YOWV~10

Chapter 10

“What do you mean… the young lady isn’t there?”

The dining room, once filled with the clatter of silverware, fell deathly silent.

Realizing something was terribly wrong, the Viscountess frowned deeply.

“…They searched all around Duke Pose’s territory, but… they couldn’t find the young lady. They’ve withdrawn for now, but…”

“The Duke—what about the Duke? Is he alright?”

“We only received word that he has arrived at the entrance of the ducal estate. I don’t know anything beyond that.”

…The young lady wasn’t there?

As I listened to the conversation, the color slowly drained from my face.

According to the original story, she was supposed to be in an orphanage near the swamplands within Duke Pose’s domain.

The original plot couldn’t be wrong.

It couldn’t.

And then—

As my trembling gaze wandered blankly through the air, it met someone else’s.

“You clearly said the young lady was there…”

The maid’s eyes.

Filled with blame.

In that instant, I understood.

What awaited me now… was abandonment.

“……”

When even the Viscount and Viscountess followed the maid’s gaze and looked at me—

It felt as though sharp arrows had pierced straight through my heart.

My hands, resting atop the table, began to tremble violently.

There had only been one reason Duke Calypse had covered up the fact that I was a spy.

‘The contract is still valid, brat.’

Because I had told him where his daughter was.

But if she wasn’t there…?

My frozen heart slammed wildly in terror.

If he hadn’t found the young lady, then the contract was meaningless.

There would be no reason for Calypse to keep me alive.

I was a spy from House Pose.

A worthless foreign orphan.

“First, I need to see His Grace—Aisha!”

Bang!

The shocked Viscountess cried out, but I was already on my feet, my chair toppling over as I bolted from the room.

Thud-thud-thud—

My heart pounded louder than my footsteps, hammering painfully as though nails had been driven through it.

I could die.

No—

At this point, I had to die.

“Aisha?”

A familiar knight standing across the hall called out to me, but I scrubbed roughly at the tears forming in my eyes and ran past him.

Even he—who had always been friendly—

Would surely hate me once he learned the direct heir was missing.

He’d call me a liar.

Click—

I slammed myself into a storage room and shut the door.

From the moment I’d been assigned to infiltrate House Crost, I had memorized the estate’s internal structure in advance.

I had to run.

Rising onto my toes, I stretched my arms upward.

“Please… reach. Come on…”

I wanted to climb onto the tall chest of drawers—

But my hands couldn’t quite reach.

Looking around frantically, I spotted a chair.

Tap—

Using it as a step, I climbed onto the desk first—

Then lightly leapt onto the drawer beside it.

My movements were swift and nimble like a flying squirrel.

Undeniably the movements of a spy.

A thing that should never exist within House Crost.

A target meant to be eliminated.

Clinging to the pillar beside the drawer like a cicada, I wriggled my way upward until I reached the ceiling.

Then—

Pushing hard against the ceiling panel with the top of my head—

…Just as I thought.

A hidden circulation passage.

Dark.

Damp.

A narrow maintenance tunnel leading toward the garden.

I curled myself as tightly as possible and crawled inside.

It hadn’t been built for human movement, so even someone as tiny as me could barely squeeze through.

No one will think to search here…

After crawling deeper inside, I finally found the secret route connected to the garden.

There, I curled myself up as tightly as possible.

But I couldn’t stop shaking.

My body trembled like a leaf.

I had to calm down.

No matter what, my goal in this life was survival.

Okay.

Good.

I escaped.

Now no one would find me.

After crawling far enough that I thought I was safely away from the entrance, I finally stopped.

Lying down, I folded my trembling hands over my chest.

Little by little—

The crushing fear began to subside.

I’ll endure here until nightfall.

Then I’ll run away from the estate.

But after five minutes—

“……”

And then after an hour—

…Am I going to spend the rest of my life running like this?

The thought came suddenly.

Silent, I stared into the endless straight tunnel ahead.

It was so dark I couldn’t tell where it led.

Or where it ended.

I have to keep living like this? Running forever?

And then—

My memories of my previous life crashed over me.

My parents had died early.

As a minor, I’d survived like an unwanted ghost among relatives who were family in name only.

That was why my only dream had been independence.

And I’d worked so hard.

I got a job.

But what returned?

Rent.

Utility bills.

And barely enough money to survive.

…Is this it?

I remembered thinking that while eating cup ramen alone in my tiny apartment.

Is this how I’m supposed to live forever?

Scraping together just enough to eat in a room smaller than five pyeong?

Without family.

Without friends.

“……”

And now—

As I stared into this endless tunnel—

I felt that same loneliness all over again.

“…Hic… ngh…”

I didn’t want to cry.

I knew crying alone was pointless.

But despite clenching my teeth—

A miserable sob finally escaped.

I thought maybe this life would be different.

Since I’d transmigrated, I thought maybe I could do better this time.

I knew the original story.

I even had the so-called protagonist buff.

I thought maybe—

Just maybe—

I could finally live like a real person.

But no.

None of that existed.

Even in another life…

I was still me.

“…Hk.”

Swallowing my sobs, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a vial.

[Potion of Death]

The poison spies drank before they could be tortured after exposure.

“……”

With a small pop—

I pulled out the cork.

If I was going to die anyway…

Then maybe, in this life…

I could at least die with a little less pain.

* * *

“This is all?”

In Calypse’s massive hand lay a single tiny sock.

“Yes, Your Grace. There’s nothing else.”

