TNLY 2

Chapter 2

Contrary to my expectation that I’d be confined to my room, the place I was taken to was the basement.

Their steps as they led me away were familiar, as if this had been planned from the start.

Only then did I realize that the people dragging me along were those dispatched from the Count’s household.

Mockery, contempt. Would there be anyone who felt pity for me?

“I heard Sylvia has served the young lady well all this time. And yet you repay kindness like this?”

“You missed the leniency the Count granted you.”

I was shoved into a basement untouched by light. An enclosed space where not even the slightest sound could be heard.

Naturally, there was no one to bring me water or food.

I thought about why they had to resort to something like this.

The owner of the Feing Salon is me. Their position was likewise something that could be taken away if I wished it.

‘…They were waiting.’

For the right moment.

In a way no one could deny.

Because if I were to claim my rights outright, it would ultimately mean entering high society.

I couldn’t tell how much time had passed. This place was an environment sufficient to drive a person mad.

Crawling insects, dust rising with every movement. From time to time I heard phantom sounds.

The voice of a young child begging to be saved. A scream telling me to run.

“I… get a-away…. P-please get away….”

All of it felt like my future, and it was a dreadful feeling. Whenever that happened, I scratched at my arms.

New wounds formed atop old ones. In the end, the one tormenting me was not others but myself.

With no air circulating, I felt short of breath. As thirst set in, my mind began to grow hazy.

“Hah… huuh….”

Into the space filled with ragged breathing, a new sound pushed its way in.

Creeeak—.

“Have you reflected on your behavior a little?”

A shadow flickering in candlelight. The click of heels descending.

“Oh my… your throat must be terribly dry.”

It was unmistakably Idorein’s voice.

“Bring some water.”

Sylvia, who had been standing behind Idorein, promptly handed over a small bucket.

“Do you want to drink?”

I nodded out of the desire to live.

“How pitiful.”

With a splash, cold water was poured over me.

“What a shame, but this is the sight that suits you best.”

I moved my mouth to swallow even that water. I had no strength left to use my hands.

I had to survive, even that way. And only after I had moistened my parched lips enough did I realize.

That I had always been the underside of their bright and happy side. From the day I first met Idorein until now, I had always been drenched.

“Do you want to drink more? Then all you have to do is follow what I say.”

So in the end, she meant for me to hand over the Feing Salon. With a firm resolve not to answer, I clamped my mouth shut.

“Oh my… Reina. Did you really think that was yours?”

The candle she held flickered before my eyes. Beyond the light, a captivating face came into view.

“I thought I had taught you that there was nothing within your reach all this while.”

Idorein, wearing a pitying expression as if all of it were her own fault, whispered softly.

“Giving that to you… was meant to give you hope. Because I didn’t want to see you without even hope. Do they call this maternal love?”

This time my hair was seized and yanked up.

“And yet you couldn’t even do your duty as a child. You dared to try to run away on the day of my daughter’s debut? Did you think I wouldn’t know?”

Ah, so Idorein knew as well. All of this was merely her revenge play.

Still, it would have been better if I had never known until the end. Even amid the surging pain, that was what I thought.

“I wanted to tell you this, but I was holding back for your sake. If you had simply handed it over obediently, I was going to let you be.”

It was an obvious threat.

“But there is still a chance. If you finish this one thing well… I won’t torment you any longer.”

You won’t torment me?

You?

“You’ll do that for me, won’t you?”

Idorein was smiling brightly, as if that alone were my only path to survival.

It was five years ago that I learned of the existence of the deed. How delighted she must have been, watching me harbor futile hope as I looked at it.

That was why I could not easily trust Idorein.

Perhaps sensing my hesitation, the pain began to grow fiercer.

“You’ll do that for me, won’t you, Reina?”

In the end, I nodded.

“Don’t try any tricks. I am always watching you.”

When her hand released me, my body, with no strength left to hold on, collapsed as it was.

“Go and bring someone.”

Idorein said with a radiant smile. That was my last memory.

\* \* \*

After collapsing, I did nothing but sleep for over a day.

Once I regained my senses, the Count’s household physician tended to me with utmost care.

A warm room and luxurious food. Now Sylvia no longer tormented me.

In Sylvia’s place, new maids washed and tidied me.

The wounds on my body had disappeared, but the scars on my arms remained.

“These wounds are…”

“Shh. I’m sorry, young lady.”

Would anyone acknowledge the suffering I had endured? But I realized that, too, was a futile hope.

