Chapter 10

Because Ayla’s hearing was extraordinarily sharp, she heard him clearly, though it was far too quiet for an ordinary person to catch.

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

A bitter expression lingered on his face.

It was obvious what he was thinking.

‘She loves going outside this much… Is it really right to keep such a young girl locked up all the time?’

Something along those lines.

Pretending she hadn’t heard anything, Ayla focused on eating her sandwich.

No matter how guilty Cloud felt toward her, there was no chance he would betray Byron and help her.

She had no use for sympathy that would never become action.

Why did time pass so painfully slowly?

When she was little, she hated being locked alone in her room.

It was lonely.

It was frightening.

Yet somehow, those lonely hours had always seemed to fly by.

But now?

She wanted nothing more than to hurry back to her room and find out what that hidden space really was.

Yet time refused to move.

Even while eating dinner…

Even while Laura brushed and cared for her hair…

Ayla grew increasingly impatient as the hours crawled by.

“It’s done. Your hair is beautiful again today, Miss. Master will surely be proud.”

Laura set the brush down after finishing her work.

Finally.

She was free.

“Thank you, Laura.”

Now hurry up and go downstairs and lock me in this room.

Ayla offered a thank-you she didn’t mean.

Laura replied in an equally lifeless voice.

“You’re welcome.”

It was a conversation no different from any other day.

Laura opened the attic hatch and climbed down the ladder.

A moment later, the sound of the lock clicking into place echoed through the room.

Lying flat on the floor with her ear pressed against the hatch, Ayla waited until Laura’s footsteps had completely faded before letting out a long breath.

Now the night belonged entirely to her.

“I’ll start by checking this side.”

She walked over to the north wall and illuminated it with the lamp.

It was nothing more than a plain stone wall.

Not a single decoration.

Normally, places with hidden rooms always had some sort of mechanism—a carved brick, an engraved symbol, or at least a torch holder.

But this wall had none of those things.

“I was sure there had to be something… Was I mistaken?”

It was disappointing.

She had expected to discover some kind of clue, yet there was absolutely nothing.

Still…

She couldn’t give up yet.

“There has to be a reason. Otherwise, the inside and outside layouts wouldn’t be different.”

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, she rested her chin on her right hand and stared intently at the wall, searching for anything unusual.

She stared until her eyes stung.

Just when she was about to give up—

“Huh?”

One of the gaps between the stones was ever so slightly wider than the others.

“Maybe the builders simply made a mistake…”

Still, she couldn’t ignore even the smallest difference.

The gap was so narrow that an adult couldn’t fit even a single finger inside.

A dagger or another thin tool would have been useful.

Fortunately, because she was in the body of a child, her fingers were slim enough to fit.

Ayla slid her finger into the crack.

The rough stone scraped against her skin, making it sting, but she endured it and pushed her finger in deeper.

A moment later, she felt something catch against her fingertip.

Click.

With a quiet sound, the stone wall swung open.

She had apparently pressed the hidden switch that unlocked the secret door.

“Interesting.”

She had studied countless hidden chambers throughout her life, but this was the first time she had seen one built like this.

It seemed to be a method used by the ancient people.

Picking up the lamp beside her, she shined it into the opening.

Then her expression immediately fell.

The chamber was sealed on all sides.

It wasn’t a passage.

It looked more like a hidden vault.

And the only thing inside was dust.

“No. It’s too soon to be disappointed. There’s still the opposite wall.”

Thinking that, she pushed the hidden door shut again.

Because it fit tightly among the surrounding stones, it was incredibly heavy.

She had to use all her strength just to close it.

By the time it finally shut, beads of sweat had formed on her forehead.

Once she had found the first one, locating the second mechanism wasn’t nearly as difficult.

It wasn’t in exactly the same position as the one on the north wall, but now that she knew what to look for, the wider crack immediately caught her eye.

Again, Ayla pressed the hidden button.

Thunk.

The stone door opened.

“Found it.”

As she shined the lamp inside, she couldn’t stop herself from smiling.

Hidden within the wall was a deep passageway that stretched into darkness.

There was no telling where it led.

