Chapter 10 - Spring blooms in winter's pavilion (9)

I had a strange dream.

*roaaar!

When a roar erupted, the world turned pure white. Then it became dark again.

It looked like thunder. A pole-like stream of rain came over the broken wall and slapped me on the face.

*Growl······. Between the sounds of rain, you can hear the sound of an animal's voice.

It was so cold, so scary that I burst into tears.

When the lightning struck me again and the surrounding turned white, I could see a huge shadow leaning in front of me.

A big hand came out. And.

-No!

At the same time as the shout broke out, the shadow leaning toward me penetrated into something.

I could see a silver sword with blue jewels. The hand that lost it was shaking wildly.

Black blood poured out onto the blade, which shone as white as lightning.

Soon I heard a groan-like sob coming out, and I lost my mind even in my dream.

***

I blink my eyes. Yawning.

I stretched out as soon as I woke up.

I think I had a nightmare last night, but somehow my whole body felt refreshed.

I lifted myself up on the blanket and looked around the room, and it was my room.

It's weird, I fell asleep in someone else's room yesterday.

"Lady!"

After sitting blankly on the bed for a while, the door opened and Peina jumped in.

She hugged me and rub my face against her cheek.

"Oh, my God! Where the hell did you go yesterday? I've been looking for you for a while! Everyone was in a mess, and we couldn't even see you."

"I wanted to see Peina…."

I hugged Peina tightly. I don't know how much I missed her yesterday.

After hearing the story, Peina and other servants seemed to have been looking for me for a long time yesterday.

But it was weird. I must have found them yesterday when I was wandering in the castle, but our location never overlapped.

But the question was quickly resolved.

Peina explained by squeezing a mug of warm honey water in my hand.

"You should never walk around alone from now on. I should have told you this beforehand ······. Our castle has a lot of intruders."

"Intruder?"

"Yes, bad people sneak in. The Lord placed magic all over the castle, and if the one who has not received a spell given by the Lord is not guided, he will most likely be lost in the castle."

Villains have no choice but to have many enemies. Therefore, he seemed to have used such a move.

However, Henriette, who was busy traveling between the Ecliptic and the castle recently, wouldn't have time to cast a spell on me. I decided to understand that.

Peina swept her chest, saying that the last time the intruder came in was so long ago that she forgot to explain it in more detail.

But soon there was a shocking story.

"By the way, I heard you slept in the Master's bedroom yesterday?"

"········?"

"The master himself moved the sleeping lady into this room. You don't know how surprised we were."

Something exploded in me. *Boom!

That is a situation that never, never should have happened.

I was so sleepy that I was out of my mind. But why did I go into his bed and sleep?

My neck, it's gonna be fine, right? I'm not actually a ghost right now, am I?

I was hardened from head to toe in shock, and outside the room, he heard a knock on the door.

"Lady, are you awake?"

I heard a strange voice.

Even Peina, who hugged me in her arms, crouched reflexively, gave an answer, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"The Lady is awake, Sir. What brings you here?"

I wondered who it was because it was called Sir, but it seemed to mean Henriette's aide.

A dumb, grim-looking, slim-bodied wizard who always follows Henriette. They said his name was Nibel.

The door opened and the Aide entered.

The aide bowed his head at me, and spoke in an indifferent tone.

"The master wants to see the lady."

A second explosion occurred inside me. *Booom!

No way, is it to question what happened yesterday?

Thanks to that, I had to follow the aide with a lot of tension. All the maids followed with a stiff face.

It was Henriette's office where the aide took me.

"Here you are."

The sound of a sheet of paper flipping spread through the cold room.

Henriette was sitting at the office table checking the papers.

I still stood fidgeting with a firm face, hoping Henriette wouldn't take his eye off those papers, sadly he put them together and put his pen down.

A cool gaze looked at me like the white sun pouring from outside the big window behind his head.

Henriette's eyes, like those of a predator, gazed at my face.

Unable to stand the gaze, I bowed my head, and felt the chilling sensation of cold sweat down my spine, and then, Henriette beckoned slowly.

"Come closer."

"...."

W, what are you trying to do?

I was scared, but I couldn't help but come near him, so I approached him with a whimper.

Everyone in the office, not only the maid standing behind her back but also the aide, was very nervous except for one, Henriette.

When I stopped about two steps away from the table, Henriette spoke in a slow voice.

"Did you know about last night?"

It's also a question.

If I answered the wrongly here, I might be really kicked out this time.

I shook my head, dropped my eyes to the ground, and did my best to respond.

