Duke Sikar pointed his sword at my neck, and was waving it here and there as if he was going to cut me off. On the surface, he provided justification for the deal, but it was no different from threatening to kill me if I refused.
“The conditions will be to your liking as much as possible, and I will provide you with a personal maid.”
I glanced at the sword under my neck while breaking out in cold sweat.
“How long do I have to stay?”
“Until my grandmother condition improves, you must stay here.”
No!! What?! What’s this nonsense?
Even if I cried out at him, there’s no way I could have the power to oppose him. I answered in a hoarse voice.
“… Okay.”
Then he pulled away the sword that was under my neck.
“You speak in a quiet voice. Wait here a moment, the maid will show your room soon.”
After Duke Sikar left, I looked around wondering if there’s any place to escape. Right now, this is the safest place in this world, but in 10 years later, this place will turn into the most dangerous place. Since he’s a villain, in the next 10 years he will be killed by the protagonist who has grown up well.
Of course, I didn’t want to leave this house right away because I was afraid of what would happen 10 years later. Duke Sikar was a person who couldn’t trust others, so he always checked that person’s memory before placing someone next to him. So, when I’m in this house, he will immediately read my memory.
Then, he would find out that this world was a novel, and if that crazy man found out this world was a novel, he might become even crazier. Maybe he’ll think I’m a witch then slit my throat. It really gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. As I rested my head on the table and was busy with my thoughts, a maid with her hair neatly tied back came in.
“Good morning, Miss. I’m Mary, who will serve you in the future.”
Mary had a cute and youthful appearance that looked like she was just 20 years old.
“Please follow me, Miss.”
The room that we entered was on the second floor of the mansion, which was large enough to accommodate 20 beds.
“I decorated it while you were eating, and I don’t know if you will like it.”
Mary smiled shyly and showed me around the room. The place where Mary most confidently showed it to me was the closet. There were already several dresses hanging in the closet and they all looked expensive to me.
“We didn’t have many women’s clothes in this mansion, so we were in a hurry to buy them, and they were all expensive. If you want to stay here, you must first…. Oh, I’m sorry, Miss. First you need to change your clothes.”
My attire was plain jeans and a T-shirt, but for the people here, it was unfamiliar and strange.
“I would like to suggest that Miss’s hair should be long in the future. Because all the noble ladies here have long hair.”
“Yes. Thank you, Mary. You can stop now.”
Mary tilted her head at my words.
“Pardon me?”
“You can go out first. I’ll change my own clothes.”
“Oh, Miss. Are you uncomfortable with me? I hope, I can serve you well in the future. And I can’t go out now because I have to help you get dressed.”
Who dressed me up when I was a kid? I can’t even remember it well, so I refuse to do such a thing.
“It’s okay. I’ll wear the clothes by myself.”
“It can be inconvenient to get dressed by yourself. And I have to fix the laces too.”
“No, it’s okay because I have strong wrists.”
Carrying the kids every day at daycare really increases my arm strength.
Then, Mary burst into tears, not knowing what to do.
“If the head maid finds out, she will be angry that I didn’t serve Miss well. Maybe I’ll be kicked out of this mansion. My family is poor, so if I get kicked out of this place, my family situation will be threatened. Miss… Please allow me to dress you up…”
I didn’t want to wear that heavy dress just by looking at it because I was planning to get out of this mansion while looking for a way to escape, but I’ll think about it later, so I said I’d let Mary dress me up. But when I put on the dress, it wasn’t as heavy as I thought.
“The dress is lighter than I thought?”
Mary smiled kindly at my puzzled look.
“This dress is lightweight, so it’s not too heavy to wear, Miss.”
“Hmm…okay?”
Is it because this dress is expensive? Then I can sell it later.
“More than that, Miss. Would you like to take a look at the mirror? The dress suits you so well. It’s so beautiful, Miss.”
Saying that, Mary ran and took a full-length mirror and placed it in front of me.
“Look, Miss. You’re so beautiful.”
It was my first time wearing clothes like this, but is this dress like having wings? It looked pretty good on me.
“I’ll fix your hair now, Miss.”
I wonder how she’s going to do with my short hair, but Mary is pretty good at braiding my hair. When I took a closer look, it was beautiful. There are some accessories put in my hair, but I like it. After I finished my makeup and went downstairs, Sikar’s grandmother, Hillis, was waiting for me. Seeing her neat and warm appearance, it seemed her spirit had returned.
“Child, come here and sit down. I heard you saved me.”
“Ah… No, I didn’t save you, I just helped a little.”
Hillis took my hand with her eyes moved.
“It must be troublesome, caring for an elderly person with dementia even for a moment. You are a very good person.”
Hillis’s hands were warm enough to remind me of my grandmother.
“When I saw you, who are an old woman, I think of my grandmother.”
“Child, you must have loved your grandmother very much.”
“I received a lot of love from my grandmother.”
Just then, when the corners of my mouth almost smiled from the warmth I felt, Duke Sikar appeared and broke the mood.
“How dare you call the duke’s family an old woman. Normally I would have to punish them, but since you saved my grandmother, I will especially forgive you.”
Then what should I call it?
I wanted to ask, but I lowered my head and said.
“I can only admire the mercy of the merciful Duke.”
