No answer returned, as if no one present knew of Rubette’s whereabouts.
“Don’t you know?”
“I haven’t seen her since we started playing hide and seek…” a noble girl murmured, and Lark raised his eyes.
“Hide and seek?”
“That’s right, Evelyn.” Then Ricky clapped his hands and turned to Evelyn as if he’d just remembered. “Didn’t you say you were going to hide with Rubette earlier?”
“…”
All eyes turned to Evelyn. She was trembling in thought.
Her gaze swayed here and there as if she had no confidence to look at Lark, and her clenched fists trembled on her thighs. It was the reaction of a person who was perplexed after committing something.
The nobles’ gaze turned to suspicion.
“I-I-I…”Kwak.
Then, someone gently stepped on Evelyn’s foot under the table. Lillia, sitting next to her, was staring at her.
Fearing that tears would come out, Evelyn gently closed her eyes.
She never thought things would grow this far. In front of the sudden appearance of the prince, she had to confess that she purposely locked Rubette in the closet…
“Where is she?” Lark’s expression, which had been kind, turned fierce before everyone knew it. Even his voice was interrogative.
“Th-th-that…”
“What is it? Did something happen to Rubette? Evelyn, did you know something?”
“Then why didn’t she tell the maid earlier when she was looking for Rubette? Where is our Rubette?”
Lillia and Ricky jumped up angrily. Their faces showed signs of concern for their close sibling.
‘Nasty kids…’
The reason they drove the girl was obvious. Now that the problem had gotten bigger, they wanted her to cover all the sins.
“I-I-I…”
“Landian.” Without waiting for the hesitant Evelyn, Lark murmured.
Landian was the crown prince’s spirit. Everyone in the room recognized it and took a deep breath.
Landian, who quickly approached Lark like the wind, quietly whispered, “It’s on the first basement floor. She was locked in a closet.”
“…!” Surprised, Lark’s expression immediately distorted. Leaving behind the nobles, who were surprised by the ferocity, he hurriedly headed into the villa.
Lark, who soon arrived at the room that Landian guided him into, opened the lock on the closet.
“Rubette!”
He saw Rubette, who had fainted and collapsed, leaning against the wall.
“Damn it, wake up!”
Lark bent down and hurriedly embraced Rubette with trembling hands. He quickly put his ear close and, fortunately, heard a faint breathing.
“Sigh…”
Only then did the relieved Lark sit and let out the breath he had been holding.
Thump, thump, thump.
His heart, which seemed to have dropped to the floor for a moment, was still beating like crazy as if it was still surprised.
***
“Ugh…”
“Rubette!”
As soon as I opened my eyes, someone came into my arms.
“Heugh, hicc…”
Looking at the fluttering blonde hair, it should be Lillia. She wept bitterly with her swollen eyes.
“I-I thought something bad happened!”
‘What a fuss.’
The smell of her strong cologne made me dizzy, so I pushed her away and looked around.
“Are you okay? Are you not sick anywhere?” Ricky, next to Lillia, asked with the same tearful face.
Behind the twins, Evelyn stood with her head bowed with unfocused eyes.
‘What happened…’
As I was trying to figure out the situation, someone opened the bedroom door and entered. It was Lark.
“Your Highness?”
Lark stopped me from rushing to get up.
“You’re up? How do you feel?”
“Ah, I’m fine.”
“Sigh…” Lark sat down and sighed as he gently closed his eyes. The expression on his face was uncharacteristically fierce.
“What happened? We need an explanation.”
“Ah, that…”
“You’re such a bad person! I’ll tell Brother everything when I get home!” Suddenly, Lillia turned to Evelyn and screamed.
‘Aha, I get it.’
They must have tried to scare me by locking me in a closet. They probably didn’t think Lark would come.
Lark doesn’t seem to know that someone intentionally locked the closet door outside…
‘Looks like they’re trying to put everything on Evelyn.’
As expected, they’re amazing. I stuck out my tongue inwardly.
“Why don’t you apologize to our Rubette first? Even if it was a joke, it went too far.” Ricky helped with the ‘our’ Rubette thing…
“… I’m sorry, Rubette.”
“What are you sorry about? Didn’t you tell the truth?”
“Huh?”
