[Episode 130] - Escape (2)
Rustle. Rustle.
Slowly, carefully. Taking care not to make a sound stepping on the fallen leaves, I walked out one step at a time. I wanted to hurry toward the main keep, but having entered the artificial forest barefoot, I felt like I was dying.
Hidden by the leaves and out of sight, each time I stepped on pebbles strewn across the ground, acorns that had fallen, or sharp twigs, the soles of my feet hurt so much I wondered if I had come out here for nothing.
I wanted to walk the maintained road, but there were too many patrolling guards, so I had no choice but to move through this artificial forest concealed by trees. I couldn't afford to get caught before even reaching the main keep.
I hadn't walked far before my feet began to feel swollen and puffy. I regretted not bringing at least a pair of shoes, but it was already too late. Enduring the pain, I pondered how to get out of the annex.
Through the bushes, I could see the main gate of the annex where I was confined. Two guards were stationed there at all times, and the surroundings were fenced in, making it impossible to leave except through the gate.
'Isn't there some kind of dog hole around here?'
Scanning the fence, I began searching for any hole I could escape through. If I tried hard enough, I could probably climb over, but it was too high, and the sharp spears mounted on top were terrifying.
I kicked through the leaves piled around the fence as I circled around. Occasionally, I spotted small burrows used by creatures like squirrels or rabbits, but as expected, I couldn't see any hole large enough for a person.
But I had to keep searching diligently without giving up. By now, Titania must have checked and found me missing from my room, so it wouldn't be strange for her to send the guards out to search for me.
'Back when I lived in the main keep, there were definitely rumors that young maids used dog holes to sneak out and meet men from other castles. If even the main keep had one, a place like this should too.'
Thwack! Thwack!
While roughly kicking through the leaves, I finally found a small gap just barely big enough for one person to squeeze through. As expected, every castle has one of these, I thought, crouching before the hole.
'I don't know who made this, but I'll put it to good use...!'
I quickly shoved my head into the gap and began crawling on all fours. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be anyone on the other side of the fence, so if I passed through quickly, I didn't think anyone would spot me.
The moment I was crawling through, I felt something stab at my back. Perhaps because I was crawling, I got scraped by the edge of the fence; it began to sting as if I'd been wounded.
Crawling on all fours like a dog to get through the gap, I finally succeeded in getting outside the annex. My face and nightgown were covered in mud from crawling through the hole, but I didn't mind one bit.
Rather, the feeling of having a free body made me laugh without realizing it. Escaping had been so easy that I felt foolish for not thinking to run away sooner.
But the joy of a successful escape was short-lived.
"Mother, did you enjoy playing in the dirt?"
"Gasp—!"
Titania, who knew how long she'd been watching, walked out from between the bushes. The moment I saw her face, my mind went blank, and I couldn't say a word. I needed to make some excuse, but...
"Uh, w-well, you see... Titania...?"
This was not a situation where excuses were possible at all.
Titania leaned against a tree, arms crossed, gazing steadily at me. I thought she would explode in anger at any moment, asking, 'So you ran away again?' But Titania merely snickered and slowly approached me.
"I won't be angry, so let's go back. Once we're back, we'll need to get you washed first."
"Y-yes..."
Titania turned her back to me and headed toward the annex without another word. I wanted to ask how she'd found me, but the atmosphere wasn't right for it, so I had no choice but to quietly follow her back to the annex.
'It's really not easy...'
*
"W-wait...! I... I can do it myself... I'll do it alone...! Huh?! Titania!"
"...Stop complaining and take them off, quickly. We need to treat the wounds on your soles too."
"Just give me the medicine and I'll... I'll do it myself...! Or have the other maids...!"
"The maids who were here have all been sent back to the main keep. Because they failed to notice that Mother had run away. So, who told you to run?"
Back in the annex, I couldn't escape from Titania, who was pulling at my clothes. My whole body was covered in dirt, so I needed a bath, but I couldn't possibly accept such service from Titania.