Well, can I say this? Duke Sikar didn’t smile, but as if my answer wasn’t a bad thing, he raised the corner of his mouth slightly and reached out his hand to me.
“Give me the honor to shake your hand as a sign of forgiveness for you.”
As soon as I saw his hands, cold sweat ran down my back. His hand was like a hand extended by a messenger of death. He purposely asked for a handshake to read my memory. I lowered my head as if in a complete dazed.
“It’s an honor for me to hold the Duke’s hand, but to me it’s something that I can’t repay.”
So, I mean, I can’t shake hands with him.
Duke Sikar who has never been rejected by someone when asking for a handshake, looked at me while lowering his hand with a smile on his face, but that didn’t mean he was backing down. He will use another trick to read my memory. There was a sequence that Duke Sikar did to look at people’s memories. When he wanted to read the memory in a hurry, he would ask for a handshake like before. But, right now he wasn’t in a hurry.
So, when he was looking for subordinates, he made a strange condition that he judged people by their hands and asked them to show him their hands. Since the hands of young children from noble families couldn’t be touched carelessly, they would hold hands when asking to dance together, or hold their hands politely. Therefore, as long as Duke Sikar’s hand touched any part of that person’s body, he could read that person’s memory. When the handshake didn’t work, Duke Sikar started to use such a tricks.
“I tend to always look at people’s hands and decide if that person can join us or not. I have to judge who you are, so give me your hand.”
‘I have no regrets, this is it.’
“I’m afraid to show these hands to anyone because my hands was too rough to be called a woman’s hand. If you decide that I don’t fit in this house, feel free to ask me to leave. If you ask me to show you the hand that I’m most ashamed of, please show me your generosity, and I will be grateful.”
‘Isn’t it working?’
Duke Sikar didn’t give up. He invited me to dance this time, and of course I declined.
“I’m afraid that if you dance with a person of low status like me, it will affect His Highness Duke’s reputation.”
‘Now that I’ve done this, you have to stop and give up.’
Fortunately, Duke Sikar seemed to have given up today.
After a brief chat with Hillis, it was finally night. Now the only thing left to do is escape from this house. As I climbed the stairs to my room, I noticed that Duke Sikar was following me from behind. It was scary that he was like a ghost, so I walked up the stairs rather hastily. Of course, he would accidentally step on my dress when I walked up the stairs, so that by accident, stepping on the dress, I would fall and hug him, but that would never happen. Duke Sikar definitely wouldn’t miss this opportunity. My heart was beating fast because he kept following me.
“Is there something that makes you inconvenient?”
“Yes? No, I don’t!”
“If you need something before going to bed, feel free to tell me anytime. Because I’ll give you everything you want.”
‘I guess he’ll try to read my memory somehow. Sneaky bastard.’
“You don’t have to worry about that, since it’s hard to repay all the kindness you’ve given me.”
I quickly opened the door and went into my room, turned my back and said to him.
“I think I should go to bed right away. Then, good night, Duke.”
“I hope you have a comfortable night.”
Then, Duke Sikar left and walked down the hallway with an eerie smile.
After seeing Duke Sikar completely disappear at the end of the hall, I immediately closed the door. Not a single moment should be delayed. When I opened the window and looked outside, even though this room was on the second floor, it was a different height from the second floor of an ordinary building. I was on the second floor, and the height of this room was like an apartment building on the 3rd or 4th floor. It was scary, but if I didn’t run away now, my memories would be read tomorrow, so I had no choice but to run away. I tore off all the curtains hanging on the windows and made a knot in the middle to make a sturdy and secure curtain ladder. And when I tied up the money I received from Duke Sikar and hung it on my back like a bag, all preparations were perfect.
‘Now is the time to escape.’
I threw the curtain ladder straight from the window and then tied it to the sturdiest pillar in the room. I felt like everything was going smoothly as I carefully lifted my legs up and down step by step. Of course, my heart was beating like it was about to explode, but I continued to walk slowly, and reminded myself that even if I went to the tiger’s den, I could live if I was alert. Looking down, I feel scared, but my survival instinct gives me the courage to get out of this place, because there’s a madman who puts his sword around someone’s neck to make a deal. In this spacious mansion, who knew that I would leave in the middle of the night? But, who would have thought that? Everyone had a plan before they were defeated.
I didn’t know until then. That on the first floor, the room directly below me was Duke Sikar’s study. Now, after stepping on a few more knots before I hit the ground. Suddenly, the light in the room turned on, illuminating me brightly. And the face that was revealed from the bright window was none other than Duke Sikar.
“Are you running away now?”
My eyes met him, and I was frozen as if I had lost the way to move. Duke Sikar opened the window without giving me time to rest and pulled the curtain ladder that I was holding on.
I was helpless when I leaned against the curtain. In an instant, Duke Sikar caught me as he pulled up the curtain ladder and grabbed my waist with his hands.
“I can read other people’s memories.”
And… He quickly read my memory.
“You know I can read other people’s memories.”
Is this the reaction of people who can’t do anything when they are too scared?
I couldn’t say anything. And he discovered something that should never have been revealed to him. He said with crooked eyebrows as if he was in a very bad mood.
“Besides, this is… You mean this world is a novel?”
Can I stay alive?