Nightmare Came to The Place I Escaped - Chapter 85

“Now what are you going to do? Rachel is alive and Diana has done no harm to Rachel. Don’t take revenge for nothing.”

 

Roosevelt said this, and took the paper from Ian.

 

But Ian still looked at Roosevelt with a blank face.

 

Maybe he was listening to him, but Roosevelt felt frustrated and was about to open his mouth again when Ian finally spoke up.

 

“Roosevelt, that’s something for me to worry about.”

“What?”

“The misunderstanding with Rachel has been cleared. There was a little bit of help from you, so thank you, but that’s it.”

 

Ian raised his lips slightly.

 

“You knew why Rachel was avoiding me, and pretended not to know. Also, you could’ve helped her not die from the beginning, but you didn’t.”

“….”

“So don’t talk like you did anything for us. Don’t even pay attention to Rachel.”

 

Ian moved toward Rachel.

 

“Rachel.”

“…Your Majesty.”

 

Ian called to Rachel quietly.

 

Then Rachel, who had her eyes closed as if she were sleeping, slowly opened her eyes as if she were embarrassed.

 

“Sorry we woke you up.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to listen.”

“It’s all right, don’t worry.”

 

Ian gave way to Rachel as she stood up. Rachel glanced at Roosevelt, then grabbed Ian’s sleeve.

 

“Rachel, I’ll go see you at the Oates estate soon.”

 

At Ian’s words, Rachel nodded and her mouth twitched as if she had something to say. Rachel glanced at Roosevelt, then slowly opened her mouth.

 

“Your Majesty, I heard from the Prophet that we must perform a ceremony to promise eternal love through marriage, is that correct?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then, please set a date for the ceremony as soon as possible.”

 

Ian smiled and nodded his head slowly, as if she had nothing to worry about.

 

“I’m so nervous. So let’s have the ceremony as soon as possible.”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

 

Ian smiled as he worried about Rachel and stroked her hair carefully. He felt bad that this once-in-a-lifetime wedding seemed to have become a homework assignment for Rachel.

 

“I’ll send a proposal to your family today.”

“All right.”

 

Rachel smiled brightly at Ian’s words.

 

Unlike Ian’s worries, it was a happy smile.

 

Only then did Rachel, who was stubbornly pulling on Ian’s sleeve, relax her hand.

 

Ian smiled quietly at Rachel, and slowly bent down.

 

His lips touched Rachel’s forehead carefully, then moved away.

 

“Rachel…”

“Tsk.”

 

When Ian was about to say something, Roosevelt clicked his tongue.

 

“The sun is going to rise at this rate.”

 

Roosevelt approached, grabbed Rachel’s wrist, and pulled her to him. Ian tried to say something, but Roosevelt disappeared too quickly.

 

***

 

Rachel looked around her a little bit since her surroundings had changed so quickly. In just a moment, Ian had disappeared.

 

No, did she disappear?

 

Returning to the country estate of the Duke of Oates, Rachel looked at the man standing in front of her for a moment.

 

“Hey, I have a question.”

 

At Rachel’s careful question, the man’s face slowly turned toward Rachel.

 

“Someone killed me. Was it Lady Avery? Was that knight following the lady’s orders?”

“….”

“That… Did His Majesty find out too?”

 

Roosevelt looked out the window, as the sky was gradually lightening.

 

Then he quietly nodded. At the same time, a small crease formed between Rachel’s brows.

 

Ian found out.

 

‘Don’t take revenge.’

 

That prophet said that to Ian.

 

Was Ian really trying to get revenge? It had now become something that had never happened. What did he think he could do now?

 

She still had a lot to say to Ian, but it ended without them talking properly.

 

“Well.”

 

Roosevelt looked down at Rachel, and handed her the paper Ian had given him. Rachel looked at the white paper that Roosevelt held out, then reached out carefully.

 

“Ah…”

 

Rachel looked straight at Roosevelt, as he held the paper and didn’t let go.

 

Was it because of the cold dawn air? Roosevelt’s hands were very cold.

 

Roosevelt slowly lowered his gaze, looked at Rachel’s hand, then leisurely let go. Then, he disappeared without saying a word.

 

Left alone in the room, Rachel frowned slightly as she looked out the window at the brightening sky.

 

***

 

“Rachel, was everything okay last night?”

“…What?”

 

Rachel was a little surprised by Mike’s question.

 

Rachel looked anxiously at Mike, did he know what happened last night?

 

“Well, the maid was sleeping in front of your room. On the cold floor.”

“Ah…”

“Tsk, I think it’s better to change your maid.”

 

Mike clicked his tongue as if he didn’t like it.

 

“No!”

 

At that moment, Rachel shook her head quickly.

 

“Changing around the maid, don’t do that.”

 

What happened to the maid?

 

If there was a mistake, it was her fault that she forgot that the maid was sleeping outside the room.

