I Think I Might Be a Murderer
“G-Giselle?”
“Sniff… I’m sorry, Rukna. Your touch was just so gentle.”
Giselle took out a handkerchief—but instead of wiping her own tears, she placed it in Rukna’s hand.
Did she want her to wipe them herself?
Thinking that this heroine—or possible hidden villain—had a strangely troublesome side, Rukna gently wiped her cheeks.
Giselle accepted her touch with a satisfied expression.
“What were you going to ask earlier, Rukna?”
“Oh. I just thought it was strange that a mere head maid could lock up a noble like you in the basement.”
By the way, she’s rubbing her face a bit too much against my palm…
Rukna slowly pulled her hand back.
Giselle looked at the retreating hand with regret.
“This isn’t imprisonment… it’s ‘discipline.’”
“Do your parents know about this?”
“Rukna, you really forgot everything.”
“…?”
“They both passed away. Uncle is acting as temporary head of the family instead of sick Brother Perta. After that, our house declined like this.”
“Ah… I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay. You’re Rukna.”
Only then did Rukna understand the head maid’s arrogant attitude and why the servants treated Giselle poorly.
The mansion was shabby and the servants rude because the Count family no longer had the power or wealth it once did.
‘She even gave me her late mother’s keepsake as travel money because she had no cash to give.’
Giselle explained that Rukna had been adopted into the Count family eight years ago. Soon after, the Count and Countess died in an accident.
After their deaths, for some reason Rukna left the mansion and lived separately. Later, she voluntarily entered the academy in place of sick Perta.
As soon as she heard that, one thought struck her.
‘Don’t tell me… I was the one who killed the Count and Countess?’
For a moment, she wondered if she was the hidden villain who destroyed the heroine’s family.
‘Why does that thought make me so uneasy?’
Cold sweat dampened her palms. She wiped them on her pants.
‘No matter what, escaping comes first.’
Rukna took out the necklace she had hidden under her clothes.
As she held the pendant in one hand like she had learned in the tutorial, it glowed. A silver sword hilt rose from the small round pendant.
When she pulled it outward, a long blade slid out smoothly.
It looked as if she were pulling a sword from her own heart.
Wow. This is incredible. It’s like magic!
Giselle stared at Rukna and the Holy Sword with wide eyes.
“W-What is that, Rukna?”
“My secret weapon.”
She even winked after saying that, though she herself was just as shocked.
Holding the sword with both hands, she naturally took a stance. It seemed this body had learned basic swordsmanship at the academy.
She swung it toward the iron bars.
Clang!
The thick, solid bars were cut as easily as tofu.
‘I only swung it once… and it cut iron like that?’
Maybe this body was stronger than she thought.
“Rukna, you’re amazing!”
Giselle clasped her hands together in admiration.
‘I really am amazing.’
Looking down at the sword in her hand, Rukna casually carved her name into the stone wall like signing it.
The blade cut smoothly, leaving neat letters.
Good sword.
She patted the Holy Sword like a puppy.
‘Hi, Bisbi. I think I passed the moral check now.’
「Yes, Master. Lock mode has been released.」
‘Tell me how to escape.’
「Please remove the unpleasant hand while I search for the optimal route.」
‘Unpleasant hand?’
Was it talking about her touching the blade?
She awkwardly lowered her hand.
At once, a hologram-like map appeared before her eyes.
This annoying sword.
The map was simple, like a navigation system. Though it said “optimal route,” it wasn’t the shortest path. That was a little strange.
‘I’ll trust it for now.’
Maybe it was guiding her to collect reward items along the way.
Rukna hurried Giselle, who was still crouching in the cell.
“Let’s go, Giselle.”
“But… the head maid hasn’t given permission for us to leave.”
The sparkle in Giselle’s eyes had faded. She looked frightened.
“Are you more afraid of the head maid than this prison?”
“I-It’s not that…”
“Even if I stay with you?”
