The child looked around in bewilderment.

They thought they had slept through the sunrise and sunset, so when they opened their eyes, they thought it was dusk again. But now they realized that was not the case.

Something red flickered under the pitch-black sky outside the window.

“Water! Bring water, we must extinguish the fire first!”

“Head maid, the Duke said evacuation is the priority! You need to come out!”

The mansion was in utter chaos both inside and out.

The child rolled their eyes and looked at their mother.

When they cleared their throat, finding it scratchy, their mother took a handkerchief from her bosom, moistened it with water from a vase decorating the bedside table, and said:

“Adi. Shall we put this over your mouth and nose?”

“Su-suddenly?”

“Yes. Cover your mouth and nose with the handkerchief and breathe. It will make you feel a little better.”

Isn’t it hot? As if it were a lie that it felt chilly until before they fell asleep(.)

The surrounding air was humid and stifling. Their mother stroked their forehead with the back of her hand and opened her mouth.

Only after seeing the beads of water on the back of the white hand that touched their forehead did the child realize. It seemed they had sweated from the heat while sleeping.

‘So did she wake me up because it’s hot?’

When the cool, damp thing touched their face, they reflexively raised their hand to touch it.

As they breathed through their mouth and nose covered as instructed, they felt the humid air filling their lungs.

Their pajamas were soaked by the dripping handkerchief, feeling unpleasant, but it was much better for breathing, so it wasn’t too bad.

As they gazed blankly up at their mother, she picked them up and set them down on the bedroom floor, saying:

“Shall we change your clothes?”

“Huh?”

“We need to go somewhere urgently. Adi, can you do it?”

“……”

There’s not much time. They couldn’t ask anything more to the urgent words as she anxiously looked around.

The child had no choice but to nod.

As if she had been waiting, their mother quickly took out several pieces of clothing from the dressing room next to the bedroom and handed one to them.

Come to think of it, no matter how urgent the situation, it was quite puzzling that she moved directly without calling a servant.

But at the time, they were still half-asleep, so they just yawned and took the clothes without much thought.

The child, who received the clothes from their mother, rubbed their sleepy eyes and fumbled to take off their top.

“……?”

And they tilted their head.

The child, who was about to change their top, flipped the clothes they received this way and that, then blinked rapidly.

‘This is the commoner’s clothing we wear when sneaking out?’

Both their mother and they liked to wander around, so there were always a few sets of commoner’s clothing prepared at home.

Sometimes they really wanted to play comfortably, but their noble status had many restrictions here and there.

But the child asked their mother why they were suddenly handed these clothes at this time of all times.

“I should wear this?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“……Now?”

Their mother nodded her head curtly a couple of times to the child’s question.

Come to think of it, the clothes she was wearing now were also plain clothes, just like what they had been handed.

The child, who had been staring at the dress made of stiff fabric, raised their gaze.

A black robe that almost covered her entire body.

This was also not a high-quality item. Rather, it looked very similar to what the wandering mercenaries they saw on the streets often wore.

Their mother, who said she would explain on the way as there was no time, went back into the dressing room and shoved travel clothes into a bag.

‘Those are winter clothes.’

It was quite unfamiliar to see clothes that didn’t match the season getting tangled and going into the bag in a messy way.

The bag quickly became full with a few pairs of shoes and outerwear, and brooches, cufflinks, etc. hastily stuffed in from the accessory box sitting on one side.

Their mother cast magic to shrink the size of the bag as if it were no big deal, slipped it into the inside pocket of her robe, and turned around.

As they stood there awkwardly after changing clothes, someone barged into the room.

“Young lady!”

“Oh, Mari.”

“What if you’re still here?! We need to leave quickly! You’ll really die at this rate……!”

The child gasped at Mari, who was fidgeting restlessly and stomping her feet anxiously.

It was surprising that Mari opened the door without knocking.

But more than that, it was because the words she said next rang in their ears.

‘……Die?’

Why? The child raised their head and looked back and forth between Mari and their mother – Aeli.

Judging from the sound they had vaguely heard earlier, which was presumed to be the head butler’s shout, it seemed that a fire had broken out in the mansion.

‘Is that why we have to hurry and get out?’

The child rolled their eyes and peered out the half-open door.

Far from being engulfed in flames, not even smoke was visible.

On the other hand, wasn’t their room filled with a pungent smell from the smoke seeping in through the hazy window?

It meant that the fire in the mansion was not serious. Moreover, it seemed to have started from the outside, so it wouldn’t be too difficult to put out the fire.

‘If we have to run away because we can’t put out the fire, there are a few more mansions in the capital.’