There was no reason to hesitate.

She could simply find out herself.

Stepping onto the protruding stones, Ayla carefully began climbing downward.

The passage had been designed like a climbing wall, with stone ledges serving as handholds and footholds.

No matter how carefully she stepped, her footsteps echoed through the narrow shaft.

The sound reverberating through the confined space was eerily unsettling.

It had probably been countless years since a living person had entered this passage.

After climbing down for quite some time…

Her feet finally touched solid ground.

There, she noticed a tiny opening through which light was shining.

“Where is this?”

Ayla peered through the narrow slit.

The opening was so small that she could barely see outside.

Still, it was enough.

“The first-floor lobby…”

It was a familiar place.

The light she had seen came from a guard carrying a torch while making his rounds.

When the guard walked away, the light shining through the crack disappeared as well.

“Now then… how do I get out from here?”

She examined her surroundings.

Just like in her room, there had to be a button to open the wall from this side.

“Ah. Here it is.”

She found it almost immediately.

A small button had been cleverly hidden beside the peephole.

Apparently, it could be pressed from either side.

As long as she could leave her room…

The nights would belong to her from now on.

No one was better than she was at quietly gathering information while avoiding people.

A sly smile spread across her face as she pressed the button.

Shrrk…

The stone wall silently slid aside, opening a path before her.

Now that she was outside, there was something she had to do first.

She needed to steal a set of clothes that would be easier to move around in.

Sneaking around every night in a nightgown was inconvenient.

A training outfit would be far better.

She quietly slipped into the room where Laura and Capella stored her clothes and stole a dark-colored training uniform.

Then she returned to the lobby and reopened the hidden passage.

But she had no intention of returning to her room just yet.

Her highest priority was infiltrating Byron’s room.

Even if she couldn’t get inside tonight, she needed to figure out whether there was a way to sneak in.

She changed into the training clothes inside the narrow passage before stepping outside again.

Fortunately, the guard who had passed by earlier didn’t return immediately.

He was probably patrolling another area.

Listening carefully for any approaching footsteps, she quietly slipped out of the building.

Torches flickered in the distance as guards patrolled outside as well.

But avoiding them was easier than breathing for her.

Moving as silently as a cat, she slipped past them and looked up toward the second floor where Byron’s room was.

Light was still spilling from the window.

He wasn’t asleep yet.

Then again, Byron was a night owl.

It was still far too early for him to be sleeping.

He was undoubtedly getting drunk, as usual.

Fortunately, there was a large tree with thick leaves standing in the perfect position to spy on his room.

Ayla climbed it effortlessly and hid herself among the branches before peering inside.

Just as she had expected…

Byron was sitting there wearing nothing but a silk bathrobe, drinking wine.

His crimson hair was still soaking wet, apparently not yet dried after his bath.

His unfocused eyes showed just how much he had already drunk.

“…Ophelia.”

Holding a wineglass, Byron stared out the window and murmured softly.

“My Ophelia…

Why…

Didn’t you choose me?”

Completely drunk, Byron gazed into empty space with a sorrowful expression.

It was as though he were looking at an Ophelia who wasn’t really there.

Watching from her hiding place, Ayla clenched her fists tightly.

If she could…

She wanted to rip apart the mouth that dared to speak her mother’s name.

That filthy tongue had no right to utter it.

So Byron’s claim that Roderick had “stolen” Ophelia from him…

Had been a lie from the very beginning.

Ophelia herself had chosen Roderick—not Byron.

The very idea of saying someone had been “stolen” like an object disgusted her.

Even by Byron’s own twisted logic…

He had never possessed Ophelia in the first place.

Just as I thought.

As she had expected, Byron had been the one trying to force himself between two people who genuinely loved each other.

“…It doesn’t matter.

No matter who you love…

I love you.”

Clink.

Byron placed his wineglass on the windowsill and took something out of his robe pocket.

A purple gemstone sparkled in the moonlight.

It was his dagger.

Then Byron kissed the cold metal…

As though the dagger itself were his beloved Ophelia.

“The only woman who deserves to stand beside me…

…is you.

My beautiful Ophelia.”