 

No, she thought that the Prophet would return everything to normal.

 

“You know how well Hana has served me. Leave dealing with the maid to me.”

“Well, if that’s what you want, I get it.”

 

Mike nodded in understanding.

 

Since it was an employee under Rachel, she was the right person to handle it.

 

“But Rachel, you have to be careful not to let this happen again. Today, nothing happened. However, I can’t guarantee that the next time will go as smoothly.”

“Yes, brother.”

 

Rachel nodded at Mike’s words, then opened her mouth cautiously.

“More than that, His Majesty.”

“His Majesty?”

 

Mike frowned as if surprised by the name that came out of Rachel’s mouth.

 

It had been a long time since Rachel opened up about Ian.

 

“Oh, yes, tell me.”

 

Since she seemed to be struggling, he hadn’t asked Rachel anything about it, but that never meant he wasn’t interested.

 

Mike looked at Rachel constantly as he tried to not to look like he was rushing her.

 

“Umm, I…”

 

Rachel thought for a moment about where to begin with this statement.

 

However, no matter how hard Rachel tried, she couldn’t figure out how to explain the situation to Mike.

 

How could she say that she wanted to marry the Emperor suddenly, and that the Emperor would be sending her a marriage proposal in a few days.

 

Wasn’t she a completely selfish, and crazy girl?

 

“Ha…”

 

But she couldn’t bring up the Prophet.

 

She couldn’t say that she met Ian in the Imperial palace this morning.

 

No matter how much she thought about Ian, she seemed to just be a whimsical person.

 

“Rachel?”

“Well, what I’m trying to say is.”

 

Rachel took a deep breath.

 

At the very least she wanted to tell Mike and the Duke before Ian’s marriage proposal arrived.

 

Because she knew they cared about her.

 

She wanted to tell them first.

 

The problem was that it wasn’t easy.

 

“I was misunderstanding His Majesty.”

“What?”

“Well, I thought His Majesty was cheating on me, and lying to me. That was my mistake.”

“Pah!”

 

Mike burst into laughter as soon as she hesitated to finish her words.

 

“Brother?”

“So what you’re saying is that you want to see His Majesty again, right?”

 

Rachel hesitated for a moment and nodded as Mike asked with a playful smile.

 

“Yeah, it’s a relief.”

 

Mike ruffled Rachel’s hair with a pleasant laugh.

 

“What’s a relief?”

“…I’m sorry.”

 

Again this time, Mike was understanding enough to put Rachel’s concerns to shame.

 

“Hmm? What?”

“Because I bothered you for no reason.”

“No. Well, it’s all right. That’s what love is like.”

 

Mike’s tone was full of mischief as he spoke with a wrinkled nose. His laughter brightened the mood a little as Rachel blushed at her mischievous brother.

 

“I’m glad you finally seem to have cheered up. I’m glad I didn’t have to worry too much. So, do you want to see His Majesty?”

 

At Mike’s question, Rachel pondered for a moment and shook her head.

 

For some reason, if she wanted to see Ian, she thought he would say they should pack up and go to the capital right now.

 

“I don’t think you’re even communicating with His Majesty. How about sending a letter?”

“A letter?”

“His Majesty must be waiting for a letter from you right now.”

 

Rachel nodded, and thought about how to bring up the subject of marriage to Mike.

 

Then, she closed her mouth because she thought that bringing up marriage right now might surprise Mike.

 

Ian would soon come to the Oates estate, so it would be good to bring it up then.

 

Rachel rushed after Mike, who was urging her to go and tell their father about this.

 

***

 

Click

 

“Your Majesty, you were looking for me?”

 

Harmond had been peeking at Ian’s expression since early that morning, since it was strange that he was looking for him.

 

Harmond, who knew Ian had been in a bad mood recently, had a polite smile on his face.

 

“I wanted this list of recently expelled knights.”

“Is there a knight with brown hair…”

 

Harmond opened his mouth as if he had something on his mind.

 

Harmond, who was hearing the description of the appearance of a knight whom Ian had recently expelled, realized that the common brown hair wasn’t enough to identify the knight who’d been expelled.

 

Harmond blinked for a moment, as if trying to remember his name.

 

Since Ian had never been interested in the private lives of employees, Harmond had been watching him closely.

 

“Was it perhaps that Spencer? His Majesty himself ordered his expulsion personally.”

“Spencer. Yes.”

 

Ian repeated the name of the knight who was kicked out and nodded.

 

“Bring me his papers.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Harmond, look into any man planted in the Imperial palace by the Avery’s. I need you to look into it.”

“From the Avery’s?”

 

Ian nodded slightly at Harmond’s question.

 

In order to keep the Imperial palace in check many noble families planted their people among the servants, this was common practice. Of course, this was done in secret because it wasn’t exactly legal.

 

So, if Ian was bothered enough to find them, that meant he was taking issue with the Avery’s.

 

***