Chapter 5
After receiving that damn treatment, I lay on my bed with not even enough energy to lift a finger. I was so cold and I shivered so much that it was a wonder why I didn’t catch a cold.
The servants were more careful than usual, and I noticed how they treated me delicately as they looked at me with pity in their eyes. Well, they didn’t have any authority to stop the treatment, so all they could do was tell the tutor in advance that I wasn’t well enough for class today.
As I finally had some time alone, I took out Tess’ diary and read it while I was lying in bed.
[ It seems like Wolfgang cares for me, but I know for a fact that it’s all an act. He didn’t come at all when I almost died from a fever. ]
[ That maid didn’t deliver my meal on purpose. ]
[ Today in the garden, I saw a woman wearing a white dress dyed with blood. I can see her more clearly the closer I approach her. ]
[ I asked Wolfgang to buy me an estate in the middle of nowhere. I’ll stay there. He allowed it after he saw how a maid tormented me. ]
[ I can start anew at the Dark Castle. I’ll take revenge on everyone who ever scorned me. ]
The diary contained entries of ghosts that she saw, or instances when she was being bullied at the mansion. I wanted to find out more information about the red-haired man, but there was nothing else about him other than what I saw earlier.
As I read more of the diary, I felt Tess’ anger, hatred, and sorrow grow deeper and deeper. It was disheartening to read about a child experiencing all of this, especially seeing the anguish in every word she wrote.
There was no way to know what her hobbies were, or what she liked. She had no time to think of such frivolous things.
Poor Tess—all that she had in her was resentment and the goal of exacting her revenge. She was depicted as a villainess in the game, but now that I saw what was behind her character, I understood why she turned out this way. Rather than her own innate nature, it was the environment around her that made her into a villainess.
“Milady.”
Donna came into the room and approached me without any hesitation. She spoke to me using the same tone as usual.
“Would you like to go to the dungeon?”
“Dungeon?”
“Don’t you always go there after every treatment?”
I nodded for now. I couldn’t ask Donna why, so I just followed her. Maybe this was an opportunity to get to know Tess better.
“Shall I wait outside, Milady?”
“. . .”
There was something really extraordinary inside the underground prison.
There was a man inside.
With his limbs bound, his mouth gagged and his eyes blindfolded, a large man sat in the middle of the dingy room.
Faced with an unprecedented sight, I almost panicked in front of Donna, but she walked into the room as if there was nothing unusual here.
“Is it safe?”
“Don’t worry. He won’t attack you like before.”
After saying that, Donna handed me something that made my eyes go wide. I dropped it immediately.
It was a short whip made out of leather.
“Please have a good time.”
‘Wait, don’t leave me!’
The loyal maid Donna, who didn’t hear my heart’s pleading cry, exited the dungeon and left me alone with the man. The whip was still at my feet. What the hell was I supposed to do with it?
It was foolish of me to think that Tess was a misunderstood villain created out of a misfortunate situation. That’s a dangerous idea. Sure, she had a bad childhood and sure, she still had to endure the indifference of the mansion’s owners and the quack doctor’s questionable medical knowledge.
But a whip?!
Wasn’t this game R15? Wasn’t a whip too hardcore?!
I kicked the whip away and walked around the prison. I needed to clear my mind. But as I wandered around, the man seemed to have stirred. The chains around him clanged.
“. . .”
Only then did I take a closer look at him. He looked terribly uncomfortable. His clothes were dirty, and though there didn’t seem to be any noticeable injuries on him, it still looked like he wasn’t being treated well here. I had no idea whether he was being fed properly.
How did he end up here in this castle in the middle of nowhere? Did Wolfgang give this man to Tess, too? That aloof father might have done too much without paying any mind to his daughter’s actions. Really, Tess’ environment played a huge role in making her a villain.
I tried to organize my thoughts. If I were to put things simply: I should just right all of Tess’ wrongs. For now, I’d have to listen to this man and ask him what happened.
As I approached him slowly, he didn’t show any signs of budging. I trusted Donna when she said he’d stay still and wouldn’t attack me, so I released his muzzle with trembling hands. The man seemed to be surprised by my actions, but I couldn’t see his eyes because of the blindfold.
“How did you end up here?”
“What?”
“Do you remember how you ended up here?”
“I’m here because you captured me.”
What a logical answer!
Despite the nerve-wracking situation, the man replied calmly. His voice was a baritone that matched his lean body well. He didn’t look like he had the leisure for it, but he somehow seemed relaxed.
“What kind of life did you live before you were captured?”
