IBTDRI 4

Episode 4

“Si–sister…!”

The voice calling from below rang in my ears. My legs had no strength left in them.

This was bad.
There was absolutely no way I could get down on my own.

I had climbed the tree because I thought Tani might cry herself to death if I didn’t, but dying myself was never part of the plan.

I drew in a deep breath and forced my voice out with all I had left.

“You… hurry, go get an adult…!”

“An… an adult?”
“Got it!”

The same boys who’d been glaring daggers at me earlier scattered away in a rush.

“U-unnie, your leg…”
“Ah…”

When I finally looked down at my leg, I was speechless.

The wound on my right leg was so deep and wide that I couldn’t even understand how I’d managed to climb up here in the first place. My clothes were already filthy.

‘Cold…’

My head spun and my lips trembled. Would I really be able to hold out until Father arrived?

“I’m sorry, sister…”

Tani was still sobbing, but I no longer had the strength even to keep my eyelids open.

My body went limp.
I felt myself tilting sideways, unable to stop it.

‘I don’t want to die.’

This was my second chance at life—how could it end like this?
I didn’t want the pain, but more than anything, what terrified me most was…

…Tani seeing it all happen.

As my head dipped and my feet shifted overhead, I used the last of my willpower to cry out:

“Tani, close your eyes—!!!”

The wind of my fall roared in my ears, announcing my imminent crash.

And then—

Snap.

A sharp finger snap rang right beside me.

At the same time, the rush of air stopped, and the crushing pull of gravity vanished.

I snapped my eyes wide open in shock.

From below, I saw countless vines whip up toward me like living snakes.

“What in the world…!”

In an instant, they wound around my arms and legs. Instead of slamming into the ground, I was yanked toward a massive bush, dragged down at the same speed I’d been falling.

Before I could even process what was happening, I landed in the bush with a soft whump.

It almost felt as though the vines had cushioned me, pulling back at the last moment.

“…”

I froze, unable to move or breathe.

I wasn’t dead.
I was alive.
Perfectly, impossibly alive.

‘What… what was that just now? And since when was there such a huge bush here?’

Maybe I’d hallucinated it, being so out of sorts.

“Ah, sister! Sister!!!”
“…!”

Tani’s desperate crying snapped me back to reality.

“Unnie! Unnie!”

She crawled toward the bush.

“My lady!”

From a distance, the maids—and Julia—came running back.

If I didn’t move quickly, my poor sister really might choke on her own sobs.

Forcing myself forward, wincing at the pain in my leg, I pushed through the bush.

I was alive—so now I had to protect Tani.

“I’m fine, Tani…!”

But the moment I stepped out—

“Oh my. Tatania—first a crybaby, and now a puppy too?”

“…!”

The blood in my veins went ice-cold. Even the maids turned pale at Julia’s words.

“Miss Julia, how could you say something like that…!”

As I froze in place, a maid—Biti—snatched Tani up and covered her ears. My sister hiccuped and glanced around anxiously.

Julia, meanwhile, just smiled brazenly.

“What? What’s wrong with what I said? Isn’t she cute like that?”

“That’s not what you meant at all!”

“Even if it wasn’t—what nerve, a servant daring to scold me. No wonder that little brat is such a cryba—urk…!”

“Was it you?”

Before I even realized it, I had Julia by the collar.

Her eyes widened in panic right in front of my face.

“E-Edelweiss, what are you doing?!”

“You’re the one who told the boys to hang Tani’s rabbit on the tree, weren’t you? You even had an excuse ready to drag the maids away.”

“How dare you—how dare you grab me like this!”

“So what?”

I’d already broken Ilan’s nose. Did she really think I wouldn’t throw Julia around a bit?

A moment ago I’d been too weak to move, but now anger poured through me like fire.

The maids tried to stop me, voices raised in panic, but I wasn’t about to listen.

“What? Julia! We had plans today!”

