Chapter 211 – Decisions.
The castle of the Cat Siths was bigger than Usher had thought. He thought that the castle he had spent in Lantua was great, but the Cattsie’s castle was more than that. The ceiling I glanced up at was so high that I could barely see it. Between the ceiling and the floor, between the stairs and the stacked spaces, it seemed that it was still close to the entrance, but what stood out more was the numerous paintings. The huge pillars and ceiling were filled with densely and delicately painted paintings, making one wonder how they were erected and painted.
“Where have all the people guarding this place gone?”
In the middle of the sound of their footsteps crossing the silent hallway. Usher looked around her to see if anyone would notice, and after checking the castle where no one could see, asked her in a whisper. It was normal for a castle this big to have a lot of people to guard it. She glanced back at him.
“Most of them go out to work or entertain envoys in the Holy Land.”
Thanks to that, they were able to roam the castle freely like this now.
“But it’s good to be careful. No matter how wide it is, we catch intruders quickly with sound and smell.”
Usher fell silent and followed her wagging tail. He didn’t know where he was headed, but it seemed at first glance to overlap with the road to Helena’s that he had seen on the map with Krikaliev last night. It was to the point where I wondered if I could walk so leisurely.
“Don’t be impatient. It’s more suspicious if you hide or run. Just walk naturally as if you’re a guest.”
She noticed his expression like a ghost and whispered. It was when Usher, a little taken aback by the words, managed to calm her rapidly beating heart. Suddenly, she saw the cat’s ears prick up above her head. And in a small voice she whispered again.
“Like a security guard. No matter what I say, keep quiet.”
Usher didn’t hear anything, but she trusted her senses as a prisoner and followed her. And not long after, footsteps were heard from around the corner. And Usher froze at the sight of a Catsy coming out of there.
“Lenny? What are you doing here?”
He did not cover his entire body with iron armor like Krikaliev and other knights. The iron armor seemed to bother him, and he was wearing armor made of chains that covered the important parts, but his rugged body was exposed and felt more threatening. Even in the midst of that, he hadn’t thought that there would be a catsy with cute ears and a tail that didn’t suit him so much.
“There was a child who got lost, so I was taking him there.”
“A child?”
At Lenny’s obvious words, Usher lifted her head and their eyes met and her body trembled. I could tell he had no intentions, but I couldn’t help but feel nervous when I looked down at him at his size.
“Airani. How did you get into the royal castle?”
“Can’t you just smell it?”
Then he sniffed his nose, shook his head, and looked at Usher strangely.
“Is this the child you brought from the Holy Land? But I don’t think I’ve seen a child like this before.”
“Do you think you’d see a kid your size among adults?”
“You don’t have to say that.”
He grimaced as if he was unfair, but the expression he made with that size only felt menacing to Usher, so he grabbed Lenny’s hem.
“I’ll take the child, so go on your way.”
“If you take me with you…”
“Are you going to tell George that you’re bothering me? And she’s afraid of kids too, so what are you doing?”
“Ah, okay! I got it. It’s too much, really.”
Lenny’s reproachful glance forced him to let them go. Even though it was a pity that I couldn’t go with them, I kept watching them as they left, and only after the distance had increased, I walked to the other side and disappeared. How long did it take? I saw a hallway lined up in a row not too different from other places. This castle was so big that it seemed that no matter how many times I walked, only the same place came out. I memorized the map to some extent, but I couldn’t figure out how far I had come because I was walking around the maze-like castle.
“I have to be especially careful here.”
“Yes?”
“The person you’re looking for is nominally a criminal, but for now, he’s locked up in a spare room, not in prison.”
At least, it’s better than a completely inaccessible place like a prison, but it can’t be helped that it’s dangerous.
“It was okay up to that point, but this place is not under my jurisdiction. There won’t be any of my own people guarding the room right now, but if they get caught, the problem will grow.”
“Then I’ll go alone.”
“Does she know where the woman is locked up?”
“…No.”
She led Usher as if to say goodbye. I wanted to say something to the point of questioning whether the person who just said that I shouldn’t be caught was right, but that was only for a moment.
“Ah.”
Seeing Lenny’s expression harden, he looked in front of her, for he ran into another Catsy lady, like her, dressed in her maid’s uniform. I could see who the food was prepared for, and even though it looked quite appetizing, he was holding the dry food on the tray without taking a bite. It took a while for them to look at each other and freeze. Encountering them, she gently closed her eyes and bowed her head. She made an unnatural thud.
“Thank you.”
Then, at the words that her Leni seemed to mutter to her as she passed by, she only trembled for a moment and walked away without saying anything. At the spot where she left, her keychain was left there. The identity of the metal sound seemed to be the sound of that thing falling. Usher looked back anxiously, but she didn’t look back.
“Why is that person?”
“Just think that something like that happened.”