“Just do what you usually do and cut the useless questions.”
. . . It really seemed like Tess hit him. What should I do? There really was no turning back. I tried to lessen Tess’ sins by setting the man free, but that might not be possible. Whether I did good things or bad things, people would think it’s the same.
“Did it hurt when I hit you?”
“No.”
He looked exhausted. Was he bluffing? Even though it was only a woman who hit him, it would have still felt painful, especially since he was being restrained like this . . .
Making up my mind, I decided to bring up the topic of freedom. It might now work, but I still had to try. I had to get rid of the false impression that Tess was a total villain.
“Um. That won’t happen anymore. You can get out of this dungeon and live freely again. I’ll give you whatever you need.”
“What are you talking about?”
“All that time, I was just . . . I must’ve been crazy. I couldn’t believe I did all that. Now that I’ve come to my senses, I’m going to set you free. I won’t keep you here or hit you anymore.”
“. . .”
His silence was making me nervous. I must have chosen the wrong words. Maybe he wanted to get revenge on me instead of freedom after all the hell Tess put him through. Money wasn’t always the solution for matters of the heart.
Wasn’t it obvious? If I was in his position—kidnapped, detained, and flogged by a woman to relieve her stress—I might have had enough resentment to shoot an entire trilogy of revenge-driven action films.
I wouldn’t be able to make up for what Tess did. It was all too much even in a country where human rights wasn’t developed yet.
But I couldn’t just leave him like this. It was too inhumane.
The man seemed to be shocked. He didn’t move an inch from his position, but he maneuvered himself despite his shackles and leaned toward me. In a daze, all I could do was stare at him as he crouched down and moved his face near my feet.
“What are you doing?!”
He drew his lips over one of my shoes . . .
. . . And kissed it.
I was so startled that I took a step back as I looked down on him. I still couldn’t see his expression, but elegant words flowed out of his lips all of a sudden when he had been speaking informally just now.
“I have submitted myself to you wholly. I will never go against you. So please, don’t turn back on your words.”
“. . . What are you talking about?”
“You said that you would never throw me away.”
I was sure that the eyes beneath that blindfold were frantic with madness. It wasn’t just his sudden polite tone. It was so unusual to see someone change their attitude, as if a switch was flipped to turn him into someone else entirely.
Somehow, there was a voice in the back of my mind saying that this man who willingly kissed my feet only seemed to promise that he would never go against me, but he would also never give me his entire heart or loyalty. There was that kind of instinct in me.
* * *
At the man’s insistence, I withdrew my offer to free him. Still, it didn’t feel right to keep him in prison, so I told Donna to prepare a room where he could stay. She was shocked, but she soon heeded my order.
Before going out, the shackles on his arms and legs were released. He was untied from all the restraints on him, but I said that he shouldn’t remove his blindfold. It was quite underhanded of me, but there would be a lower chance of him getting revenge on me later if he couldn’t remember my face. It was a cowardly move, but I was powerless.
Until he was out of the dungeon, the man just kept staring towards my direction.
Ah, it just hit me . . . Tess really kept a man in the dungeon.
Goosebumps crept along my spine at the thought that I might uncover more.
“Milady, there’s an empty cabin behind the castle. Why don’t we let it stay there?”
“There’s a lot of rooms in the castle. Can’t he just stay in one of them?”
“You don’t have to do so much for it, Milady.”
Donna wasn’t even treating him like a fellow human being. Was he a slave by any chance? I read somewhere that slaves from fallen kingdoms were treated worse than other slaves. I knew I lucked out by becoming a noble who’s pretty high up on the ladder, but I still get goosebumps when the gap between classes was shown to me like this. It wasn’t just once or twice that I’d seen how people of low status were treated badly or outright excluded.
“Is it because he’s a slave?”
“No? What are you talking about, Milady? It’s a mixed race magical creature.”
“Magical creature?”
“Yes, it’s a monster subhuman. Didn’t you buy it at the marketplace? They’re usually sold there, where they’re thrown into an arena where they either fight to the death or become prey. Being bought like this is the best fate for them.”
So this is what he meant by ‘throwing away.’ Even if I gave him plenty of money and released him, he might get sold at the marketplace again if he’s found out to be a mixed creature. As I realized this, my heart grew heavy.
Despite Donna’s dissuasion, I gave the man an empty room in the castle. The servants frowned in disapproval, but there was no one in the Dark Castle who could stop me. They also couldn’t discourage me because I just got out of that damn treatment.
Somehow, it felt lucky to have these people around me here.