Chapter 6

It rained for three straight days.

During that time, Mia became considerably thinner. But what tormented her wasn’t the fear of failing to escape, nor the agonizing wait.

“Mister, today is the day I said I was going to escape. Aren’t you really going to wish me luck?”

Mia was trying to placate the prisoner in the neighboring cell, who was pressed against the wall so tightly that she couldn’t even see his face.

He had spent the entire three days desperately trying to dissuade her from escaping.

“That plan of yours to use the rain makes no sense. Nine times out of ten, you’ll fail! Think it over again.”

“Mister…”

“Or don’t do it today. Stay here just a few more days, just a few more. Please…”

“I told you. The rain will stop tomorrow morning. Today is my only chance.”

“How would you know that, miss? Are you really a witch or something?”

Mia quietly looked down at the water and soup bowls the jailer had left behind for the last time.

Unlike usual, the soup bowl was filled to the brim.

That was because the sulking prisoner in the neighboring cell hadn’t asked her to share her food.

“It’s difficult to explain, but I’m certain the rain will stop tomorrow morning. I’ll get out and find a way to rescue you, no matter what.”

“It’ll all be pointless. Before you even make it out of the garden, you’ll be riddled with arrows and turned into a hedgehog!”

His words were enough to drain all her energy before she’d even attempted the escape.

Mia clasped her hands together and rubbed her dry face.

The malicious voice continued.

“Even if you manage to escape and get caught, it won’t matter even if you come back alive. The cruel Grand Duke’s interrogation room will be waiting for you. You’ll end up like me, unable to walk for the rest of your life.”

A violent sob came from beyond the wall.

Mia sighed.

She had no more time to waste.

Mia ran her fingertips along the wall near the window.

After several days of torrential rain, the entire wall had become soaked with water.

Her fingers moved upward along the damp wall until they stopped around the iron bars set into the window.

“Got it. Just as I thought.”

This stone tower showed no cracks anywhere, but the area around the window was different.

The window frame was held in place by sun-dried mud.

And now, after days of heavy rain…

“Here we go.”

After repeatedly splashing the water from her bowl around the frame and scraping away the softened mud—

Clatter.

At last, the iron-barred window frame came loose with a delightful sound.

Mia took off her mud-covered dress, leaving herself in nothing but her petticoat.

Then, without hesitation, she began tearing the dress apart.

Twisting the strips of torn fabric together produced a surprisingly sturdy rope.

Mia lowered the completed rope outside the window and looked disappointed.

‘It’s nowhere near long enough.’

After biting her lip for a moment, Mia made up her mind and took off the petticoat she was wearing as well.

She felt embarrassed even though there was no one around to see her.

But she had no other choice.

The voluminous petticoat was perfect for making another length of rope.

‘There. That should do it.’

Mia securely tied one end of the rope to the iron bars at the entrance of the prison.

She tied the other end around her bare waist.

She took off her shoes, tied them together with the remaining length of rope, and hung them around her neck.

Mia gave the neighboring cell one last glance before placing her foot into a hole in the wall.

‘I never imagined my first time climbing would be a prison escape.’

Mia took a deep breath, carefully gripped the rope, and began climbing down the tower.

At that same time, preparations to receive a guest were quietly underway in Asad’s study on the second floor.

The room was dim, but the fireplace that had been lit since daytime kept it pleasantly warm.

Dressed in a light shirt, Asad sat behind his desk with his legs crossed, waiting for his guests.

Before long, two rain-soaked men entered, their robes dripping with water.

“Finally, you’re here.”

Asad rose from his seat and embraced the bearded middle-aged man standing beside Shuri.

The man laughed heartily.

“Your Grace, you haven’t changed at all.”

“You must be exhausted from the journey, Taiben.”

“Not at all. I’m always worried that this fellow isn’t properly taking care of Your Grace.”

Taiben reached into Shuri’s wet hair and playfully ruffled it.

Shuri complained.

“Ugh, Dad! In front of His Grace, too?”

Asad laughed aloud for the first time in a while.

There was no doubt about it. This father and son had a talent for making everyone around them feel at ease.

Asad turned around and personally took out a bottle of liquor and several glasses.

“Come. We should have a toast to your safe arrival. I don’t know about anything else, but you’ll like the wine from the capital.”

“Even so, can it really compare to the apple cider from the Uliel territory?”

Taiben reached inside his robes and pulled out a fairly large bottle of apple cider.

“The head maid made it herself. She told me to make sure I gave it to Your Grace.”

“She must be busy enough managing the estate…”

“If you say something like, ‘You must be busy enough managing the estate,’ she told me to tell you that there is nothing in this world more important than taking care of what Your Grace eats and drinks. Those were her exact words.”

“She really is impossible.”

Asad shook his head with a faint smile.

An excited Shuri opened the bottle of cider.

The sweet scent of apples quickly filled the study.

After emptying their glasses, the three men gathered around the large wooden table in front of the desk.

A map was spread across it.

Asad picked up one of the several daggers lying along the edge of the table.

“In the event of an emergency, the first places we need to strike in the capital are the Masabiel residence and the armory nearby.”

