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Chapter 20
“Miss.”
“Rona.”
“Rona, don’t do anything reckless.”
When the maid addressed her formally, El lightly patted the maid’s shoulder, as if to say it was fine.
“Anyway, things have been quiet with the knights lately, haven’t they?”
“They’ve been busy with special training, barely a moment to breathe. But starting tomorrow, they’ll probably…”
The maid stopped mid-sentence, as if she had recalled something horrible.
El stretched out a hand and covered the maid’s eyes.
“What matters is landing a blow on those bastards.”
“…What?”
The maid was startled by El’s rough words. But for El, this was the more natural way to speak.
The polite tone she used in front of Caron was actually closer to the way she had to speak with the orphanage director or the inspectors who visited now and then.
A way of speaking she had to force herself to use carefully.
In truth, El’s natural speech leaned closer to this side. Growing up in the slums, of course she had learned swearing first.
“We should just rip them all apart.”
“…R–Rona.”
“Hm?”
El smiled brightly.
Seeing that smile, the maid thought: could it really be the same person—this angelic figure in front of her—who had just said such words?
“No, it’s nothing.”
“Ah, I won’t be around tomorrow. I need to stay with Sara.”
“Right.”
The maid nodded.
El quietly retraced her plan in her head.
So far, everything was going smoothly. For two days, she had purposely wandered around the mansion, but no one had realized she was El.
Of course, Felix had seen through her disguise, but he promised to keep her secret and acted naturally.
It was nearly a perfect plan. But things weren’t going quite as she had imagined.
“Let me go!”
While El was putting away cleaning supplies, six or so knights surrounded her.
From outside, her figure was completely blocked out by their broad shoulders.
“Wow, look how soft her skin is.”
“Let go of me!”
The knights ignored her words and grabbed her wrist, yanking it back and forth.
They looked very satisfied watching her stagger from the force of their grip.
“Hands that have touched rags shouldn’t be this pale and smooth. Hm? What’s your name?”
“R–Rona.”
El gave the alias she had made up recently.
Finally, she had caught them red-handed.
Using the moonlight as her lamp, she committed each knight’s face to memory one by one.
Two of them, she recognized—they were the same men who had tried to harass the maids in the kitchen the other day.
“Want to come with me to a nice place? I know just the spot.”
“N–No.”
“Then should we just do it here? That works too.”
The knights burst into laughter. One of them reached to tear a button off her dress—
“Aaagh!”
The knight who touched her clothes collapsed to the ground, screaming.
The others bent down in shock to check on him.
He might have broken something. After all, El had kicked him with all her strength.
Whether enraged that their comrade was injured, or simply furious that a maid dared fight back, the knights pressed El into a corner menacingly.
“You’d better behave.”
One knight grabbed a fistful of her hair roughly. Unfortunately, she was all too familiar with this.
El used one hand to protect her scalp from tearing, while the other dug her nails deep into his wrist, ready to rip it apart.
The knight, unable to endure the pain, released her hair—only to immediately strike her head.
She fell onto the grass, ears ringing. She shook her head, blinking rapidly to keep her fading consciousness sharp.
She couldn’t collapse here.
She had to catch them and turn them in red-handed.
Her original plan had been to stay close to Sara tomorrow, and when the knights tried to harass them, she would fire a signal flare so the whole estate would know. That way, no one could cover it up.
But now it had happened sooner than expected—and the flare was still in her room.
“…What do I do.”
El muttered to herself, spitting blood.
She couldn’t win against all of them. But she couldn’t afford to lose, either.
Before she could finish thinking, the knights seized both her arms and dragged her up.
They seemed ready to haul her off somewhere more secluded and beat her senseless.
El let out a short, mocking laugh.
“Do you even know who I am, taking me away like this?”
“What’s she babbling about?”
“Think about the precious guest the lord brought into this house. What did she look like again?”
El tilted her head playfully. In the moonlight, her clear brown eyes gleamed.
“Huh?”
One of the knights seemed to recognize her. He tapped his comrades and whispered urgently.
