episode_0129

Why, why are you here?

How did someone who clearly should still be at the Academy get here?

No, there is nothing strange about coming. Because it’s the weekend. There is nothing wrong with going out on the weekend itself. But why now?

Did you realize everything? no. That can’t be possible. Apparently there were only two letters that I took with her. There would be no way she would notice the Duchess’s third letter… … .

I’m sure it would have been like that…

‘Wake.’

In order not to show my embarrassment, I naturally moved away from the window a little, took a breath to relax, and clenched my fist. I felt the palm of my clenched fist become slippery.

When I lowered my head and looked at my outstretched hand again, I saw that my palm was shiny with cold sweat.

The moment I show myself like this, she will doubt me. They’ll ask me if there’s anything that bothers me, and since I can’t lie, I’ll have no choice but to spit out everything I know.

For that matter, we must avoid being caught at all costs.

‘Let’s calm down…’ … . The moment you get caught here, it’s all over.’

I wiped the cold sweat on my palms with my maid uniform, closed my eyes, slowly took a trembling breath, then turned around and went down to the first floor.

‘It will be fine. It’s not confirmed yet that she noticed. Let’s act calmly and calmly. There won’t be any problem. Let’s not pass over it.’

Standing in front of the villa’s front door, I adjusted my clothes one last time, opened the villa’s front door, and took a few steps back.

And then he immediately bowed and said hello.

“Welcome back. Miss Charlotte.”

Togak――Togak――

The sound of shoes echoing through the empty hall passed by me without saying a word. After she passed me, I straightened my lower back and turned to follow the direction she had gone.

And the moment I turned around, what I saw. She was looking at me with her back turned and smiling.

A lifeless smile that gives off an inexplicable discomfort, as if something other than human is pretending to be human.

okay. I literally felt my heart being squeezed by the ‘painted smile’.

“Mel.”

“Yes, lady.”

But I didn’t try to show it. He reacted calmly even in situations where he would normally have been nervous.

Right now, I have absolutely nothing to worry about. I repeated that in my head and tried to relieve as much tension as possible in my body.

She looked at me for a moment, then slowly looked around and said.

“The owner has returned, but the only person to welcome him is Mel. Maybe a little sad?”

“Sorry. I tried to teach the child lifestyle patterns first, but since he has lived in the back alleys his whole life, it is not easy to change the lifestyle patterns… … .”

“It’s okay. It’s only been a few months. It’s okay if you don’t make up your mind too hastily.”

As she said that and tapped my shoulder, she looked at a distant place other than me and said with a small smile.

“And above all. Because I know very well that changing the way you live is not easy.”

“Thank you for your understanding. Next time you visit, we will provide thorough training to prevent such incidents.”

“Okay. If we don’t treat people as foolish as we are now, then, as you said, such unfortunate incidents won’t happen again.”

She spoke as if she knew everything.

For a moment, I felt like I was suffocating.

You must answer. In the split second I blinked, my body moved before my head.

“Sorry. Maybe it’s because he was a child who lived in a similar environment to me, but it wasn’t as easy as I thought to be treated harshly.”

“The last time you spoke, didn’t you say that Mia’s education was going smoothly?”

“It’s just that I haven’t established a lifestyle pattern yet, but other education can be said to be perfect. Basic etiquette, chores, chores, and even a little bit of paperwork are possible. and… … . Doesn’t the fact that this engraving doesn’t activate prove that what I’m saying isn’t a lie?”

It was something that came out instinctively, but it was all true. It was the right thing to say to get out of this situation.

“That means that if you just set a lifestyle pattern, there is nothing more to teach the child.”

“This is largely due to my lack of learning. If only I knew more… … . I could have told you more.”

She hummed at my words, then tilted her head slightly and called out to me.

“Hey, Mel.”

“Yes?”

She tilted her head to one side and shrugged her shoulders.

“Have you ever thought there was something strange?”

Those words came out of nowhere and fell right into the gap in the composure I was trying so hard to maintain.

What are you trying to say? Strange? what? Is this perhaps the same hallucination as before? No, that can’t be true. If not, what is it?

