Chapter 6
Admiral Claire took no action even though his daughter was abducted by Noah Rothsilde, the Duke of the Progen Empire and Colonel of the military.
When Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Grenendall, who witnessed the abduction, visited him and asked his opinion, the Admiral replied that he had no intention of negotiating with him even if his daughter was sacrificed. As soon as the lieutenant colonel heard those words, he thought of Diana and froze in place.
Because it was strange to see only the calm judgment typical of a soldier defending his country. The young, weak-looking girl’s lonely gray-green eyes came to mind and bothered him. As soon as he saw the poor girl with dark hair, he remembered the moment when someone’s will overlapped like an afterimage.
‘Find that poor child.’
As soon as he first saw Diana, suspicion led him to immediate action. A few days later, Jeffrey Grenendall paid another visit to the Admiral’s residence.
“They were told that you had no intention of negotiating, but it seems they still let her live. He hasn’t informed us separately of her will or the fact of her death.”
Jeffrey was concerned and worried that perhaps they would do something terrible to Diana. The Admiral finally looked a little perturbed at the words, “let her live.”
“You’re not going to save her, are you?”
The Admiral, who had been stroking his chin at Jeffery’s words, narrowed his brows and opened his mouth.
“Lieutenant Colonel Grenendall. Don’t you want to save her too?”
The uniformed Admiral stood properly and looked out the window. Jeffrey’s eyebrows narrowed in concern as he stared at his back. Jeffrey thought of Diana’s pale cheeks, rough hands and emaciated body, and thought she doesn’t look like the daughter of an Admiral.
Her short hair, cut into chunky strands, came to mind. It showed that no one cared for her. Unlike Celine, who was glamorous and luxurious, Diana was plainly dressed and had not a single accessory.
The Admiral, who had been staring out the window, turned his head and sighed.
“I think they are trying to cloud the public’s mind that we are a country that will not save its people after capturing Diana.”
“I think a rescue mission should be undertaken.”
“Are you going to visit them in person?”
“Since I couldn’t prevent the abduction before my eyes, so I’m taking responsibility.”
Jeffrey Grenendall, dressed in an officer’s uniform, brushed back his pitch black hair and put on the cap he was holding in his hand.
“Lieutenant, I’ve already started the rescue mission. I’ve sent a total of eight men with Captain Miller as the commander.”
Jeffrey’s blue eyes, which had been listening for some time, widened slightly and then suddenly narrowed. It was due to the question of the small number of troops.
“If they fail, then I’ll go. It’s my responsibility and duty as a soldier.”
After Jeffrey left, the Admiral’s mouth twisted up into a grim smile as he turned his back.
***
I forgot my words for a while as he encouraged me to spit out my purpose, “I don’t want to leave, I want to stay here as long as I can.” Duke Rothsilde was still looking straight at me with the same relaxed face.
“And my princess doesn’t seem to have any intention of running away.”
‘I don’t want to leave.’
His words were right on target. I wondered if he was trying to appease me.
probe me while she’s nostalgic. I pretended to be fine and struggled to swallow my saliva. And I leaned against the bedhead and smiled leisurely.
“I did run away. At that time.”
The Duke came close to my face and observed me with interesting eyes.
“Didn’t you notice when you ran away?”
“What?”
The Duke covered his face with one hand and laughed. His blue eyes, visible between his fingers, narrowed even more.
“You’ve never opened the door before, so you don’t know.”
I opened my eyes wide and stared at him, feeling I was undergoing a subtle internal examination just by looking at him. The Duke, who briefly looked around the door, raised his chin and spoke.
“I never lock the door, except for the first day.”
“What…?”
Oh yes, I don’t think I’ve heard the clinking sound since the first day. Indeed, I had not even attempted to open the door. Because I didn’t intend to get out of here. I squeezed my lips shut and tried to come up with a plausible excuse.
“Diana.”
He called my name for the first time. It wasn’t so much a call as it was an appreciative, ruminative monologue. His voice, muddled with breaths, sounded dreamy and drowsy, like the drunkenness of a strong drink.
“Yes, Duke.”
“You may call me by my name as well.”
“What?”
“Noah, that’s my name.”
