Feeling tense at the prospect of finally hearing about the shrouded matter, Luella worried whether Shuna would get into trouble for sharing it.

“Does anyone else know you’re aware of this?”

“No, I overheard it by accident.”

That’s fortunate.

Relieved, Luella realized they couldn’t waste more time and pushed Shuna forward.

“There’s no time to talk now. Just go inside. Don’t mention the accident I talked about earlier. Say… you came to borrow money.”

Shuna’s mouth dropped open.

“Money?”

“Yes. Say I fought with the people from the Peroz Guild and left, and I have nowhere else to go so I came here to borrow money from you. And that you refused.”

Shuna looked serious. She couldn’t believe a noble lady would ask such a thing of a maid.

“Will they believe that?”

“I’ve been kicked out of the house penniless, so it’s true. And I really don’t have a penny to my name.”

Still, Luella asked once more to see if this situation might change Shuna’s mind.

“Will you still follow me?”

Smiling, Shuna nodded.

“Yes. Money is no issue. I can earn it.”

Feeling moved, Luella wondered why this girl was so kind. Compared to Shuna, she felt like a storm cloud.

“Now, go. The servant’s eyes are practically glowing. I’ll see you in the forest.”

“Yes, my lady. I’ll definitely go.”

“Throw the luggage first.”

“Yes.”

After confirming that Shuna had gone inside, Luella waved to the servant who was attentively watching from beyond the window.

Upon exiting the mansion, Luella headed towards a skillfully concealed carriage in the forest shadows.

“Did everything go well?”

As soon as she boarded the carriage, everyone looked at her as if curious. Luella opened the screen and consulted the map.

“Yes, she agreed to come with us. Can we go around to the back where she won’t be seen from the mansion? Shuna will throw the luggage out first.”

“I saw a road there earlier.”

Tien marked the road he had seen on the map. When Luella nodded, the carriage started moving.

Re-entering the deeper parts of the forest, they raced along a path beside the river, arriving at the back of the mansion.

“Look, the luggage is already there.”
Raphael, who was driving the carriage, pointed below the fence. There, indeed, lay a bag full of belongings. While Luella changed into Ralph’s clothes as a precaution, Mitchel stealthily approached to retrieve the bag, and the carriage took off again.

They circled back to the agreed-upon location to wait, and it wasn’t long before Shuna appeared. Tien moved from the carriage to allow Shuna to sit where she had been and took a seat next to the driver.

As soon as everyone was seated, the carriage set off. Luella waited for Shuna’s breathing to calm before asking,

“You arrived quickly?”

Including the time to fetch the luggage, less than 30 minutes had passed. For some reason, Shuna responded with an excited expression.

“I was thinking about what you said, Miss. Why bother cleaning when we’re never going to see it again?”

“Good job. What did the housekeeper say?”

“She asked why you were here. So, I told her you came to borrow money, as you’d instructed.”

“She believed it?”

“Surprisingly, yes. It took me off guard. She bit her tongue.”

It was telling how lowly the housekeeper regarded Luella.

‘Is it fortunate that my image is poor in such cases…?’

Raphael, who was driving the carriage, let out an incredulous chuckle before asking,

“You told her you came to borrow money?”

“Yes. I couldn’t think of another excuse. Besides, it’s true that I don’t have money.”

Luella, who responded to Raphael, met eyes with Shuna again.

“And then?”

“I went straight to my room and packed. Just as I threw the bag over the fence, I heard the sound of the carriage. That sound made me impatient, so I waited for the housekeeper to enter the study and just left.”

“Good job.”

Luella patted the kneeling Shuna and spoke,

“We won’t go directly to the Pheroz mansion. We will stop by the Mazel territory border to hunt. Is that alright?”

Shuna, who had been looking at the passing landscape, quickly nodded.

“Yes, I don’t mind where we go. It’s my first time leaving Camun village, so anywhere is fine with me.”

The journey to the hunting grounds was joyful. Whether it was the feeling of finally being outdoors and enjoying the trip, the carriage was filled with jokes and laughter all the way.