ISGJV 42

Chapter 42

Creeeak—
the door opened with an ominous sound.

It was dark inside, so nothing could be made out at first.

The Duchess entered with a frown and gave an order.

“Light the lamp.”

Soon the light came on, and though the sun had not yet set, the dim interior finally became visible.
Only then did Edmund, who had been shoved into the corner of the room, come into view.

Cassia barely managed to swallow her sigh of relief.

‘He made it in time!’

All the effort she had put into stalling had been worth it.
And looking closely, it wasn’t just that he had gotten in on time.

‘When did he change clothes and mess up his hair like that?’

Edmund was no longer wearing the neat, clean clothes Cassia had given him.
He was dressed in old, worn-out clothes, had deliberately tousled his hair, and was huddled in the corner with a gloomy expression.
Because he was deliberately curling his body inward, he looked even shorter, and even thin and sickly.

Cassia communicated with Edmund using only her eyes.

‘How is it?’
‘You did great! Perfect!’

As if that exchange had never happened, Edmund asked in a low, depressed voice,

“Who… is it…?”

His voice was like a candle flame trembling in the wind.

Cassia was honestly impressed.

‘He’s really good at acting.’

The Duchess, who knew nothing of the situation, looked quite satisfied with Edmund’s condition.

“Don’t you recognize even your aunt?”

“…Aunt?”

“Yes.”

At that, a spark of awareness returned to Edmund’s dull eyes.
The boy crawled out almost on all fours and clung to the hem of his aunt’s skirt.

“Please get me out of here, Aunt! Please save me! I hate this! I’m scared!!!”

Even Cassia and the nanny, who knew everything, were startled by how good the acting was.

‘Is he actually more talented as an actor than as a mage?’

While Cassia was busy lamenting the waste of such great acting talent,
the Duchess looked down at her emaciated nephew with satisfaction and asked,

“Do you want to leave this place?”

“Yes!”

“Then speak.”

Edmund’s lips pressed into a tight straight line.

The Duchess coldly knocked away the hand of the child, who was younger and thinner than her own son.

“If you want to live, you’d better quickly tell me what you’re hiding.
Didn’t your uncle already ask you several times?”

Only Cassia and Edmund knew what that meant.

‘The seal of the Cohen family!’

The Duchess had come to interrogate Edmund herself to find its location.

As Cassia tensed at how much more serious the situation was than she’d expected,
the Duchess questioned Edmund several more times, telling him to spit out the secret.

But Edmund, still pretending to be a shattered child, kept his mouth tightly shut.

The Duchess clicked her tongue.

“Fine. I didn’t think you’d give it up so easily anyway.”

Then she asked Cassia,

“How long did you say he’s been locked up?”

“Not even a full day yet.”

“And you cut off his meals too?”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Well done.”

With her head lowered, Cassia’s body trembled in disgust.

She was praising her for abusing her own nephew, right in front of the boy himself.
If Cassia hadn’t intervened, Edmund would truly have been suffering this kind of abuse.

Her vision turned red with fresh anger.

The Duchess said calmly,

“Then let’s starve him for about three more days before we start.”

“…Pardon?”

Not only Cassia, but even Madam Lilyfen looked confused by what she meant.

The Duchess had workers she had summoned earlier enter Edmund’s bedroom.
Pointing with her finger, she issued orders.

“You there, and you—seal off all the windows in this room.”

Edmund had made the room look dark simply by drawing the curtains and turning off the lights.
But now the Duchess was ordering planks to be nailed over every single window.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

With chilling sounds, all the windows were sealed in an instant.
Then she gave more orders to the maids.

“Leave nothing in this room that can produce light.”

Sensing something was terribly wrong, the maids moved in perfect coordination.

Edmund exaggerated his fear and asked,

“W-why are you doing this, Aunt?”

“I’m punishing a bad child who doesn’t listen.”

“I’m not a bad child!”