He took my hand and began to spell it out in my palm. I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling tickled each time his long fingers passed over my palm. Yes, I had to call him by name too.
“You still don’t know that the Admiral abandoned you? You’re pretending not to know, aren’t you?”
Does he really know everything? I managed to open my lips and spoke.
“In any case, I’m not going to sit there and let things happen to me. Whether it’s diplomatic retaliation or anger.”
“That’s not going to happen. Because you’re my princess.”
‘Why does he keep calling me Princess?’
There was no such thing in the original story. Of course, I was ignorant of the detailed history of this body, but it seemed that Diana was not royalty by any stretch of the imagination. If she was, she wouldn’t have received such treatment at the Admiral’s house. In fact, I think it’s more plausible that she was picked up from the street.
I also don’t understand why he didn’t call Celine a woman who acted like a princess Princess, but called me princess. Fortunately, he doesn’t seem to have any intention of killing me yet. He seems to be quite interested in me.
First of all, I should rebel and pretend to want to escape, act indifferent and neglect to increase his interest.
It’s like a worm that twitches when you step on it. The next day, I refused to eat, lied down, or shouted at him asking him to send me back.
I don’t think it would be fun if I gave up. Noah came into the room and fed me himself. It was a bit trivial, but I felt like I was having fun. However, I wondered if there was any reason for him to go this far for a hostage who had been abandoned with only one interest. I turned to him as he scooped up the meat broth.
“Excuse me, Duke.”
“It’s Noah.”
He rephrased my words politely.
“Noah. I don’t understand why you’re doing this. You don’t kill me but you don’t send me back either.”
Noah’s eyes curved up nicely as he placed the silver spoon on the tray. He had that captivating smile on his face again.
The neatly ironed shirt and neat tie looked ascetic, but rather immoral, like a temptation leading to a forbidden sanctuary. I finally gathered my thoughts to disperse in other directions.
“What do you think?”
Noah tilted his head and asked me back. The silvery-white hair that covered his forehead leaned to one side.
I thought deeply. To do this to an abandoned hostage…
“Do you like to raise me, by any chance?”
‘Does he want to raise me like a pet?’
Noah made a chuckling sound at my outrageous question.
“It’s true that I like you. But I’ve never raised one.”
He gave a subtle answer.
“You’re not going to kill me, are you?”
I tried to get him to confirm it again. Noah’s hand slowly approached me and brushed my cheek.
“You seem to be very mindful of life, even as you pretend not to know it. If only to want to hear the same answer over and over again.”
“You also repeatedly threatened me with death if I ran away.”
He said curtly, holding my face protectively with both hands as I crept away.
“If you don’t run, you won’t die, this is not a threat, it’s a concern.”
His voice was low and cold, but his expression was gentle and calm. Why is there such a contradictory person? I seemed to have been affected by some lofty madness.
I stared at him with absurd eyes and nodded.
After that, Noah completely ignored my words such as “Please let me go home” and “The army would have surrounded us by now.” Then he said, “Yeah, yeah, I’ll listen to you after you’re done eating.”
He seemed to find my efforts interesting, and I felt glad about that. But my life is not fun.
It had been a week, and I was getting tired of fasting and sitting, and I got tired of frequent visits. I thought I should get some sunlight, so I demanded a walk. Incidentally, the prisoners also get time in the sun.
I also needed to understand the external structure of the mansion in case I had to carry out an escape plan in the future.
It was necessary to understand the structure of the mansion.
“Please let me take a walk. I can’t escape here anyway, since it’s in the forest and we’re in the middle of nowhere.”
Noah unexpectedly happily agreed.
“I was going to let you do that. But you don’t seem to want to go out much.”
Was I that obvious? I felt uneasy, as if he was looking right into my brain. Something about him seemed to enjoy taming me like a dog that slobbered every time the bell rang.
The next afternoon, when I was allowed to walk, I walked with Molly through the snowy garden, wearing white fox fur and velvet gloves. I was confined to my gloomy room all the time, so the clear winter wind felt cool.
The afternoon sunlight reflected off the snow on my white clothes and it was dazzling. I squinted and looked up, I saw something glittering in the depths of a forest full of winter trees.
