Chapter 2

“I am the younger sister of the male lead, and my body is extremely frail. So, if the male lead’s weak and fragile sister gets kidnapped, shuts herself from the rest of the world and miraculously opens up to the heroine, how intriguing would it be for the male lead!”

As she continued to speak, Evangeline picked up a long, wooden plank and walked towards the ceiling of the warehouse. She twisted her skinny frame, pounding the wooden ceiling with the plank, refusing to give up.

“In one incident, the innocent younger sister gets swept away by a man and leaves her home, while the heroine comforts the male lead.”

“Ah…”

It finally started making sense to Margaret. She followed Evangeline while continuing to listen to her.

At a glance, one could tell that there was only one exit in this warehare, which was locked with a lock. It was highly unlikely that the lock could be opened from the inside. Evangeline continued to pound the wooden ceiling with the plank.

Evangeline kept pounding the wooden ceiling for a while, until a nail finally fell.

It was right near their makeshift stairs. The height was just enough to reach the ceiling if one climbed through the stacked boxes.

She started climbing the stairs while holding the hem of her dress. Meanwhile, Margaret anxiously watched Evangeline’s paper-like body climb the stairs.

Evangeline paused on the fourth step and took a break, resting her fragile body. While resting, she started to speak.

“In the end, the heroine takes care and comforts her husband, the male lead, who was devastated by the loss of his younger sister, who died young from a chronic illness, just so the couple could reunite.”

“In short, that’s how it’s going to end. I will die young…”

Evangeline shook her head firmly.

“Well, it’s not like I can change the story.”

Margaret was bewildered with all the information she received from Evangeline. At some point, after assessing Evangeline’s actions, her confused expression brightened. ‘You just gave me a hint! The duke who was devastated by your death in the novel is -’

“If the Grand Duke is the same person as the male lead of the novel and if he turned out just the way you described him, then you’re trying to say that he’ll surely rescue us!”

Although she left out all the important information and only understood the part that was beneficial for her, she wasn’t wrong.

‘I didn’t really expect you to understand what I was saying in the first place,’ Evangeline shrugged.

“Someone will definitely come to save us!”

“Miss…, you really are thoughtful.”

Margaret glanced up at Evangeline, who was sitting on the stairs, with eyes filled with emotions. She scratched her cheeks gently, a little embarrassed by the unexpected reaction.

Evangeline climbed to the top of the makeshift staircase and ripped out the plank from the ceiling. Margaret, who was a step below Evangeline, supported her.

“Have you calmed down?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Okay, now -”

An empty space under the roof was revealed. Evangeline reached out and pulled herself upwards.

“Shall we climb up and hide in the space in the ceiling?”

“Yes?”

The conversation took a strange turn.

“But didn’t you just say that the Grand Duke is coming to rescue us?”

“I just said that he’ll come to save us. But we don’t know when. And who knows what might happen until then. So we should probably hide in a safe place before our clothes get torn or someone breaks in.”

‘The windows were blocked, and so were the doors. That means we can’t escape. The only place we can hide is the ceiling.’

Margaret had no choice but to agree with Evangeline’s confident words.

“Alright, I understand…”

The tall Evangeline supported the short Margaret to climb up first. She followed Margaret, supporting herself over the ceiling floor and swinging her legs towards the stacked boxes.

With a weak kick, a few planks fell from the ceiling. Panting from moving her legs, Margaret supported Evangeline from the side.

“Are you alright?”

After a few deep breaths, Evangeline replied.

“I’m fine. My body is just weak.”

The two slipped through the small space between the silo-shaped roof and girders. Evangeline took out a match from her pocket and lit it. She peeked around the dark and narrow corner, looking for a way out.

As they continued moving, they sensed a group of people moving below them. Margaret whispered.

“There are people!”

Shh. Evangeline whispered as she continued to listen to the conversation happening below.

“I said it has to be a black haired woman! Did I tell you to catch a random girl on the streets?”

“Oh, is that so? Weren’t you the one who said it was definitely black when you saw her in the shade?”

Puck. ‘I heard someone kick something with their feet.’

“Hey! You scumbags! Open your eyes whenever you look. This is black, and that is dull, dark green!”

The man, who was supposed to be the leader, complained.

Wait, weren’t they trying to kidnap the Grand Duke’s sister yesterday? Anyway, the law was really loose at handling these pups.

“Anyway, I can’t send that to the Krahe, so go and bring it back.”

As soon as she heard those words, Margaret shuddered visibly.

Evangeline rolled her head. ‘So if we were to take this conversation into consideration, then the man named ‘Lord Karhe’ should be the head of this kidnapping group. They kidnapped us ‘cause they needed a ‘black haired woman’.’

Had there been any dark haired woman in the empire since the First Empress? Even if they kidnapped them, the reason was too vain.

‘Whatever the reason is, didn’t they still kidnap us?’

Evangeline thought it was way easier to escape than she thought, though it wasn’t something she cared about.

