Chapter 01
Escape
“Hup!”
Elloze gripped the stem of the potato plant with all her strength and yanked it from the ground.
With a loud crack as the roots tore free, a cluster of plump potatoes came tumbling out of the soil.
“Wow, these grew especially well this time.”
With a satisfied smile, Elloze brushed the dirt from the potatoes.
The basket beside her was already filled to the brim.
After spending quite some time digging up potatoes, Elloze finally stood and rubbed her aching lower back.
“That should be enough for today.”
She turned her head and gazed at the vegetable garden spread out before her.
She had watered it with cool water drawn from the little stream running through the forest.
The soil was moist, and clear droplets of water clung to the leaves.
It was a lush little garden where everything was growing so vibrantly that anyone who saw it would have called it a bountiful harvest.
No one would ever imagine there was a garden like this hidden inside the forest.
And naturally so.
Where was she standing, after all?
This was the Viera Forest.
Though it had a proper name, everyone called it the Cursed Forest.
From the outside, it looked like a dark forest packed so densely with enormous trees that not even a ray of sunlight could penetrate.
And because it was located behind Viera Monastery, it was nearly impossible to reach.
“I should head back soon.”
Muttering the words that had long since become a habit, Elloze picked up the basket overflowing with potatoes.
But potatoes were not the only things inside.
There were plump cabbages, ripe tomatoes, and wild berries with a sweet fragrance.
The basket was packed with all sorts of delicious food.
Every time Elloze moved, the old novice nun’s robe she wore fluttered around her legs.
The garment was so worn and patched that it was practically nothing more than a rag, but Elloze didn’t care.
Who else is here to see me, anyway?
Pushing her way through the dense undergrowth, Elloze walked deeper through the forest.
Soon, an old cottage at the edge of the forest came into view.
It was an old hunter’s cabin that had been built many years ago.
This was the place Viera Monastery had given her.
And it was where Elloze had lived for the past fourteen years.
Fourteen years ago, Elloze’s mother, the owner of the Espensia Trading Company, passed away.
According to the law, all of her property was supposed to be inherited by her daughter, Elloze.
But Count Bazelan, Elloze’s father, used his daughter’s young age as an excuse to seize the fortune that should have belonged to her.
Of course, he claimed that as her father, it was only natural for him to manage his daughter’s inheritance.
But everyone knew the truth.
Count Bazelan had no intention of giving his daughter even a single penny.
He intended to spend every last bit of it himself.
He had once been the eldest son of a fallen count’s family.
If Elloze’s maternal grandfather hadn’t coveted the title and taken him in as his son-in-law, he would likely have died in a gambling den.
After his wife died, he quickly remarried and replaced all the servants working at his wife’s estate with people loyal to him.
The nanny and maids who had cared for Elloze were driven from the estate overnight.
Having lost the familiar people around her one after another, first her mother and then her beloved caregivers, Elloze fell into depression.
Count Bazelan told everyone,
“It seems the shock has been too much for Elloze, so I intend to send her to a monastery to recover.”
Elloze had been eight years old at the time.
It was called a period of recuperation, but in reality, it was little more than imprisonment.
That was because Viera Monastery was practically a fortress.
There was only one road leading up the hill to the monastery, while a forest stretched out behind it.
At the far end of the forest stood a towering cliff, making it impossible to leave the area without passing through the monastery.
On the day Elloze arrived at the monastery, the abbot came running out to greet her himself.
He was delighted to see Elloze.
Or, more precisely, he was delighted by the bribes that had been sent to him under the name of Elloze’s belongings.
They were payment to ensure that Elloze would never leave the monastery and would remain safely confined there.
“A young lady of such a noble family must surely need a quiet, private place, don’t you think?”
“That is why I prepared one especially for her.”
The abbot secretly picked out all the valuables from Elloze’s luggage.
Then, along with whatever remained, he sent Elloze off to the old cabin.
And so, after his wife died, Elloze’s father cast his own daughter aside and took control of her entire fortune.
Fortunately, an elderly nun took pity on Elloze and cared for her.
Thanks to her, Elloze was able to grow up safely.
But that nun passed away in the year Elloze turned eighteen.
After that, Elloze remained here all alone.
Once the nun who had cared for her was gone, the monastery began sending her meals every other day.
It was the kind of food even a stray dog would refuse to eat.
Remembering the meals she had been given, Elloze sighed.
They were nothing that could reasonably be called food.
They looked as though someone had scraped together discarded leftovers and dumped them in front of her.
“Did they really think I was going to eat that?”
Elloze smiled as she looked at the basket overflowing with food.
Over the past several years, she had secretly cultivated this vegetable garden deep inside the forest without the monastery’s knowledge.
“And by now, they probably think I’m slowly wasting away.”
She had deliberately made them think so.
That way, their surveillance would grow lax.
Humming softly, Elloze continued walking through the forest.
They said that cursed werewolves appeared here at night.
Quite a few people at the monastery even claimed to have seen them with their own eyes.
That was why no one dared set foot in the forest.
It was all a lie.
Elloze remembered the hunter’s diary she had found on the floor when she first arrived at the cabin.
According to him, the hunter had deliberately wrapped himself in a wolf pelt and wandered through the forest on dark nights.
He had done it to frighten away the monks who came demanding payment for using the forest.
That wasn’t all.
The hunter had even pretended to be insane in front of the monks, muttering that a cursed beast roamed the forest at night.
Thanks to that, the monks became even more afraid of the forest.
The hunter had been able to hunt wild animals in the deserted forest, make a considerable amount of money, and eventually leave the place.
But the rumors remained.
