Chapter 7

…No matter how late it gets, Sir Jason should return from his night watch by around three in the morning. Before then, I have to find the letters and get out of here.

After cautiously checking the room, Kai immediately moved to a small bookshelf beside the window and began searching through the books.

They looked completely ordinary on the outside.

In reality, they were hidden containers disguised as books.

After some time passed—

Kai finally found the letters he had been searching for inside a box disguised as a romance novel.

The letters were filled with reports of Winterton family secrets being passed to someone outside the household.

The Lord was right…!

Kai involuntarily gasped.

Seeing the truth with his own eyes sent chills through his entire body.

As soon as morning came, he needed to deliver this evidence to the Marchioness and report everything to Sir Lake, who was currently leading the knights and mages in the Marquis’s place.

With a grim expression, Kai stuffed the letter box deep inside his nightclothes.

Then he quietly returned toward his room, avoiding everyone’s attention.

Just as he was about to open his door—

“Where have you been at this hour, Kai?”

“…!”

Jason was standing at the end of the corridor.

Kai froze.

With one corner of his mouth twisted into a smirk, Jason slowly approached him.

“You’ve been sneaking around like a little rat all day, watching my every move. I knew something was suspicious.”

“…”

“What are you hiding against your chest?”

“I-It’s nothing, Sir Jason.”

Kai instinctively wrapped both arms around his chest.

Jason let out a mocking laugh.

Then he grabbed the back of Kai’s collar with one hand and lifted him into the air effortlessly.

As Kai struggled against the crushing grip around his neck, the hidden letter box fell from his clothes onto the floor.

Jason glanced at it and sneered.

“So I was right.”

“Ugh…!”

“Did you read any of the letters inside?”

Terrified, Kai shook his head.

But Jason clearly didn’t believe him.

He let out a cold chuckle and threw the box into the blazing fireplace near the entrance.

The letters immediately began burning away in the flames.

“No! Please! Someone help me! S-Save—!”

“Shut up. Unless you want to die here.”

Jason covered Kai’s mouth and slung him over his shoulder.

Kai struggled desperately.

He had to let someone know what was happening.

Frantically searching his pocket, he pulled out a small ball no larger than a fingernail and slipped it between his fingers.

When Jason carried him out into the garden attached to the building, Kai twisted it and dropped it onto the ground.

“…!”

At that moment, the sound of an arrow cutting through the air rang out.

The ball split open, releasing a thick blue-green smoke.

It was a signal flare developed for knights to reveal their location and call for reinforcements when isolated by enemies.

“Damn it! You little brat, even now…!”

Frowning, Jason threw Kai roughly onto the ground.

Then he drew his sword and pointed it at the boy’s throat.

“Over there!”

At that moment, a woman’s shout echoed from the opposite side of the building, accompanied by the sound of running footsteps.

Kai’s face brightened as he recognized the people rushing toward them.

“Marchioness! Sir Lake!”

It was Agnes Winterton and Sir Lake.

***

A Moment Later

[Looks like we arrived just in time.]

“…Seems so.”

After quietly replying to Ash Winterton’s ghost, I hurried over to Kai.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine!”

Kai quickly got back to his feet.

Meanwhile, Lake frowned and looked toward Jason.

“What exactly is going on here, Sir Jason?”

“…That’s what I’d like to ask you, Sir Lake. Why are you here at this hour?”

“A few hours ago, the Marchioness informed me that she had discovered someone leaking the knights’ confidential information. She said a trainee knight named Kai would come to her tonight with evidence.”

“…!”

“But no one came. I began to think the Marchioness had been playing a prank on me… until I saw a signal flare go up from this direction.”

Lake’s gaze sharpened.

“Now it’s your turn to answer, Sir Jason. Why have you brought your trainee knight into the garden in the middle of the night and drawn your sword on him?”

“T-That is… Ah, right! I caught this brat stealing confidential information from my room! I was simply going to punish him immediately!”

At that moment, Kai shouted over him.

“That’s not true, Sir Lake! He’s lying! Sir Jason is the one leaking the knights’ secrets! When I found the evidence, he destroyed it and tried to kill me!”

What?

So the evidence had already been destroyed.

I should have come a little sooner.

Anxiously, I looked toward Lake.

What if he didn’t believe us?

My heart pounded nervously.

Then Lake looked steadily at Kai and asked,

“What was this evidence, and how was it destroyed?”

“There were letters hidden inside a box disguised as a book! The letters contained reports of confidential information being sent outside the household! Sir Jason threw them into the fireplace near the entrance!”

“Then if we extinguish the fire immediately, we may still recover some evidence. Kai, have the servants put out the fireplace and search through the ashes at once.”

“Yes, sir!”

Kai answered loudly.

The moment he did, Jason’s face twisted viciously.

He suddenly struck Kai on the back of the neck with the hilt of his sword.

Kai collapsed instantly.

Then Jason lunged toward me.

“…!”

Before I could react, he grabbed my dress and pulled me against him.

[Lady Agnes!]

I was taken hostage in an instant.

The ghost shouted in alarm.

Jason pressed the sharp edge of his sword against my throat.

Lake immediately drew his own sword.

“Drop your weapon and release the Marchioness, Jason!”

“I can’t do that. Not until I’ve safely left this estate.”

Jason sneered.

How do I get out of this?

I desperately searched for an answer.

Then Jason leaned close and whispered into my ear.

“Who would have thought that of all people, the daughter of Grand Duke Middelharnis would be the one to expose me? …Your father will be quite surprised when he hears about this.”

“…!”

“Heh. The moment I escape, I’ll inform the Grand Duke of your betrayal. Then perhaps he’ll overlook my little mistake.”

As he spoke, his grip tightened around me.

Meanwhile, lights began appearing one after another throughout the knights’ quarters.

Keeping his sword pointed at Jason, Lake slowly advanced.

Jason noticed immediately.

“Don’t come any closer! Unless you want to watch the Marchioness die right in front of you!”

Lake frowned.

Jason’s blade pressed closer and closer to my neck.

The cold steel looked ready to cut my throat at any second.

Fear made my entire body tremble.

Then Ash Winterton’s ghost spoke.

[Lady Agnes, do you trust me?]

What kind of question is that at a time like this?!

I desperately wanted to yell.

Instead, I nodded.

At this point, I was willing to cling to any hope.

The ghost immediately grabbed both of my hands.

A cold, eerie energy gathered around them.

My hands felt as hard as stone.

[Grab Jason’s sword and push it away! The moment you’re free, run toward Sir Lake!]

You want me to grab that blade with my bare hands? Have you lost your mind?!

My eyes widened in shock, and I shook my head.

The ghost shouted urgently.

[You said you trusted me! Hurry!]

Ah, seriously! Fine! Fine!

I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment.

Then I opened them again and clenched my teeth.

Following his instructions, I grabbed Jason’s sword with both hands.

“Ugh!”

“…!”

The moment my hands touched the blade—

It shattered like thin glass.

Crash!

Jason stumbled backward in shock.

Without stopping to think about how impossible that was, I immediately ran toward Lake as fast as I could.