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Chapter 7
According to Esiel’s past memories, there was a hidden “place” where treasure was stored.
And right now, she was running toward that place, gasping for breath as if her lungs were about to burst. The sharp sound of shoes pounding the ground behind her made her urgency even clearer.
It has to be somewhere around here…!
Her thighs were starting to ache. It wasn’t easy to recall a destination she had only read about in text. Moreover, now that she had a child’s body, running this hard made it even more unbearable.
Because of her anxiety, everything around her looked the same. Her panicked mind clouded her judgment.
“Huff… huff… They haven’t caught up yet, right?”
After running for a long while, Esiel finally stopped and caught her breath. Her trembling legs shook like they might collapse, and she barely supported herself with her small hands on her knees. Even in her dazed state, she had to look back to check whether Ferudin was chasing her.
“My wish is…”
Esiel had said that while dragging Ferudin toward the center of the mansion garden.
“Hmph. Who’s going to grant that?”
“Even if it’s just playing tag together?”
Ferudin, who had been replying coolly with his arms crossed, widened his eyes in surprise. He seemed intrigued by the game Esiel had proposed.
Soon, he slowly uncrossed his arms, his mouth opening and closing hesitantly as if unsure how to respond. It seemed he didn’t want to show his curiosity, and a brief silence fell.
Then Esiel smiled slyly. Her eyes curved softly, forming a playful expression.
“Then Ferudin is ‘it’!”
“What—what?”
With that reckless declaration, Esiel immediately ran down the path connected to the garden. Her flowing red hair fluttered in the wind. The warm spring sunlight shimmered through it, making her hair glow brightly.
Ignoring Ferudin’s voice behind her, she kept running.
The golden hair that stood out among the green bushes was thankfully nowhere to be seen. She had managed to put quite a distance between them.
“Good. I need to find it quickly.”
Now breathing more steadily, Esiel murmured and looked around. She had used the game—and the wish she had unexpectedly obtained—as an excuse to search the area. There was something she absolutely had to obtain.
The Legonis family of the Makairn Empire was a prestigious house built on a long lineage. The foundation of their power was something far beyond other families: “transcendent strength.”
The Emperor had ordered the Legonis family, with their unmatched abilities, to protect the empire, and this had become tradition. In return for their efforts, they received rare treasures, rewards, and resources from conquered nations. The previous generations had secretly gathered all of it, steadily increasing the family’s wealth.
Just a little… enough to survive a few days without starving after escaping…
That was Esiel’s goal—to find the hidden wealth of the family. A small but strong desire to survive after escaping the mansion in the near future. With her tiny hands, she pushed aside the grass and engraved her resolve.
And at that moment, her eyes suddenly gleamed.
Through the bushes, she spotted a suspicious-looking hill—ordinary yet somehow unusual.
“Found it!”
A small exclamation of joy slipped from her lips. The neatly grown grass swayed in the wind as if hiding the hill. It looked like an ordinary mound that anyone could easily overlook.
At one side of the raised ground—like a grave—there was a small, worn wooden door. In the center of the door, the faint emblem of the Legonis family, a serpent, was engraved.
This was it. Without a doubt, this was where the family’s hidden wealth was stored. Everything matched the description from the original story perfectly.
Esiel walked forward without hesitation and grabbed the door handle. The cold sensation against her palm was unpleasant.
Creeeak—
“It’s open. Good.”
She frowned slightly at the harsh sound but didn’t stop. As the door opened, the smell of damp soil rushed out. She swallowed nervously.
Inside, dozens of bulging sacks came into view. The contents were obvious.
Countless treasures and vast amounts of wealth—possibly worth even more than that—were all stored here. That was the reason Esiel had been running so desperately.
The entrance was so small that even an adult couldn’t stand upright inside. It seemed designed deliberately as a disguise.
“Wow…”
Her tense body finally began to relax. As she walked toward the sacks as if enchanted, she suddenly stopped.
She remembered Ferudin.
He was probably still running around furiously searching for her.
But there was no time to dwell on the strange ease of the situation. Esiel quickly untied the mouth of one sack.
“Quickly… quickly…”
Inside were shimmering gold coins. Her eyes widened as she reached in. The cold metal clinked loudly.
“Ugh… this won’t do.”
She frowned and looked at the sack seriously. The noise was too loud—she would be caught immediately.
So she moved to another sack and opened it instead. This one contained gemstones instead of coins.
“Good! This will work.”
Colorful gems sparkled brilliantly. Among them, she picked up a small red jewel.
Perhaps she had been drawn to it because it resembled her own red hair. It was a ruby small enough to fit in her palm. Her reflection shimmered faintly on its smooth surface.
Just as she reached for another gem—
“Hey! What are you doing here?”
“Eek!”
A loud voice suddenly rang out.
Startled, Esiel froze.
A coin rolled out of the sack and clattered across the floor. It eventually bumped into Ferudin’s shoe and stopped.
When she quickly turned around, she saw the open door and Ferudin catching his breath. He had slammed the door so hard that it drowned out the sound.
This is bad!
Esiel’s eyes trembled like a frightened rabbit. She couldn’t even think to hide the jewel in her hand. The silence between them felt suffocating.
“What is this? Why is this here?”
Ferudin picked up the gold coin at his feet, curiosity filling his eyes. He tilted his head.
His expression made Esiel even more uneasy.
What do I do? What should I say?
She quickly hid the jewel behind her back. Her mind raced with countless excuses.
“Hey, this…”
Ferudin looked between the coin in his hand and the sacks behind Esiel, then slowly stepped closer.
Esiel swallowed hard. His playful eyes now felt unusually sharp.
“Did this fall from here? Or… don’t tell me…”
“Hmm? Why?”
Esiel blinked innocently, waiting for him to continue.
Ferudin casually tossed the coin back into the sack.
“Were you hiding here?”
“Huh?”
“Just standing still?”
“Ah… y-yeah! I picked such an easy hiding spot, haha…”
She laughed awkwardly, avoiding his gaze.
Maybe from the moment she entered here, she had already decided something—that even if she was caught, she would not explain anything.
“You idiot. Anyway, I found you, so now you’re ‘it’!”
“Huh? O-okay, go hide quickly!”
“You count to 100 before coming!”
Ferudin immediately turned and ran off.
Once his golden hair disappeared from sight, Esiel finally let out a deep breath of relief.
“Phew…”
She pulled out the ruby she had hidden behind her back. It felt heavier than before.
Her reflection in the red gem looked somewhat deflated.
“…Bur—!”
Suddenly, a distant, excited voice echoed from beyond the door.
Esiel froze again.
Something felt very wrong.
