Crack!

“……?”

Ael, who had been deeply asleep, opened her eyes at the sound of something breaking.

All she could see was pitch-black darkness. After blinking a few times, her surroundings gradually became visible.

‘I fell asleep just like that.’

The smell of food rising from her clothes reminded Ael that she had collapsed into sleep without even changing.

‘But what was that sound?’

It definitely sounded like something had broken.

But no other sounds followed.

Ael slowly got up from the bed.

Now that she was up, she thought she should change into pajamas and wash her face and hands. As Ael was about to take off her clothes, she noticed the old clock hanging on the wall.

8:30.

After checking the time, Ael sighed.

‘It must have started.’

The invitation had stated that today’s event would begin at 8:30.

By now, a glamorous event must have started at the Oltbea mansion.

All the people she knew from the Ash Company would be gathered there, comforting each other for their hard work and cheerfully clinking glasses.

‘If only they had come a little later.’

The lord and lady, Elize, or the young Baron Roitz.

If everyone had come in autumn as originally planned, she wouldn’t have felt this regretful.

Thinking that she had missed out on what could have been the first and last joyful time in her life, she felt choked up.

Wiping away tears with the back of her hand, Ael approached the desk. Even though she knew it would only make her feel worse, she wanted to look at the invitation again.

“……Huh?”

But when she opened the drawer, the invitation was nowhere to be seen.

“Where did it go?”

Ael hurriedly looked under the desk, but the invitation wasn’t there either.

It couldn’t be anywhere else. She had always kept it in the drawer. Knowing this, Ael still searched the room.

‘I definitely locked the door before sleeping.’

When she touched the door, the lock was still in place. This meant that no one had entered the room after she fell asleep. If someone had come in, it would have been before she came up…….

At that moment, she remembered Elize’s unusual behavior of not bringing Maya out of the room today.

And how she had been preparing as if going to a banquet, despite not being invited anywhere.

She had also begged for time-consuming dishes to be made, deliberately keeping her in the kitchen longer…….

“Elize!”

Ael shouted and immediately headed towards Elize’s room. Or rather, she was about to.

If she hadn’t seen the figure struggling at the end of the hallway.

“……!”

A white figure squirmed. What on earth was that? Though paralyzed with fear, Ael approached it.

And soon realized it was Jena fallen on the floor with the young Baron Roitz on top of her.

“Jena!”

When Ael shouted, the young baron turned around. Even in the darkness, his eyes gleamed with filthy desire.

“Ah, young lady! Please save me!”

As the young baron released his hand from her mouth due to Ael’s appearance, Jena screamed desperately.

Jena’s scream snapped Ael to her senses.

“What are you doing!”

As Ael rushed over, the young baron’s face turned to one of dismay before he brazenly opened his mouth.

“This maid knocked on my door in the middle of the night, begging me to take her along! She was so seductively trying to bewitch me…….”

“That’s not true! I just came down to use the bathroom! Suddenly this man!”

Jena wailed frantically.

After Ael went up, she had followed and entered her room. She had fallen asleep after locking the door from the inside with the bolt as Ael had strictly instructed, but suddenly felt the need to use the bathroom.

‘The young lady told me not to move alone.’

Ael had insisted on always going together, even to the bathroom. But she felt bad about waking the young lady who must have been tired from today’s events.

‘I’ll be back quickly.’

It was just going downstairs briefly inside the house, what could go wrong? Thinking this, she came down, but someone suddenly covered her mouth and pulled her from behind.

The lamp she was holding fell to the floor with a ‘crack!’ sound.

That sound should have been audible from Elize’s room nearby, but no one came out.

A heavy body instantly pinned Jena to the floor and covered her mouth more tightly.

Jena resisted with all her might, but it was impossible to push off the massive body.

Still, as she continued to struggle and avoid his hands, Ael came down.

Jena pushed the young baron away with her last bit of strength. At the same time, Ael who had rushed over swung her arm with all her might.

Thwack!

A sound louder than the breaking lamp echoed through the hallway.

In Ael’s hand was a small stone statue that had been in the corridor.

The moment Ael saw the young Baron Roitz and Jena’s situation, she realized what had been happening here.

At that moment, an unbearable disgust and anger welled up.

In someone else’s house. And in the middle of the hallway, trying to rape a girl much younger than himself?

As Jena called out to her and screamed for help, Ael immediately looked around for something that could be used as a weapon.

There was something perfect right next to her on top of the ornament cabinet.

It was a stone statue that the baron had bought for a hefty price long ago.

Though small in size, it was so heavy that Ael had always struggled to lift it with both hands when cleaning. She grabbed it and ran straight towards the young Baron Roitz.

A normal person would have fled the moment their despicable act was discovered, but the baron was still brazenly insisting that Jena had seduced him, making ridiculous excuses even as Ael approached.

Thanks to this, Ael swung her arm with all her might without hesitation.

Thwack!

Along with a loud sound, she felt a dull impact at her fingertips. She had struck so hard that her swinging arm tingled.

“Ugh!”

The man groaned as Ael swung the statue. With a ‘thud!’, the body that had been pinning down Jena collapsed to the side.

“Jena, get up!”

“Yes! Yes! Sob…….”

Jena, who had been struggling under him, desperately grabbed Ael’s outstretched hand.

But having been in extreme terror until just moments ago, Jena could barely breathe, let alone walk properly.

Ael supported Jena as she knocked on Elize’s nearby door.

“Elize! Maya! Open the door!”

She needed their help now.

But no matter how much she knocked, there was no response from inside. Ael, who had been knocking roughly, threw herself at the door.

The unlocked door opened far too easily. But the moment she looked inside…….

“……They’re gone.”

There was no one in Elize’s room. Instead, only traces of a hasty departure remained.

Dresses, accessories, shoes, bags, and hats strewn about everywhere.

It was the scene always left behind when Elize went to a banquet.

“Ugh…….”

While Ael was stunned looking at the empty room, a groan was heard from the hallway.

Looking out, she saw the young baron staggering to his feet.

She didn’t know whether to be relieved that he wasn’t dead or disappointed, but one thing was certain.

They needed to get out of this house quickly.

“Jena, run!”

“Yes, yes!”

Ael ran down to the first floor, tightly gripping Jena’s hand.

Jena, still weak, nearly fell several times, stumbling, but Ael didn’t let go of her tightly held hand and took care of her.

The young baron’s shouts could be heard from behind them.

“Damn wenches! How, how dare you……! Just wait till I catch you! I’ll, I’ll make you both beg for death instead! Cough!”

Though he was staggering from the impact to his head, he was coming down the stairs, holding onto the railing.

Though the only light was the dim glow coming through the windows, the young baron’s face, covered in blood, was clearly visible.

“I’ll call the guards and have you both thrown in jail! I’ll throw the maid to the guards and kill you myself!”

The young baron’s shouting voice sounded like a demon’s cry, saying he would surely catch up and grab their ankles to drag them away.

‘A demon would be better.’

Then she could think it was just an illusion brought on by fear, but the one shouting was not a demon, but the young Baron Roitz.

A guest staying at the home of his future bride, having already paid more than half of the gratitude money to bring the bride.

If a problem arose, who would take her side?

Baron Aradis would blame her, asking what mad thing she had done, and the young Baron Roitz would surely bribe the guards.

Anyway, she wasn’t some great noble lady, and there was no one who would care about her.

Then it would happen just as the young baron had said earlier.

If he reported this now, she would be dragged away by the guards and face a horrific reality where she would think death would be better.

‘If we’re caught, it’s over.’

Then they had to escape.