The orphanage they reached after a week-long journey was far more desolate than he had imagined.

A swamp so barren it was hard to believe anyone could survive there.

One lonely shack tangled within vines like a spiderweb.

His knights had searched the entire surrounding area.

But just as he had expected—

There was nothing.

No child.

No living creature at all.

Only one thing had been found.

A knight who arrived late had presented him with a single child’s sock.

That was all.

…Is this Eve’s sock?

Calypse closed his eyes.

Though technically within Duke Pose’s territory—

This place was beyond human reach.

After the war, it had become wasteland.

A land too harsh for anyone to survive.

If Aisha had been telling the truth—

If his daughter had truly lived here—

Then there was no way she was still alive.

The torn, ragged sock was proof enough.

I never even got to call your name properly.

So how am I supposed to grieve you?

His fingers tightened painfully around the tiny sock.

In an instant, it disappeared inside his fist.

Along with it—

The fragile sliver of hope Aisha had given him.

“Withdraw.”

“Yes, sir!”

Stuffing the sock carelessly into his pocket, he climbed into the carriage.

Without even offering Duke Pose a greeting, House Crost left the Doktia Kingdom immediately and began its return to the Frozen Kingdom.

Rattle—

The carriage jolted violently along rough dirt roads, but the mountain-like man inside did not react.

He couldn’t even feel grief anymore.

He had simply returned…

To how things were before.

Before Aisha told him she knew where his daughter was.

Back to that time—

When he had no reason left to live.

…Now, completely…

He reached out and closed the slightly parted carriage curtain.

I truly have no reason to live.

No right to live.

For Calypse, who had failed to protect his family—

That was the only possible atonement.

I’ll leave House Crost’s succession to Marquis Lilis, the collateral line.

On the day he met Aisha—

When he first resolved to die—

He had imagined what would happen after his death.

House Crost would be chaotic for a time.

But Marquis Lilis, the collateral branch of House Crost, had long been preparing for succession ever since his direct line vanished.

Eagerly.

Greedily.

He didn’t like it.

But unlike himself—

House Lilis had always brimmed with ambition.

They would manage.

Lost in those thoughts for days—

The Crost knights eventually returned home.

“Your Grace, we’ve arrived.”

Wearing his mask weakly, Calypse stepped out of the carriage.

The butler waiting at the entrance bowed with a dark expression.

“I’ve heard the news. I believe it would be best if you rested first.”

“…Very well.”

As Calypse answered obediently and walked past—

The butler stared in surprise.

He clearly hadn’t expected a Duke who had failed to find his daughter to accept rest so easily.

But none of it mattered.

Soon—

The head of House Crost would be replaced anyway.

No one would have to tiptoe around him anymore.

Perhaps the young heir of House Lilis would fill the castle with laughter.

Yes.

This was right.

He had no reason to live.

“Y-Your Grace!”

At that moment, one of the gate knights came running toward him.

Something urgent had clearly happened.

But Calypse had no desire to hear it.

“Unless it’s urgent, later—”

“S-Sir… it seems the little brat has run away.”

Calypse stopped cold.

And suddenly—

A face he had momentarily forgotten filled his mind.

Golden twin-tails springing upward like fountains.

Huge blue eyes that dominated half her face.

That shameless mouth.

That bold expression.

…Aisha was gone?

“Find her.”

“Yes, sir!”

The heart of a man moments away from death—

Began pounding wildly again.

Instead of heading to his chambers, Calypse ripped off his heavy fur coat and stormed into the castle.

The butler hurried after him in confusion.

“W-What are you planning to—”

“Finding that brat comes first.”

“Your Grace? We’ll find her. You should—”

“No.”

His voice turned sharp.

“She won’t be easy to find.”

Because she was a spy.

“Your Grace!”

Just then—

A knight emerged from the storage room, pale-faced, and handed him something.

A vial.

The Potion of Death.

“It was dropped in the storage room. We searched inside, but the brat…”

A poison spies used to kill themselves before torture.

…No.

“Y-Your Grace!”

Suddenly shoving the knight aside, Calypse barked—

“I’ll be resting in my chambers. Continue searching. No one is to enter!”

There was no time.

He tore off his mask, threw on a gardener’s robe, and sprinted outside.

“Aisha! If you’re there, answer me!”

His deep voice—usually calm and low—

Cracked in two.

“Aisha! Come out! There’s no one here but me!”

She couldn’t have escaped the estate yet.

Not with House Crost’s security.

“Aisha!”

She was just a little brat.

And yet—

The thought of her disappearance filled him with a fear greater than death itself.

“Aisha! It’s the gardener!”

But no matter how desperately he searched—

There was no golden hair.

No child.

Nothing.

…Unless.

His steps halted.

What if she already drank it?

No.

Impossible.

That brat had fought so desperately to live.

“…Aisha, please…”

And then—

“M-Mister…”

A faint sob.

Somewhere nearby.

Calypse’s head snapped up instantly.

From deep within the garden.

Some hidden corner.

Without hesitation, he ran.

Past piles of soil and fertilizer—

Until he found it.

A sewer passage.

And inside that cold, damp drain—

“A-Ah… Mister… I did so many bad things, so I thought I should die…”

A curled-up little Aisha.

Crying.

“Aisha.”

“…I want to live.”

At that quiet confession—

Something inside Calypse shattered.

For the first time in so long—

It felt like he had found a reason to live.

There were countless reasons for him to die.

But for the sake of saving one tiny brat—

Calypse desperately wanted to live.