Nightmare Came to The Place I Escaped - Chapter 70

Ian couldn’t have killed her. He was so sweet and warm to her, and she wanted to believe in that.

 

Ian said he liked her.

 

Maybe the knight was telling a lie.

 

She wanted to make sure the knight hadn’t lied.

 

She didn’t know if pursuing him would confirm that fact, but she didn’t want to miss this chance.

 

“I left something behind.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”
“No, it’ll be troublesome. If you go ahead, I’ll catch up to you in a minute.”

 

Rachel shook her head at the young marquess, who offered to go with her, and hurriedly turned away.

 

“….”

 

Concerned that she might miss the knight, Rachel’s steps kept getting faster.

 

Her head felt dizzy because her heart was racing so fast.

 

Rachel chased after the knight, even though she knew she was doing something stupid.

 

The hunting ground wouldn’t have been accessible without Ian’s name.

 

Other knights were guarding it, so Ian’s permission would’ve been needed to break through the security. So, the knight’s words couldn’t have been false, and it was foolish of her to be wandering through this corridor.

 

Nevertheless, Rachel couldn’t turn back.

 

Tap Tap Tap

 

Rachel’s footsteps, which had started to run, stopped short.

 

After she’d turned a corner three times in this long corridor, she saw Ian and the knight standing at the end. Standing close together, the two seemed to be talking about something.

 

“….”

 

Ian turned his head towards the end of the hallway, as if he could sense her presence. Unable to avoid his gaze, Rachel and Ian’s eyes met.

 

Recognizing Rachel, Ian seemed to frown for a moment.

 

“….”

 

It was a day full of strange things.

 

Why didn’t Ian participate in the Hunting competition?

 

Why didn’t he tell her that he wasn’t participating in the competition, when he’d told her every other detail.

 

Hunting, if Ian had a hobby, it was definitely that.

 

Why didn’t he enjoy hunting now?

 

Why was Ian with the knight?

 

Did Ian know the knight in his previous life? Was it just something that she didn’t see?

 

Had that knight really earned Ian’s trust?

 

When Ian handed over the poison, and asked the knight to kill her. What kind of face did he make?

 

“Ra….”

 

Ian started to call out Rachel’s name, and moved as if he was about to approach.

 

Yeah, it wasn’t just today that was weird.

 

From the day he came to her, the day he stepped back into her life.

 

There wasn’t a day when it wasn’t weird.

 

Tak

 

After taking a few steps back, Rachel hurriedly turned her back on Ian. Otherwise, Ian would come to her at any moment.

 

Tak. Taktap.

 

Rachel moved away. There was only one thing she wanted right now.

 

She hoped that Ian didn’t come after her. She hoped she could stay away from him.

 

Tap Tap Tap

 

Rachel moved her legs as fast as she could. At this moment, she didn’t even remember any of the aristocratic manners she’d learned from the Countess. The Countess had praised Rachel for her quick learning, but Rachel knew.

 

That she was just copying. The elegant Diana. Ian, who was calm about everything.

 

No matter how hard she tried, she wasn’t a noblewoman. It didn’t fit her.

 

Ian stopped walking at the sound of Rachel’s footsteps quickly moving away from him.

 

When he’d tried to approach, Rachel had frowned and ran away.

 

Why in the world…

 

Ian glanced at the knight standing behind him. Ian caught Rachel’s eyes on his face momentarily.

 

Ian frowned, just as Rachel had.

 

“Hey.”

 

Why the heck did Rachel look like that? There was no way that Rachel knew him.

 

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

 

The knight felt the Emperor’s displeasure towards him and bowed his head.

 

“Are you acquainted with Lady Oates?”

 

***

 

“Your Majesty, were you looking for something?”

 

The servant carefully asked Ian, who was looking around after he returned to the venue.

 

“Ray… Where have all the young ladies gone?”

“They left the annex a while ago. I don’t know where they went…”

“Lady Oates, did the lady go with the other noblewomen?”

 

The servant nodded at Ian’s question.

 

Ian recalled his encounter with Rachel recently. She wasn’t with the other young ladies, Rachel was definitely alone.

 

After that, did she come back to the annex, and go out with the noblewomen?

 

Ian glanced at his watch.

 

Then she’ll be back soon, it would be better to just wait.

 

It was a while ago that Rachel had turned her back on him, but Ian decided to wait a while for her.

 

He was being unreasonably sensitive.

 

It had been around fifteen minutes.

 

Ian couldn’t wait any longer, and got up from his seat.

 

“Your Majesty?”
“Find out where the young ladies went.”

 

Ian let out a small breath, as if he was impatient.

 

Where did Rachel go, and why hadn’t she come back yet?

 

He didn’t think she’d gone into the hunting grounds.

 

Ian knew Rachel wouldn’t have done that, but he couldn’t help the uneasy feeling he had when he couldn’t see her out of the corner of his eye.