He drove the dagger firmly into the map.

Taiben felt a slight sting in the bridge of his nose.

‘When did he grow up so much? Whenever we have meetings like this, there truly is no one more like a ruler than His Grace.’

“Taiben.”

Lost in his thoughts, Taiben came back to his senses at Asad’s voice.

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“How prepared is the territorial army?”

“We’ve prepared enough food and weapons for them to advance toward the capital as soon as you give the order. We have enough supplies to last at least two months without difficulty.”

“Good. Once the signal is given, the elite cavalry will infiltrate the Imperial Palace and cut off the Crown Prince’s escape, while the territorial army takes control of the Masabiel residence and the armory. Then we’ll surround the surrounding area…”

They were in the middle of discussing their rebellion in heated voices when Asad suddenly noticed something white moving in the darkness outside the window.

‘A spy?’

Without giving himself time to think, he hurled a dagger toward the outside.

The wet stone wall was far more slippery than Mia had expected.

Mia concentrated every bit of strength she had gathered from her lower abdomen into her toes, barely managing to maintain her balance.

Because of the sharp edges of the stones jutting out here and there, her feet were already covered in several scratches.

“I’m almost down. Just a little farther.”

She encouraged herself through the pouring rain.

She had just reached the window of the second-floor study, where amber light spilled outside.

Mia paused to catch her breath.

There was someone inside.

“…the order… advance toward the capital… cut off the Crown Prince’s escape…”

‘What?!’

Without realizing it, Mia gripped the rope even tighter until her knuckles turned white.

The fragments of conversation she could hear were unmistakably a discussion of rebellion.

‘Why did I have to hear this?!’

The Asad she had actually met was far more insane than the one described in the original novel.

If he found out that she had overheard a plot to rebel against the imperial family…

He wouldn’t stop at merely making her unable to use her legs.

Then, at that very moment, an enraged scream came from the tower Mia had escaped from.

“The prisoner has escaped!”

Mia flinched.

At that instant, the foot she had planted against the wall slipped, leaving a long red streak as she slid downward.

Before she had any chance to regain her balance, a gleaming dagger flew from inside the study and grazed the rope.

Mia flailed helplessly in midair like someone being hanged.

Torches suddenly flashed everywhere, accompanied by shouts calling for the guards.

The sound of numerous people running toward her echoed through the grounds.

Mia desperately clutched the swaying rope with both hands and barely regained her balance.

‘What do I do? Should I jump?’

Her heart pounded violently in her ears.

Even by a rough estimate, the distance to the ground was considerable.

As she hesitated, she heard an ominous sound.

Riiip.

Mia looked upward.

The rope, half-severed by the flying dagger, was slowly but surely unraveling.

When only a section as thin as a crescent moon remained, Mia gave up on this life.

“Is this… the end for me?”

She looked once at the scenery outside, knowing she would never see it again.

She imagined her body scattering like flowers across the cruel stone ground.

‘If I die, will I return to reality?’

She didn’t want that.

She didn’t want to live with that horrible scarred face.

‘Another life? I hope there isn’t one.’

She was tired now.

She just wanted to rest.

Mia let go and fell.

At the place where she finally landed were the sturdy arms of Grand Duke Asad Uliel.

As though he had been waiting for her.

“Jumping out of a tower while naked. Disgusting. Are you some kind of pervert?”

The surroundings were noisy with footsteps and barking dogs.

Amid the commotion, a cold voice struck Mia’s ears.

Despite his chilly words, an unexpected warmth gently enveloped her body.

“You were going to be released in a few days anyway. You’ve really made a mess of your own life.”

At the sound of another man’s voice, Mia slowly opened her tightly shut eyes halfway.

Then she was utterly stunned.

The face of the mad Grand Duke she feared, Asad Uliel, was right before her.

His black eyes were as beautiful and indifferent as they had been on the day they first met.

Mia couldn’t even think of moving, like a deer standing before a predator.

She only came to her senses when the tanned face of Shuri, Asad’s adjutant, pushed into her field of vision, partially blocking Asad’s almost sculpted features.

“Hey! How long are you planning to stay in His Grace’s arms? Get up!”

Mia barely managed to pull herself upright on trembling legs.

Her slender shoulders, with nothing covering them except her undergarments, trembled violently.

Several of the guards nearby swallowed nervously and discreetly looked her up and down.

Seeing this, Shuri glanced anxiously at Asad.

‘Damn. At this rate, we’re all going to be doing drills in the training yard today.’

Asad was always an excessively strict commander when it came to matters like this.

Whenever he saw his soldiers harassing women, he always punished them severely.

And sure enough, Asad’s eyes gradually narrowed in displeasure as he looked between the half-naked Mia and the guards.

“Haah.”

With an irritated sigh, Asad used his long fingers to undo the buttons of the shirt he was wearing, one by one.

When he took off his shirt, his solid physique was revealed.

The heavy rain mercilessly pelted his bare shoulders.

Asad tossed the shirt to Mia as though he were giving alms, then turned and headed back toward the mansion.

In a low voice, he left behind a single command.

“Take her to the interrogation room.”