"I really can do it alone, okay? Can't you let go...?"
"No."
"You, really...!"
No matter how much I shouted or got angry, it was no use.
I couldn't break free from Titania's grip as she tried to tear off my dirt-stained nightgown. The moment I twisted my body to flee, I heard my nightgown tearing from the back—*Rip!*
"H-hey! You tore my clothes!!"
"That's why you should stay still. Look at this. A wound on your back. You can't even reach a place like this; how were you planning to apply medicine by yourself?"
"Th-that's... Hngh...!"
Titania gently brushed her fingertips over the wound near my shoulder blade. Perhaps because I'd been injured crawling through the gap earlier, a groan burst from me in pain as her fingertips grazed the wound.
I looked up at Titania, on the verge of tears.
Showing no signs of letting me go, Titania gripped my wrist tightly and looked down at me. Every time I tried to shake her off, she twisted my wrist even harder, so in the end, I had no choice but to resign myself.
"...I get it. At least let me undress myself, so go outside until I call you."
Titania sighed as if she had no choice, released my wrist, and went outside the bathroom. Really, she'd grown up and only gotten stronger. Now I couldn't overpower Titania with my own strength.
Letting out a deep sigh, I eventually took off my torn nightgown and undergarments and headed straight for the large marble bathtub filled with warm water. Slowly, I washed away the dirt on my body with water, then submerged myself in the tub.
"Ah, it stings...!"
As I submerged my body in the tub, the wounds on my back and soles stung upon touching the water. However, the warmth of the water felt better than the prickling pain, so I sank deep into the tub until my shoulders were covered.
Just as I closed my eyes in drowsiness.
"Mother, I'm coming in."
The bathroom door swung open, and Titania, having brought the clothes I would change into and ointment for my wounds, smiled brightly as she looked down at me soaking in the bathtub. W-what is she staring at me like that for?
Titania approached and sat beside the bathtub, picking up the soap and extending her hand to me. She meant for me to give her my arm so she could wash it. I didn't like the idea of a girl who was now a queen serving me like a maid, but...
"Sigh, really. There's no need for you to do this..."
"I'm doing it because I want to. Don't feel too burdened."
"It's not that I'm burdened... Forget it. You wouldn't listen no matter what I say anyway."
I pulled my arm out of the tub and placed it in Titania's outstretched hand.
Using rose-scented soap, Titania thoroughly soaped me from my forearm down to each finger. I felt happy thinking I was receiving filial piety from my daughter, yet conflicted knowing a girl who was a queen was doing such things.
"Now sit up. I'll wash your back first."
"...Sigh."
With mixed feelings, I got up and sat on the edge of the tub, turning my back to Titania with a sigh. The feel of Titania's hands, lathered with soap and gently rubbing my back, was quite pleasant. Perhaps it felt even better because I hadn't had a bath like this in two years.
"Nngh..."
As the soft sensation spread across my entire back, a low moan escaped me without realizing it. The drowsiness brought by the warm water and my tense body beginning to relax made sleepiness pour over me. To the point where I thought it might be okay to entrust my body to Titania's touch, if only for a moment.
"...How complicated. To think your touch feels better than a maid's..."
"Is that so? That's... a relief."
While continuing to soap me, Titania gently massaged from my shoulders. I felt Titania's breath, drawn close to my back, against my shoulder. The sensation of slick skin rubbing against bare skin made me feel heat spreading throughout my body.
Honestly, I didn't hate it. No, I liked it very much. It had been so long since a bath like this, and the rose fragrance permeating the bathroom tickling my nose was delightful. To the point where I wanted to surrender my tired body to this feeling. Growing drowsy, I quietly leaned my back against Titania.
"Hoo..."
Perhaps finished soaping my back, Titania's hand slowly moved toward the front. Her soap-slicked fingers traveled up my side and touched my chest, and at the strange stimulation, I flinched in surprise, my body jolting. The drowsy feeling vanished instantly, and my eyes flew open.
I can't let her do the front, no matter what!