I slightly raised my body and acted hesitantly, watching Lark’s gaze.
“Well, Your Highness…”
“…”
“Actually, I told Evelyn that I would be hiding in a closet. I asked her to lock it so that no one would know someone was inside.”
“What? You asked to be locked in the closet?”
“Yes… In fact, I didn’t know I would have a birthday party today. I couldn’t sleep last night. I was so tired, so I tried to fall asleep. I told her not to look for me and open it later before she goes home…”
“… Princess.” Lark seemed to have noticed that I was intentionally covering Evelyn, but…in the end, he didn’t ask further.
“Whoa, this prank is too much.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Are you really okay? You passed out in the closet.”
“Um, no. I just fell asleep.”
“…” I said, turning my head away from Lark, who narrowed his eyes disapprovingly.
“Guys, sorry for worrying you.”
“Uh, uh… Hey, Evelyn. If so, you should have told the truth.”
“What kind of joke are you helping with?”
Lillia and Ricky said a word, each with an embarrassed face.
They would have expected that I, who had become a mad dog, would make a fuss as soon as I woke up.
I grabbed Lillia’s arm and said, “It’s late, so go back now. Also, please don’t tell anyone about today because I’m worried about my dad and brother.”
“Y-yes…” Lillia hobbled to her feet, and Ricky followed her.
“Goodbye, Evelyn. I’ll be in touch, see you soon.”
Even Evelyn, who had been looking at me with a pale expression, quietly nodded and left the room.
Tak.
As soon as the bedroom door closed, I lay on my back, breathing heavily.
“What happened? I bet you didn’t really ask to be locked in a closet.” Lark, with his arms crossed, started the interrogation in earnest.
“It is true that I entered the closet with my feet. Evelyn asked me to go into the closet.”
“What?”
“The twins must’ve made her do it.”
Lark’s eyes widened.
“Didn’t you notice?”
“I heard that those two hate you, but…”
It seemed that he hadn’t thought some ten-year-old elementary school kids would lock up someone all day, no matter how vicious they were.
It was understandable. I’d never confided in Lark about how the twins had been harassing me.
Feeding spoiled food, locking in the closet… It was a memory I didn’t want to recall.
“I have often been locked in the closet. Almost every time I come to the Lubon villa to play with the twins.”
Lark was surprised by my confession and immediately bit his lip fiercely. His eyes twitched slightly.
“There weren’t eyes to see at other times, so they locked me up themself. But now there are investigators in the villa, they…”
“Yes, I see. Borrowed someone else’s hand to harass you, and then cut off their tail and tried to run away?”
“Probably.”
“How old are the twins?”
“Fifteen this year.”
As if it was hard to believe the viciousness of the children, Lark burst out laughing.
“You know whose children they are. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
“But why did you cover Evelyn Torso? Isn’t she from the same group that has been involved in tormenting you?”
“Oh, right! I thought so too, but it didn’t seem like it.”
I suddenly thought and immediately groped for the front of my dress. Rustle, a folded piece of paper was caught. It was the one Evelyn accidentally dropped when she locked me in the closet.
“Do you think I’m doing this because I like it? If I don’t listen to her, my whole family will starve to death.”
Clearly, Evelyn had some circumstances.
“Evelyn was originally close to Nora Pelkan, but they weren’t really friends. Nora treated Evelyn like her maid, and Evelyn followed her words to death.” I continued, unfolding the folded paper. “Since the Pelkan family is a well-known family, I thought she pretended to be her maid in case any profit would fall off…”
Before long, I inadvertently glanced at the contents written on the unfolded paper and froze.
“… I knew it. Why did you stop talking? What’s that?”
Dad, Mom, I’m so sorry. I’m so, so tired.
I tried to put up with it thinking of you two, but that didn’t work. I hate waking up in the morning. I wish I were gone. I’d rather fall asleep and never wake up.
I don’t want to live like this. Watching the sunrise is so scary.
I’m so very sorry, and I love my whole family. If there’s a next life, I will definitely meet you then. Next time, I hope all of my family will be happy.
Nora Pelkan. I want you to fall into the pit of hell. It was you who killed me. I will curse you even in death. Don’t ever forget me.
“Oh, my God…”
Damn it, this is a suicide note.
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