Let’s recall the moment when I was holding Dietrich’s hand and dancing.

Was it like floating and dancing in the night sky with the Milky Way flowing?

Ah, yes.

It was literally like a dream.

As I took a deep breath of the summer night air, a smile unconsciously escaped my lips.

He looked down at my flushed face and chuckled softly.

“It’s hot, isn’t it?”

He brought his hand close to my face and fanned it gently.

A gentle breeze blew, but it only seemed to make my hot cheeks burn even more.

Seeing my cheeks turning redder and redder, he asked in a low voice.

“Do you want something to drink?”

“Yes! A cool mango juice?”

“Alright. I’ll go buy it, so wait here. I’ll be right back.”

Due to the bustling crowd, it seemed faster for him to go alone. I gestured with my eyes that I would sit on the bench.

Dietrich smiled and quickly turned around and disappeared.

I was about to go to the bench as I said.

If only someone hadn’t struck the back of my neck.

A big impact and my vision spun.

Then it was a blackout.

And when I opened my eyes.

It was a house I had never seen before in my life.

My head hurt as if it would shatter. Before I could even grasp the situation, the pain that came made my eyes scrunch up involuntarily.

‘What on earth is this…’

I barely held onto my senses and looked around, but there was no way to know where this place was.

In the dark room, there was only a single candle placed alone.

The moment I realized I had been kidnapped, dark emotions such as fear, terror, frustration, and despair rushed in, making it hard to breathe.

At the same time, I thought I had to get out of here right away.

Who kidnapped me was a problem for after I escaped from here.

I glanced at my hands tied behind my back. It seemed difficult to untie at once because they were tightly bound with rope.

What should I do? Can I untie this?

What if I can’t untie it? Is there anyone who will come to save me here?

My reason, filled with fear, didn’t function properly, and I bit my trembling lips hard.

Then, after taking a deep breath, I made up my mind firmly.

I didn’t know if I could untie this rope or not, but I had to try.

They say even if you enter a tiger’s den, you can survive if you keep your wits about you.

Since I didn’t know yet if the tiger was a hungry tiger or a full one, there was still hope.

I put strength into my body. It was difficult to maintain balance, but I put strength into my abdomen, lifted my knees, and finally succeeded in sitting up.

I tried wriggling my fingers to untie the rope, but it was no use as expected.

First, I had to untie this rope to at least run away.

It’s the first hurdle.

Find a way to untie this rope.

I looked around with eyes that were calmer than before.

Then, I suddenly realized that this house wasn’t very big.

The house where I seemed to be trapped looked less than 100 square meters. In one corner of this small house, there was a small kitchen suitable for the small size.

‘Kitchen!’

It was the place most familiar to me.

Although it wasn’t a huge kitchen separated from the main building like the Delgado mansion, there must be knives there too.

I put strength into my trembling legs and stood up from my spot. Then, I took one step at a time towards the kitchen.

The kitchen seemed to have been unused for a long time.

The kitchen sink was so rusty that it looked like rust water would come out at any moment, and dust was piled up where the stove was lit.

‘Where would there likely be knives?’

Since my hands were tied behind my back, I bent my body and used my mouth to open the drawers.

I knew it was unsanitary, but there was nothing I couldn’t do to survive.

Because my life was too precious to die in vain here.

I bit the handle of the topmost drawer attached to the sink with my mouth. As I pulled it slightly, the drawer opened with a creaking sound.

Luckily, there was the knife I had been looking for so much. I found it in one go!

In a kidnapping situation, time was more precious than gold.

I had never been kidnapped before, but this was basic.

But how do I get this knife out?

Now I faced the second hurdle.

I stared blankly at the knife for a moment and let out a deep sigh.

Although it seemed violent, this method seemed quite appropriate.

I bent my knees and lifted the very old-looking drawer upwards as if breaking it.

The drawer floated into the air helplessly and soon fell to the floor.

The knife that fell between the miserably broken drawer was visible. I approached it and sat down again.

Then I moved my hands and gripped the knife. From then on, it wasn’t difficult.

As soon as I gripped the knife, my hands moved instinctively. The sharp blade sliced through the rope swiftly.

When the rope was finally cut and my hands were free, I let out a sigh of relief for the first time.

I can live.

Hope became a little clearer.

I ran towards the door to escape from this house right away. And as I was about to grab the doorknob.

Thud, creak.

With the sound of the old doorstep being stepped on, a man wearing a black cloak deeply entered.

“Why… bother… untying…”

The man was muttering something to himself, but it was hard to hear due to his mumbling.

“…Dietrich?”

I called out his name because his outfit was so similar to Dietrich’s, but I soon realized.

No, that man wasn’t Dietrich.

Smaller height than Dietrich, and the way he took a step back in surprise as soon as he saw me.

I instinctively realized.

‘That man.’

That man kidnapped me. And at the same time, another crisis came.

The man discovered me trying to escape and ran towards me like that. His speed was tremendous.

I barely turned my body and avoided him.

I was surprised by my own agility, which was faster than I thought. But the one who was more surprised seemed to be the kidnapper.