Even if not necessarily in the capital, there were quite a few Ratliffe villas near the capital.

There were clothes there too, so there was no need to bring them, and it made no sense to bring commoner’s clothing.

Only then did the child instinctively sense danger and tightly grasped the hem of their mother’s dress.

They didn’t know what the danger was, but just by looking at the adults’ expressions, they could tell it wasn’t something they could laugh off.

“……Adi. Shall I carry you?”

“Wh-why……?”

“I think we need to get out quickly, and for that, it would be better for me to carry you. You just woke up not long ago, so your legs don’t have much strength, right?”

“……”

It was true.

Normally, they could run as fast as their mother – no, maybe a little faster, but not now.

The body that had just woken up from sleep had not yet awakened enough to sprint.

Moreover, with every breath, smoke entered their nose, making them cough involuntarily, so their breathing would soon become ragged as well.

The child, who had been silently pressing their lips together, stretched out both hands into the air.

“Come here. Good.”

Their mother skillfully picked them up, and from then on, it was a blur, so they couldn’t remember exactly.

It was true that they continued to watch the situation itself, but it was also because the scenery they saw over their mother’s shoulder changed so quickly.

When they had just woken up, it was so noisy.

As if it were all a lie, not even an ant was crawling in the corridor.

Mari and their mother quickly ran through the utterly silent mansion corridor and opened the door at the end. The child expressed a small question.

“……If it’s urgent, why the storeroom?”

“You haven’t seen it yet, Adi?”

“Yes?”

“Ratliffe mansion has a secret passage. Not just Ratliffe, but any decent noble family is bound to have one……”

“……”

“Remember when I said there was no time?”

“……”

“……Bad people will enter the mansion soon. If we get caught, they will torment us terribly.”

They, too, would not be unaware of the existence of a secret passage in Ratliffe, so we need to escape beforehand, out of their sight. That’s what their mother said.

Of course, they might only know about the existence of the passage and not the route, but there’s always the possibility.

If by any chance we delay and unfortunately encounter them in the passage. Or even if we manage to get out safely, we may confront them outside the mansion due to lack of time to flee.

If such a situation unfolds, it would be terribly troublesome.

Creak-.

“Young lady, this way.”

“Isn’t the right path the exit? That’s the left one.”

“The right path leads to the rear gate of the mansion. The left is connected to a cave that connects to the forest owned by the ducal family. If we go out the rear gate now, we’ll get caught right away, so it’s better to escape through the cave.”

“……But how do you know that?”

“……”

Mari moved her lips a few times, then changed the subject.

When she urged them to hurry as there was no time, their mother narrowed her brows as if puzzled, then moved her feet.

They didn’t know then.

But thinking about it now, that was probably because the situation was too urgent to waste time interrogating, as she said.

Silently running and stumbling over a rock twice, taking the wrong path three times because it was too dark to see ahead without a torch or candlestick.

Unable to adapt to the utterly dark place, they sniffled softly and buried their face in their mother’s shoulder.

“There it is?”

“Oh, yes! I think that’s right!”

Perhaps they had hurried out of the cave toward the faintly visible light.

Only then did their mother look around with a relieved face and ask Mari:

“I heard there would be horses prepared for an easy escape, do we need to go further?”

“They said the terrain here is too rough to ride a horse. If we walk a little further, they’ll probably be there.”

“Really? Then I wonder if Lutis is waiting there too.”

“……”

“Earlier, when I said let’s go together, he said he would go ahead and prepare the horses and wait at the exit. He said he didn’t need his luggage, so he told me to take care of Adi first, and I said okay.”

“……”

“It may be a presumptuous thing to say in this situation, but he could have at least come out this far to meet us.”

That guy has good night vision, so it would be much faster than us going alone.

Their mother muttered, shrugging her shoulders.

‘Then is Father there too?’

The child, who had been blinking while still held in the warm embrace, tilted their head.

According to their mother’s words, it would mean that their father is here, but there was a puzzling point if that were the case.

‘Father loves Mother so much.’

He wouldn’t even let her walk directly if the mountain path, let alone the road, was even a little rough.

Didn’t they sparkle their eyes, thinking that someday they could be like their father and lift their mother up?

So, no matter how urgent the situation.

It didn’t seem like he would send her on land where grass and tree roots grew as thick as an adult’s shin without a proper guide.

“……”

“……”

“……Mari?”

Perhaps their mother also recalled that part as the tension eased somewhat, and she stopped with a smile on her face and turned her head.

It was a calm day, but the hand holding them was trembling slightly.

Their mother asked.

“Where’s Lutis?”

“……”

“……”

“……”

There was no answer.