Nightmare Came to The Place I Escaped - Chapter 55

“Are you promising?”
“Yes, I promise.”

 

Ian made the promise, and smiled slightly.

 

Rachel knew Ian pretty well.

 

He was always careful about the words that came out of his mouth. He never spoke easily, and tried to keep his word.

 

“If you have any questions, just ask me.”

“Will you answer everything I ask you?”

 

Rachel nodded lightly.

 

She didn’t want to answer everything he asked.

 

When the Emperor asked, could she not answer?

 

“You seem to have gotten a lot closer to Mike.”

“Yes. Thankfully, he takes good care of me.”

“How about the Duke? Have you become a little more comfortable?”

 

Rachel nodded her head.

 

Ian whispered that he was a little relieved.

 

Then there was a moment of silence.

 

“Can I hold your hand?”

 

Ian broke the silence with a request that Rachel hadn’t expected.

 

But Ian seemed very serious about the question.

 

Rachel blinked, a little embarrassed, but nodded her head.

 

Ian held out his hand.

 

Rachel awkwardly put her hand on his.

 

Then Ian smiled brightly as if satisfied, lightly wrapped his hand around Rachel’s and lowered it.

 

His hands were hard and calloused, but they were also warm and in some way the softest on the planet.

 

In this careful hand play, where he stared as if he was in contact with something precious. For a brief moment, Rachel wanted to pull her hand away in displeasure, but she simply stayed put.

 

“Rachel, do you have any questions for me? There’s a long way to go until we reach the sea.”
“Have you been busy this week?”

 

Rachel hurriedly opened her mouth to get rid of this ticklish feeling.

 

“Yeah, I’ve been pretty busy. I had to finish this week’s work in advance.”

 

She didn’t know how to react to his answer. So, when Rachel just nodded, Ian laughed quietly.

 

He seemed to have noticed that she was asking out of courtesy, and not genuine curiosity.

 

“What else? Don’t you have anything else to ask? There’s a long way to go.”

“I’ll ask.”

 

Rachel had a lot to ask Ian.

 

“Will you answer all the questions?”

“Well, if possible.”

“…Then, how did you find me?”

 

Rachel pondered for a moment, and then came up with a difficult question.

 

“How did you know I was in Ravenna?”

“You said it when we lived together in the Imperial palace. You said you wanted to live in Ravenna. Around the time when you were ten?”

“Your Majesty remembers everything. You remembered I wanted to live in Ravenna, and that I wanted to see the sea.”

 

Rachel laughed softly. It was something she didn’t remember very well.

 

It could have been just a passing word, or a dreamy childhood wish.

 

Ian really remembered everything.

 

Her head wasn’t that good.

 

“If it’s about you.”

“What?”

“If it’s about you, I remember everything.”

“Ahh…”

 

Rachel was somewhat embarrassed by his words, so she quickly changed the topic.

 

“Have you seen the sea?”

“I’ve seen it in passing, but I didn’t observe it properly because I thought it would be nice to watch it with you for the first time.”

“You wanted to see it for the first time with me? Why?”

“Because I like you.”

“….”

“First times are the most memorable.”

 

Ian grumbled a little, and she wondered if he didn’t like seeing the sea.

 

“So, I didn’t want to see it.”

 

Rachel hurriedly turned her eyes towards the window.

 

Her right hand was still being held by Ian.

 

Rachel wanted to keep some distance from Ian in this narrow carriage.

 

If that was impossible, she wanted to hide her face, which had obviously turned red.

 

‘Could this be a lie?’

 

She didn’t want to think about it, but the worries that she’d buried popped out again.

 

Does he have memories of their past lives? If she asked Ian, would he answer?

 

“….”

 

But Rachel didn’t ask Ian.

 

She was afraid that he really remembered the past like she did.

 

She couldn’t ask for fear.

 

All Rachel could do was desperately hope.

 

Ian Dakendov was holding her hand.

 

She hoped he didn’t know anything. She could only earnestly hope that the days he spent with her in the Avery territory that winter wouldn’t be in his memory.

[Baset: The original part of this story said the Oates territory, but it didn’t make sense in context. I’ve changed it to Avery territory, so hopefully I didn’t just misunderstand the whole sentence.]

 

***

 

The Duke of Avery.

 

“Your Grace, it’s the third day since Miss Avery has eaten a meal. Why don’t you go see her?”

 

The butler carefully reported Diana’s situation to the Duke of Avery.

 

The day Diana returned to the Avery estate.

 

Diana, who was annoyed by what happened at the Victory banquet, asked if he knew how she was treated. She was greatly angered, and that led to Diana’s hunger strike.

 

“I’m worried that if this continues, the Young Miss will collapse.”

