Nightmare Came to The Place I Escaped - Chapter 61

 

“Shall we go see the village tomorrow?”

“Yes, that sounds good.”

 

Rachel nodded softly to Ian’s question.

 

“I’ll prepare breakfast tomorrow.”
“You don’t have to.”

 

Ian shook his head. Then he opened his mouth with a small motion towards the food with his chin.

 

“How does it taste? Do you like it?”

“Yes, it’s delicious.”

 

Rachel put more grilled meat into her mouth.

 

“Did you make it yourself?”

 

She was sure there weren’t any servants, but did he really cook this meat?

 

Ian nodded softly.

 

“You know how to do this?”

“I just seasoned it a little, and grilled it.”

 

Rachel looked at him in amazement, and Ian opened his mouth again.

 

“I’m pretty good at cooking.”

“How?”

“Because I sometimes made food for myself during the war.”

“Ah…”

 

Rachel dropped her eyes as soon as that forgotten memory came to mind.

 

Come to think of it, she’d left him alone at the Avery’s territory. Did he cook for himself then?

 

Feeling remorseful, Rachel once again put food in her mouth.

 

Did Ian blame her for that?

 

But neither of them spoke further about those days.

 

“Weren’t you afraid? During the war.”

 

It was just a matter of changing the topic as she was now.

 

“I was afraid. I risked my life.”

 

Ian said he was afraid, but there was no big emotional upset as he recalled the memory.

 

It looked like it was just a thing of the past.

 

“I was nervous every night because I still had a lot of things I wanted to do.”

 

Rachel nodded softly at Ian’s words.

 

Around that time, she read the newspaper every day. She was also afraid that something might happen to Ian.

 

However, the newspaper that arrived a week late didn’t provide details on Ian. It just informed her of the situation and the progress of the Imperial Army.

 

Sometimes it only gave the names of the dead, and that was it.

 

Was Ian hurt? Where was he now? She didn’t know if he was afraid. What was he thinking?

 

None of it was known.

 

It was only the shallowest and the latest of information that everyone had already heard.

 

Every time that happened, she realized that her relationship with him was all over, and she’d just laughed at herself.

 

Even though she felt like, ‘What does it have to do with me no matter what happens to him?’ Still, she couldn’t help but catch the newspaper that passed by.

 

She hoped that Ian wouldn’t get hurt or sick. Some of her best memories were from her time with him. Were the feelings from those times still there? Or was it just that what was happening to him then was so difficult?

 

Whatever the reason, Rachel would get ahold of the old newspaper every time and desperately hoped that Ian would be safe.

 

“I always missed you.”

“What?”

“I always wished I could go see you.”

 

Rachel frowned slightly.

 

She couldn’t believe that he was thinking of her too.

 

“I almost died once, but fortunately there was a place nearby where I could hide myself. That day was really…”

 

Ian hurriedly changed the subject when Rachel’s face paled.

 

“And one of the days was a very rainy day, the water came all the way to the tents. Everyone woke up, and we moved them. That day, Mike dreamed of swimming in the middle of the sea.”

 

The events of those days that she heard belatedly. His story that she heard directly from his mouth.

 

“You didn’t want to run away?”

“I couldn’t live even if I ran away. But it wasn’t that hard because I knew roughly the situation and strategy of the enemy.”

 

Those were personal stories that she wouldn’t have heard without him. The fact that she was with him again struck her.

 

Rachel liked listening to him talk.

 

“Were you hurt anywhere?”

“I was a little bit banged up, but I wasn’t seriously injured.”

 

Ian shook his left shoulder slightly.

 

“You said you wanted to see me, so why didn’t you come to see me? You knew where I was.”

“I wanted to see you after the war. I knew I couldn’t do anything for you during the war.”

“I… I never thought I would get anything.”

 

Ian’s words made her uncomfortable. Never once did she want to get something from Ian.

 

“I just wanted to.”

 

Ian gave a small shrug of his shoulders.

 

“Come to think of it, I always wanted to look cool to you. I didn’t care that I was born to a maid because I was used to my father and brothers ignoring me, but I hated it in front of you.”
“…Why?”

“It was embarrassing. I didn’t want to look pitiful to you.”

 

Feeling ashamed.

 

Rachel thought that she was much more pitiful than Ian, as she was abandoned by her mother and entered the palace as a maid without any connections.

 

He didn’t have anything to be ashamed of. Rachel couldn’t understand Ian’s words.

 

“How was it for you? Wasn’t it hard or difficult at the village? In Ravenna?”

“Not at all, I was lucky.”

 

Rachel shook her head.

 

“Never once did anything dangerous happen. No one in town was mean to me. Besides, Thomas’ family really took care of me. They were warm and affectionate.”

 

Ian nodded his head carefully.