The man’s voice could be heard again.

“What about the princess and the other girl?”

“The princess is stunned and fainted, and the others have been taken care of. As for the other girl, whether you want to kill her or sell her, do whatever you want.”

Margaret squatted next to her and gulped, thinking of what might happen to her. Evangeline hurried to move as she heard the footsteps heading towards the warehouse, where the two were trapped.

A subordinate complained and kicked the door.

Evangeline said in a calm voice, “They should be coming here soon.”

“W-What should we do…?!”

“Go out quickly and hide somewhere.”

‘Why hasn’t Damien arrived to rescue us yet? If your younger sister disappears for more than a day, you should be searching for her quickly.’ Evangeline crawled on her knees and groaned internally. ‘Well, complaining about it won’t really help me.’

Whenever she moved, the old planks creaked dangerously. She tried to look through the cracks gnawed by mice for a room with a window or a door.

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before she found the right place.

Beneath the ragged wooden planks was a small room. The window on the wall was large enough for a skinny person to pass through. Evangeline measured the distance between the ceiling and the cabinets lined up next to the window.

She whispered, “Miss, are you good at running?”

“No…”

“I thought so. I just asked out of courtesy. I didn’t really expect you to be good at running.”

Evangeline ripped out the plank with her dagger, creating a passage for Margaret to pass through.

“Don’t go too far and hide in a safe place west in the forest. I’ll distract them by going in the opposite direction.”

“What if you get caught?”

“Oh, don’t worry about me. My brother will probably arrive before that.”

Seeing Beatrice inform her brother about the divorce this spring, just like how it happened in the original novel, Evangeline was confident in the novel’s plot.

‘There is no way I’ll let the male lead’s younger sister die when she is still part of the plot. I won’t let myself get caught.’

When she removed the board, a space was revealed underneath. She stretched out her legs, resting them on top of the cabinet.

The convexly-protruded window frame was high enough for her to fall on the planks outside. However, since she was on the first floor, it wasn’t high enough for her to sustain any injuries, even if she fell.

Evangeline reached out.

“Go down first.”

“Ah, yes.”

Margaret trembled, trying not to lose balance. She safely landed outside. The sound of crisp, dry planks being crushed by her weight could be heard.

Evangeline descended after hearing Margaret’s steps fade.

She tried to jump while keeping one of her legs on top of the window frame to support her body. Before she was able to escape, a man entered the room.

The man swung his muscular arms and started shouting.

“The hostage has escaped!”

‘Damn it.’

Evangeline sat on the window frame, taking off her pair of shoes and holding them in her hands. She threw them on the men’s faces as they entered the room, and then jumped down from the window while wearing her silk socks.

She moved her legs as fast as she could, but the muscles of her weak body were not strong enough.

She eventually lost to a pile of dirt.

Her weak body had lost balance and fell on a pile of dust.

“…”

She fell with a loud sound, scattering the dust. Evangeline, who had been struggling for a while, felt her leg throb. She rested her fragile body for a moment.

“Although I lost my balance for awhile, I ran pretty well.”

‘I didn’t even expect to run till here. If I were to run with this body again, then I will probably get caught. Other than waiting for my brother, I have no other choice. Let’s hope that he arrives here soon.’

“Where are you? Why are you taking so long? Come here quickly.”

‘Damien, oh Damien, rescue me quickly, or else I am going to rip off your face,’ Evangeline spoke to herself while picking out a tiny branch that got tangled in her hair.

Suddenly, she realised that her surroundings became quiet.

‘Shouldn’t they be here by now, considering the way they were chasing after me?’

The sound of loud footsteps and yelling had stopped. It was so quiet that it was almost as if the people from the warehouse had disappeared into thin air.

“What? Did my brother arrive already? If he did, then he really did arrive at a perfect time.”

As she looked around and inspected her surroundings, Evangeline was greeted by an unfamiliar voice.

“Hi.”

Evangeline froze.

A man, almost two metres tall, was wearing a cloak that covered half of his face. He said in a fresh, yet hoarse voice.

“What are you doing here? Trying to play dead on a pile of dust?”

He reached out for Evangeline. His leather-clad hands stopped at a reasonable distance.

This was the first time in her 22 years of living as the Grand Duchy’s princess that she met a man who spoke in such an arrogant tone. Evangeline stood up to see this shameless man’s face.

“The way you spoke to me was rude from the start till the end…”

‘Huh?’

Evangeline couldn’t finish her sentence. Meanwhile, the man slung his cloak over his shoulder. As he turned his head, he revealed his handsome face. The brown haired handsome looked at Evangeline with his beautiful eyes.

Evangeline froze. Her lips stiffened, as she was awestruck by his beautiful face.

“…You are crazy.”

The vocabulary she had honed as a noble young lady was suddenly gone. Evangeline’s mind had been replaced with question marks and somewhat harsh language, unsuitable for a noble lady.