IMLC 07

Chapter 7

After I arrived in Totulo and found a place to stay for a while, I should write to my parents. Ah— I should write to Mia as well.

I could already imagine the shocked faces of my parents and Mia after reading the letter I left behind. My chest felt heavy for a moment, so I took a deep breath in and slowly let it out.

Meanwhile, the train gradually began to move.

As the scenery outside the window slowly picked up speed, my eyelids grew heavy.

Kaelen had taken the written oath stamped with my blood, and I hadn’t slept for two days afterward while worrying about what to do next. Of course I was exhausted.

As soon as the train started moving and my tension loosened, sleep overwhelmed me.

The ticket clerk had said it would take at least seven hours, so I might as well sleep.

When I open my eyes, I might already be there.

I closed my eyes in a good mood.

And seven hours later, I was pulling my hair in a strange station.

“Ah. I’m doomed! I’m completely doomed!”

Totulo was a small city, and the train station was small as well.

Sitting on an old-looking bench, I grabbed my brown hair in frustration. People coming and going glanced at me, but I didn’t have the energy to care.

“Why is my life like this…”

Even if life doesn’t go as planned, this is just too much.

This wasn’t Korea, where you could leave your phone on a café table and still find it, or leave your bag on the subway and retrieve it later. I had forgotten that.

I had fallen asleep happily, and when I woke up, I had been taken in by the unfamiliar scenery. Before I knew it, the train had arrived at Totulo station.

I stood up to retrieve my luggage from the overhead rack.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

It was gone. It had definitely been there—but now it wasn’t.

I searched the entire carriage, wondering if I had simply misplaced it, but it was nowhere to be found.

“Oh dear… you’ve been robbed. First time riding second class? You shouldn’t leave your luggage up there like that…”

An elderly woman sitting in the seat in front of me clicked her tongue sympathetically, as if feeling sorry for me.

In the end, I had to get off the train empty-handed.

By then, the sun was already setting. The once-busy station was becoming quiet.

If I stayed like this, I might end up sleeping at the station.

I quickly stood up.

“Um… when is the next train to the capital?”

“There are no more trains today. Come back tomorrow.”

The middle-aged woman cleaning her fingernails looked me up and down and replied indifferently.

Nothing was going right.

I swallowed the curse rising in my throat and decided to step outside.

Unlike the capital, the buildings here were small and low. The roads were narrow, and there were few passing carriages.

Because it was far north of the capital, the air had become quite cold as the sun set.

Rubbing my arms, I looked around uncertainly, then started walking down a lonely street bathed in sunset.

After walking for a while, my stomach growled loudly.

Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t eaten anything all day.

I stroked my empty stomach while walking, but no good solution came to mind.

I stopped and kicked a small stone.

“It’s all because of that guy!”

If I went back to the capital like this, I would stand in front of the palace yelling, “That man is the arsonist!” while waving Kaelen’s portrait.

Just as I clenched my fists in frustration, I noticed a small sign ahead.

[TOTULO PAWN SHOP]

“Oh… thank you, God. Thank you.”

I called upon God, whom I normally never thought of. It seemed I wouldn’t die today after all.

Ding.

As I opened the heavy wooden door and stepped inside, I immediately had to suppress the urge to walk back out.

A bald, rough-looking man sat at the counter, reading a small book. He wore multiple piercings on his eyebrows, nose, and lips. He looked at me silently.

Then he scanned me from head to toe and tapped a small wooden plate on the table.

It seemed like he was telling me to place something down.

I hesitantly placed my hat on it.

The wide-brimmed hat completely covered the plate.

The man glanced at it, then tossed it into a corner behind the counter and dropped a single 10-Pelio coin onto the table.

I blinked slowly at the coin rolling on the table.

“…That’s it?”

At my words, the man snapped his book shut.

Maybe I shouldn’t have spoken so casually. But 10 Pelio was ridiculous. That hat had cost 160 Pelio at a department store.

“T-that hat was handmade… from a department store…”

“Got a problem? Then forget it.”

He reached for the coin with a tattooed finger.

“Ah—no! It’s fine!”

I quickly grabbed the 10 Pelio.

Even that wasn’t enough to return to the capital. Not even enough for a night’s lodging.

I carefully placed my earrings and hairpins next.

After all that, I only got 230 Pelio in total.

“That thing on your wrist… looks valuable.”

He nodded toward my watch.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

I covered my watch with my hand.

“This is not for sale.”

“Then get out. You don’t look like you’ve got anything left to sell anyway.”

It was precious.

A gift from my older brother in this world—when I was still adapting using Eliana Rudd’s remaining memories.

“…If I bring money later, can I get it back?”

The pawn shop owner smirked and nodded.

I slowly removed the watch and placed it on the plate.

After examining it, he handed me 1,000 Pelio.

“Seems like just a runaway to me,” Dylan said.

Kaelen gave a quiet nod.

Four hours after placing people on Eliana Rudd, they reported that she had left the mansion secretly at dawn. Kaelen, Dylan, and Caspian immediately followed her trail.

They had assumed she would meet someone—perhaps someone from the Crown Prince’s faction or the Empress’s side.

But instead, she boarded a train and got off at Totulo, a small northern town.

A place with no connection to Eliana Rudd at all.

“No contact from the Crown Prince’s side or the Empress’s side either,” Dylan muttered.

“From the pawn shop report—she sold a hat, earrings, hairpins, and her watch.”

All three turned to look at Eliana, who was eating alone in a restaurant near the station.

She had ordered a large amount of food. Enough for more than one person.

She sat where no one could see her, as if waiting for someone—but no one came.

And she was eating everything alone.

“…If we’re wrong, then why is she here at all?” Dylan frowned. “Her family relationships are fine. There’s no reason for her to run away.”

Caspian, wiping beer foam from his moustache with a hand, tilted his head.

“Maybe she ran away?”

“From who?”

“Kaelen… Your Highness?”

“…Why would that be?”

Caspian trailed off and glanced at Kaelen under his hood.

“…Did you threaten her when you made her sign that oath?”

Dylan sighed. “Well… I mean, Your Highness… your expression alone scares people. If a young lady saw you asking her to cut herself…”

Kaelen’s expression darkened.

Before he could respond, Dylan suddenly stiffened and nodded toward something ahead.

Someone was approaching Eliana Rudd.