Chapter 25

This can’t possibly be true. As far as he was aware, Deertes had no way to escape this mansion. She has been educated her entire life to react a certain way. In this situation, instead of poking her head out and calling for people while being inadequately dressed, she would have been taught to hide.

When Lachlan turned around, about to check the other rooms, the familiar sour smell of oil pricked his nose. The same smell that he had encountered on the stairs.

“…”

Lachlan took a shaky breath and looked around the room once again, this time more carefully. That was when he spotted it. Next to the head of the bed, he could see a little white cloth peeking out. He quickly made his way there and looked over the head. There, Deertes stayed, crouched between the wall and the head of the bed. Surprised by Lachlan’s gaze, Deertes took a step back.

Taking a moment to catch and calm himself down, he asked her.

“…What are you doing over here?”

He tried to use as natural of a voice as possible while he asked her. Even so, Lachlan was not able to fully hide the harshness of his voice. The thought of Deertes disappearing made his vision turn red. If he hadn’t spotted her if he had gone out and failed to see any signs of her… Lachlan had no idea what he would do in that situation.

“Why do you enjoy hiding so much?”

Despite his best efforts to regain his calm composure, such a task was difficult, almost impossible, for him in such a situation.

Deertes shuffled back even further at his tone of voice paired with the grinding of his teeth. Her trembling voice came out.

“I’m sorry. I… I didn’t mean to do this…”

At her timid voice, Lachlan noticed that Deertes was struggling to hide something behind her. Behind her, the item had a much stronger scent. Without even asking, Lachlan reached behind her, almost in a hugging position.

The texture of it was of a wet cloth. He pulled the cloth from her hands. In it were shattered pieces of the plates and bowls along with scraps of food. From the dirtied appearance of the vegetables and other foods, it can be guessed it has been a while since they were left out.

She must have tried to bring up the food on her own, dropped it, and tried to clean up the mess herself. Though, it didn’t go the way she had intended it to. Deertes continued as she wiped her face once more.

“I wanted…  to clean it up… I really wanted to but it was very painful…”

Lachlan’s head snapped back to face Deertes upon hearing that she had felt pain. The footprints that were left behind in the mess flashed through his mind. His hand reached out and grabbed Deertes’ ankle and pulled it towards him to take a closer look.

“What. What are you trying to do…?!”

“Damn it.”

Her sole was coloured red. Scratches and cuts covered her feet. Deertes twisted her body desperately trying to get out of his hold on her ankle. He pressed down her pyjamas tightly onto her feet.

“Hold on tightly.”

What does he mean?

Due to her now suddenly being closer to the ceiling, Deertes could not immediately comprehend what was happening. His face was now mere inches from her. Her body trembled and she held onto his neck for support. Lachlan had suddenly lifted her up and was now carrying her.

His appearance remained stoic as if he were carrying a mere doll. Before long, Deertes could feel the soft cool of the bed. Lachlan sat at the edge of the bed as he gently lowered her down.

“L-Let go!”

Deertes shrieked loudly at his actions. Despite that, Lachlan’s face remained impassive as if having not heard her words. It was obvious her feet were in terrible condition.

***

Deertes hesitated. Unsure of how to clean up. No matter how careful of a step she took, wherever she stood there was an invisible shard.

Anxiety grew with every step. Eventually losing her focus and stepping on a place with many fragments. Even after bending down and removing as much of the fragments, the constant pickling on her feet signalled that not all were removed.

Still, she couldn’t just stay here. All she had was a thin sheet wrapping around her body. Carefully, Deertes continued pushing aside fragments on the ground.

Initially, she had wanted to pick up the mixture of debris and food with her hands but after receiving another cut, she decided on using the fabric to cover them.

Her next obstacle was what to do from here onwards. Both of Deertes’ hands and feet were covered with cuts and she had no idea of how to deal with them.

Once again, she felt like a weak woman who was clueless at everything.

‘What exactly can I even do? What if I weren’t the Count’s daughter… What if I didn’t have any maids to serve me? I wouldn’t be able to eat well nor know how to clean up after myself…’

At that thought, her mind flashed right back to Helen’s face. The facial expression she had at that time held so much pity. Pity for her.

‘Why am I…’

‘Should I be treated in such a manner?’

At that thought, Deertes immediately felt embarrassed. She was in her enemy’s territory. The place she had been taken too after exchanging her life with a vow.

‘…No.’

‘Although I do hate being in this place, what I hate more is being the centre of people’s pitiful gazes.’

After being lost in her thoughts momentarily, she regained her composure and pushed herself up. Her feet stung with her every small movement.

‘Helen would always bring up a pair of slippers for me every morning…’

If she had known she would be in such a predicament would she have found out where Helen was getting them from. Well, there was nothing she could do now. Her head scanned the space next to the room she had been in.

Although she was unable to find what she had originally sought for, she did find other useful items.

