Chapter 9
Did Kanna see the cat's eyes too? Hena looked back, worried her sister might be frightened, but Kanna was staring not at the cat but into empty space.
"Kanna?"
"It's nothing, sister. Oh? That cat..."
Kanna seemed to have only just noticed the cat. She tilted her head for a moment, then checked the cat's collar and ran toward the young lady with a bright face.
"Is this your cat, miss? So you were here."
And when Kanna stroked its chin, the monster purred as if it really were a cat.
Hena wanted to immediately pull Kanna's hand away and hide behind her, but the atmosphere between them looked so peaceful that she couldn't approach.
The reason the cat was putting on an act was because Kanna didn't know its true identity. The assumption that the cat might suddenly change the moment Hena moved bound her feet.
Not noticing Hena's worry, Kanna followed Lady Evangelin and stepped inside the door.
"Sister? Why aren't you coming?"
Kanna urged Hena who was standing still. Her beloved sister felt a bit strange, but eventually Hena stepped inside as well.
Lady Evangelin said she was tired and wouldn't need anyone to see her to bed, so she went up first. Hena, thinking Kanna might follow the young lady, held her hand and climbed the stairs. Recalling the location of the 4th floor, she opened the door to the room right below the young lady's.
Her memory must not have been wrong, for this room was clearly the one the Countess had used. Since Hena was hired only after the Countess passed away, this was her first time inside.
Despite the Count having strictly ordered no one to wander near the Countess's room, someone must have disobeyed and secretly cleaned it, for it was in quite proper condition. It even had a lived-in feel to it.
As Hena looked around the room, Kanna, having finished changing, jumped onto the bed. At home she always sat up, saying she didn't want to lie down, but she must be tired today.
She had only just recovered enough to walk around, and now she was injured again... When she put on her nightclothes, the wound on her neck and the ligature marks became even more visible.
"Sister. I can hear the miss walking around above."
Kanna suddenly spoke up, though she seemed to be resting with her eyes closed.
Sound? Hena concentrated and listened carefully, but she couldn't hear anything. The Rohanson mansion was particularly quiet at night, but a thick carpet was laid on the young lady's floor, and the young lady's footsteps were quiet to begin with—how could that be heard?
When Hena looked up at the ceiling, the chandelier was swaying as if wind was blowing from somewhere. She must have mistaken that sound.
"Isn't that the sound of the chandelier swaying?"
"Really? I guess so. Anyway, I'm glad we got this room. I like it."
Kanna didn't respond to Hena's words and just nodded before changing the subject.
"The bed is big enough for me to sleep with sister."
Lady Evangelin had tried to give Hena a room as well, but Hena had desperately refused, afraid to leave her sister alone. The Countess's room was larger than their home, so it wasn't bad for the two of them, and as Kanna said, the bed was big enough for both.
Hena finished preparing for bed and lay down beside Kanna. It had been a long time since they lay together like this. In the darkness, they faced each other and played with each other's hands. Perhaps because today had been incredibly long, sleep soon overcame them. Just as she was about to fall asleep, Kanna spoke quietly.
"Hey, sister. Thank you for coming to save me today. I was really scared."
Hena squeezed her sister's hand tightly. She felt guilty for having thought her sister seemed strange for a moment, even though her sister was still frightened but pretending to be fine. No matter how Kanna acted, she was still Hena's beloved sister.
***
From now on, my goal has changed to becoming friends with Kanna. If I try to approach the male lead, the knight commander, I'll just end up looking like an obsessed villainess. I don't want to date a character in a book anyway, and the shortcut to escaping being a real villainess is getting on the female lead's good side!
I'm betting my entire life on Kanna!
Seeing how she gets kidnapped right from her first meeting with the male lead, this place seems quite dark for a romance fantasy, so I was certain Kanna would suffer a lot in the future. I asked if I could stay at the mansion so I could save her whenever incidents happened, and thanks to having raised the favorability well, Kanna readily agreed. Plus, Hena came along as a bonus!
When I went to tell them the two would use the 3rd floor, the Count was apparently away on business. The lights were definitely on until last night—did he stay up all night and sleep in late?
When I stared at him silently, the butler apologized and bowed his head. Sigh. Why take it out on the butler? It's all the Count's fault anyway.
"If you have a message to convey, I will deliver it."
Hena said she would tell the butler directly, but I couldn't let her steal the initiative. If I speak first and the favorability I worked so hard to build flies away, I'm the only one who loses.
The butler asked me to write a letter, so I had no choice but to send a letter to the Count saying I would use the empty 3rd floor room. Thank goodness for the language patch!