“So what? She’s still just a brat from the slums. Even if she dies, the lord won’t care.”
“Well, since it’s come to this…”
All their eyes turned to El.
So that’s the conclusion they reached.
Indeed, if they had decided, they would go all the way—half-measures wouldn’t do.
“You think you can handle it?”
“Shut your mouth.”
“Guess you don’t know I was granted a title.”
“…What?”
The knights faltered. El yanked free from their grip and stumbled back.
“El Olfné. Baron. I’m a noble. You know what happens if you kill a noble, don’t you? Immediate execution.”
“Wh–What…”
The knights looked shaken, but one of them glared, eyes bloodshot, and stepped toward her.
“All the more reason we have to kill you. You’ve already seen our faces.”
He raised his hand, ready to knock her unconscious—
And then crack! With a heavy sound, his bulky body crumpled to the ground.
“Our El seems to like playing pretend.”
A low, languid voice.
“Caron…”
Why was Caron Fayros—the Duke himself—here, under this moonlight? Was this a dream?
El stared blankly up at him.
In Caron’s elegant hand was a bloodied sword—and the severed head of the knight, the same one El had kicked earlier.
“Finally, you call my name again. I was almost offended.”
“How did you know I was here…”
“El. I told you, didn’t I?”
Caron tossed the head aside with a flick.
The knights, sensing danger, shifted nervously, preparing to flee.
“There is nothing in this mansion I don’t know.”
His sword slashed downward, and another knight who had turned to run collapsed in a spray of blood.
“Your Grace…”
El trembled as she called his name.
Without hesitation, Caron cut down the legs of the fleeing knights, toppling them.
Then, smiling pleasantly, he brushed back his disheveled hair.
The rumors were true. He always smiled when he killed.
And even that smile was unbearably elegant and beautiful—leaving El utterly speechless.
“What, do you call me so coldly just because I killed a few men in front of you?”
“N–No, that’s not…”
“Go on.”
“Caron… sir.”
Satisfied, Caron’s lips curved smoothly upward. He casually wiped the blood off his face and stepped before her.
“So, what do you want me to do with them? Lock them in the dungeon and torture them until they beg for death?”
“…”
“Or shall I kill them now?”
It was strange. El wasn’t unfamiliar with death. In the slums, people died all the time.
But still, her body trembled with primal fear.
Her mind knew this man was her savior, but her body recoiled on its own.
“Isn’t there… another choice?”
“No.”
His voice was firm.
El had only thought of handing them over for proper punishment and exile.
She had never once considered death.
“Still…”
Her voice trembled, but she forced it out.
Even hearing that, Caron simply gazed at her face.
“El. You’re hurt.”
“This is nothing…”
His voice was soft, almost tender.
Yet somehow, El felt as if she were being strangled, unable to make another sound.
She was terrified. Terrified of Caron. His sharp, gleaming eyes showed not the slightest hesitation in killing.
“Now there’s only one option left.”
“…What?”
“They’ll die painfully.”
Caron spoke lightly, then immediately turned his body. Panicked, El instinctively grabbed his sleeve.
His brow shot up sharply, displeased, as he stared at her hand.
Startled, El quickly let go.
“C–Can you really just kill knights like this?”
“It’s fine. Harming a noble means immediate execution.”
“…”
“You’re a noble now, El.”
“I know.”
“Weren’t you planning to use that very status to your advantage this time?”
Even while speaking with her, Caron’s eyes were fixed on the knights writhing on the ground like worms—
as if calculating where to cut next.
“…Since when did you know?”
“From the beginning. I only wondered how long you’d keep playing maid.”
“Then—”
“When you disappeared, I came looking for you, and found you hurt like this. How disappointing.”
Caron let out a sigh, almost like a laugh. If only she had come to him and asked him to kill them, he would have gladly done it.
But until the very end, El hadn’t sought him out.
“How insolent.”
In a lazy tone, Caron muttered, stepping toward the knights.
(To be continued in the next episode)
