VDBO 04

 Chapter 04

The next morning, Mr. Schvalt left again.

He was an extremely busy man, so he usually departed at night or at dawn, but this time he left a little later, saying there were a few more things he needed to look into.

The house, which had briefly grown noisy, fell back into silence. And it was about to grow even lonelier. It had been exactly one day since Mr. Schvalt left this house.

“Bella.”

“Are you going out?”

Lucellai had been bustling around since morning, preparing herself, and soon appeared dressed in outdoor clothes. Since she rarely went out during winter, I found it strange. Ugh… I had hoped she wouldn’t go out.

“I’ll be gone for a few days.”

“By yourself?”

“Schvalt will come back again. Don’t cause any trouble.”

To understand Mother’s words, a bit of translation was needed. What she meant by don’t cause trouble was that while she was away, someone might target this house, so I should be as careful as possible.

Nothing dangerous had ever happened while I was alone—not even once—but Mother never let her guard down.

“Of course. Please travel safely. It looks like there’ll be even more snow, so you should leave the North as soon as possible.”

If she was going out anyway, she might as well get out of the North quickly. That way, she wouldn’t run into the Crown Prince—or so I thought as I said it.

“Alright.”

Not long after, Mother left.

I decided to enjoy some quiet contemplation alone in the house. Even when the two of us were together, we rarely talked. Some days, we didn’t exchange a single word. It never felt awkward, and I was never bored. Still, the two of us always knew where the other was and what they were doing.

That was because, since childhood, I had lived by following Mother’s instructions, so my range of activity had never been very wide to begin with.

After all, I had come here out of necessity for Mother in the first place. Of course, I’d lived a far more comfortable life than that alone would imply. That was why I could endure this kind of life now.

The snowstorm stopped the moment Mr. Schvalt left, leaving everything eerily quiet. Who knew when it would snow again? In the North, the weather could change dozens of times in a single day.

Thanks to the curtains that were always drawn, the room was dark as well. It was the perfect time to quietly and leisurely enjoy some tea.

But before long, that peace was abruptly shattered. I heard a dull knocking sound at the door.

I was irritated at having my calm interrupted.

“Ah… did Mother come back?”

She hadn’t been gone long, but there was no one else who would come. Maybe she’d forgotten something, or perhaps she’d canceled her outing. Still, something felt odd, so I slightly pulled the curtain aside.

There was no one outside.

Maybe I’d misheard. Or maybe it wasn’t multiple people. Even when I looked more carefully toward the entrance, I saw nothing. Yet someone had definitely knocked.

Just as I was about to dismiss it as a mistake, the knocking came again.

I took out a dagger, still in its sheath. It was only about a handspan long, but it would be enough to stab a vital point.

There were quite a few weapons hidden throughout this house. Under tables, between chairs, behind curtains—always within easy reach of one hand.

They were preparations for the occasional people who wanted to drive us out of the North, or those who wanted Lucellai Ludwig gone.

I’d never had to use them in the North—only in the capital—but I knew how to handle them to some degree. Nothing special, but enough to easily subdue an average adult.

I hid the dagger inside my dress so I could draw it immediately, then moved closer to the entrance. When I listened carefully, I couldn’t hear clearly, but I sensed a presence.

If someone had truly come to kill us, they would have forced their way in even if we hid, and they would have concealed their presence. Since that wasn’t the case, I opened the front door right away.

The moment I opened it, icy winter wind rushed in.

‘Huh? There’s no one here?’

But the snow piled along the path leading to the house was stained red.

Blood—someone’s blood.

I saw that the bloodstains continued all the way to the front door where I stood. When I immediately turned my head to the side to check, my heart felt like it dropped straight down.

“……”

I was so flustered that I couldn’t even control my expression—something that almost never happened to me.

Something completely outside my expectations had occurred, despite how cautiously I lived. Without realizing it, I took a step back.

Why is this here? That was the only thought in my mind. I hadn’t intervened in anything, so why was he here?

The Second Prince, Valery Ahibara Kashinef.

The man I least wanted to encounter was slumped against the wall beside the door, covered in blood.