And I even lied to the monks myself, telling them that something was wandering around the forest at night.
She had told them so with a terrified expression on her face, and the monks had hurried away with their faces gone pale.
After that, no one came anywhere near the forest except the person who delivered her meals.
Caw! Caw!
A flock of crows suddenly took flight with raucous cries.
Someone was approaching.
Elloze immediately ran toward the cabin.
She went inside, hid the basket of potatoes beneath the bed, then pulled out a filthy, threadbare robe and draped it over herself.
Next, she opened a bottle sitting in the corner and splashed the liquid inside over her clothes.
“Ugh!”
The rotten, foul stench assaulted her nose.
But she had to endure it.
Elloze held her breath and listened carefully.
Soon, she heard footsteps approaching.
Huh?
Something was strange.
Usually, only one monk came to deliver her food before leaving.
But today, there were two people approaching.
Knock, knock.
The monk who had arrived at the cabin knocked on the door.
“Lady Elloze, I’ve brought your meal.”
Creak.
Elloze deliberately opened the door slowly.
“Ugh!”
The moment Elloze emerged with the robe pulled over her head, the monk recoiled from the wave of rotten stench that rushed toward him.
“Thank you… very much. Cough! Cough! Today as well… cough!”
“Please, don’t speak! It’s all right!”
Elloze deliberately spoke in a harsh, ragged voice and broke into a fit of coughing.
The monk looked horrified, quickly set down what he had brought, and backed away.
Then he glanced at the man who had accompanied him.
The man gave a small nod before turning around.
“Th-then, I’ll be going now!”
The monk hurriedly turned and left with the man.
Once Elloze saw them enter the monastery, she returned to the cabin and opened the window.
“Ugh… No matter how many times I smell it, I can never get used to that rotten stench.”
She had deliberately mixed various herbs into the liquid to make herself appear sickly.
Elloze tossed off the robe and looked at the meal the monk had brought.
It was still little more than food waste.
She threw it out the window, and the crows waiting outside immediately swooped down and snatched it up.
Elloze took a tomato from the basket hidden beneath her bed, rubbed it against her skirt, and bit deeply into it.
Refreshing juice filled her mouth, followed by crisp flesh with a faint sweetness.
As Elloze chewed enthusiastically, she fell deep into thought.
It must have been someone Father sent.
The man who had come with the monk.
He had clearly been there to inspect her.
It wasn’t difficult to guess who had sent him.
But why now?
The man had abandoned her here fourteen years ago and never once bothered to look for her.
So why had he suddenly come to check on her?
I need to find out.
Swallowing the rest of the tomato, Elloze’s eyes gleamed.
Late that night, Elloze opened the back door of the monastery.
Still the same.
She walked inside as naturally as if she belonged there.
In truth, she came here quite often.
I can find vegetables, fruit, and meat in the forest, but there’s nothing I can do about sugar, butter, flour, and milk.
Whenever she needed things like those, she would sneak into the kitchen at night.
It’s gotten even more of a mess since the last time I came.
Looking at the kitchen, which was even more chaotic than she remembered, Elloze clicked her tongue inwardly.
Every plate was coated in a thick layer of meat grease, while the tables were covered with empty wine bottles.
Judging by the state of the place, it seemed the monks had spent the evening eating and drinking to their hearts’ content.
Elloze quietly peeked into the storeroom attached to the kitchen.
Plenty of butter, and they’ve baked a lot of bread, too.
I’ll take some with me when I leave.
Just as she was checking what she could take and preparing to leave, she heard voices approaching the kitchen from the corridor.
Without panicking, Elloze adjusted the cloth covering her head, went over to the sink, and began washing dishes.
Not long after, two heavily drunk monks stumbled into the kitchen.
They saw Elloze washing dishes, but simply looked away and headed toward the place where the wine bottles were stacked.
Of course.
They were drunk enough to assume that she was a novice nun who handled all the menial chores.
Pretending to concentrate on washing the dishes, Elloze listened carefully to their conversation.
At first, they were talking about what kind of liquor they should take with them.
But before long, the subject of their conversation changed.
“Who was that guest who came today? Why is the abbot making such a fuss over him? The donation must be enormous. He looked like he was about to burst with happiness. Thanks to that, we even got to have this drinking party.”
“You didn’t hear? You know that woman who was abandoned in the cabin?”
“Lady Elloze?”
“Lady, my ass. She’s just some woman waiting to die in this backwater monastery. Anyway, it seems her father died.”
“……!”
Elloze involuntarily stopped moving.
Father died?
She had thought he was the one who had sent someone to investigate her.
But he was dead?
She wasn’t sad.
She barely remembered him anymore, and he was the man who had abandoned her here.
She was simply shocked by the sudden news.
Meanwhile, the monks continued talking.
“What? Then that woman is a countess now, isn’t she?”
“Technically, yes… But you asked who the guest was, right? He was sent by the deceased Count’s wife.”
Just before Elloze had been sent away from the estate, her father had taken a new wife.
Her name was Camilla, wasn’t it?
That woman had sent someone here?
Elloze swallowed hard.
A chill ran down her spine.
“I don’t know all the details, but apparently, according to the law, the inheritance process has to begin within a week of someone’s death. If it isn’t done within that time, things get complicated.”
“So they want Lady Elloze kept here for a week?”
“Don’t be stupid. If that were all they wanted, they could just leave her alone like they’ve been doing. Why would they send someone all the way here and give the abbot a huge sum of money?”
The monk drew a finger slowly across his throat.
“They want us to take care of her here so there won’t be any trouble.”
Take care of her.
The words struck Elloze’s mind like a bolt of lightning.
