RVF 06

Chapter 06

Have I Already Been Caught?

That night, I kept my eyes wide open, pushing away the heavy waves of sleep.

“I’m not going to sleep—no way.”

I had no intention of dozing off tonight. I crouched on the bare floor and stayed awake all night.

Yesterday, I had decided to leave the Duke’s mansion, and I had chosen to sneak out during the early hours to avoid being seen.

Since it was difficult for someone so young to wake up at dawn, I compromised by staying up all night instead.

But something felt off. I tilted my head, fiddling with the floor.

“By the way… why does the floor feel so soft?”

[Agh, stop touching me!]

A sharp, demanding voice rang in my ears. At the same time, the floor beneath me quivered.

Startled, I froze in place.

[How dare you treat me like this! You human!]

It was an angry voice. Confused, I looked around, my mind full of question marks.

“Uh… where is that voice coming from?”

[Here! Right here!]

The floor squirmed again. Simultaneously, a thud struck my forehead, sending a cold pain across it.

“Ow…”

I rubbed my head after lightly banging it on the bare floor. Raising my head, I saw the early morning moon hanging in the window. The squirming floor had returned to solid wood under my hands.

“That was a really weird dream.”

A dream where the floor was soft and wriggling? Lost in thought, I quickly checked the time. Thankfully, it wasn’t too late. Sophia and Delma wouldn’t arrive for a while.

I rubbed my eyes vigorously to chase away the lingering drowsiness.

“If I had slept in a bed, I never would have woken up.”

Yesterday, I had witnessed the Duke killing someone. That had solidified my resolve: I had to escape this villainous family.

Of course, others wouldn’t let me leave easily. Even Sophia and Delma, who cared for me, had to be avoided.

The time I chose was dawn—the very moment the sun just began to rise.

“But… what was that dream earlier?”

In my dream, the floor had been soft and squirming. Squinting at the memory, my eyelids grew heavy. Unconsciously, I blinked slowly, tilting my head to one side, then suddenly jolted upright.

“I can’t fall asleep again!”

I slapped my cheeks to wake myself, then scrambled to my feet.

“Time to go.”

I stuffed the last cookie into the bag I had packed beforehand and stepped out of the room.

Normally, I woke up late in the morning, when almost everyone in the mansion had already started their day.

But now, in the early dawn, the hallways were dark. Opening the door, a chilling air seemed to envelop me.

As I walked slowly, my eyes were automatically drawn to the portraits lining the corridor walls.

I recalled Sophia’s explanation that they were portraits of previous Dukes and Duchesses, all the way back to the first Duke.

In daylight, the paintings were merely grand, but in the darkness of night, they were eerie.

“Kinda scary, actually.”

I swallowed hard.

But if I had been scared by something like this, I never would have dared plan my escape.

I forced myself to avert my gaze from the portraits and continued walking.

Honestly, if I were a normal four-year-old, I probably wouldn’t have even thought of leaving this house. I might have been happy just escaping my mother for a while.

I would have happily stayed here, enjoying the food and toys Sophia provided.

“Maybe I even thought the Duke was really my dad.”

Among kids in the back alleys, there were often rumors: someone’s child was secretly the lost daughter of a count, or another child’s parents were secretly extremely wealthy. The sources were usually unknown.

Though baseless, hearing such rumors still sparked a bit of hope. I had no father, so I sometimes imagined I might have a hidden dad searching for me somewhere.

On lucky nights when my mother went to sleep early, I’d imagine my father coming to find me.

“But that couldn’t happen.”

These were all thoughts I had before recalling my past life. Now, I knew better—there was no one coming for me.

“No one will come to pick me up.”

Extras like me had to avoid the fates of the main characters.

Luckily, I made it across the second-floor corridor without incident. I paused briefly, then carefully opened the door to the back staircase.

Perhaps because it was used by the servants, the stairwell was darker and slightly damp.

The back stairs led straight toward the kitchen and storage rooms, near the back gate.

I opened the storage door and stepped out, glancing back at the mansion. My steps felt heavier.

