novelraw Chapter 126
Chapter 126
Episode 126
Flora declined Benio's invitation to have a meal together, using the excuse that she had no appetite, and remained alone in her room.
Not feeling like talking to anyone, she sent all the maids away. Only after being alone did she remember something she had forgotten.
"Ah, I forgot to ask where Basil is staying."
It felt awkward to call the maids now, but it was better than calling Benio again, so Flora opened the door and stepped out with a shameless expression.
"Do you need assistance, Young Lady?"
The maids waiting outside the door were always kind.
But knowing this affectionate demeanor wasn't solely for her sake, but rather because they were projecting someone else onto her, it didn't feel particularly welcoming.
Nevertheless, Flora smiled as if she knew nothing and asked,
"Hey, by any chance, where are the other guests besides us staying?"
"Other guests? To my knowledge, there are no guests currently at the Marquis's castle besides the Young Master and you, Young Lady."
She had overlooked the fact that Basilian was staying with the employees or mercenaries. Flora asked again.
"Ah, then what about the employees who came with us? The knights or mercenaries, or um..."
Even as she fumbled for words, the maid did not lose the smile on her lips.
She answered that they were staying in the annex and posed a new question.
"Were our services perhaps inconvenient? Should we call for new maids?"
"Huh? No, it's not that."
As Flora denied it, even shaking her hands, the head maid pondered for a moment before asking again.
"Are you perhaps looking for someone among the employees? If so, I will bring them to your room."
"Would you do that? His name is Basil, he's a few years older than me. Ah, he's eleven. And he's a boy, with a very pretty and handsome face. His hair is black..."
As Flora listed Basilian's features one by one while thinking of him, she noticed the head maid's gaze turning微妙 and immediately stopped speaking.
"I beg your pardon, but... Young Lady, to my knowledge, there are no children among the Lucifer employees."
"...Huh? Then maybe look among the mercenaries?"
"I heard there are no mercenaries in your party either."
At this completely unexpected statement, Flora blinked.
"Really?"
When she asked again with a very flustered face, the maid nodded cautiously.
"Yes, we meticulously checked the castle's entry roster and all faces when you first arrived, so I'm certain."
At the head maid's confident words, Flora could only return to her room without finding out anything.
'What's going on?'
Basilian had clearly departed before Flora, so he should have arrived long ago.
'Even if he took a wrong turn and got lost, it's been days now; he should definitely be here, shouldn't he?'
Someone of the head maid's rank wouldn't make a mistake about this, which meant Basilian truly wasn't here.
'...Could it be that Basil and my oppa lied to me?'
Perhaps Basilian had left long ago, and because Flora was so upset, Benio had told a white lie to placate her first.
Frustration began to well up in Flora's cheeks again.
She couldn't simply view Benio's habit of keeping secrets from her in a positive light.
"He could just be honest."
Wouldn't that be better than hiding things, getting caught later, and struggling to clean up the mess? Why did he make this choice?
For the first time, Flora couldn't understand Benio. No, she didn't want to understand.
He said his actions were for her sake, but wasn't this ultimately a conclusion reached by others without reflecting her own opinion?
'It's uncomfortable.'
Her feelings twisted this way and that, and only resentful thoughts towards everyone around her kept filling her head.
Why did Athanas and Benio hide her mother's existence from her so thoroughly? Why did Basilian, knowing she would be upset, leave ahead as if running away? Why were the people here projecting her mother onto her? Why did she have to be hated by the Grand Marquis when she had done nothing wrong?
Entangled in these complex, tangled emotions, Flora finally let out a long sigh.
Flora let her shoulders slump listlessly and threw herself onto the bed.
It was so plush that it felt comfortable enough to sink halfway into it.
Her head was so complicated she just wanted to sleep and not think about anything, but of course, at times like these, sleep wouldn't come.
"This is frustrating."
「What is troubling you?」
At Janet's question, Flora only turned her head towards the sound.
Janet and Pascal, in their sparrow forms, were tilting their heads and looking at Flora.