 

“And thanks to you teaching me how to write, I made money without any difficulty.”

 

Rachel had never forgotten Ian.

 

Every time she read or wrote, she would suddenly remember those days with Ian. Come to think of it, she’d learned to swim from Ian too. She learned chess from him as well.

 

So, she couldn’t forget him.

 

She learned from Ian what other children would learn from their parents.

 

“I’m glad it helped.”

“But why did you teach me to write? Your Majesty was busy, even then.”

“Well?”

 

Ian tilted his head slightly.

 

However, Ian did not give the answer no matter how long she waited.

 

“Did you finish eating?”

 

Ian asked, as he put down his tableware.

 

“Oh, yes.”

 

Ian shook his head slightly as Rachel hurriedly put the rest of the meat in her mouth.

 

“Don’t rush.”

 

Ian said this, and poured wine into Rachel’s glass.

 

“Wait a minute. I’ll bring you a bottle to put those in.”

 

Ian left Rachel to wait for a while, and left the dining room.

 

When he returned, he had two glass bottles about the height of his index finger in his hand.

 

“I’ll put it in for you.”

 

Then he put Rachel’s seashell in it and handed it over.

 

Inside was the beautiful conch shell that Rachel liked.

 

“You wanted this, didn’t you?”

“I have mine right here.”

 

He bottled his like Rachel’s, and closed it.

 

“Well, how are you sure it’s yours, Your Majesty?”

 

Rachel tilted her head slightly.

 

The one she found, and the one Ian found, looked pretty much the same.

 

“Mine was a little smaller.”

 

Rachel looked at Ian for a moment.

 

She didn’t know why, but he seemed to like it quite a bit. Seeing the way Ian cherished the conch so much, she wondered if his shell was actually prettier than hers.

 

It looked like that to her, so she immediately took her eyes off of it.

 

***

 

Early morning.

 

The darkness had just lifted, and the sun was rising.

 

Rachel tossed and turned on the bed, and checked the dim sky. She stretched, and got out of the bed.

 

Ian told her not to worry about it, but she still thought she should make breakfast that morning.

 

“Yawn!”

 

Rachel rubbed her eyes a few times as if she were tired, and left the room.

 

Light came into the hallway through the window. Although the light was dim, she could see without a lamp.

 

A quiet hallway

 

Moan Groan

 

“…Hmm?”

 

When Rachel walked down the stairs, and was about to step into the kitchen, a strange sound could be heard.

 

The drawing room

 

In the hallway opposite the kitchen, there was a sound coming from that direction. It was a very small sound, but it certainly seemed to be coming from the drawing room.

 

“…Your Majesty?”

“Ugh.”

 

Rachel stopped, and her eyes widened at the pained sound.

 

It was definitely just her and Ian here.

 

Was it Ian?

 

The distressing sound soon ceased.

 

But an answer to her call still hadn’t come back. She was sure Ian would have answered.

 

“Your Majesty?”

 

A new, rough breath leaked out through the cracks in the open door. As she got closer, it seemed that he was about to come out of the drawing room.

 

Rachel walked towards the drawing room, as she wondered if Ian was hurt.

 

Bang!

 

But the door was closed.

 

“….”

 

Ian had no reason to close the door.

 

Silence settled again over the closed hallway outside the drawing room.

 

Rachel faltered, and soon ran up the stairs.

 

Tap Tap Tap

 

Knock Knock!

 

Rachel’s knocking on Ian’s door was urgent and rough.

 

Knock Knock!

 

“Your Majesty!”

 

Rachel called out to him urgently when no answer was heard.

 

“Your Majesty!”

 

But there was still no answer from Ian.

 

“…I’m going in.”

Rachel bit her lips, and agonized for a moment. Soon enough, she opened the door, but Ian wasn’t in his room.

 

Was the sound from the downstairs Ian?

 

Rachel knew it was meaningless, but she looked around the room again and closed the door.

 

Rachel’s steps down the stairs were a little heavy.

 

If it was Ian, why would he close the door when she approached him?

 

Did someone attack Ian? Did someone aim for him when he was alone, separated from the Imperial knights?

 

Knock Knock

 

Despite having various concerns, Rachel took a deep breath and soon knocked on the door of the drawing room.

 

“Your Majesty?”

“….”

“Your Majesty, are you there?”

 

There was no answer from the person in the drawing room. The problem was, was it Ian or not.

 

Rachel looked around as if she wanted to pick up a stick, then she just opened up the door in the empty hallway.

 

“What?”

 

When Rachel opened the door, the upper body of a person standing in front of the door caught her eyes.

 

Before she could look up and check his face, he hugged Rachel.

 

“It’s me.”

“…Your Majesty?”
“Yes, it’s me, Ian.”

 

Only then did Rachel breathe a sigh of relief.

 

***