Nightmare Came to The Place I Escaped - Chapter 98

Shining golden hair fell haphazardly onto the black floor. The long, well-groomed blonde hair was cut off, discarded as worthless in an instant.

 

“…Father!”

 

Diana screamed in astonishment.

 

“What are you doing!”

 

Diana brushed at her hair in disbelief, but the hair was already cut below the ear, leaving an empty feeling.

 

“Why are you staring blankly!”

 

Clang

 

The Duke shouted, as he dropped the sword he was holding.

 

“You still don’t understand the situation? Get up now and leave here.”

“…What?”

“The Emperor plans to make you pay for your crimes, enough to send people here. I will tell them you ran away, and that I don’t know anything. So, if you want to live, get out of here and run.”

“Well, what…”

 

Diana stammered as if she couldn’t understand the Duke’s words at all.

 

“I can’t put the family in danger because of you alone.”

“…What about me?”

 

Diana staggered, as if more shocked than when the butler announced that the Imperial knights were coming to the Avery estate, then she collapsed.

 

“If it’s true that the Emperor came to punish you for your sins, then you will have to live as a fugitive for the rest of your life.”

“Are you abandoning me? How? It’s me!”

“Stupid girl! Didn’t I tell you not to mess with my work and stay still! You brought this all on yourself!”

 

The Duke shouted and gestured at Diana, who was sitting in a daze.

 

“Since you’re my daughter, I am giving you one last chance. A last chance to live.”

“Ha, this an opportunity? Aren’t you just throwing me away, but you’re calling it an opportunity?”

“Stop talking nonsense. Change your clothes, and come back down. If you don’t hurry, I’ll have no choice but to kill you with my own hands.”

 

The Duke left the dining room as if he didn’t wish to speak with Diana any longer.

 

“Ha!”

 

Diana looked around the dining room after her father left.

 

Her favorite marinated lamb and stew was ruined, and had rolled around on the floor. Her long blonde hair was scattered among the mess.

 

Everything was a mess.

 

“Hahahaha.”

 

Somehow laughter escaped her.

 

***

 

Clink!

 

The money bag fell at Diana’s feet, who was wearing a deeply hooded robe.

 

“Take it and go.”

“….”

 

Diana looked at it for a while, then picked up the bag of money that had fallen at her feet. She tried to laugh again at the fairly heavy weight.

 

“What about the knight?”

 

Diana looked up at the Duke.

 

The texture of her hair that was cut off was rough on her cheeks and neck. The tingling sensation caused Diana to frown.

 

“You’re going to let me go alone like this?”

“Get out of this land, then buy a mercenary with that money.”

“Ha! Do you think it’s a waste to assign a knight to me too?”

“Sigh…”

 

The Duke sighed slightly at the rebellious look in Diana’s eyes, then glanced at the wall clock.

 

“Time’s up. Go away.”

“I will definitely survive. I won’t die like a fool like this.”

“….”

“I’ll survive and come back to see my father. That means I’ll come back and check how well you’ve lived after you abandoned me.”

 

After finishing her speech, Diana turned her back.

 

Black robes with no decorations and cotton trousers worn by commoner men. No one would find a trace of the lady who’d first arrived at the Duke’s estate in her fancy dress.

 

“Tsk, stupid girl.”

 

The Duke stood still for a while as Diana crossed the hall and disappeared through the back door, then he quietly muttered.

 

“I haven’t raised a trustworthy knight.”

 

The Duke let out a deep sigh.

 

Even though it had been a long time since he’d left, the butler hadn’t returned. No, it made sense that he hadn’t returned.

 

The butler had run away.

 

That probably meant that he couldn’t find the maid’s family. In the end, this must’ve meant that the maid had told all of the facts about her movements under Diana’s instructions.

 

“You lived the wrong life.”

 

Twenty minutes remained until the knights of the Imperial palace arrived.

 

The Duke hurriedly went up to his office, and threw the papers that filled one wall of the bookshelf into the fireplace.

 

***

 

Click Clack

 

“Giddy up!”

 

Diana drove her horse vigorously.

 

Although the road could be seen well in the full moon on the cloudless night, Diane didn’t know where to go. She gripped the reins harder and drove her horse faster.

 

The robe’s hood came off, and her short hair whipped around in the wind.

 

“Please.”

 

Where the heck did it go wrong?