“A child who doesn’t answer an adult honestly and hides things is a bad child.”

Leaving behind a malicious smile, she shut the door.

Bang!

The door closed again, and the lock Cassia had placed for show was secured once more.

“Think carefully in hunger and darkness.
If you want to live, you’d better open your mouth.”

The Duchess let out a cold laugh and turned away.
All the servants in the villa followed after her.

Cassia did as well.

‘Edmund… will he be okay?’

Anxiety and worry rose up her throat, but she couldn’t show it.
Now that the Duchess herself had come, if it became known that Cassia was on Edmund’s side, it would truly be over.

‘Should we have just escaped back when we went into the city?’

But she had no choice but to shake her head.

Running away then without any plan or preparation would have gotten them caught immediately—
especially with the Duchess in the villa.

‘And Edmund… he would never leave without the seal.’

He had said so himself.

While Cassia was walking with her head lowered, the Duchess suddenly asked,

“Why do you look like that? Do you feel sorry for that child?”

Cassia quickly composed her expression and lifted her head.
A faint smile naturally spread across her lips.

“Of course not. I was simply admiring how decisive you are, my lady.”

The Duchess stared at Cassia as if testing her—or suspecting her.
But she seemed unable to find anything particularly suspicious in Cassia’s composed demeanor.

“Good. Don’t forget that attitude. Remember your position.”

“I will keep it in mind, my lady.”

Cassia did not lose her smile until she was far away from Edmund’s room.
She could not let her worry show, and to avoid being found out, she did not even dare to look back.

In the deep darkness, a faint sigh sounded.

After listening carefully and confirming that all presence had completely gone, the boy moved his fingers.
As he drew several symbols on the floor, a dim light floated up in the darkness.

“That was close.”

Someone replied quietly from the darkness.

“Still, you handled it calmly and well.”

It was Willis.

Using magic to conceal his presence, he had managed to reach the bedroom as quickly as possible through the secret passage Edmund knew.
In case of emergency, he had stayed hidden in the darkness.

‘At least it’s a relief that the woman didn’t try to kill the young master right away.’

But things had definitely become much more difficult.

“Still, it was fortunate that the young madam bought us time.”

“She did.”

Willis didn’t know how she had done it, but thanks to Cassia, the Duchess had arrived much later than they expected.
That had allowed them to create a much darker, more oppressive atmosphere.

Willis and Edmund realized it again.

Up until now, everything had been relatively manageable and easy—
and that had all been thanks to Cassia.

“But from now on is the problem. If that woman intends to keep lurking around, the young madam’s authority and freedom of movement will be reduced.”

“I know. It’ll be hard for her to even come see me.”

At that, Willis studied his master’s face.

Strangely, the boy seemed less afraid of the dangerous situation itself than he was regretful about not being able to see Cassia often.

“Trying to escape right now would be impossible, wouldn’t it?”

“The security will be several times tighter. Even if we manage to get out of the villa, there’s a high chance we’ll be noticed immediately and chased.”

And Willis also roughly knew about it—

the seal of the family head.

‘He said he still hasn’t found that important item.’

No matter how important it was, Willis felt Edmund’s life should come first.
But Edmund didn’t look like he was going to listen.

Looking at that stubborn expression, Willis made a silent decision.

‘I need to tell the young madam. She has to persuade the young master to escape as soon as possible, no matter what.’

Willis already believed that Cassia was the only person who could break Edmund’s stubbornness.

To do that, he first had to meet Cassia.

Edmund couldn’t leave, since he was imprisoned—but Willis could meet her as the gardener Marco.

However, the next day—

“What? She’s not here?”

Willis, who had come to find Cassia while avoiding people’s eyes, received unexpected news.

The nanny carefully checked their surroundings and whispered the situation.

“The Duchess is keeping the young madam with her at all times. She won’t let her out of her sight even for a moment.”

Willis’s face went pale.

‘This is bad.’