ISGJV 51

Chapter 51

A convenient spell that burns the heart if Lady Lilypen leaks information about us?

There’s no way something like that could actually exist.

But Lady Lilypen, who knew nothing about magic, had no way of knowing that.
To ordinary people, magic must look almost omnipotent.

Besides, the Cohen family seal that Edmund had obtained was a magical tool that looked impressive both in name and in “special effects.”
Seeing red flames dancing around it, it was impossible not to believe what I said.

Willes, who understood the usefulness and limitations of magic well, reacted skeptically.

“But no matter how stupid she is, would a lie like that really work?”

“It will! It’ll work for sure!”

This was something I understood better than anyone, having lived in a world without magic and having no magical talent myself.
Willes and Edmund, who were both born mages, didn’t really get it.

And when my prediction proved correct—

“If you want to live, you’ll do exactly as I say. Just as I tell you…”

“Y-Yes! I understand! I’m sorry! I’ll do anything you say, just please spare my life!”

Lady Lilypen was completely fooled and became obedient like a well-trained dog.

As we escaped, leaving her behind in the forest, I was able to shrug smugly at Edmund and Willes.

“You’re amazing, Cassia. You’re incredibly good at threats and scams!”

“As expected of our young mistress—she truly belongs in the Mage Kingdom…”

Edmund’s words were definitely meant as praise, yet they left me feeling oddly unsettled.
And Willes always acted like a professor trying to recruit me into graduate school, so I had to stay on guard around him.

Anyway, the conclusion was simple.

Hooray! We escaped!

We had finally fled that wretched Cohen family villa.

Edmund frowned, still bothered by the foul smell clinging to his body.

The smell of pig’s blood… it’s awful.

When he had staged his fall from the bedroom, he had smeared pig’s blood all over himself.
Even after changing clothes, he hadn’t been able to wash yet, so the stench remained.

Noticing his expression, Cassia asked with concern:

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling sick?”

Ironically, she looked far worse than he did.
Her complexion was pale, sweat beaded across her forehead, and her breathing was rough.

Remembering how she had been dripping blood in the library, Edmund replied more harshly than he intended.

“I’m fine. You should worry about managing your own condition. You know you can’t afford to lag behind.”

“I know that! I won’t fall behind!”

She snapped back energetically—only to start panting almost immediately.

Like a thirsty puppy.

She really did seem physically weak. Maybe losing so much blood had affected her more than expected. He should have stopped her somehow.

Or maybe her foot still hasn’t healed properly.

Too many things worried him.

And here I was, thinking about pig’s blood instead of Cassia…

Feeling childish and foolish, Edmund blamed himself.

His anxious, self-reproachful gaze tracked Cassia’s every step.
If she even wobbled slightly, he looked ready to run over and carry her.

Walking ahead of them, Willes watched the young lord’s painfully clueless behavior with tears in his eyes.

No, sir! This is where you say, “Are you okay? Want me to support you?” You have to be gentle!

—so he thought.

But this wasn’t the time to coach him on something so trivial.

Get it together, Willes. From here on out, things get even more dangerous.

They had faked their deaths and were heading toward a city in a completely different direction, avoiding the duchess’s party as much as possible.

They had paid a nearby village’s gravedigger to acquire corpses, dressed them in their own clothes, and then set the carriage on fire.

“Won’t people find it suspicious if there was a fire too?”

“If we leave it as is, they’ll figure out immediately that it isn’t us.”

“True. Even if Lady Lilypen testifies, it’d be hard to fool anyone when the bodies don’t match our faces or hair. Unless they’re unrecognizable.”

“Exactly. And I’m not hoping we’ll never be found out. That would be greedy.”

Cassia, who had planned everything so thoroughly, was strange.
You’d expect her to boast about her accomplishments, but she didn’t at all.

“I just want to delay being discovered for as long as possible.”

At that moment, Edmund recalled Cassia’s profile as she stood beside the burning carriage.
The orange glow of the flames flickered across her delicate face.
Her expression had been firm, resolute—

And yet…

She looked unbearably lonely.

He didn’t know why, but the thought struck him suddenly.

That was why, when he reached out unconsciously—

Slice.

Cassia cut her own hair with a knife, short to just below her ears.

“Cassia?!”

“Young mistress!!”

“Good heavens! That beautiful hair you’ve never cut in your life…!”

Edmund and Willes were horrified.
The nanny looked on the verge of fainting.

But Cassia simply smiled brightly.

“We need more evidence.”

As she spoke, she scattered her cut hair around the corpse dressed in her clothes.

“This will make it easier to mistake this body for me.”

She was right, so the others followed suit.
In a situation like this, anything that reduced the risk of discovery was worth doing.

But still.

Even so.

Edmund felt strange.

Why does my chest feel so tight and restless?

The feeling only worsened whenever he looked at or thought about Cassia.

After thinking about it, he realized:

Of course. I’ve seen Cassia get hurt too many times.

Cassia collapsing from malnutrition.
Cassia knocked unconscious by an arrow.
Cassia limping.
Cassia bleeding endlessly.

Seeing her cut off her long, dark-brown hair—the hair that used to reach her hips—brought all those memories back.

It felt suffocating, as if a heavy stone sat on his chest.

Being beside me keeps getting Cassia hurt.

And yet, despite everything, the boy could not bring himself to say the words telling her she should leave him behind and think only of herself.

I hadn’t cut my hair for any emotional reason.

It’s just the part of the body you can separate with the least damage.

And hair color and texture are easy identifiers.
Leaving strands around the corpses would make them more likely to be mistaken for us.

And besides, short hair suits a disguise better!

That’s right.
The shabby clothes I’d prepared in advance for our escape were men’s clothes.

As a result, our group’s “concept” was decided.

Three brothers traveling with their mother!

Willes was the tall but simple-minded eldest brother.
I was the clever middle brother.
Edmund was the cute youngest.

When I explained this, the men strongly objected.

“No, I understand about the young lord and Lord Eddie, but why do I have to be the tall idiot?!”

“And why am I the youngest?!”

But there was no time to argue over something like this.
I had led the entire plan, so their weak resistance was quickly crushed.

After walking all night, we arrived in the small city of Irok, east of the villa.
It was the opposite direction of the nearest city—the last place anyone would expect escapees to go. That’s why I chose it as our first destination.

We entered Irok filthy and utterly exhausted.
As soon as we arrived, we took rooms at a moderately priced inn and collapsed onto the beds.

Shivering, I muttered:

“I-I thought I was going to die…”

“With a body that weak, who would believe you’re the older brother? It’d be better if I were the older one.”

At Edmund’s blunt comment, I lifted my head, ready to snap back—

But I failed. I was so exhausted I couldn’t even gather strength in my body.

“Ugh…”

A groan escaped instead of anger.

Seeing how bad I looked, Edmund didn’t tease me further.
He sighed, approached me, and reached out—toward a place I hadn’t expected.

“W-What are you doing?”

When I looked down in surprise, I saw Edmund kneeling on the floor, hands on my shoes.
Come to think of it, I’d seen a similar scene in his dark bedroom not long ago.

But I was the only one flustered. Edmund looked completely matter-of-fact.

“You said your foot hurts. I’m checking its condition.”

“I mean, it does hurt, but still!”

“Blisters are one thing, but if the wound is serious, it’s dangerous. There’s risk of infection.”

“I know that!”

I tried to pull my foot away, but it was useless.

Since when was he this strong?

I couldn’t free my ankle from his grip.

While I was momentarily stunned, Edmund quickly and decisively removed my worn-out shoe.

Then he clicked his tongue.

“Just as I thought.”

The inside of the shoe was a complete mess.