Chapter 23: 23

Not even able to run away from where we were together, I hesitated.

I started when Kirsec jumped to his feet. He approached me slowly, and I had to stop myself from taking a step back.

“It’s so hard to see your face, huh? You’re running away from me, aren’t you?”

“No.”

This time too, I looked at him with clueless, innocent eyes. But I guess that smokescreen doesn’t work anymore.

Kirsec reached out and pressed my lips hard – so hard my lips became carp lips.

“You’re not running away? Then why aren’t you going to your bedroom? Where do you even sleep?”

How dare you invade a lady’s bedroom? Where did you learn such manners?

Instead of voicing the sarcasm in my mind, I only blinked my round innocent eyes. And even if I’d wanted to say something, I couldn’t with the way he was pressing together my cheeks.

Looking down at me furiously, Kirsec shook my face hard – once to the left and once to the right – and only then did he let go.

I started thinking that maybe he was less upset than I’d feared. But then his hands came down and caught me by my shoulders.

“I’m holding it in because I don’t have evidence. But keep running away like this and…”

He then tapped me on the shoulder. ‘You better watch out!’ He seemed to be warning me. And just where did you learn to threaten someone? His actions were less of a kid’s and more like a back-alley bully!

Kirsec then went back and sat on his chair. As I stood watching, Kirsec nodded to the chair opposite him.

“What are you doing? Sit down.”

I sat down, and suddenly the table began to fill. I had a hunch about what was going to happen. Perhaps my face had turned pale. Kirsec said to me with his arms folded.

“Eat.”

I started forcibly swallowing the food on my plate at Kirsec’s gesture. I shoved it in again and again mechanically. With too much stuff stuck in my stomach, my mind felt rather empty.

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Once I had eaten enough to explode and was trying to waddle out the room in a daze, Kirsec warned me again.

“I’m warning you. Try to run away, and I won’t let you off.”

And did I stop running away just because he threatened me? Of course not.

I started hiding more earnestly. I stopped going to the dining hall and instead stole meals from the kitchen. I also avoided the people.

Considering everyone in the mansion to be an enemy, I sought out deserted places to stay. One time, I saw Kirsec at a distance and immediately hid. I could see him screaming and fuming, but I simply ignored it.

Just till my father returns. I held out with the hope that this sort of life will come to an end the moment my father returns.

“Arendine! Hey! Wait a second!”

Sometimes, I run into a maid or servant, and they would try to grab me with a look of urgency. But I would escape quickly. If I get caught, they’d surely take me to Kirsec.

Leaving behind their desperate cries, I chose to survive. Just as they chose their survival, I chose mine.

Like a wild beast, I endured a few more days. A normal kid wouldn’t have made it so far. But even though my body was young, my mind and persistence were those of an adult’s. My resentment was built up by all sorts of sorrows. My spiteful resolve was no less than Kirsec’s. So I endured and endured.

Then at one point, I noticed that the mansion had turned crammed. I stuck my head out and looked at what was going on.

And I saw the knights, crowding in through the main gate.

Finally! The knights who went on the expedition are back.

And father! Father is back!

I had never been so glad to meet my still unfamiliar father. Even Kirsec can’t bully me in front of my father!

Rushing out, I searched for my father among the knights.

But I couldn’t see my father, who was so big that he was hard to miss. Instead, I noticed His Grace the Grand Duke and Kirsec in a discussion.

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