Suddenly, the scene where Noah’s revolver muzzle reflected in the lighting penetrated my brain like an ominous warning. As soon as I thought it was the same thing, I grabbed Molly’s arm.
“Get down!”
Bang! Then I heard the sound of a gunshot pass over my head and a bullet grazed nearby and struck a tree.
‘Don’t tell me this is what Noah did to scare me.’
I stayed down and Molly took out her pistol and looked around. She was a scary person, knowing how to use a gun.
Looking at Molly’s actions, at least it wasn’t something Noah had planned. Eventually, a group of men in Progen military uniforms ran out of the forest with rifles and pointed them at Molly.
“Diana, is that you? We’re here to help.”
One of the men said, reaching for me. It seemed that Belford’s army had infiltrated the house, wearing Progen uniforms. From a distance I could see the soldiers guarding the mansion come running when they heard the gunfire.
“You’ve come to save me? Please don’t shoot this woman. I’ll follow you.”
I was confused by the unbelievable situation, but I hurried to stand in front of Molly. The man dragged me into the woods. Behind my back, I heard a loud flood of bullets and shouts. I had only seen such graphic engagements in games, movies, and dramas, and it made my legs shake. The day I was kidnapped, I was happy to be kidnapped so I wasn’t scared, but not now.
“This is what the Admiral ordered. Follow me quietly.”
I was skeptical. There was no way the Admiral would feel paternal love and worry about this body (*Diana’s body) now. Probably to avoid being stigmatized as the incompetent Belford soldier that doesn’t save the kidnapped daughter. In addition, this man’s tone of voice was not that of a soldier.
I shook my head.
These men were not soldiers. My father sent mercenaries to kill pretending to rescue me.
“Admiral Claire’s daughter, Diana, died in the process of being rescued. She was a sickly woman who couldn’t leave the house. Belford is deeply resentful of Progen. ………..”
Currently, Progen and Belford, both countries were in negotiations, and it was very likely that they would try to use my death as a fuse for war. That was the headline of the newspaper that the street child will sell shouting “Extra, Extra!” flashed through my head.
At this rate, I will be secretly killed deep in the mountains and buried under the frozen earth.
“Over there!”
The mercenaries began to engage the soldiers of the mansion, who immediately chased after us. I was horrified by the sound of bullets bouncing off rocks and trees. My feet plunged into the ground and I felt frozen, but I had to move in order to survive.
While the mercenaries were distracted, I bent down and carefully escaped from there. The sound of snapping and treading on fallen leaves seemed very loud.
Fortunately, I looked like a beast in the fur coat. I snuck out of a certain section and ran like crazy with my fur on.
They didn’t seem to know that I had escaped, because they had no idea that I would. Many times I tripped and fell over stones and tree roots, and then I rolled down and fled into the deep woods.
I ran through the dry winter trees, and by the time I could see the forest of coniferous trees, the sound of gunfire became distant and faint.
“Where should I go? If I go deeper, there’ll be wolves.”
The cold air in the forest was constantly coming and going, freezing my lungs. I had a lot of dirt and fallen leaves on my head and clothes, and blood ran down my knees from scratches.
I found a hole in a large tree and hid myself in it. I didn’t even know where I was. It was quiet and sparsely populated, the only sound coming from the occasional migrating bird.
“What the hell is this? A war zone…”
I was sure they’d come looking for me after dark.
Of course, I wouldn’t know if it’s the Admiral’s soldiers or Noah’s men…But this body was a side character, so it was unlikely to have the benefit of the coincidence of someone coming to its lovely rescue.
“I guess I’ll have to go home myself.”
I waited until nightfall and pulled my curled body out. It was a clear night, the temperature dropped significantly. I might freeze to death at this rate.
All my senses went into overdrive with a feeling of sadness. My instincts warned me of danger and commanded me to run, but my legs trembled and it was difficult to take a step.
“…..”
I turned and looked that way in an uneasy premonition. The few pairs of bright eyes that were easily seen among the bushes shone like the lights of a lighthouse. Wild wolves, the overwhelming size of which I had never actually seen before, were approaching me.