Pyjamas that she would usually change into, clean pieces of cloth used to wipe her face with, and ironed bed sheets.

Deertes lifted a piece of cloth, thinking as she looked at it.

‘I have no need for another sheet to wrap around my body… However…’

She lowered her hand and proceeded to wrap the cloth around her foot. Her breath was uneven as she staggered towards the stairs. Every step sent a twinge of pain throughout her body as she flinched. Even so, Deertes couldn’t give into it, she felt she had to go past the stairs.

What scattered the stairs seemed like pieces of her pathetic self, not broken plates or food.

With the state her feet were in, it took a long while before Deertes was finally able to make her way back into the room with a few pieces of debris in her hands.

‘What am I to do with these…’

It has always been the maids’ job to clean up all the trash. And she has never asked where said trash was disposed of.

‘If only Helen was here…’

If she were, would Deertes have asked? No, she wouldn’t have had to even consider asking such a thing. She has been taking Helen for granted.

Then, she continued. This time using a large sheet to carry back more debris. Repeating several times as Deertes cleared all the shards on the ground. The number of cuts and wounds on her arms and legs increased.

“Will there be people coming by soon?’

Before Helen left, she had said she would go to find and talk with Lachlan. Then, will Lachlan be sending another maid to attend to me? The creaking of the front door stopped Deertes’ thoughts on the new maid midway. Without a seconds delay, Deertes dragged the sheet containing pieces of broken plates and food with her as she found a place to hide.

‘Lachlan.’

She couldn’t even hear his voice, yet somehow, she was convinced that Lachlan had come for her.

“Deertes!”

Her body crouched down even further, and her eyes shut even tighter at the sound of his shout. As she had expected, it’s scary. What the hell is that person going to do to me… What else is there that he can do?

It was not long before Deertes heard the door opening. Well, a better word would be ‘breaking down’. The room was quiet, the silence now broken by the sound of rough intakes of breath. Careful to not make a sound, she pulled the sheet closer to her. Did he come here after hearing from Helen? Deertes had no clue what Helen might have told Lachlan, but it would likely be anything but positive.

She thought at that moment that Lachlan would grab her neck, asking her the reason for Helen’s resignation.

‘Please… Just turn around and leave…’

At that moment, Deertes was envious of everything in the room. If only she could be anything but herself at the moment. Anything. As long as she could avoid him. If only it were just a mere stain on the wallpaper. If only she would have no need to feel such an intense fear grow quickly in her.

Deertes’ hands clasped tighter together as she prayed earnestly that Lachlan would just turn around and return from where he came from without finding her.

However, her prayers fell through and her mind went blank before she could even finish the god’s name as Deertes met with Lachlan’s blue eyes.

Deertes felt suffocated again as those blazing blue eyes stared intensely at her. The same feeling she had when Lachlan had offered her the vow in the desert.

Lachlan’s hands slowly reached out.

Imagining being dragged away by Lachlan roughly made Deertes shrink further away from him. Noticing this, his hands froze in place. His gaze moved away from her face and to the sheet in front of her. With their eyes having finally broken contact, Deertes hesitantly opened her mouth, desperately preventing fear from entering her words.

“I really… I really wanted to clean it up… I was sick…”

At her words, he leaned forward, lifting her up into his arms.

Lachlan clicked his tongue as he examined the wounds on her feet before turning around and leaving the room. When he returned, his hands held a wooden box with various medicines and bandages inside.

“Give me your feet. Are you insane? If plates were broken around me, I would stay still. Why the hell would you walk on them?”

“…”

“Explain to me, what reason did you think up that would persuade you to drag them into this room? You should’ve just left it there.”

“I… wanted to clean it up…”

“Clean up? Has someone like you ever done something like that before?”

“…”

“My god, all this just to do such a useless thing.”

As he spoke, Deertes’ head lowered. The wounds on her feet screamed in agony, sending courses of pain throughout her body, as something cold touches them. Deertes’ vision started blurring.

“Are you crying? Does it hurt that much?”

Deertes’ head lowered even further. Lachlan, surprised, just jutted his chin, gesturing towards the medicine bottle that contained a brown substance. Droplets of tears continued to flow.

“Wait a minute.”

Lachlan, now confused, stood up and left the room before coming back with a pair of slippers in his hands. Slippers that he now held out towards Deertes.

“Wear these first…”

“Where can I find the slippers?”

“What?”

“Tell me where you got them from.”

Deertes, who was now wearing the slippers, turned to look at the medicine box. Resentment pooled in her heart. She did not want to be treated like a pathetic person in this place any longer. Wiping away the tears with the back of her hand, she steadied herself. With a now deliberately louder voice, she spoke.

“All these items too.”

Deertes pointed to the sheet on the floor.

“Where should I go to throw them away?”

She spoke again, this time turning to face Lachlan, without avoiding his gaze.

“Please tell me everything.”

As Deertes finished, she bit her lips, stopping herself from crying.