"Th-thank you. I'll do the front myself now, so stop."
"...Understood. Next time, then."
"Will there be a next time?"
I splashed the water in the tub irritably, and Titania snickered in response.
"That, I cannot say."
*
After the bath, naked and wrapped in a bathrobe, I sat on the bed as Titania had instructed. Titania brought the ointment, knelt on one knee before me, and began applying it to the soles of my feet.
"There's no need to go this far. I can apply the ointment by myself..."
"I just want to do it for you, that's all."
Right, she doesn't listen to a word I say. Letting out a deep sigh, I lowered my head and looked down at Titania. Titania began gently applying the wound on my sole with a hand full of ointment.
As Titania was applying the ointment like that, she suddenly asked me.
"Mother, what were you thinking, escaping through the terrace? Did you not consider that you could have fallen and died?"
"Ah... th-that's..."
"Even if it isn't very high here, you could have died if something went wrong. Does being here, being by my side, mean less to you than death?"
"Th-that's not it. I just... you seemed so agitated... I merely felt we needed time apart. So, I just... from the capital..."
The palm applying ointment to my sole trembled faintly. Had I been too thoughtless? I had acted on the impulse that I wasn't truly imprisoned here, no matter what.
But it wasn't an act born of disliking being by Titania's side. I had simply gone out on my own because it seemed the agitated Titania needed some time to think. So...
"...It absolutely didn't mean I disliked being by your side. I just needed some time to think. Both you and I. Some time apart..."
"After being apart from me for five years, you want to be apart from me again?"
"Ah, n-no, that's not..."
"...I thought I was being considerate enough of you, Mother. Even if you couldn't leave this place, I allowed you to move freely within it. I prepared all sorts of entertainments so you wouldn't be bored, and ordered that any food you wanted could be prepared if you asked the maids."
Titania put on a bitter smile and gently gripped my ankle. The hand holding my ankle began to tremble faintly. Had I not been allowed to run away on my own? Should I have waited for Titania a little? Was I the one who had been anxious instead?
I...
"Yet, Mother kicked aside my consideration and ran away again. Do you remember what I said? That if you ran away from here one more time, I would never forgive you?"
Titania's voice trembled faintly with anger.
The moment I lowered my head to pat hers in comfort, as she seemed on the verge of tears, I couldn't help but flinch in shock at the 'something' Titania pulled out from under the bed.
"So, this is your punishment. Punishment for kicking aside my consideration."
"Wait...!"
A rattling chain sound rang out, something wrapped around my ankle, followed by a *click*. Startled by the shackle that instantly clasped my ankle, I could only purse my lips and glare at Titania.
"Y-you! What is this...!"
The shackle bound to my ankle wasn't made of iron, but leather. It was a shackle seemingly designed to show consideration for the person bound, and a hollow laugh escaped me.
"Have you lost your mind?!"
"Didn't I tell you? Not to run away from my side."
A long chain attached to the shackle was connected to the bedpost. I tried to undo it with my hands, but the shackle was tied too tightly to budge, so I turned my head to gauge the length of the chain.
The chain connected to the shackle looked longer than I expected. Probably long enough to move freely around this spacious room. Just about that length.
I glared at Titania with an angry expression, but she merely smiled and brushed my face. I looked straight at her and shouted.
"What in the world are you thinking...?!"
"What are you thinking, Mother? I begged you not to go, I pleaded with you not to run away, and not even three days passed before you ran again. Are my words that laughable?"
Titania paid no heed to my outburst and merely stroked my face. Her hand slowly slid down, and with a twisted smile, she tapped the nape of my neck with her fingertip.
"Try running away one more time. Next time, it's a collar."
The hand that had been tapping my nape soon wrapped around my neck.
"If you don't want to be tied up like a dog crawling through a gap..."
With just one hand wrapped around my neck, Titania glanced at my neck as if imagining a collar fastened around it. Then, her eyes welling with tears, she pleaded with me.
"Please, I beg you. Don't run away from me anymore."