At that anxious moment, she noticed someone coming out from behind the cabin. There seemed to be space behind the cabin.

Maybe over there…

Nellia checked the surroundings once again and quickly moved behind the cabin, hiding in the trees.

Step by step. Although the sound of stepping on fallen leaves echoed on the ground, the hideout was quite noisy, so no one seemed to notice that there was a stranger nearby.

After a while, Nellia arrived behind the cabin. She found Ton inside the iron bars.

‘Ton…!’

In the joy of seeing a familiar face, her voice almost slipped out, but she managed to swallow it down, along with the dry saliva.

Nellia first surveyed the surroundings. Fortunately, there was no one behind the cabin. However, there was one problem.

The key to the iron bars, which was said to be hanging on a branch, was not visible.

‘Where could it be?’

Unable to find it despite searching the surroundings, Nellia approached the iron bars.

Sensing someone approaching, Ton slowly turned his head.

Cautiously eyeing the person in a black robe who was approaching, Ton widened his eyes as Nellia lifted the robe slightly behind him.

“Miss Nellia…!”

As Nellia approached the iron bars and whispered, “Ton, I’m relieved that you’re safe.”
However, Ton, confirming that Nellia was alone, immediately hardened his expression.

“What brings you to this dangerous place?”

“I couldn’t just stay still after hearing that Ton would be taken to the port before 9 o’clock.”

“Still…”

“You can lecture me later. For now, tell me where the key to the iron bars is.”

Ton hesitated for a moment and then spoke in a subdued voice.

“The key that was hanging on the branch in front of us was taken away by someone just a while ago.”

Oh no…

“Who took the key?”

“It was a person wearing a black hood.”

Nellia leaned against the cabin and peeked her head out to find the person in a black hood.

It was easy to find. The person in the black hood was sitting around a bonfire with others, tearing apart a large piece of meat.

The face was dusky, the eyes were unfocused, and it seemed like they had had a drink. Evidence lay scattered nearby in the form of empty bottles.

What should I do…

Despite being intoxicated, Nellia couldn’t just go over there.

Nellia glanced through the noisy gang of thugs.

At that moment, the blazing flames caught Nellia’s eye.

‘Right, maybe.’

It might be possible to confuse the thugs and retrieve the key.

But there was one more problem.

“Ton, do you know where the key to these shackles is?”

It was a shackle wrapped around Ton’s legs. Attached to the shackle was a heavy additional weight. Even if they opened the iron bars, escaping wouldn’t be easy with that shackle.

“It should be inside this cabin. I overheard the thugs talking earlier; they said they store stolen items and keys in here.”

Stolen items…?

Perhaps inside the cabin, they could find not only the key to the shackle but also Charlotte’s pendant necklace.

During the moment when Nellia’s eyes sparkled, Ton spoke with a sinking voice.

“But, Miss Nellia. Right now, finding the key is impossible. So, please go back before you get caught.”

“What are you talking about? How did I come all the way here?”

“Are you saying you’d go into the thugs’ hideout alone to find the key before getting caught?”

“If necessary, I’ll do it.”

Ton squinted his eyes. It was an expression rarely seen on Ton’s face.

“It’s unacceptable. I earnestly beg you, please go back. If something goes wrong with you, the master won’t stay silent.”

Nellia had also considered that thought. If something went wrong, the Duke would be deeply saddened.

That’s why she could say it with certainty.

“Nothing will go wrong. I have a plan.”

“…”

“I promise.”

Having said that, Nellia rose from her crouched position.

Ton, realizing that further attempts to dissuade her were futile, remained silent.

Nellia began to move as if initiating her actions.
Leaning against the cabin, Nellia looked at the place where the rowdy gang of thugs was gathered.

They still seemed busy and lively, being drunk and making a lot of noise.

Nellia picked up a long branch lying on the ground and walked to the bonfire on the opposite side of the thugs. There was no one there.

Arriving there, Nellia observed the gang of thugs, placed the branch into the bonfire, and lit it.

The tip of the branch quickly caught fire. The flames flickered, reflecting in Nellia’s pupils.

Having done that, she walked back to where she had left.

This place, with scattered trees, was perfect for carrying out the plan.

Nellia gathered dry leaves under a large tree and threw the burning branch into the bonfire on the opposite side.

The small fire turned into a big one in an instant.

Nellia, hiding in the darkness, shouted loudly.

“Fire!”

Startled by the sound of fire, the disoriented gang of thugs appeared. Seeing the blazing wood, they started to panic even more.

Nellia needed to move quickly.

It would take time for the fire to spread to other places since there were only sporadic trees here. They might bring water to extinguish the fire before it spread. There was probably a stream nearby.

That’s why she deliberately set the fire here. She had no intention of burning the entire mountain.

In Nellia’s eyes, a man wearing a black hood was frantically moving around.

Having identified the target, Nellia approached the man. Since all the thugs were wearing black robes, especially in this confusion, they wouldn’t find her suspicious.

As she approached the man, a long key peeked out from above the man’s pocket.

As if casually passing by the man, Nellia grabbed the protruding end of the key, slowly pulling it out.

The man was heavily intoxicated and seemed oblivious to the fact that a fire had started.

‘Good…!’

Swiftly putting the slender key into her robe pocket, Nellia quickly moved away.

Her next destination was the cabin.

Perhaps everyone had gone to the stream to fetch water; there was no one in front of the cabin.

Nellia entered the cabin with quick steps. Just as Ton had described, the inside was cluttered with boxes containing various items.

‘First, the key to the shackles…’

While searching around, Nellia easily found a bunch of keys hanging on the wall.

‘But which one is the key to the shackles…?’

While pondering, Nellia decided to take all of them.

Next was Charlotte’s necklace. The cabin was quite messy, making it challenging to find things.

Remembering the thugs talking about the pendant necklace, mentioning that the surface was platinum, Nellia decided…

to extinguish the fire illuminating the cabin. As she did, the moonlight faintly entered through the window, dimly lighting up the interior.