"No, I didn't know. N, never knew."

"Hmm.'"

Henriette's eyebrows were seen to bend slightly. It's a stranger who looks disapproved.

"You came in without knowing········"

"Master."

It was before he could say anything afterwards. Peina and other maids came close to my back, and all at once, they looked at Henriette.

"The Lady really didn't know that and she slept in Master's bedroom. Yesterday, because of our carelessness, she was lost in the castle······."

"Another mistake."

Henriette's stark voice cut Peina off.

"What are you guys doing right?"

At that word, all the maids knelt and bowed their heads in an urgent manner.

Apparently, they looked frightened. When I saw Henriette lifting himself up in his seat, I was in a hurry.

His hand is heading to the sword hanging from his waist.

I hurried to stand in front of the maids, then plucked as much courage as I could and shouted at Henriette.

"I, I'm the one who did wrong! I wandered on my own, and I didn't know there was a spell in the castle!"

I could see his eyes thinning, but I shouted cleanly.

"If I had known it was the Duke's room, I wouldn't have gone in!"

At the moment Henriette's face became frighteningly cold.

I thought when I saw his fine brow faintly distorted. Oh, that's where this life ends.

Henriette looks a lot more frightening than before. I had a hunch of death coming.

However, it is not too bad that I am giving this one body for the maids who have cared for me and loved me.

If I were born as a rich noble in my next life…..

...I think…..

Henriette turned to the table and reached out to me.

"…..you, give me your arm."

If you cut one arm instead of taking the life, wouldn't it be cheaper for a villain?

Even with that thought, I managed to stick out one of my trembling arms, and Henriette, who lowered himself for a little bit, grabbed my arm and began to cast a spell on it.

There was a bright blue energy rising around his body.

It was not long before they gathered over the back of my hand, and engraved a blue sentence.

The sentence appeared for a while and disappeared quickly.

"Now you won't get lost in the castle."

Henriette let go of my arm. And then he looked at me half-heartedly, and then he spat out.

"The opposite of where your room is…"

"…yes?"

"It's the location of my bedroom. It is located in the hallway on the right side of the third floor. Keep that in mind."

I raised my head in bewilderment, he straightened up again as if nothing had just happened.

Still, he looks scary, but at least it wasn't as if he was going to pull out a knife.

He said with an attitude just like a drowsy predator.

"I have work to do today, so I'll call you back in a few hours."

I couldn't say okay because I was staring at him with a blank face.

Instead, the maids hurriedly looked again, and took me out of the office quickly.

Even after returning to the room, I was constantly puzzled.

Is it a good thing I didn't get in trouble?'

After a little bit of delay, I had a headache maybe because I was nervous all the time.

It was not until I returned to the room that the maids felt relieved. They seemed to have lost all their strength.

After drinking the milk cocoa that Peina brought me, I took out the crayons that the butler gave me last time to recover my surprised heart.

In order to stabilize the mind and body, I lay down on the floor with no thoughts, and she heard the maids making noise.

"As expected, he seem to have a better impression of her."

"I think so, too. They can't get the sign until they were over ten years old...."

From what they say, the magic that Henriette cast on me seems to be a 'mark'.

Why is it that you give a mark on your children after 10 years of age even if they're lost in the castle?

But it wasn't until I heard what Mary was saying that I knew the situation.

"If the young masters get the mark early, they will bother him and will cause chaos here and there."

That is a father who says that his children are annoying.

As expected, Henriette seems to be a deeply flawed human being.

Why did such a man give me an early mark, unlike he did to his sons?

I was lost in thought for a moment while drawing a picture of the sun on a piece of paper.

Maybe it was a high level of sarcasm to tell me where his room is and not to let me get lost in the castle again.

'Hpm, you jerk!'

Somehow I think it's most likely.

Feeling irritated for no reason, I stopped drawing the sun and flowers with crayons and started painting Henriette this time.

I drew two pairs of horn on his head with a black crayon.

After I finished drawing like a king of the devil in a fairy tale book.

A child's hand wasn't very delicate, so I couldn't draw it cleanly more than I thought, but this is alright.

"Oh, my lady. Did you draw?"

Then Peina looked at my painting slightly and interrupted.

Immediately ashamed, I covered the painting with my body, folded it in half and hugged it in his arms.

"D, don't look."

"Young Lady, don't do that. Show me."

"That's right. You're a good painter, aren't you?"

My maids praised me for always drawing well, that's why I used to hide my drawing.

"I didn't draw well, but they complimented me. It's burdensome and embarrassing."