「You don't look like yourself, your face is dark. Are you worried about something?」
Even the slow-witted Pascal had noticed; her mood must really look bad.
"...I can't find Basilian."
Feeling like she was being childish for complaining, she was embarrassed to voice her true feelings and gave an evasive answer, but received an unexpected reply.
「That mercenary human, you mean? If it's that child, he was staying in a small, hidden lodge behind the annex in the hunting grounds.」
"...What?"
「What? Were you in a funk because of that guy? He was doing just fine on his own.」
"What!"
Just moments ago, she had been irritated for various reasons, and knowing it wasn't something people had done intentionally, she had tried to endure and let it go.
But Pascal's subsequent words caused Flora's simmering anger to explode.
"He's relaxing without a care, not even thinking that I might be worried? How could Basil do that?"
「H-How should I know?」
Seeing Flora's furious expression, Pascal backed away in quick, short steps.
No, the moment he tried, Flora scooped up both sparrows in her hands and sprang up from her spot.
She flung the door open and stepped out, startling the maids, who looked at her with utterly bewildered faces.
"Y-Young Lady?"
"I'm going out for a bit!"
"Pardon me? Wait a moment, Young Lady! You should move with us or an escort!"
The moment Flora stepped into the corridor, she started running flat out, leaving the flustered maids to chase after her.
But Flora had no intention of being caught.
"Just stop them enough so they don't get hurt."
As her command fell, the birds nodded, then fluttered up and flew towards the two maids chasing them.
"Oh my, why are the birds...!"
"Young Lady, you must move with us!"
As the sparrows suddenly flapped their wings right in front of their faces, blocking their view, the panicked maids forgot they were in a corridor and shouted loudly.
Hearing this, one of the escort knights who had been waiting quietly further back hurriedly chased after Flora.
"I'm just going for a walk! Don't worry!"
"Young Laaady!"
But he, too, soon slipped suddenly, falling and landing hard on his backside.
Fortunately, he had twisted his body just before falling heavily, so it only ended with a sore backside, but by the time he lifted his head, Flora had long since disappeared.
"Young Lady?"
The flustered knight called for Flora several times, but no matter how much he looked around, she was nowhere to be seen.
Confirming that Flora had escaped safely, the birds also lightly flew up and slipped out through a window.
"What do we do? We must find the Young Lady immediately!"
"But we don't know where she went, what should we do?"
"We have to search the entire castle if we must. What are you all doing? Everyone, move quickly!"
At the head maid's urgent demeanor, everyone began to scatter, running.
The knight also blamed himself for letting her slip away so futilely and moved urgently. Because of this, no one noticed.
The thin layer of transparent, hard ice that had been spread where the knight fell just moments ago was quietly melting away.
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · · · · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
Having successfully shaken off the maids, Flora left the castle, hiding her body as much as possible to avoid being seen by anyone.
'Phew, I got out safely.'
Fortunately, the birds had drawn attention, so she wasn't caught. Now she just needed to find Basilian.
"Follow me this way."
Pascal flew up high to keep watch for anyone approaching, while Janet, clinging to Flora's shoulder, took charge of guiding her.
Thanks to the demonic energy infused under her feet, she could move quickly, and before long, she arrived in front of the lodge in the hunting grounds where they said they had seen Basilian.
"There's no one around."
Pascal, who had been checking the vicinity, settled on the shoulder opposite Janet and spoke.
"Good, then let's go in."
Hearing there were no watching eyes, Flora proceeded without hesitation. She knocked firmly on the rough-looking wooden door.
"Is anyone there?"
But no answer came.
She knocked several times, but with no response, the mood that had improved after her successful escape from the maids' sight plummeted again.
BAM BAM BAM!
As she pounded the door roughly with her bare fists, as if to break it, a clattering sound of something falling over was heard from inside.
Just as Flora, now certain someone was there, was about to pound the door again...
"I-I'll open it!"
With a welcome voice, the door swung wide open, and inside stood Basilian, his hair wet as if he had just washed it.
He asked with an utterly flustered face.
"W-what brings you here?"