 

As Ian paced impatiently at the door, the servant who had left, returned. His breath was a little ragged, probably from running back.

 

“It’s said that the young ladies left the building 30 minutes ago. I think they went to the hunting grounds because they were bored.”

 

Before the servant could finish his words, Ian had no choice but to leave this place.

 

At the word that Rachel had entered the hunting grounds, Ian began running.

 

‘D*mn it.’

 

He should’ve stopped Rachel from coming. He should’ve kept her away from the hunting grounds.

 

Tap Tap Tap

 

Ian knew he was worried for nothing. He knew nothing could’ve happened to Rachel.

 

He said she was with the other young ladies, so it’ll be fine.

 

There are a lot of young lords in the forest, so they’ll help her if there’s a problem.

 

He knew rationally that nothing could happen to her, but Ian didn’t want Rachel to go anywhere near the forest.

 

He just didn’t like it.

 

He was afraid that she’d disappear again, like she did that day.

 

He was madly anxious, even though he knew it was a silly worry. Enough to run frantically through the Imperial palace. He didn’t even have time to care about what kind of face he was making.

 

He knew it was a compulsion, but Ian couldn’t stop running. He was afraid he would lose Rachel again.

 

He was afraid he would never find her again, like that day.

 

The anxiety didn’t go away easily.

 

Ian sincerely regretted not burning down the forest.

 

He just didn’t like Rachel hanging around there.

 

***

 

“Lady Oates, are you okay?”

“….Yes.”

 

Rachel nodded slightly at Diana’s question.

 

“You don’t look very well. Are you sure you’re okay?”

 

At Lady Harite’s words, Rachel nodded again.

 

After seeing Ian and the knight, she ran this way without looking back.

 

She was just hoping to stay away from Ian.

 

Maybe it was because of her sudden run, her heart was beating at a dizzying pace.

 

“Pfft, you shouldn’t run like that.”

 

Diana lightly rebuked Rachel.

 

Clearly, it was intended to humiliate Rachel over her actions that weren’t aristocratic.

 

“I don’t think you’re fully familiar with aristocratic behaviors and manners yet. Your running was so vulgar.”

 

At Diana’s words, the noble ladies couldn’t easily open their mouths, and only looked on as the frozen atmosphere formed in an instant.

 

‘What were they talking about?’

 

However, Rachel was already lost in her own thoughts, so she didn’t even hear Diana’s words.

 

“Lady Oates came running with the hem of her dress fluttering. If Duke Oates and the young master find out about this, it will be worth seeing their red faces.”

 

Diana looked at the young noblewomen, as if she was seeking sympathy with her words.

 

They just nodded a little, and didn’t open their mouths. It seemed that they were still looking between Diana and Rachel, as if they were still debating on which boat would be most advantageous to be on.

 

Diana also smiled coldly, as if she could read the thoughts of such young ladies.

 

“Oh, there’s someone running…”

 

At that time, a young lady, who was looking around to change the topic, opened her mouth.

 

“It must be a day to deliver news, seeing as how they are moving in such crude manner.”

 

Diana shrugged her shoulders and smiled as if it wasn’t a big deal. Except for the servants, who else would run around in the Imperial palace?

 

Oh, Rachel Oates. She was the exception.

 

“His Majesty, I think it’s His Majesty. Isn’t it?”

 

Rachel looked up at those words.

 

His Majesty. Only then did the words of the young ladies reach her ears when they mentioned Ian.

 

Ian was running in the distance.

 

He was running.

 

Rachel had never seen Ian run that way before. Ian had narrowed the distance in an instant.

 

The young noblewomen began to gossip with each other, as if they were perplexed by Ian’s actions.

 

Looking back at each other, they moved their mouths busily as if they were trying to understand what was going on.

 

Among the young ladies, Rachel looked around like them.

 

Would she be able to escape from Ian in this wide open field?

 

“Rachel!”

 

The moment Ian found Rachel, he shouted loudly.

 

“Why did you come in here!”
“….”

 

After he came running over, his hair was an unusual mess. When Ian came closer to Rachel, he pulled her towards him.

 

“Are you an idiot? Why are you here? It’s dangerous!”

“….”

 

Ian looked closely at Rachel as if he was worried that she might have been hurt. He lifted Rachel’s face with his big hand on her cheek.

 

“…Are you sick?”

 

Ian stroked Rachel’s pale face with his thumb.

 

“Your complexion is bad.”

“…I’m alright.”

“Whew…”

 

Ian finally took his hand off of Rachel’s face.

 

Then he held her in his arms with a small sigh. Ian’s heartbeat was clearly heard at this closer distance.

 

One arm that tightly wrapped around her shoulder, the other arm wrapped around her waist.

 

“I was worried.”

 

Ian’s disorganized breathing also felt comforting.

 

Thud Thud Thud

 

Ian seemed to have run as fast as she had.