Chapter 3
"My sister is sick. Shouldn't we bring something more appropriate than scraps or leftover food, Mr. Butler?"
Harris remained silent, then turned his back to leave. Lethias followed behind him.
"She said my sister is sick!"
With a sudden burst of anger, Lethias kicked the tray on the floor, sending it tumbling over.
As Harris stumbled into the hallway, another attendant standing nearby intervened and forcefully threw Lethias inside.
Benya left my side and rushed to his brother's aid. However, facing much stronger adults, both Harris and the attendant, Benya soon found himself thrown down next to his brother.
The altercation didn't end there. Being attacked again by the boys, Harris stepped inside and grabbed another tray from the floor, seemingly fueled by a distorted judgment.
He ruthlessly struck Lethias, who was just getting up, over and over again with the tray!
Witnessing his older brother being assaulted in such a manner caused Benya's judgment to waver.
He immediately jumped up and charged at Harris, but was violently kicked by the other attendant and knocked to the ground.
"Benya!"
I felt as if all the blood was draining from my body. I tried to reach Benya, but my legs refused to move, leaving me immobilized.
Instead, I gripped Harris's arm, the one wielding the tray, as tightly as I could.
"Do not do that! Stop it! Don't hit him, you crazy bastard!"
Harris shook his arm in an attempt to release me, but then he grabbed my hair with his other hand. A scream escaped my lips. Ouch! This crazy man had become the enemy of my head!
Lethias, who had been crouching on the floor with his arms wrapped around his head, suddenly moved and grabbed Harris' leg. He seemed to want to hold him down.
With a loud thud, the hand holding my head weakened. Then, I heard Harris muttering curses.
Benya hurled a chair and rushed back to the scene. However, he was once again intercepted by the same attendant from before, and this time, he received several brutal kicks.
There were horrifying thuds and dull clanging sounds.
“Stop it, you idiots!”
“… Ouch! You crazy bastard!”
Thankfully, the rowdy attendant ceased kicking Benya. Instead, he fiercely bit my arm and then mercilessly tossed me aside! I felt a loud bang and a jolt, and my whole body tingled.
“Sasha…!”
Through my tear-filled eyes, I saw Benya's anguished face. Blood flowed from his cheek and mouth, probably from the kicks he had received a moment ago.
“B-Benya!”
Just as I screamed, Benya attempted to turn around, but the attendant swiftly kicked us with all his might. He struck us both, and his arms wrapped around us. Pak!!!
It felt as if my eardrums were about to burst. Strangely, there was no pain. It took me a while to comprehend what had just happened.
"U-Ugh… ARGH!!!”
We immediately rose to our feet. Then, I saw Lethias collapse in front of us, screaming horribly.
Dark red blood streamed down his face as he clutched it in his hands. A chilling sense of panic rushed through me.
"Oppa!"
"Hyung!"
Benya held onto Lethias, who writhed in pain and pressed him down. I reached out and tried to clean the blood away from his face.
Harris, after throwing the tray behind us, wiped his arm and spat out scornfully.
“Well, all of you are worms destined to rot and die in this place. Tsk, those who don't even know what’s going on still think they're nobles. If you die, no one will know or care, and no one will mourn for you."
Every word he spoke was filled with bone-chilling malice. I clung tightly to Benya's trembling arm. No more. If Harris went any further, someone might end up dead for real.
The two scumbags walked out arrogantly. There was nothing bizarre about him having high spirits as if it had been his longtime ambition to defeat high-status aristocrats.
It was the first time I had intentionally wanted to murder someone.
“L-lethy oppa, put your hands away… Huh?"
“M-my eyes, Sasha, my eyes… My eyes hurt..”
With his sad, blue eyes, Lethias stared up at me, scarcely moving his hand. The other eye was still desperately clenching. Blood was dripping from the wound. My heart felt like it was sinking.
We helped Lethias to his bed and removed his hand from his wounded eye. We couldn't see what was going on beneath his bloodied eyelids, but we knew something was badly wrong.
It had been an excruciatingly long and dreadful day. None of us would ever want to remember it again.
Lethias endured pain throughout the day, and to compound the suffering, his fever spiked, and his body temperature soared to 40 degrees.
We took turns applying ointment to Lethias's eyes, changing his bandages, and soothing his feverish face with cold-water-soaked towels.
While one of us tended to Lethias, the other had to keep a watchful eye on Estelle.
“Cough…! Sasha, what's wrong with Lethy-Oppa? Did he catch a cold like me?”
“… Yes, that's right. He caught a cold and got a fever. You can't move, so you can't come down. Understand?"
“I'm, cough! I'm not feverish anymore.”
I gave her water, fed her the mashed potatoes that she had as leftovers from yesterday, and wrapped a scarf around her neck, telling her all the things she liked.
It was horrifying to imagine how shocked Estelle would be if she saw Lethias in his current state.
Estelle's coughing subsided late at night, and she fell into a deep, peaceful sleep. The rest of us couldn't sleep.
Benya and I remained awake, watching Lethias struggle with his high fever and pass out several times throughout the night.
We knew how unbearable his pain was and wished we could do anything to alleviate it even slightly.
“… Money, mother, father…”
I remembered the original Lethias with both his eyes intact. That memory was the only glimmer of hope I held onto.
Holding the hand of the boy who desperately sought his parents, I fervently prayed in my heart. Please, I begged, let Lethias be saved, and let his eyes be healed.
Did he have to endure this agony merely because he defended his sister?
Should he lose an eye for intervening to protect his brother and the nanny's daughter from being mistreated like dogs?
If losing an eye was the price that he had to pay for such a righteous act, simply because he was labeled as a villain, it was truly absurd.
I wondered if God had heard my prayers, but fortunately, around dawn, Lethias's fever began to subside.
