Chapter 6
Eila couldn’t voice her frustration to Laura directly.
Instead, she vented it by roughly stabbing her spoon into the stew.
She was only a twelve-year-old child.
Was oversleeping really such a terrible crime that it deserved such a lecture?
Besides, she hadn’t even started that late.
It was summer, so the sun rose early, and training had begun just as the sky was starting to brighten.
Back then, all of this had seemed perfectly normal.
But after spending two years at the duke’s estate, where she had been loved as the duke’s daughter, everything now felt terribly unfair.
Even so, whenever complaints rose in her heart, she had always felt guilty and convinced herself that it was all necessary for Father’s sake.
“…Miss. Aren’t you going to answer?”
Apparently dissatisfied that Eila was only poking at her stew without replying, Laura demanded an answer in a sharp voice.
“Okay, Laura. I’ll do better. I’m sorry.”
Only after Eila answered in the same defeated tone she always used did the coldness finally leave Laura’s eyes.
“That’s more like it.”
Laura nodded smugly, pleased with her response.
To suppress her anger, Eila closed her eyes.
At that moment, she knew hundreds of ways to kill Laura with her bare hands.
She didn’t even need a weapon.
But she couldn’t ruin everything just to satisfy a moment of anger.
She had already decided that everyone who deceived her would pay with their lives.
Laura, who had willingly helped deceive her, would answer for her crimes as well.
But that day was still far away.
“If you’re finished eating, I’ll clear the table. I have other work to do.”
Whether she realized that Eila’s patience had just saved her life or not, Laura arrogantly cleared away the dishes without asking.
Eila wasn’t hungry anymore anyway, but the situation was still enough to leave a bitter taste in her mouth.
Laura returned not long after carrying away the dishes.
Naturally.
The “important work” she had mentioned was taking care of Eila’s hair.
As far back as Eila could remember, this had always been part of her daily routine.
Every single day, her long silver hair was brushed with a soft brush.
Every few days, a thick cream made from herbs and oils was carefully applied.
When Laura had been younger, her own mother had done it.
After Laura inherited the task, it continued even after Eila entered the duke’s household.
Although it was still early evening, Laura dressed Eila in her nightclothes, sat her on the bed, and carefully brushed her long hair.
Then she began applying the sticky herbal cream.
Apparently, today was one of those special treatment days.
Eila had always hated the sticky feeling.
But she had endured it for Father’s sake.
“You should consider yourself lucky, Miss. Master specially prepared this cream for his beloved daughter.”
Even while applying the cream, Laura never stopped talking.
If only she would close her mouth, this would have been much easier to endure.
“I know.”
Eila answered absentmindedly.
Before long, Laura finished.
She wiped away the excess cream with a soft cloth before applying a fragrant plant oil as the finishing touch.
Then she spoke in a stern voice.
“Now go to sleep. Unless you want to oversleep again tomorrow.”
The sun had not even fully set yet.
Her days had always ended like this.
Leaving only a tiny lamp burning in the windowless room, Laura stepped outside and, as always, locked the door from the outside.
She claimed it was to protect the precious young lady.
But if that were true, shouldn’t the lock have been on the inside?
No.
The lock existed for only one reason.
To stop Eila from escaping.
“…Haa.”
Lying down on the bed, Eila let out a long sigh.
Now that she knew the truth, she realized just how horribly she had been treated all those years.
The realization left a bitter feeling in her chest.
Still, once Laura locked the door and left, Eila finally had her most precious time of the day.
Her freedom.
The room was illuminated only by the dim light of the small lamp.
But darkness wasn’t an obstacle to her.
She had lived her entire life in places like this.
Years of training had made her perfectly comfortable in the dark.
The locked door wasn’t a problem either.
Fortresses like this rarely had only one entrance.
They usually stayed in one place for only a month or two—three or four at most.
Apparently no one had bothered to study the fortress in detail.
But Eila was different.
To become a better assassin, she had taught herself a unique skill.
Finding hidden passages inside buildings.
