Rehabilitation

Even as Elysia packed her belongings, her hands trembled, causing her to repeatedly drop things. Every single movement felt clumsy.

"That, that madman, what the hell was that...!"

While Frondier was distracted by the devils, Elysia crawled through the secret passage. Literally crawling. It wasn't intentional, but her legs had given way, leaving her unable to stand.

However, once she had passed through the secret passage and emerged from the wardrobe into her bedroom, she felt a sense of returning to her original place.

This renewed her energy, and she used all of it to escape.

"I, I have to run away..."

Whether Frondier had come for her or for the devils, Elysia didn't know, and frankly, she didn't care.

She didn't want to be involved with devils anymore. Being involved with Frondier was even worse. So, she needed to get away from that wretched mansion as quickly and as far as possible. Forget about parties or banquets.

This is the punishment God is giving me for not forgetting the glory of my days as royalty.

...Which God is in charge of giving out such punishments? Anyway.

Thud, thud.

Just as she had almost finished packing, Elysia turned her gaze towards the window as a familiar sound reached her ears.

The outside, already shrouded in darkness, was difficult to see, but it was definitely the sound of rain.

No way, not rain. Rain at a time when she needed to escape as quickly as possible!

Elysia briefly hoped that it might be a passing shower, but...

Boom!

As the window began to flash, that small hope crumbled mercilessly.

"...Ugh!"

Elysia came to her senses and stood up. For a moment, she considered waiting until the rain stopped, but she couldn't.

Judging from the conversation between Frondier and the devils, the devils had no idea that Frondier was coming and hadn't anticipated it at all.

In other words, the secret room wasn't common knowledge, just as Elysia had thought.

The probability that Frondier knew the location of the secret room from the beginning and launched a surprise attack, and the probability that he had approached Elysia from the outset. From Elysia's perspective, the latter was obviously more likely.

Therefore, there was a high possibility that he had already investigated the inn where she was staying. Very high.

"Okay, that's actually better. If I hide myself in the rain, it'll be harder to find me."

Boom—!

As Elysia turned towards the door, thunder roared behind her back, as if to intimidate her.

Honestly, she didn't want to go out. To walk through this pouring rain and lightning, on a muddy path.

How far would she have to go to reach the paved road from here? Come to think of it, there was a hill. If she climbed it wrong and slipped on the rain-soaked slope, even her few remaining clothes would be ruined.

But the more Elysia hesitated, the heavier the rain became, and the thunder grew more frequent, as if approaching her.

It was hard to tell whether the sound of the rain or the thunder was louder. The wind pushed against her back, and raindrops touched her feet and calves.

'...Wind? Rain?'

Why was the wind coming in? Why the raindrops?

The window was definitely closed.

Elysia, her expression lost at some point, very slowly turned her head. Towards the window that had been showing her the thunder and rain.

And there,

Over the window that had been opened at some point, with his feet on the windowsill,

A man stood, black as night.

Flash!

Crackle—!

Lightning struck behind the man. His hair and nape, which had been as dark as shadows, were briefly illuminated and then disappeared. In the continuing darkness, with each flash of lightning, his mouth, his curved eyes,

All of them smiled whitely.

"Hello."

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa──!!!"

Elysia dashed towards the door. She roughly opened it and ran out. She could hear him saying something behind her.

Ignore it. Ignore it!

Thump, clatter, rattle, the bag clutched in her hand. The things inside the bag collided and screamed, the bag screamed as it hit the floor and walls, and Elysia, wanting to scream, clenched her teeth and ran down the stairs.

The innkeeper on the first floor asked what was wrong, but Elysia just kept running. The bag still rattled, and Elysia's body rattled as she opened the inn door.

Whoosh—!!

Before she even stepped out the door, she felt the touch of the raindrops. Elysia ran straight ahead. Pitter-patter, every time a raindrop touched her shoulder, it roared in her ears like an earthquake.

The dirt road was already getting wet from the rain, no, it was now melting, gently grabbing Elysia's feet, but Elysia kept running.

"Ha! Ha! Huff! Huff!!"

With each stride, the wind and rain mixed together, making her lungs ache. The bag she was holding bothered her.

She wished she could throw it away, but she couldn't let go of the bag. She held onto the bag. No, the bag held onto her, the bag grabbed her and dragged her down.

Into the rain, into the thunder, into the darkness, into even deeper darkness. Hide yourself in the blackness. Black as night!

Elysia ran along the path lined with trees. The sound of rain hitting the branches was now deafening.

The trees concealed even the sound of Elysia's running, even the sound of her panting breath.

How much further? Was this the right way? The rough paths Elysia had memorized in her head. Now the rain and the night, the darkness spread like waves, making it impossible to distinguish.

But it must be right. If she kept going down this narrow path, she would come to a hill. When she reached the hill, she would see people. People.

"...Huh?"

But something was strange.

'The rain...'

The rain had stopped. No, she could still hear the sound of rain. It was just that the feeling of the rain touching her had disappeared.

The rain was falling, but it wasn't reaching her.

"Uh..."

Elysia finally stopped running.

Not just because she wasn't getting rained on.

'I can't see the path.'

She couldn't see the path. No, she couldn't see anything. In the pitch-black darkness. Elysia had wanted to hide in the darkness, and now she was truly in darkness with not a single speck of light.

Whoosh──

The rain was falling. She could hear the sound of the rain falling. Elysia raised her head.

...Pitch black. She couldn't see the stars, the moon, or the rain. She couldn't see the night.

Yes. Something darker than the night was above her head.

"Elysia."

A voice reached her ears. A voice calling her name. A cursed voice.

Thud-

Something fell from the air and landed on the ground in front of her, where she couldn't see anything.

Something invisible was making footsteps, the sound of stepping on mud, the sound of brushing against branches,

"Elysia."

The voice calling her name was getting closer.

Even though she couldn't see, she knew it was right in front of her. Three steps, two steps, one step.

Only then did she see a very faint shadow, tilting its head.

"Why are you running away, Elysia?"

At that moment.

Elysia lost consciousness.