“I felt you absolutely had to know, young lady. I… the wounds on your arms, you did them to yourself….”

It was a child whose face was tense with fear that someone might see.

“The scars look like they’ll remain. You must be sure to apply the medicine well.”

I couldn’t tell whether it was an act born of a kind heart or of pity.

I merely watched the back of the child who had handed me the medicine.

“So I did this to myself?”

In the end, I came to realize that both my stay in the west wing and the wounds Sylvia inflicted had all been intentional.

A mad young lady who screamed every night and had a violent temperament.

I, who had refused to hand over the Feing Salon, became a sinner in this place as well.

Even amid all that, Jennifer sent her own attendants.

“The young lady said to convey that she absolutely wishes to apologize.”

“Tell her it’s unnecessary.”

“But she says she absolutely wishes to apologize—”

“If you don’t want to make a fool of yourself at the debutante, tell her to come herself.”

I didn’t want to be groveling until the very end. Looking back, all that remained to me was a desire for revenge.

‘The only one whose thoughts I can’t read is Idorein….’

The only ones who know about the deed are the head of the trading company and me.

I slowly pieced my memories back together.

When I came up to the capital, this place was in the midst of a festival.

Everyone was buoyed by the festivities. That was true of me as well, who hadn’t set foot outside the Count’s estate since I was ten.

Perhaps the excitement I felt for the first time in so long showed in my eyes.

“The madam has permitted you to see the fireworks at least.”

Those words from Sylvia felt like happiness. Even after hearing that going out secretly was the condition, I didn’t suspect a thing.

It was a place far from the plaza. The fireworks bursting pop-pop-pop erased all the memories of what had come before.

It was the first time in a long while I had felt such emotion. I hadn’t even run away, yet a sense of liberation washed over me.

“I don’t want to go back.”

“You wish to run away?”

Someone suddenly approached, chiming in with my words.

“Are you Miss Reina?”

“…Who are you?”

He was a man whose identity I couldn’t determine. Large glasses and clothing worn to hide his face.

His low, grave voice and towering frame felt rather threatening.

“Ah, I’ve been late in introducing myself. I am Harold, and I run a small trading company. Of course, not through entirely legal means….”

Apart from the people of the Count’s household, no one knew who I was. I had never been outside until now.

“You know me?”

“I simply follow the scent of money.”

He said it flatly, as if such a thing were nothing at all.

“I believe people are at their most honest when they are alone. So I take what you just said to be sincere.”

The man who introduced himself as the head of the trading company, Harold, handed me a small piece of paper from within his coat. An unknown address was written on it.

“If you promise to sell me the salon, I will help you escape.”

“What am I to trust when I know nothing about you?”

“The judgment is always the customer’s to make. Our trading company merely provides the opportunity.”

The man gestured for me to turn the paper over. Wariness and doubt had already vanished, and I followed his words. It felt as though someone were manipulating me.

At the bottom of the paper’s reverse side, a single small bird was drawn.

“This is paper made at my request to the master of the Magic Tower. If you write your answer on it, we will handle the rest.”

He spoke slowly, as though he knew everything.

“It’s about time for you to return. I will await a positive answer.”

The man vanished as suddenly as if he had never existed in the first place.

Fireworks were still bursting in the sky. The sound pouring down with pop-pop-pop swallowed even my confusion.

“All of this was Idorein’s doing?”

Even if it was to prepare for things going wrong, it was too much.

But since there was nothing I could properly do, I could only sharpen my senses.

\* \* \*

The day of the debutante dawned.

“…Pretty.”

Looking at the result reflected in the mirror, it had been worth the time spent.

Unlike usual, my blonde hair was pinned up to reveal my neckline, and my brown eyes glinted especially brightly.

When I lifted the hem of my skirt, the teal fabric—the symbol of the Wales Count’s household—shimmered like a jewel.

“You are beautiful, young lady.”

“Don’t forget. Today’s main character is Young Lady Jennifer, isn’t she? I’ll be telling the madam about what just happened.”

Sylvia, standing beside me as if to keep watch, muttered.

“Be quiet. Did you forget that today is the day of the debutante?”

One of the maids checking my clothes answered in a displeased tone.

“But today you must absolutely not ignore the young lady… Eep! I-I’m sorry.”

“…Naturally that would be so.”

They are people for whom appearances matter most. I left the fidgeting child be and held out my hand.

“Give me the guest list.”

I took the list and slowly looked over the names.