 

The Duke’s face darkened at the butler’s words. His firmly closed lips, and a tightly gathered brow.

 

His sharp eyes seemed angry, but the butler knew how generous the Duke was to Diana.

 

While his face was stiffening as if he was angry, he would eventually find Diana, and soothe her. As it had ever been.

 

“Ha, what foolishness.”

 

However, the words that came out of Duke Avery’s mouth like a sigh were not what the butler had expected.

 

“Go back to work.”

 

The Duke shook his head as if he no longer wanted to talk about Diana.

 

“You heard her, butler. What did that child say?”

 

At the Duke’s words, the butler remembered the day that Diana attacked.

 

Diana, who suddenly entered the Duke’s office, screamed endlessly.

 

What the heck was he doing that everyone ignored the Avery’s? The Emperor never greeted her, and the noble lords and ladies kept their distance from her.

 

Why did she have to suffer such humiliation when she should be the flower of society?

 

She screamed about how stupid he was for it to get to this point. She angrily demanded he return to the capital and confront the Emperor, Young Master Oates, and those that ignored her.

 

The Duke’s mouth dropped in shock at Diana’s anger, but he soon frowned. He kicked Diana out without saying anything else.

 

If things had been the same, he would’ve listened to his only daughter’s request, but currently it wasn’t an easy situation for the Duke.

 

He was also seeing his family lose ground because of his mistake. Seeing her criticized because of him was also an unbearable hardship for the Duke.

 

Whether or not she knew of the Duke’s feelings, Diana went on hurriedly, saying that it was her Father’s fault and that he should be responsible for undoing everything.

 

Fasting. It was a method that Diana often used to get what she wanted.

 

When she went on a fast, the Duke listened to her every time, while she pretended not to win.

 

However, the Duke didn’t blink at Diana’s fasting this time.

 

Bowing down his head to others to rebuild the fallen’s family reputation, being humbled. Since the Duke had been born, he’d never apologized to anyone. He’d never bowed to anyone.

 

For now, it was best to be as quiet as possible. It was best to stay still, and not go against the Emperor’s will. He had no choice, but to wait until the accusations against him stopped.

 

“Don’t say anything else, just leave. Don’t even try to convince me to coax her to eat.”

 

The butler was briefly surprised by the Duke’s words. He thought the Duke would at least soothe Diana.

 

“Then, Miss Diana?”

“Just leave it alone. It won’t be long before she gives up.”

 

The Duke was the coldest and calmest he’d ever seen when it came to Diana.

 

No matter how much Diana asked, he didn’t want to pretend to be friendly towards those who criticized him.

 

“Yes, sir. I will.”

 

The butler nodded, bowed his head, and left the office.

 

Click

 

The door to the office closed, and the butler let out a small breath. Apparently, the Duke had no intention of changing his attitude toward Diana.

 

Would Diana be able to accept her Father’s cold reaction to her?

 

***

 

A dark evening.

 

Knock Knock

 

Rachel opened the door after Ian knocked.

 

“Rachel, you haven’t gone to bed yet?”

“I haven’t yet. You had something to say?”

“How about we ride a horse tomorrow? Then I think we’ll be there in a day.”

“Oh, but I don’t know how to ride.”

“You can ride with me.”

 

Rachel nodded in agreement with the proposal.

 

“Yes, I understand.”

“Okay, then sleep well and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

Tak

 

Ian hesitated before he closed the door.

 

Gulp

 

“Your Majesty.”

 

But Rachel called him back before he went back to his room.

 

“I can’t sleep alone.”

“What?”

“Can’t you stay with me?”

 

At Rachel’s request, Ian frowned as if he was bewildered because he didn’t expect to hear such a request.

 

But then he nodded.

 

“Okay, let’s go in.”

 

With that, Ian stepped into Rachel’s room.

 

“Thank you.”

“What’s wrong? Are you uncomfortable?”

“No, I just don’t want to be alone.”

 

Ian nodded quietly to Rachel, who looked somewhat tired.

 

“Yeah. I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep, so don’t worry.”

 

Ian patted Rachel on the head.

 

As if there was nothing to worry about.

 

Rachel liked his touch. When he turned towards her, his purple eyes seemed to soften even more, so it felt like she was really loved.

 

At some point, she liked him visiting her and spending time together like this.

 

“Lie down comfortably.”

 

Ian closed the window in the room and beckoned to the bed. Rachel bit her lips a little at his low-pitched voice.

 

“What should I do for you? Should I just sit by your bedside?”

“Yes, please stay with me.”

“Okay.”

 

Ian nodded and arranged Rachel’s quilt on her.

 

Then he swept Rachel’s hair back.

 

“I will.”

 

Then he sat down on the chair that he’d brought to her bed.