At Usher’s question about her, Lenny looked at her with pity and led him back. And stopped in front of one door. It was an ordinary door, not too different from other places. However, unlike some places, there were about two locks that could lock the door from the outside. She looked around and opened the lock with her key. As she looked at it, she suddenly had a question. Until now, I didn’t care because saving people was the priority.
“Why are you helping me?”
“Is it because I’m Catsy?”
She was speechless for a moment when Lenny asked back as if he had expected it as he unlocked one of her locks. It wasn’t like that, but she sighed as Usher looked at her, feeling guilty.
“Never mind.”
She even undid her second lock and brushed his hair.
“Adults have their own circumstances. So don’t worry unnecessarily, hurry up and get out.”
Soon after, the door opened and there was a woman with her head bowed while hugging her knees. She is quiet and suffocating in the heavy air, holding her breath as if she is dying, and even her bright pink hair is gloomy.
‘Am I unable to do anything again?’
Helena couldn’t help but feel the words unknowingly pierce her heart. I wanted to protect you. Perhaps it is an uncomfortable and thrilling one-sided love that started just because it resembles someone you miss. She couldn’t accept her love, so she decided to protect her, hiding her feelings that grew bigger in the image of a sick girl. She thought she could just stand by her and watch her happy. But where did it go wrong? The boy eventually left the girl.
She understood his heart, but she didn’t think Helena would be able to like him. It was so painful for her to have to watch the girl swallow her tears. But she, Helena, couldn’t wipe her tears. Because Belka’s heart was with Usher. The uncomfortable and soggy heart she thought she had forgotten seemed to boil in her heart. She agreed to have the girl clear for him. Because Helena knew how painful it was to wait without a promise. They came out of the inn they had become attached to for a while, rented a building, and started making and selling medicines using alchemy, just like they did in Lantua.
She was familiar with Helena, and Belka was also a witch. She knew how knowledgeable they were about medicine because her dearest friend was also a witch. She said that according to Sasha, when she becomes a witch, at some point she feels that information suddenly pops into her head. That’s why she couldn’t dream of becoming an alchemist anymore, and the image of her friend who smiled bitterly remained in her memory. Belka’s knowledge was so extensive that she helped Helena make a potion even in her unfamiliar Parz.
It was a short time, but the time to make medicine together was happy. Until the Cattsy suddenly came in. They were taken to them without knowing why. No matter how much they shouted about the problem, they didn’t ask or tell them what their sins were, they trampled on the medicines and tools they had made so far, and locked her in this room. Helena didn’t even know if her Belka was alive or dead. Her refusal to eat needlessly lavish food was all she could do, not even laugh.
She burst out laughing at her own miserable appearance. What the hell is an alchemist? What the hell is a doctor? You can’t save or protect someone who’s really important to you. It was then.
“Are you okay?”
Her boyish voice, which she seemed to have heard somewhere, came to her. It wasn’t long before we met her properly, but she still had the boy’s voice that she remembered clearly. Raising her head, she could see the yellow-haired boy looking anxiously at her. A young boy who looked like a girl who had not yet escaped his youthful appearance opened the tightly closed door and stood in front of her. Helena asked in a trembling voice.
“How are you here?”
“That is.”
Usher looked at her troubledly, then finally opened her mouth as she looked intently at her.
“I’m here to save you.”
“This is not a place to come casually.”
“I know. I can’t do it alone. So I got help from Mr. Krikaliev.”
The man who saved them came to Helena’s mind.
“Because the old man said he would save Belka. I was able to come this far.”
Her strange and suspicious, but her article that recognized her confidently nonetheless. He decided to rescue her girl. Listen to this boy’s request. Helena found it both joyous and miserable.
“…Weren’t you afraid?”
Although it was sudden, Helena vaguely expected that this was an order from their royal family. Otherwise, there would be no reason for them to behave like this. Helena realized, too late, that the cat’s gaze, which sometimes looked at her girl, was lustful. Perhaps that was the cause of this.
“I was scared. I thought that there was nothing I could do about it because they said I was a member of the royal family. I thought that if I did something wrong, I could die.”
Usher did not deny Helena’s words. The words that followed one by one in her trembling voice gently tickled her ears.
“But I hated myself more for not being able to do anything for Belka than dying. So I asked Mr. Krikaliev for a sword.”
Somehow, Helena found herself hugging him when he saw the boy helping himself by saying that she had asked him for a favor.
“Hey, are you there?”
He could feel Usher fidgeting and panicking, but Helena couldn’t release her hand from his embrace. She seemed to know why he had come to rescue her and not Belka. Because she knows she’s powerless. Because she knows she can’t save the girl herself who is being held in a high-security place. She found something she could do, even if she left it to someone else who seemed capable of it. Even though you ran away for a while, wandered, and fell on your knees, in the end you didn’t get lost. Helena realized that she would never be able to hate this boy.
