MDIHC 03

Chapter 03 …

‘They’ll find me! I’m not even a zombie—just holding my breath isn’t going to hide me from them…’

“It’s best to stall for time and wait for reinforcements.”

‘Huh?’

The man’s voice, which had been approaching, now began to fade away. I cautiously opened my eyes, but the man who had clearly been right in front of me was now nowhere to be seen. Instead, his voice echoed from the staircase I had climbed earlier.

‘Did they really walk past me without noticing?’

The two men had already passed me by. No matter how dimly lit the corridor was, no matter how deep the shadows I was standing in, how could they not notice a full-grown woman just standing there?

‘Is it because I’m just an extra?’

Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind. Extras were supposed to be inconspicuous by nature. They were meant to exist without truly existing.

Even when the protagonists were fighting, extras were just there to spectate, never to intervene. When villains discussed secret plans in public places, or the male and female leads kissed freely in the streets, it was the extras’ job to melt into the background.

‘I survived because I had no presence…’

Just as I dropped my hand from my mouth and tried to breathe a sigh of relief—

“Who’s there!”

A cold, sharp blade was suddenly pressed against my neck. And the piercing glare that accompanied it glowed fiercely in the darkness, locking eyes with me.

“I asked you who you are.”

“Ugh!”

When I didn’t respond immediately, the man brought the blade even closer to my throat. I felt a sting on the skin around my neck, and in pain and fear, I instinctively lifted my chin to distance myself from the sword. Not that it did any good—my body just reacted on its own.

“Could she be a spy?”

“N-No! I’m just an ordinary baron’s daughter!”

Was this man trying to get someone beheaded in real time!?

I panicked and shouted as I overheard the other man whisper to the one with the sword.

“Don’t be fooled, Lord Winchester. For someone of your caliber—a Sword Master—to not sense her presence, this is no ordinary woman.”

Lord Winchester? So… this guy was Daniel’s father? That terrible man who didn’t even care about his own daughter?

“I swear, I’m innocent!”

Now that I realized who was threatening me, I felt even more wronged. Honestly, the one who deserved a blade to the neck was this jerk who neglected his daughter and tried to marry her off to some thug!

“Then how did you manage to hide your presence like that?”

“That’s, um…”

‘Because I’m just an extra, so I naturally have no presence’—yeah, right. As if he’d believe that. If I started spouting nonsense about being in a novel, I’d be institutionalized on the spot. There was no way I could say that out loud.

“I don’t know myself. I just got lost wandering around…”

“Hah! Even if the Camellia Mansion is big, how does someone get lost inside it? And a noble lady like yourself, who should be quite familiar with such buildings?”

Whoever you are—could you not butt in right now!? I’m one slip away from losing my neck here!

“Lord Winchester.”

I called his name in the calmest voice I could manage, but his gaze didn’t soften in the slightest. He still looked at me with cold, suspicious eyes.

“If you don’t believe me, you can send someone to the Pomots Baron family right now to confirm it. The second daughter of the Pomots family was invited to the ball tonight, and she attended. That’s me. They’ll confirm it.”

Each time I spoke, the sharp blade grazed my skin. But I ignored the pain and stared straight into Lord Winchester’s eyes.

Those icy blue eyes glowing in the dark.

“……”

The sword remained pointed at me. His frigid blue eyes still pierced through me. The air between us was so heavy I could barely breathe. More than the blade, it was the pressure he emitted that made me feel like I was suffocating.

I didn’t blink once, just kept looking at him.

He didn’t blink either, staring back at me.

Our eyes locked, our gazes tangled, and sweat began to bead on my palms. His presence overwhelmed me completely.

“…It doesn’t seem like she’s lying.”

Finally, just when my limbs had started to go numb from the tension and I felt dizzy from holding my breath too long—the sword at my throat was lowered.

“…Haa!”

“Lord Winchester!”

As I finally gasped for air, the man beside him shouted as if reprimanding him.

“She could still be a spy!”

“No, she’s not.”

“How can you be sure? She was hiding and eavesdropping on an important conversation!”

“She was pale as a ghost and trembling, yet clearly stated her identity.”

“So what?”

“A spy that scared would’ve either confessed or killed herself. She wouldn’t argue she’s innocent.”

Lord Winchester calmly sheathed his sword. As fast as it had been drawn, it was gone.

“But still…”

“Edan. Go write the letter I mentioned earlier and deliver it to the Imperial Palace.”

The man called Edan looked like he wanted to argue further, but Lord Winchester cut him off with a direct order.

“Yes, understood.”

Though Edan left to carry out his task, he still looked back at me with suspicion in his eyes.

“My apologies.”

Lord Winchester said this, though his expression showed no remorse.

“No, it was my fault for wandering around uninvited.”

He didn’t deny what I said. He’d pointed a sword at a stranger, even grazed her neck, but felt no guilt whatsoever.

‘Why does that suit him so well, though?’

Now that the threat to my life was gone, I finally got a good look at Lord Winchester’s face. Just like my mother had said—he was stunning.

Once the murderous gleam faded from his sharp eyes, he looked excessively handsome. His thick eyebrows framed delicate, piercing eyes. Even with the malice gone, his icy blue gaze still looked like it could see right through people.

His lips were set in a firm, proud line, the lower lip slightly fuller than the upper, giving his mouth an arrogant shape that oddly suited him.

“I’ll send someone to treat your wound.”

“Oh, that’s not necessary. It’s just a small scratch.”

It had already stopped bleeding.

“Then I’ll send someone to escort you home.”

“That’s okay too. My carriage should be waiting for me.”

“Please don’t reject my courtesy.”

His tone suddenly carried authority. That’s when I realized—it wasn’t a suggestion. It was an order. And he still hadn’t fully dropped his suspicions.

He meant to confirm my identity by having someone follow me to the Pomots estate.

“Yes, understood, Lord Winchester.”

Just like Edan had said, she was a suspicious woman. But the way she met his gaze so directly while explaining herself—it felt honest.

Those cold, emotionless eyes.

Most people couldn’t look Lorinus in the eye. They’d glance at him for a second, but couldn’t hold the stare.

That applied even to brave knights, and even his most trusted comrades.

‘Looking into Lord Winchester’s eyes makes you feel like you have to confess a crime—even if you’ve done nothing wrong.’

Even the Crown Prince, a man of higher rank, had half-jokingly, half-seriously said that to Lorinus. And it wasn’t hard to guess the words he didn’t say aloud:

‘Otherwise, it feels like I’ll die.’

Yet that woman had met Lorinus’s eyes head-on. Not only that, she had confidently explained her innocence.

‘Strange woman.’

Lorinus trusted his judgment more than the situation. His instincts—honed on battlefields where life and death were decided in moments—told him the woman was telling the truth.

Still, just in case, he ordered a subordinate to confirm her identity at her house. Then, he started heading back to the ballroom where the banquet was being held.

Just as he reached the stairs, he noticed a slightly open door. A sliver of light spilled out from inside.

“……”

He paused and stared at the door for a moment, then walked toward it. When he opened it, he saw a small child standing quietly inside the room.

“…Ah!”

The child gasped in surprise, as if seeing someone completely unexpected. Their round eyes—especially the blue within—reminded him of someone.

Someone Lorinus had once loved.

Someone he had failed to protect.