When I returned after washing my face, I found Lethias half-asleep, holding onto Benya, and he managed to engage in a conversation.
“… hey, hey. Silly brother.”
“… Why do you keep calling me that?”
“What if I really end up like this…?”
“Then make it a fashion statement. The one-eyed Snake Duke, Hya! You'll become a legend that will be remembered for generations to come.”
"But then everyone in the Empire will follow suit."
"Hyung, you can't just be the only one."
"Well, I can't be the only one who suffers this pain."
… I'm torn between laughing and crying. Can I do both?
As I approached him, Lethias opened his one eye and looked at me. His eye was as clear as the sky…
A smile flickered in it, which was comforting and brought tears to my eyes. Oh my…! This stubborn guy!
"I'm sorry. Did you suffer because of me?"
"How many times has she suffered because of you?"
"Ah, talking about the past is a little…"
Lethias then ate some biscuits, drank some water, and went to sleep.
After taking his temperature one last time, we headed to the library, completely exhausted. I was going to take out the remaining candles.
"Sasha, stop going up and get some sleep. I will watch over Hyung. His fever has gone down now. His mind seems to have come back somehow."
A laugh escaped me. Even though it wasn't a lighthearted situation, laughter and tears came out of me simultaneously.
Benya carefully held my arm as I sobbed and sat down in front of the box of candles.
"What's the matter…?"
"... You know, Oppa's eyes may never come back. If we are trapped in here and he can't receive any treatment, his other eye may also be affected."
Even if only one eyeball is injured, the other eye can also be at risk. To prevent that, we might need to be prepared to even have the injured eyeball removed if necessary.
I tried to explain the medical knowledge I remembered, but my strength was drained from my body, probably due to staying up all night for two full days. I gasped and sprawled on the floor.
Benya looked down at me with blank eyes for a moment, then lay down next to me in the same way. His arm slid under my neck.
We lay side by side in silence for a while. A thin ray of sunlight filtered through a small window on the far side.
The sky-blue eyes right in front of me blinked with drowsiness. I, too, was about to doze off.
"Let's get out of here. Now that Hyung has come to his senses, he must be able to find a way somehow. We'll be fine if we follow the plan you mentioned last time."
It was a languid voice. A soft, soothing voice, as if suggesting that we should play a fun game rather than plotting an escape.
I replied in a similar voice, moving my head to rest more comfortably on his arm.
"How...? Those two are as strong as monsters.
We're not like them, who seem like King Kong."
"What is King Kong?"
"Something like a huge gorilla."
"It's a wonderful metaphor."
"I don't know if they will just stop giving us meals in the future. Then we would all be less energetic."
"Even if they bring us something worse, they won't quit giving us something."
"How can you be so sure?"
"It was obvious that he enjoyed feeding us that. If we die, the fun will end, so he wouldn't."
"Well, it seemed like beating a noble was his lifelong wish. So, it seemed like he was releasing some of his accumulated inferiority feelings here."
"And as nobles, we ought to eat even such rubbish to cheer up. We'll act like we're down, and then they'll be a little bit off guard, until then we'll have to come up with a plan to raid them. If we collect the broken ladder and cut its end, wouldn't it make a pretty useful weapon?"
"Would that work? How about making a snare out of a belt? A raid from behind will work."
"That's fine too. Let's plan in several ways."
"Can we succeed?"
"We will succeed. You told me that we'll get out of here alive."
I did. Although I didn't know how we would be able to get out. Did our escape succeed, or did we get out differently...
"There is a family anniversary in early spring. Then the banquet will be held. Let's do it that day."
"Yes. Let's do that."
"After we get out of here, Estelle will be healthy, and Hyung will be able to treat both of his eyes properly."
"Yes, all of you will live again, being respected and cared for like before."
"And so will you."
"If everything goes well, I'll be the head maid. Will you make me the head maid?"
"Is there anything else you want to do besides being the head maid? Like what you want to be."
What do I want to be? Well, what can I dream of when I don't have the right background or family? I've thought about it before.
I've never said it out loud. The distant dream that I always had even in my previous life when I was raised as an orphan.
"Anything?"
"Anything."
"All right. I always wanted to go to school. I heard there is a school in the Republic of Vibrato that even a commoner like me can attend."
"That seems to be a place sponsored by our family…"
"What? Really?"
"You know, the Python Bank Foundation. It must be a place sponsored there."
Right. If we do well, the dream of my life might come true. First of all, surviving is the priority. Phew, dead ones, please guide us.
"If we get out of here…"
Benya moved a little and pressed his forehead against mine. As the warm sensation spread, my eyelids grew heavier.
His eyes, looking into mine, were completely different from Lethias's. The color was the same, but the lingering emotions swirling within it were of an extremely strange and unfamiliar nature.
Something that feels a little more intense, blinding, dark, and dangerous. The pure and lively eyes of those olden days would never be seen again.
I didn't even know if it was the same for me. That's probably why we both had the same sad expression in our eyes.
We looked at each other as if we had nothing to comfort each other but to just fall asleep.
𝔼𝕟𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕍𝕠𝕝𝕦𝕞𝕖 𝟜:
ℍ𝕖𝕣 𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝕃𝕦𝕝𝕝𝕒𝕓𝕪
ɴᴇxᴛ ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ: ᴛʜɪꜱ ꜱᴜɴᴅᴀʏ
🇵🇱🇺🇸 🇲🇾 🇫🇴🇷🇲🇦🇹 🇼🇴🇺🇱🇩 🇧🇪
🇨🇭🇦🇳🇬🇮🇳🇬 🇫🇷🇴🇲 🇹🇭🇪 🇳🇪🇽🇹
🇨🇭🇦🇵🇹🇪🇷 🇦🇳🇩 🇹🇭🇪🇳 🇴🇳
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