Worried he might coldly reject just that, I tore out a page from the Countess's diary and attached it. The page was filled with the Countess cursing her husband for being deceived into a scam marriage. You bad man! If his conscience pricks him, he'll say it's fine. I handed the letter to the butler.
"Don't open it under any circumstances, just deliver it. I'll be watching."
I used the "teacher has eyes on the back of their head" tactic. If the butler saw the curse diary the Countess wrote, he might remove it. That absolutely couldn't happen.
I thought it would take a day, but it took three days for the letter to arrive. The Count scribbled a reply saying to do as I pleased, and added that from now on when he's away, I should talk to the butler and absolutely not write him letters or anything. Then let me meet you in person to report?
The next day, lights were on again in the Count's room. He must have returned. I didn't go to greet him since I'd be turned away at the door anyway.
When I delivered the news to Hena and Kanna who had been staying uncomfortably for four days, Kanna was very pleased. Hena still seemed a bit uncomfortable, but I guess Kanna is the female lead after all—her adaptability must be exceptional.
***
"Jim. Please, at least eat something. You've been holed up in your room for three days—what on earth are you doing?"
I heard a voice earnestly calling me while knocking on the door, but I didn't pay it much attention. Who is knocking on the door right now? My wife, or my mother? Was I married? Actually, who it was didn't matter.
Right now, fulfilling my given mission was more important than anything. I dipped the brush in paint and drew a line. On the canvas where ash powder seemed to swirl, I captured an ominous flame. I portrayed a sacred angel, blackened to a crisp with nothing but its body remaining.
I was a painter who made a living from art. When I first debuted, I was praised as a genius newcomer, but my work didn't suit the nobles' tastes, so I quickly lost my fame and fell into obscurity. Now I'd become a parasite on my wife. I needed to complete my masterpiece as soon as possible.
Thinking I might find inspiration, I wandered around and discovered a strange fire. The sun-like flames had been exhausted, leaving only a few knights while the rest had departed. By the time people had lost interest, someone who looked inside shouted that they'd "seen an angel."
The remaining knights couldn't control the crowd. Thanks to that, it wasn't hard to see inside. And the moment I found the angel in the completely burned building, just as someone had said, all I could think was that I had to paint that scene.
I returned immediately and picked up my brush.
I didn't even sketch. My only thought was to finish the painting before the memory evaporated. I had no appetite. Even if I withered and died like this, it would be fine.
I don't know how many days have passed. Has it been a week? Or perhaps a month? Or maybe only two hours have passed.
I tried to finish the painting, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. Is it that my painting can't capture that scene? How pathetic. Anxious, I tore at my hangnails until they bled. When I put my finger in my mouth, I tasted the metallic tang of blood. And a strange impulse whipped at me.
My hands, my hands needed to paint. I picked up a palette knife and stabbed my thigh. A sharp pain and droplets of blood soaked my pants. I dipped my brush in the blood seeping from my thigh and painted again. The angel's halo was finally perfect.
***
Done!
I was proudly examining the densely filled paper when Kanna popped up from behind.
"Miss. What did you write? I can't read it."
"It's nothing."
Eek! Th-that startled me. I thought my heart dropped. I was so focused I didn't even notice Kanna looking at the paper from behind. Good thing I wrote it in Korean—I almost got caught. I can't let anyone find out, especially not Kanna, the female lead.
I casually covered the paper. This is my carefully devised villainess escape plan. I deduced as much of the original work as possible and, after much agonizing over how I should act to extend my life, I completed it. It took me a whole two days.
"Kanna. Don't be rude to the young lady."
"It's fine, sister. The miss adores me."
Hena, who had returned with meals for two, scolded Kanna who was clinging to me. I didn't want to go down to the dining hall and eat uncomfortably alone, so since living with Kanna, I've been eating in the room with her to get closer.
"I wish sister would eat with us too."
"I prefer the dining hall, so it's fine."
I asked Hena to eat with us too, but she must have felt uncomfortable because she kept refusing, so we agreed to just eat with the two of us.
"Thanks for the meal."
I finished eating quickly and rinsed my mouth with tea.
Kanna has a good appetite, so when we eat together, the food seems to go down smoothly.
Making my lost appetite return... Is this the power of a romance fantasy female lead? I think she'd be incredibly successful if she did mukbang in reality.
Wait, so people who gain popularity through mukbang are romance fantasy female leads? I was spinning some nonsensical logic using deduction when Hena called me.
"Young lady, a letter has arrived."