What on earth is your intention in saying that? What are you thinking? Was there anything strange I said?

I don’t know.

Questions filled my head, one after another. The awl was inserted precisely into the gap in my mind, and although it was precarious, it was more than enough to destroy my barely maintained composure. I had no choice but to ask back, sounding dumbfounded.

“… … Yes?”

ah.

As a short but meaningful sigh filled my mind, the woman standing in front of me smiled brightly.

“I told you that before while engraving it. If you lie to me, betray me, or give my information to someone else… … . I’m saying I’m going to die.”

Her words brought back memories of that night, and a feeling of discomfort arose, as if a stone had been placed on my lower abdomen.

okay. There’s no way I could forget it. I couldn’t sleep well at night because of this damn imprint. How could I forget? Even at that time… … .

I nodded slowly, trying to hide my seething resentment, anger, and trauma.

“I remember, I’m doing it.”

“Of course. If that imprint is absolute. Why didn’t the imprint activate that night? Why didn’t you consider your actions to deceive me a betrayal?”

“That’s――”

It was like that. It’s just as she said.

Why didn’t the imprint activate that night? She even went so far as to say it was a lie. why?

My vision, which had been moving my head rapidly, slowly turned downward.

think. Think about it. Why? Why didn’t the imprint activate then?

“The lady… … . It’s because you adjusted it, isn’t it… … ?”

“Huh? I told you that if you lie, it will automatically recognize and activate. Even if I could control it, wouldn’t it have been best to loosen the twisted insides of yours?”

“Okay, then. The young lady took care of it in advance… … .”

“Hehehe, even a joke. How can I know when you’re going to lie and do something about it?”

If you think about it, it was like that. It was strange from the beginning.

This imprint is not even a person, so how can it recognize and activate when I am lying?

And how did they know that I was betraying them?

okay. Things made no sense from the beginning.

“Then… … . This imprint, this imprint itself… … . Are you saying it was a lie?”

My voice trembled. As soon as I realized that all the fear I had up until now was an illusion, I felt a tremendous sense of betrayal and anger, and my body trembled.

To my words, she responded with a grin.

“Well? Is this a lie or am I controlling it? Which do you think it is?”

“… … .”

I said nothing and lowered my head. When she saw me like that, she blinked and poked my stomach with her finger as if she didn’t know what the problem was.

“If you’re really curious, wouldn’t it be possible to find out if you lie here and now? Is this engraving fake or real?”

“I… … .”

“Why can’t I do it? Or are you just having trouble remembering what to lie about? I can’t help it. I have to decide. What kind of lie is good? … .”

Oh yeah. That would be nice.

She lightly touched his hand, smiled sweetly, and made a cruel proposal.

“Why don’t you say, ‘I betrayed you, young lady?’”

There’s no way I can tell you. Something like that.

If the engraving is fake, you can just brush it off and say you only did what you were told.

What if the imprint is real? It would be like digging my own grave.

However, you cannot choose not to say anything here. Because it’s the same as admitting that there is a corner.

“Well, I――”

“It’s okay. Because I’m controlling it.”

She said, gently stroking her stomach, as if the imprint was real.

“I… … !”

All I could do right now was pray to God.

God, please. I hope this engraving is fake… … !!

“I betrayed you… … !”

I closed my eyes and shouted, but nothing really happened.

Is it real? Is it fake? I shivered and waited for her to open her mouth.

At that moment, coo. There was a loud sound along with the feeling of my lower abdomen being pressed.

“Wow!”

“Hi!?”

I sat down in shock at the sudden shout.

She was laughing while looking at me.

“Seeing you so surprised, I guess you really believed what I said.”

“Hehe… … ? Ugh, yeah… … ?”

“Thank you for keeping my word so far, Mel.”

As she was stroking my head, she naturally lifted my chin and made me make eye contact with her.

Is it over now? Was this engraving fake? I looked her in the eyes, thinking she would answer my questions.

“So, where is the third letter?”

What she gave me was not an answer, but another problem.