thousands of solitary cells stacked on top of each other, and once you go down there, you can never come back up."

"......"

"It's said to be an ancient prison... but not much is known about it. It was so inhumane and terrifying that it hasn't been used since the founding of the Francis Kingdom."

"......"

"So... it's said that the spirits of those eternally imprisoned wander in that deep pit."