“But you… you’re going back to the academy.”
You’ll leave again. Of course you’ll leave me.
Giselle murmured like someone deeply afraid of being left alone.
Her pale face wasn’t just fear—it looked like despair.
‘Does she have trauma?’
If she was the heroine—or even the hidden villain—she must have some painful story.
Several comforting words rose to Rukna’s lips.
But for some reason, she didn’t want to offer empty comfort.
“Then I won’t go. Forget the academy.”
It was an impulsive choice, but she didn’t regret it.
The sight of Giselle trapped in her own prison reminded her of herself wandering like a stranger in the orphanage in her past life.
“W-What did you say?”
“I’ll stay by your side. I won’t abandon you.”
She remembered something Sister Agnes had once told her in her past life.
“I’ll stay with you, Hayoon. I won’t abandon you. So don’t worry—let’s go out together.”
“So trust me and come.”
Even without an academy diploma, there were many ways to make money. With a smart Holy Sword, surely she could find something.
Giselle stared at Rukna’s hand, then grabbed it tightly and burst into tears.
“Sniff… sob…”
Like someone whose soul had been scarred by abandonment, she held Rukna’s hand desperately and slowly followed behind her.
This time wiping her own tears.
Rukna followed the Holy Sword’s guidance.
Just as expected, items were openly scattered along the route.
Giselle checked each one.
“This is a hidden account book! It proves the head maid was stealing our family’s money!”
“And this is a top-grade recovery potion only sold at the Magic Tower! Brother might improve with this!”
Giselle excitedly stuffed the items into a large sack.
‘They’re practically feeding us the solution.’
That must be why the sword marked this as the optimal path.
Then Giselle showed her a very dangerous-looking magic scroll.
Dark smoke slowly rose from it.
“Look, Rukna. A black magic scroll sealed during the Demon War!”
“…It already looks extremely dangerous.”
“It’s one of the heirlooms only direct members of the Golden family knew about.”
“Should you really be telling me that?”
“Rukna is Rukna.”
“…Right. I’ll just forget it.”
Rukna decided to erase what she saw today from her memory and moved to the final location on the map.
Then she stopped Giselle from coming closer.
“Wait. Don’t come near.”
In the corner of a cell lay a completely decayed corpse.
It was Rukna’s first time seeing a corpse—but strangely, she wasn’t shocked.
‘Something’s wrong. The Count couple died after I was adopted… and I’m not even disturbed by this.’
She felt calm, like someone used to seeing dead bodies.
Was she a serial killer?
That would be far worse than being a thief.
“R-Rukna. That’s the doctor who went missing last year. He’s wearing the bracelet Father gave him.”
Giselle covered her mouth.
“A doctor belonging to the Count family?”
Rukna’s eyes widened.
Was that why this body felt familiar with the sight?
“Yes. Brother was healthy for a while because of him… Why is he dead here?”
The answer was not hard to guess.
“Someone might have killed him and hired a worse doctor to make Young Master Perta’s condition worse.”
“My goodness. Who would do such a thing?”
“…Me?”
The thought slipped out of her mouth.
Giselle blinked quickly, then laughed.
“Ha ha, you’re still silly. You were at the academy then.”
“Ah… thank goodness.”
Rukna truly felt relieved. Being possessed into a minor character destined for execution would have been terrible.
“You’re so simple. There’s someone else I suspect.”
“Who?”
“The head maid.”
Giselle took a deep breath and stepped forward.
Rukna thought she would faint at the sight of the corpse—but instead, Giselle knelt and examined it carefully.
Her expression was firm.
“I failed to protect them, Rukna.”
“Huh?”
“This doctor. Brother. And you. If I had been braver, I could have protected you.”
She let out a slow breath and stood up.
“Thank you for holding my hand earlier. And for saying you’d stay with me. I’ll never forget it.”
Then she smiled gently.
“Let’s really get out of this prison.”