“Sophia, Delma… I’m sorry for leaving without saying anything.”

I silently apologized to the two who truly cared for me. They would surely be shocked to find me missing in the morning.

I hadn’t seen Yan at all since the first day. I should have at least thanked him. Regret for not doing so crept in, but I shook it off.

Yan would survive safely in the end, siding with the protagonist. He wasn’t someone I needed to worry about.

“I probably won’t see them again.”

If I left like this, disconnected from the main story, I would be forgotten entirely. That was a bit sad.

Still, I hoped I might see them again someday, even if it was unlikely. I headed toward the back gate.

But something felt off. At this hour, no one should be around, yet there was a commotion near the back gate.

“Yes! I’ll do my best, my lord!”

Startled by the booming voice that shook the ground, I froze.

“Milady?”

An unexpected sight caught my attention.

Before the child had snuck out of the mansion in the early morning,

Even though the sun hadn’t risen, the Duke’s mansion was unusually active that day.

Several men had gathered near the back gate, where silence normally prevailed.

They all wore dark clothing, though not uniform, and each was busy tightening their shoes, stretching, or preparing for their task. To an outsider, it might have looked like a gang had assembled inside the mansion.

Then, a man appeared from the mansion. Those who had been standing without order straightened into formation.

“My lord, you have arrived.”

One man stepped forward, bowing his head, followed by the others.

Behind Caius (Kyleius) followed Philen. The men who had gathered earlier greeted him with slight nods, as if familiar.

Philen returned their nods with a glance and spoke.

“It still seems strange. You say monsters have appeared? The extermination was finished not long ago.”

The men assembled earlier were knights of the Leviche Order, gathered with Caius to head toward the Keduak border.

Keduak was a region adjacent to Hecera, the domain of the Crustel Duke, known as the Land of Death.

It was uninhabitable, with steep terrain and dense monster populations. Hecera, being close to Keduak, was similarly plagued, with monsters often invading villages and harming people.

But all that was before Caius settled here. After receiving Hecera from the Emperor, Caius immediately launched monster extermination campaigns.

It took a year to completely drive monsters out of Hecera. Then ten months, then half a year, gradually shortening the extermination periods. Meanwhile, the Duke’s mansion began rebuilding Hecera into a habitable land.

Caius had hoped to claim Keduak as part of his domain, but the constant monster resurgence prevented it.

Monsters that couldn’t reach Hecera stayed in Keduak, increasing yearly. To minimize civilian harm, Caius continued regular exterminations.

Monster extermination involved eliminating all monsters near the border and burning their habitats. The last extermination had concluded just 100 days ago. So reports of new monsters appearing this soon were unusual.

“Let’s see when we get there.”

Caius dismissed the anomaly lightly.

The largest of the knights raised a hand. With reddish-brown hair, he was dressed lighter than the others.

“What if the numbers have increased when we arrive, my lord?”

“We’ll reduce them.”

“And if they come again?”

“We’ll send them back up.”

“And if the escaped ones bring friends?”

Caius said nothing. He had much to say but decided to stay quiet for now. He only thought, So this one has complaints about being called out at dawn.

“Skip two days of next week’s training. Is that enough?”

“Yes! I’ll do my best, my lord!”

Bart, the large man, shouted loudly. Caius smirked. Bart laughed heartily, slapping the shoulder of a slimmer man beside him.

“Kris, don’t forget our bet.”

“What bet?”

“The one I mentioned? Whoever kills the most gets 100 gold. Forgot?”

“Well, I don’t talk to the lower ranks who fainted.”

“What, man?”

As the men started talking, the quiet atmosphere turned loud.

Yan handed a note from the messenger to Caius.

“The advance party’s messenger has returned. They’ve started setting traps.”

“Understood. Let’s depart then.”

Caius grabbed the reins.

Footsteps sounded lightly behind him—out of place in this scene. He narrowed his eyes and turned. Yan seemed to have noticed the same thing.

“Milady?”

The child we had met earlier stopped dead in her tracks.