3. Love Letter (4)
The woman seemed to be someone who had attended the party, just like me. The harmony between her blue dress lavishly adorned with lace and the leaves clinging to her half-up long hair left a deep impression. She somehow looked as though she had wandered lost on her way here. Standing in the shade with her head bowed low, her face wasn't clearly visible, but she radiated an air of being thoroughly tense.
She wasn't the only one startled. I nearly screamed without exaggeration. I wanted to ask, 'Where did you suddenly pop out from?' but held it in, feigning composure with a smile as I pointed at the fountain.
"Ah, I was just looking at the fountain."
However, the woman offered no particular response. Feeling awkward at her severe wariness, I scratched the back of my neck. While observing the woman and turning back to the fountain, I somehow couldn't shake the gaze fixed on the back of my head.
It was uncomfortable. Groaning inwardly, I turned my body. I had enjoyed a sufficient walk and was thinking of returning to the party venue, so I headed toward the maze when an urgent call came.
"Ah, um, over there!"
I stopped walking and turned back again. The woman, clutching both hands together, stuttered.
"N-nice to meet you, Miss Christopher."
The woman addressed me by my exact name and greeted me. I widened my eyes. There were occasionally people who approached me out of curiosity, but this was the first time someone had greeted me like this.
Since she still had her head bowed, I couldn't recognize her face. First, I lightly gathered my dress with both hands and curtsied. Though late, I had to show proper manners.
"Ah, yes. My greetings are late. I am Florence Christopher."
Then the woman hastily grabbed the hem of her dress following my lead.
"I-I-I'm sorry my greeting is late too."
Though she stuttered considerably, the woman's attitude was polite. If I wasn't mistaken, she seemed to hold goodwill toward me. I began to genuinely grow curious about her.
"But might I ask who you are...?"
"Oh, m-my introduction is late."
She let go of her dress and clasped both hands together again. It seemed to be a habit that emerged when nervous.
"My name is..."
At that moment, a rustling sound came from behind. The sound was quite loud, making me turn my head involuntarily. Was there someone else?
Wondering this, I looked at the dark maze and turned my head forward again. The woman must have been flustered too, as she was also staring in that direction.
I moved my body toward the path I had come from. It felt like someone was there, but no one was visible on the maze path. Just as I thought I might have misheard, the rustling sound came again. The sound gradually grew louder until it echoed menacingly as if coming from all directions. Flustered, I turned my head toward the source of the sound when something suddenly burst through the hedge wall.
It was people. Three men, at that. I was startled. Not because of the men's sudden appearance, but because of the child that the largest man was carrying under his arm. The child hung limp, but it was a familiar face. It was the youngest son of this mansion, who had been bowing politely to the guests at the party.
"Ah!"
The woman, who had pressed close behind me without my noticing, let out a short scream. Unfortunately, that sound was enough to draw the men's attention. They alternated their gaze between me and the woman behind me, then came to a halt. One of the three, who swept their eyes up and down over us, walked toward us.
Danger. A warning rang in my mind that I must not be caught. At the same time, what Ethan had said before came to mind.
'They say there have been kidnappings targeting nobles lately. It seems they kidnap young noble ladies and lords and then demand ransom.'
Could such a thing really be happening at such a grand party? Though this situation was extremely bewildering, I kept my eyes on the approaching man while stepping backward. At the same time, I reached behind my back and grabbed the woman's arm. If necessary, I intended to grab her and flee in the opposite direction.
The arm I held was trembling terribly. Already terrified, she couldn't even take a single proper step.
The moment the man approaching us paused in his steps, I quickly turned and ran. Fortunately, the woman moved as I led her. However, before long, someone burst through the hedges from the opposite side as well, forcing me to stop running.
This time it was two men. Instinctively, I realized they were on the same side as the men behind us. The man standing at the front swept his eyes over me and the woman just like the people behind him, then gestured with his eyes toward somewhere. Ominous. The moment I tried to turn my body again, a large hand clamped over my mouth.
From somewhere, crying could be heard. The sniffling sound was loud enough to be annoying. It also seemed like intermittent mumbling, but the pronunciation was so garbled I couldn't make it out properly. Who on earth is crying? Please stop crying. I hate the sound of crying. It sounds like screams begging for help.