“Nothing’s changed. Just stick to the plan!”

‘That’s right. I’d been uneasy about that “plan” she mentioned.’

Julia never cared about just wanting to see Zar. From the start, she’d schemed to lure the maids away.

‘No wonder she lied about losing her bracelet so naturally.’

“Answer me, Julia!”

“Fine! Yes, it was me! I told them! And I had the maids do it on purpose, too—so what?!”

She screeched at me.

“But what will you do now? Do you think your father would believe your word over mine? Even if he did—can your petty viscount family stand against my father?”

“What…?”

“Do you really think a backwater viscount can raise a sword against a count’s family, one personally favored by the Emperor himself?”

I had no answer for that.
Because she was right.

The Ward family was tied directly to the Dowager Empress. That was why I’d never dared tell Father, even when Julia’s behavior felt off.

He’d take my side, of course—but without solid proof, the entire Nightley family could be endangered.

Julia smirked viciously.

“So drop your filthy hands this instant, Nightley.”

“….”

She was right—I had no proof. Nothing but her words, and her smirk, and my suspicions.

I couldn’t endanger Father with nothing to stand on.

But then—

“So all we need is some undeniable proof, right?”

A hand settled on my shoulder.

Julia’s eyes went wide in horror.

“Zar…?”

I’d guessed from the voice, but I still turned to look.

The mocking, superior gleam in his gaze had vanished, replaced by something sharper.

Julia babbled quickly, desperate.

“Zar, wait—it’s a misunderstanding! I only said those things because Edelweiss wouldn’t let me go otherwise!”

Without meaning to, I loosened my grip.

‘Since when was he even here? I never saw him come back after following the Marquis inside…’

Still… at least for now, he seemed to be on my side.

I looked back at Julia.

“Now that I’ve let you go, are you going to flip your words like always?”

“…!”

Her face flushed crimson. To be called out as a liar—especially in front of Zar—left her both humiliated and furious.

She clenched her teeth.

“Do you have proof? Proof that I lured the maids away, proof that Ilan shot the rabbit up into the tree at my command?!”

“Funny.” Zar tilted his head, voice mild. “Edelweiss never said it was Ilan who shot the arrow.”

“…!”

Her face went scarlet again.

He stepped right to my side.

“And besides—there’s proof.”

“W-where?! Where’s the proof—!”

Snap.

That same eerie finger snap cracked in the air.

It sounded close, yet far, like an echo bouncing strangely in my ears.

Before I could even figure out what he’d done, Zar smiled, pointing toward Julia.

Or rather—toward her arm.

“That bracelet you’re wearing. Isn’t it the one you claimed you lost?”

“…!!!”

Her crimson face went deathly pale.

Now that he said it—I could see it. A bracelet gleamed on her wrist, one I’d never seen there before.

Julia stared at it in shock, as if unable to understand how it had appeared.

“Th-this, this is…!”

“It’s the same one, isn’t it?”

“M-maybe, but—!”

Zar turned his gaze toward the maids.

“When you were out searching earlier, was Julia already wearing that bracelet?”

“…We don’t know.”

“Then did she find it while she was with you?”

“That’s certainly not possible!”

Which meant—she’d hidden it, then produced it just now.

“N-no, that’s not it! The bracelet was just an excuse—I just wanted to meet you…!”

Julia was shaking now, her eyes welling with tears.

But Zar’s expression stayed firm. That faint smile of his somehow felt colder than a glare.

“Excuses on excuses. You schemed to lead the maids away, you knew about the arrow despite not seeing it, and then you mocked little Tatania as if she were some kind of dog.”

“…!”

My body flinched at the harsh word. Thankfully, Biti still covered Tani’s ears.

And then—Zar tilted his head lightly, speaking as if to no one in particular.

“So then… Lord Nightley, what do you make of all this?”

I followed his gaze—and my eyes went wide.

Because Father was standing right there.