He asked in an absurd voice.

“How did you untie the rope…?”

Then, seeing the knife and rope fallen on the floor, he tilted his head back as if dumbfounded.

“Not an ordinary maid.”

Is he saying I’m not ordinary after kidnapping a person?

I was the one who was dumbfounded. But I had to stay calm. It wouldn’t do any good to provoke that kidnapper.

I slowly backed away and glanced at the knife on the floor.

I thought it would be good to pick up that knife in case of any situation.

To do that, I had to divert the man’s attention elsewhere.

I brazenly replied to the man’s words in a loud voice.

“If I’m not ordinary, why did you lock me up alone? You should have kept watching me.”

“…Ha.”

The man, who muttered something like ‘fearless?’, pulled out a club that was hanging from his waist.

The club, which seemed to be carved from an old tree, looked very sturdy.

Enough to go into a coma with just one hit.

I swallowed my saliva and asked. I was still in a confrontation with the man.

“Are you going to hit me with that?”

“I won’t hurt you.”

He won’t hurt me?

It was a word with an incomprehensible intention. Does he think I’ll believe he won’t hurt me after kidnapping me this far?

I thought it was ridiculous even in this situation and asked.

“You’re holding a club and telling me to believe you won’t hurt me?”

“Damn it. I don’t kill people. For now, if you obediently do as I say, I absolutely won’t harm you.”

“Really?”

I stepped on the knife blade and shrugged my shoulders.

Somehow, the more I talked with the man, the calmer I became. I smiled, feeling my trembling hands had already become still.

“What should I do? I’m a maid famous for not listening to orders.”

I picked up the knife like that and pointed it at him. He blinked his eyes with a dumbfounded face at what happened in an instant.

“Are you serious? You’re going to fight me with that dull knife?”

“Then what should I do? Just die here?”

I couldn’t do that. Even if I died fighting, I couldn’t die in vain without doing anything.

“Just let me go. I don’t want to die like this.”

It felt like tears would burst out at any moment. But I bit my lips tightly and held back my tears.

But I guess I couldn’t hide my trembling eyes and lips.

Seeing my expression that looked like I was about to cry, bewilderment appeared on the man’s face.

“Ha, really. I said I won’t kill you? I need to think about it too. How to handle things from now on. I got a bit tangled up because I was blinded by money.”

The man seemed genuinely troubled. Fatigue could be felt in his words about things getting tangled up.

He now sat down on the rocking chair placed next to the door as if letting things happen.

Then he asked in a subtle tone.

“By the way, are you acquainted with Young Master Dietrich Delgado?”

I closed my mouth, unable to understand the intention behind his question. But the man seemed almost certain.

“…I can’t bring myself to kill you now that I’m trying to. Even if I have to pay a terrible price, I can’t kill a person.”

He held his cloaked head and muttered to himself for a while, then slumped in the chair as if giving up.

“Whew, I don’t know. I don’t care about money or anything, so just go out or whatever. I already received the down payment anyway, so I can just take it and run.”

He waved his hand weakly again.

What kind of situation is this again?

I was dumbfounded by the unprecedented case of a kidnapper giving up on kidnapping.

“Instead, make one promise.”

“What promise?”

“Promise not to tell that young master that I kidnapped you.”

…Will I do that!

I frowned at the stupid kidnapper’s words.

But he was sincerely pleading.

“If I had known you were acquainted with Young Master Delgado, I wouldn’t have accepted that maid’s request in the first place.”

Did he just say maid?

I listened attentively to the meaningful words that popped out of his mouth.

“I did it thinking about the remaining 500 copper coins, but I regretted it right away. Why did I bring you here when I can’t even kill you anyway?”

“…I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“My, my. If you’ve made someone hold a grudge against you, you should live with your wits about you, young lady.”

Getting advice from a kidnapper.

It was getting more and more novel.

He closed his eyes and began to explain roughly.

“You’re a maid of the Delgado mansion, aren’t you? Want me to tell you who asked me to kidnap you?”

“Why are you telling me that?”

“Because I don’t do killing people! In exchange for telling you, you don’t tell that young master that I did it either. How about it? Will you do that?”

He seemed to have his own principles as a kidnapper. The man didn’t seem to have any intention of attacking at all.

Still, I couldn’t let my guard down.

When I didn’t answer, he spoke impatiently.

“Damn it, are you going to say I did it? I’m telling you I’ll let you live and even tell you who ordered it?”

I tilted my head slightly and asked.

“The person who told you to kill me, is it Duchess Leriana Delgado?”

“I don’t know about that.”

“You just said you’d tell me!”

“The person who told me to kill you is a maid of the Delgado family with gray hair.”

The man’s eyes scrunched up in pain as he said that.

“My remaining 500 copper coins… They’ll all fly away, but I have no choice. I want to wash my hands of this here. So whether you go out from here or not, I don’t know. Got it?”

He waved his hand again as if telling me to leave now.

I stared at him with an absurd face.

A kidnapping victim being chased out by the kidnapper, have you ever seen that?

I haven’t, for one.