I’d deliberately stayed hidden, like a mouse, and hadn’t even gone out. So why was he here?

“Ugh……”

With a pained groan, the man opened his eyes. His heterochromatic eyes—proof of royal blood—came clearly into view. His disheveled, wet blond hair was close to ivory in color, and his gentle face—no, beautiful was a more fitting word.

In contrast, his eyes were overwhelmingly intense.

So this was what he looked like in person, just as I’d read. Even though I usually wasn’t easily shaken by other people’s appearances, he felt incredibly alien.

So much so that everything else faded from my mind.

He looked so angelic that it felt like failing to save him would be an unforgivable sin.

They said his personality was angelic too, matching his face. I didn’t know about his personality, but at least his face seemed exactly as described.

What do I do? Save him?

A cold gust of wind rushed inside, snapping me back to my senses. Thanks to that, I could think more calmly.

No.

Getting involved with him was the same as throwing myself into a pit of fire. I’d lived so quietly just to avoid getting entangled.

The family wished only for my mother’s death. But if a prince died here, it would only invite another bloodbath.

I stared at the bloodstains soaking into the snow. Having a corpse appear here would be a serious problem. The moment I thought that, my head started throbbing.

“Damn it.”

I was annoyed. If an actual corpse came out of this, I might end up not in the North, but on the execution grounds.

The daughter of the villainess Lucellai murdered the prince! Boom. Like that.

“Why did you have to come here of all places?”

It felt as if there were a cliff in front of me and a beast closing in from behind.

Fine. I’d keep him alive until Mother returned, then send him away as fast as possible. I wouldn’t tell him my name—just treat him, and that would be it. No entanglement.

“…Get up. If you don’t want to die.”

I nudged his leg with the tip of my shoe.

The man opened his eyes.

Looking into his purple eyes, I thought—

If I stare at those eyes for too long, it might really become dangerous.

“Stay awake!”

The man, who was about to close his eyes again, nodded weakly.

‘He’s disgustingly heavy. Seriously.’

I supported him and brought him into the food storage room connected to the dining room. I absolutely couldn’t take him as far as the living room—it would only make things worse.

The prince let out a pained groan with every step.

After barely managing to lay him down inside the storage room, I entered the dining room through the small connecting door.

Then I went back upstairs, grabbed a pile of neatly folded cloths I used as towels, and headed straight back down. My footsteps were unconsciously filled with irritation.

As soon as I reached the dining room, I opened the pot that was always gently simmering and scooped out water. I filled a large container with hot water, added some cold water, then dumped all the towels into it. I pressed them down with a stick so they’d soak thoroughly, then lifted the container by its handle.

“So heavy.”

But what choice did I have, after what I’d just done?

Holding the container of warm water and towels, I clenched a pouch of medicinal herbs—always kept stocked in the dining cabinet—between my teeth.

In the North, it wasn’t easy to call a doctor, even if you were sick.

Especially in the house where I lived. As I’d said before, even if you called one, there were times they wouldn’t come. So whenever possible, we had to handle illnesses ourselves.

Swallowing the curses rising to my throat and praying that Mother wouldn’t return anytime soon, I headed back to the food storage room where I’d left him.

I shoved the small door open with my foot.

The man was still groaning, not fully conscious.

“You can’t die here.”

If you die here, I die too.

I set the container down in front of him, threw out the thinly veiled threat whether he heard it or not, and immediately went back outside. I cleared away the snow stained red with blood, spread sand we’d piled up for winter over it, and then went back inside.

Please, let Mother not come back right away.

“Ah, it’s cold.”

Nothing had gone wrong in that short time… right?

Thankfully, it looked like the man had regained some awareness and was trying to sit up properly.

I bent one knee and sat in front of him, stopping him as he lifted his head.

“If you do that, the wound will open even more.”

I held out a wet towel and warned him.

“I’ll crush the herbs for you. After I leave, wipe off the blood and apply them to the wound. They’re effective for stopping bleeding and disinfecting. They’ll reduce the pain, too. But you can’t stay here long. This isn’t a hospital.”