Chapter 71: 71

‘Indeed, isn’t it natural for her to be weaker than me, who grew up running around the neighborhood since I was little?’

I quickly turned around to hide my flustered expression.  

“U-Until then, figure out your issue and be good. Okay?”  

“Yes!” 

Yuria bravely replied and left the room. 

I waited until the sound of her footsteps completely disappeared, then collapsed on the bed.  

“I can’t even be a villain.” 

Sweat dripped down my back.  

I didn’t know being mean could be so tiring.  

How could the villains in fairy tales be so heartless?  

‘Anyway, if I draw a line like this, it won’t be bothersome, right?’

Now, I had no intention of giving back to Yuria what she had done to me.  

This was because there were so many things to do before thinking about forgiveness or whatsoever.

‘For now, the most important thing is to live in the Duke’s Castle. Pouring hatred on Yuria is a waste of time.’ 

There was no time to bully a troublemaker in a situation where knives were shoved around my own neck.

In addition, when I eventually run away, her life would be destroyed on its own.

Because no one in any family would accept the runaway fake princess’ friend even as a maid.

I plopped onto the bed and pressed hard on the side of my head, tired of thinking of villain-like lines.  

Then a good idea flashed.  

‘Wait a minute. Yuria clearly said she’d do anything, right?’

Yuria was not a good child. But she was cornered and was now struggling to get points from me.

I wasn’t going to harass her meaninglessly, but I could use her appropriately.

***

Late in the afternoon, I put on my robe and called Yuria into the bedroom. 

Yuria looked more haggard than before. I didn’t know what she had been thinking about.

I asked her to sit by a table that had a toy tea set.

“You and I are playing house here.” 

“What?” 

Yuria narrowed her eyes. 

“Shhh.” 

I brought my index finger to my lips and blinked at the tightly locked door.

“I’ll be out for a while, so don’t ever open the door no matter who comes. Do you understand?”

As if she had realized my intentions just then, she hurriedly drew a cross over her lips with her fingers.

“Yes! I’ll never say where you’re going. No, I won’t even ask where!”

As expected of Yuria. She was really quick at reading the air.

She seemed to know exactly what I wanted. 

“Then I’ll go.” 

As I was about to leave the room, Yuria stretched her arms out and blocked me.

I did my best to frown and speak harshly on purpose.

“What is it?” 

“Umm… You’ll be caught instantly if you go out through the door.”

Yuria looked around and pulled a long blanket out from under the bed.

“Go out through the window. I’ll drop you with a rope.”

She skillfully tied three or four blankets together.

The double-triple knot looked sturdy even at a glance.

“Oh, right, you have a big doll, right? I’ll put the Princess’ bonnet on it and put it by the window. If people looked at it from the outside, they would be deceived.”

I was dumbfounded, and I lowered my eyes.

I was going to use Yuria a little bit, but she was helping a lot more than I thought. 

“You seem accustomed to going out without your parents’ knowledge, you…”

Yuria avoided eye contact, perhaps because she was guilty. It was a good sign for me. 

A very strong conviction arose in my heart.

She could buy me enough time to go outside.

As soon as I went down the rope, I hid in the grass.

Fortunately, there was no sign of anyone nearby. 

I carefully took out a ‘perfume’ to get rid of my body scent and sprayed it all over my body.

‘I didn’t know this would help again. Thanks, Michael.’

Perfume wasn’t the only thing Michael had helped me with.

As far as I remember, the children’s greenhouse was close to the northern forest where the tower was located. And he showed me a side road to the greenhouse the other day.

‘When you see the remains of a stone tower, turn left, and when you see an abandoned sign, turn right…’

Desperately, I searched for a side road, recalling the old memories. 

After a while, I reached the greenhouse. It was a miracle that I didn’t get lost.

‘But the real problem starts now.’

After passing the greenhouse and going a little further inside, there was a stone wall dividing the northern forest and the garden.

It was a wall high enough to be called a fortress.

I placed my left hand on the stone wall and continued walking.

After a while, my fingertips slipped into the stones. 

I stopped in place and looked at the stone wall.

There was a hole in the wall, it looked like it had been made with a chisel.

Traces resembling that of an animal’s claws continued at regular intervals up to the top of the wall.

“Found it.”

These were definitely the claw marks of a beast. 

Alan and Pedro climbed up the walls with their claws, so I thought there would be at least one.

‘I wondered what would happen if there wasn’t anything unusual with this wall… I’m glad my prediction came true.’

I swallowed dry saliva and wrapped cloth around my hand. Then, I put my hands and feet in the mugwort-shaped groove.

The hole in the wall was just the right size for me to use to climb up.

“Ugh.” 

I climbed the stone wall. 

It shouldn’t take long, but a strong wind blew all over my body.

As I was trying to balance, one foot slipped all the way.

“Ahh!”

My body tilted diagonally.

I gasped for breath as I barely hung on the wall.

One leg swayed in the air, but fortunately, the other leg was still safely stepping on a stone.

“…Ugh.” 

My stomach was pressed against the cold wall. 

I had climbed a wall this high before. It was the day my real father didn’t save me.

But after which, I fell to the ground and never got up again until morning came.

