The Grand Duchess Escape

As Mariel was pondering her next steps, she heard a knock on the door from outside.

She quickly stood up, opened the door, and let the maid in.

“Did you find out anything?”

“Yes. His Excellency is in the greenhouse.”

“Very well. Then hide me and take me outside.”

“Yes, My Lady.”

A few moments later, Mariel, concealed behind the hem of the maid’s long skirt, slipped out of the room. This was the only way to leave the room without being noticed since the knights were thoroughly guarding the corridor in front of the room where Asella and Mariel were staying.

She thought about using her different powers of mind control to deal with this matter but decided against it since there were so many of them, and if she failed to control even one of them, it would all be futile.

“Is the young lady asleep?”

“Yes.”

“All right, Don’t worry about it here, you should go and get some rest.”

Even if they were personal guards, they could not enter a room carelessly without the owner’s permission. They would guard a vacant room without knowing a thing about it until Mariel returns.

As they passed through several corridors and staircases, they sometimes ran into other servants, but each time they were able to move successfully unnoticed due to the resourcefulness of the maid.

“My Lady, you may come out now.”

This was the doorway that led straight into the garden and Mariel smiled brightly as she nodded.

“You did a good job. Now, go back to your dorm and get some sleep.”

“Yes.”

All she had to do now was to release her ability and once the maid was asleep, she’d forget all about it after waking up.

Mariel’s ability allowed her to manipulate people without them remembering anything. The maid for example would only remember that she had prepared the bed for the young lady and covered her with the blanket. The same was true with the maid who informed her about the Grand Duke’s location.

“Have a peaceful evening, Lady Mariel.”

After the maid finished her greetings, Mariel watched her until she completely disappeared into the back and then turned around. The child’s eyes twinkled with eagerness — she continued with a determined tone

“Well then, shall we begin?”

Mariel hurried eagerly through the garden.

The garden was silent at night, it was dark and gloomy, and only the occasional sound of grasshoppers and insects could be heard. She could feel the grass laid evenly under her feet and the faint smell of bushes wafted past her nose.

Mariel stopped, wondering how far she had walked.

A structure made of clear glass glowed in the moonlight– finally, this was the entrance to the greenhouse garden.

‘What is he doing here with no lights on?’

Mariel furrowed her brow and grabbed the doorknob. No, she did try to grab it but missed the chance to do so.

It was because Calix had noticed her presence during that time and opened the door before she could.

***

He even had his sword out.

The sharp blade shone bright blue from the moonlight in the garden that illuminated in the darkness– the shock made it even easier for her to wear a frightened expression.

“Y-Your Excellency… You scared me.”

Meanwhile, upon identifying the person in front of him, Calix paused.

Beautiful silver hair, as if it had been woven from moonlight threads, bright, clear blue eyes without the slightest flaw.

He couldn’t help but recall the image of Asella. The woman who couldn’t even breathe properly under the rage she saw spewing out of him.

“An unexpected guest, I see.”

Calix, who had quickly put his sword back in, asked with a raised eyebrow.

“What brings you to the greenhouse at this late hour of the night?”

“This thing is… I lost something earlier… I think I dropped it in the garden.”

“Are you on your own young lady? Where is your escort?”

The look in Calix’s eyes sharpened. Mariel hastily lifted the brooch in her hand and changed the subject.

“It’s all right! I already found it!”

The advantage of being a younger age was that sometimes children made up reasons for behavior that even common sense couldn’t explain. Calix’s sharp eyes relaxed as he wondered if this was a child’s playful prank.

Mariel laughed brightly and quickly continued speaking.

“By the way, does Your Excellency come to see the greenhouse often? I came here earlier to play with my sister!”

It was a very deliberate comment. After throwing those exact words, Mariel gently rounded her eyes and looked into Calix’s expression.

His face had the same cold and expressionless look as usual, but she did not intend to just give up here, not even a little bit.

“Sister looked very sad to me,” she said. “So I asked her to join me for a walk to relieve her mood!”

Calix was silent.

“I also saw tears in her eyes…”

Did she cry again? She was a woman with many tears. Calix tried to keep his expression as nonchalant as possible.

“And no matter how much I asked her why, she wouldn’t answer… She kept saying that she made a mistake and constantly kept apologizing to me…”

“…”

Just when he’d decided not to care… something suddenly occurred to him.

He recalled the face of the woman who had visited him early in the morning, apologizing for what had happened last night, and begging his forgiveness for his sister’s sake. Her eyes were fluttering here and there as she was at a loss, and her weak body was trembling heartbreakingly.

Though he had tried to avoid thinking about it, Calix had in fact been concerned about his wife, who had left his office alone.

He had even visited the greenhouse for the first time in almost a year after hearing that Asella had come here during the day.

“Your Excellency?”

“No.”

Unable to admit that he was indeed upset, Calix quickly brushed off the thought. He reminded himself once again of his pledge not to spend any more of his precious time on things that he had already determined were meaningless.

Still, he couldn’t help but feel awkward having this type of conversation with a child who resembled his wife.

“You’d better return to your room, young miss. I’ll call for someone to escort you back.”

Calix tried to end this conversation abruptly, even showing some sort of kindness that he otherwise wouldn’t have. However, his attempt failed as Mariel suddenly exclaimed

“Oh, that reminds me, there was something I wanted to ask Your Excellency!”

Calix furrowed his brow. He was now getting annoyed, but Mariel wore an innocent, natural expression as if she didn’t know what was happening.

In fact, this was the main reason she wanted to come find him in the first place.

After taking a deep breath and calming herself down, Mariel finally opened her mouth.

“Sister had a bruise on her wrist,” she said.

At that moment, Calix could not believe his ears. These were words that he had not expected in the slightest, and were therefore shocking. But he couldn’t help but ask himself if he had heard it wrong.

“It’s as if someone had grabbed her wrist tightly and for a long time.”

The child’s face, while she explained with her wrist extended, was full of concern for her only sister.

Calix’s face, which was like a statue up until now, had a slight crack in it.

“Does Your Excellency happen to know why?’

To which he could not answer…

I enjoyed working on this chapter