I'm not good at comforting people who are crying. I still lacked such eloquence. Though I also had no confidence in comforting someone who cried without shedding tears. The crying sound I'd been hearing for a while now grated on my ears. I wanted to tell them to stop crying, but no voice came out. Only then did I realize my body was heavy. No, my body was swaying. Why was it swaying?
As I wondered this, other sounds reached my ears. A clattering sound, groans mixed with sniffling sobs, things colliding with each other, and even the sound of objects scraping and rolling across the floor. My head throbbed with a headache. My eyelids felt as though honey had been applied, refusing to move easily.
I barely managed to lift my eyelids open, but my surroundings were blurry. As my swaying vision gradually grew clearer, a round shape came into view. The person sitting with both hands and feet bound was the woman I had seen at the fountain. Tears were streaming down her face. Considering her half-up long hair was messily disheveled enough to cover her face, she must have resisted the men.
The woman, noticing I had awakened, moved her body.
"Mmph. Mm."
However, with a gag in her mouth, I couldn't understand what she was saying. The same went for my condition. I rummaged through my memory to grasp what kind of situation this was. I recalled resisting when my mouth was covered with something like cloth, unable to escape, but my memories cut off after that.
I squirmed and barely managed to sit up against the wall. Only then did the interior come into view. Beside the woman sitting across from me, a young boy was leaning. He had completely lost consciousness, his body limp, and even his eyes were covered with cloth. The constant clattering was because we were inside a carriage. Wooden crates placed here and there were visible, suggesting it was a cargo carriage.
Kidnapping. I had been kidnapped.
'I never imagined something like this would happen.'
Though I was experiencing all sorts of things while living as a noble, I never thought I would go through something like this. It was different from the playful kidnapping Vincent had done before. This was a real kidnapping. I wasn't surprised. When I lived in the slums, it was common for children to disappear overnight without a trace. Especially for women, safety was nonexistent. Still, I had at least been spared such experiences because of this face.
'What am I supposed to do in this situation?'
A throbbing headache had been building since earlier. With a gag stuffed in my mouth, I couldn't scream, and with both hands and feet bound with rope, escaping was also difficult. It seemed like something they had planned deliberately. I blinked my stiff eyes and pondered what I should do next.
Who would ever imagine being kidnapped from a noble's mansion? Ethan had said it was a kidnapping aimed at ransom, but I began to think this might be something orchestrated by someone's orders. Regardless, the planned target was that young noble boy, and it seemed we had been dragged along after accidentally witnessing the situation.
Would Ethan notice I had disappeared? The sun was nearly setting, and I had said I was taking a walk in the garden, so it would probably take some time for him to notice. Vincent too... If I had known this would happen, I should have slipped out with Vincent. No, I shouldn't have taken a walk in the garden at all. But regretting was pointless now that it had already happened.
I let out a deep sigh. What should I do about this situation?
The woman was sniffling, the child was motionless, and the carriage wasn't moving either. Had it stopped along the way, or had it not departed yet? I met the woman's gaze. Looking into her moist, teary eyes, I moved my lips, gestured with my eyes, and twisted my body this way and that. I was asking if there was any suitable way to remove the gag or bindings, but unfortunately, she didn't understand.
I changed my approach and surveyed my surroundings again. Then I moved my body toward the wooden crates nearby. Moving with bound limbs was no easy task. Nearly crawling my way to the wooden crate, I turned my body and tried to break the rope binding my hands by rubbing it against the corner of the crate. But I couldn't even extend my hands to the corner of the crate. Even when I somehow hooked the rope on the corner, it slipped right off. I twisted my body every which way and even lay down, but the bindings were so tight that they wouldn't come undone easily.
I lowered my face to try removing the gag stuffed in my mouth. I pressed the gag against the corner and pulled, but this time too, it wouldn't secure properly. I tried to hook the string part and pull, but even that wasn't easy. They tied it quite securely. I pressed the gag against the corner without caring that my face was getting scraped, but it had little effect.
Only my breath grew increasingly ragged when a thud sounded from behind me. Startled, I turned around and saw the woman collapsed on the floor. Worried that something had happened, I watched as she wriggled, making me realize she had probably fallen on purpose. I immediately checked the carriage door. Fortunately, the sound didn't seem to have leaked outside.
The woman whimpered as if in pain for a moment, then wriggled toward me like a caterpillar.
"Mmm! Mmmm!"
Somehow, her urgent-looking expression seemed to be saying something. I narrowed my eyes and struggled to figure out what she was trying to say.