Even Cloud wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about it.
The only reason Eila had learned it was pure chance.
While wandering through abandoned forts, she occasionally stumbled across old books.
One day, while looking beneath a bed, she found a worn-out book.
She had no idea why its author had written it.
But it explained how to understand the structure of buildings and locate secret passages.
She read that book over and over during the months she stayed in that fortress.
She hoped it would someday help her avenge her father.
That had happened when she was fifteen.
The twelve-year-old Eila shouldn’t know any of this yet.
It was knowledge she possessed only because she had returned from the future.
Fortresses like this usually share similar layouts.
There has to be an escape route somewhere.
Feeling her way across the floor in the darkness, she soon found the hidden entrance.
She considered taking the lamp Laura had left behind.
But if the light disappeared from under the door, someone might become suspicious.
Reluctantly, she decided to go without it.
She briefly shined the lamp into the opening.
Fortunately, the underground passage showed no immediate danger.
To avoid dirtying her pajamas and arousing Laura’s suspicion, she threw a dark robe over them before jumping into the passage without hesitation.
She landed lightly.
Waiting for her eyes to adjust, she noticed thick dust covering the floor.
Apparently no one had used this tunnel in a very long time.
It had been a good idea to cover her nose and mouth with a handkerchief before entering.
Otherwise, she might have sneezed and revealed her presence.
Soon her eyes adapted to the darkness.
The hidden passage was exactly as she had expected.
Simple.
Her destination was Byron’s room.
She wanted to watch him.
Perhaps she could discover clues about whatever he was planning.
Of course, Byron’s room was on the sunny second floor.
This tunnel wouldn’t lead there directly.
First, she needed to find a passage back to the surface.
It should be this way.
Recalling the fortress’s layout, she headed north.
Before long, she spotted tree roots breaking through the tunnel walls.
There was likely an exit nearby.
Eila climbed an old wooden ladder.
She silently thanked fate for giving her a child’s body again.
The wood had decayed so badly that if she had weighed even a little more, it might have collapsed.
She slowly opened the hatch and peeked outside.
The huge tree roots concealed the exit so well that Byron’s men had apparently never noticed it.
After confirming no one was around, she climbed out and immediately hid among the branches of the giant tree.
The area was empty now.
But someone could appear at any moment.
Fortunately, no one came.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Eila slipped back into the fortress through a small second-floor window.
Calling it a window was generous.
It was really just a narrow opening in the stone wall.
But for a child her size, it was more than enough.
Suppressing every trace of her presence, she quietly approached Byron’s room.
Then she encountered an unexpected problem.
Just before reaching his door, she heard footsteps approaching from the opposite direction.
Damn.
Cursing inwardly, she quickly slipped into a narrow gap in the wall.
The person approaching was Cloud.
He was exceptionally skilled at sensing other people’s presence.
But Eila was even more confident in her ability to erase her own.
She believed she had already surpassed the very master who had trained her.
It was the result of years of relentless effort.
“…That’s strange.”
“I could have sworn someone was here.”
Cloud tilted his head and looked toward her hiding place.
She had been certain she was perfectly concealed.
Had she failed?
Fearing discovery, Eila slowed even her breathing until it was almost imperceptible.
Fortunately, Cloud soon shook his head, apparently deciding he had imagined it.
He walked to Byron’s door and knocked.
“Who is it?”
“It is Cloud.”
“Come in.”
Byron’s arrogant voice came from inside.
Cloud opened the massive wooden door and entered.
The old door didn’t block sound very well.
Wanting to hear more clearly, Eila rushed forward and caught the door just before it closed completely, leaving the slightest crack open.
“…So. How is the girl? Have you noticed anything suspicious?”
Byron asked.
It seemed they were talking about her.
“Yes, my lord. Her behavior is no different from usual. However… there is one thing that concerns me.”
Concerns him?
Startled, Eila pressed her ear closer to the crack in the door, desperately trying to remember what she might have done to make Cloud suspicious.