“Please….” 

The prayer came out automatically. 

I didn’t even know who I was praying to.

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“Please let me go up just this one time.” 

I opened my eyes and moved my feet again. One step, another step….

I focused more on the stone in front of me than on the top. And eventually I got to the top.

I couldn’t believe it myself, so I stood blankly on the wall for a while.

“I’m… up here.” 

Looking at it from above, the amount I climbed was shorter than I thought.

I was a little dejected, but it wasn’t that bad. 

I calmly climbed down the opposite side of the wall.

This one had twice as many claw marks, so it was much easier than going up.

As soon as my feet touched the ground, my stomach suddenly felt weak.

I slumped down. 

“Ugh…” 

My sweaty body trembled. 

It seemed that I was more nervous than I thought I was when climbing up and down the stone wall.

“…Let’s hurry up.”

I forced myself to stand up and listen to my own words, then staggered towards the tower. 

The tower was as high as a lighthouse, so there was no fear of getting lost.

By the time I arrived near the tower, the sun was slowly setting.

I paused for a moment to catch my breath. There was still the last gateway to get to Benny.

‘The guard who stands at the entrance to the tower.’

I took off the hood of the robe and straightened my hair.

I had no intention of sneaking past the guard, nor paying a bribe to him. 

I was determined to show my face and enter confidently.

‘If I tell him that Alan gave me permission, I’m sure he’ll believe me. Because I’ve come this far from the entrance of the forest.’ 

At the entrance of the northern forest, there were many more knights guarding the iron gate than the magic tower.

If I lied that I had already passed them, he would not confirm with Alan again.

‘He’ll probably get scolded by Alan later. But it’s not me, it’s the guard.’

I would be able to solve the problem by insisting that it was my fault.
(PR/N: to which Alan will probably say it isn’t her fault…)

I straightened my hair and started walking.

‘The surveillance over me will become even more severe…’ 

The strangely high magic tower got closer and closer. Without realizing it, I gradually moved faster.

‘Meeting Benny alone would be like picking the stars in the sky. But it doesn’t matter.’

By that time, I would have already revealed my identity to Benny.

‘…Everything will be alright.’ 

I certainly thought so. Until I reached the tower.

“Huh?” 

I stood like an idiot and spit out a weird sound.

There was no guard standing at the entrance of the tower.

Even when I went around the wall, I couldn’t find them.

‘What is it?’ 

Anxiety suddenly struck me. I hurriedly entered the tower. 

As I descended, I saw a small prison as usual.

A desolate cell and simple furniture. Holy Books were neatly laid out on the table.

Up to that point, the scene was the same as the last time I saw it, but there was one important difference.

“…Benny?”

I looked around anxiously. 

‘Benny is gone.’

He disappeared like a fantasy without leaving a trace. 

Suddenly, the fact that he had escaped the Imperial Palace flashed through my mind, and my heart sank.

‘Could it be…?’ 

Did Benny run away? 

But why?

‘Even though he said he wanted to be by my side back then, why now?’

I couldn’t understand Benny’s true intentions at all. In a way, it was normal. 

Even on the day Benny escaped from the Imperial Palace, I couldn’t predict his behavior or even the reason why he did it.

“…Benny. Benny!” 

I quickly climbed the stairs. My heart was pounding.

‘What do I do? Should I tell people? But what’s next?’

I had to find Benny.

After leaving the dungeon, sweating, I suddenly looked at the stairs going up the tower.

‘Even if it’s Benny, he wouldn’t have escaped far yet.’

The first person noticed that Benny disappeared was me, it meant that it hadn’t been long since he ran away. 

Then I might see him if I climb higher.

That simple reason guided me. 

Without thinking any further, I hurried up the stairs.

The spinning stairs continued endlessly like a Mobius strip, but there was no time to feel out of breath.

The remnants of the bloody sunset that flowed from the side windows of the tower seemed to follow me closely. 

Even if I ran to the point my view turned yellow, the stairs did not finish.

After a long while, I reached the top floor of the tower. 

However, I couldn’t look down at the scenery under the tower to find Benny.

This was because a door, tightly locked with chains and padlocks, stood in my way.

Standing blankly in place at an unexpected situation, I clenched my fists and knocked on the door.

“Benny! Benny! Are you here?!” 

No matter how much I knocked, the door wouldn’t budge.

I knew by intuition. Benny wasn’t here. 

I sat down with my head pressed to the door.

Thousands of questions ran through my mind. 

‘Aside from escaping, what if Benny leaves forever? How do I run away without Benny? In this castle where I might be cut off at any time…’ 

I wanted to cry. Where did Benny go after leaving me?

‘Even if you want to go, you should have at least told me. So that I wouldn’t be too surprised…’ 

Thinking that far, I suddenly felt despondent.

‘Ah. I don’t deserve to think about this.’

After all, I was also trying to use Benny. 

If this escape was a choice to not be used by me, I got it. Everything made sense. 

As I was crouching down like a pill bug, I heard a familiar voice above my head.

“Lily.” 

I raised my view, blurred with tears, my eyes met with cool, jade-colored eyes.

Alan was looking down at me. 

As always, with a kind, worried look in his eyes.

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