 

Diana didn’t even have a clue how the situation was going. She had no idea how long it would go on.

 

Her long hair that she’d maintained for decades was cut off in seconds. In just a moment, everything was ruined.

 

Where was this misfortune coming from? Diana couldn’t figure it out.

 

She was just dizzy.

 

“Why would he do this?”

 

Diana was unbearably angry at everyone.

 

Even the Imperial knights that suddenly pushed into her family’s territory.

 

‘My family can’t be in danger because of me alone.’

 

She felt betrayed by her father, who she thought loved her.

 

Rachel, who’d insulted her.

 

Everyone was hoping she’d be ruined.

 

Rachel Oates, who ruined her reputation and pushed her out of society.

 

Her father, who cut her hair without any hesitation.

 

She couldn’t stand in front of people with hair like this.

 

Her father had completely abandoned her without a moment’s hesitation.

 

Without assigning a knight, he’d abandoned her without hesitation.

 

“Giddy up!”

 

The strong winter wind roughened her cheeks as she ran away.

 

Even though the cold air deprived her of warmth, and she couldn’t even move her lips at will, Diana rode on to live.

 

***

 

“Commander! The gates are closed!”

“Break it down and go in.”

 

The tightly closed gate into the castle opened little by little to the knight’s rush.

 

“Go in without delay! Follow me in!”

 

The fully armed knights followed their leader.

 

“Catch the traitor Avery, and drag him back!”

 

They cried out loudly as they entered. However, the Duke, who they expected to have already fled, was standing halfway up the central staircase as he watched the knights enter the front door.

 

“Commander! What the heck is this!”

 

His voice boomed.

 

“Why did you lead the knights and invade the dukedom by force without saying anything?”

 

Duke Avery glared at the Commander of 1st Knights corp.

 

“What crime did our family commit against His Majesty! Are you saying this is His Majesty doing!”

 

The Knight Commander frowned slightly at the Duke who did not run away, and remained in the castle.

 

What was he thinking?

 

He couldn’t understand at all what the man was thinking as he welcomed the knights alone without anyone to protect him.

 

The Commander took out an edict from within his jacket and opened it.

 

“Attempted murder of an Imperial family member. Embezzlement of Imperial funds and breach of trust. Violation of the Imperial Family Security Law.”

 

The Duke had trouble remaining still as his legs trembled. He clenched his fists, which were also trembling slightly.

 

The Duke, who’d just shouted vigorously, could only open his mouth like a fish abandoned on the shore.

 

“It’s treason. Capture the renegade Avery and return to the Imperial palace.”

“Yes!”

 

The knights standing behind him moved in unison at the Knight Commander’s command.

 

“Wait a minute, being accused as a traitor is a plot! I’m being framed!”

 

Duke Avery finally realized the situation he was in was more serious than he’d anticipated and tried to retreat.

 

Swish

 

He turned around and tried to run away, but he was caught by the knights, who followed him, before he could climb up ten steps.

 

Bang

 

“Ugh!”

 

The Duke was pushed down on the stairs and groaned as if his jaw hurt, but no one cared about his pain.

 

“Take him away!”

 

The Commander ordered the Duke to be dragged away, and motioned for the knights to search the upstairs of the estate.

 

“Find Diana Avery. Check the Duke’s office.”

“Yes!”

 

The clang of knights’ armor continued loudly for a while.

 

The Knight Commander looked around the interior of the castle with an expressionless face.

 

A large hall and a long corridor.

 

The servants standing there were frozen in fear.

 

In such a large duchy, no one was standing up for Duke Avery. None of them shed tears for Duke Avery, who was being dragged away.

 

They just looked at the rapidly moving knights with frightened eyes, as if the current situation was confusing.

 

Only when the servant’s eyes met with the Commander did they hurriedly kneel down and beg for their lives.

 

“Noble Commander, we don’t know anything.”

“Please spare us.”

“Please help us, we worked without knowing anything.”

 

None of them mourned Duke Avery’s disastrous end.

 

Looking at the attitudes of the servants, who would’ve been the closest to serving the Duke of Avery at this castle, the life of the Duke seemed to be visible.

 

The Commander of the 1st Knights clicked his tongue at the quiet reminder of Avery’s atrocities that had been reported.

 

The Commander looked at the servants once again, cleaning maids and older servants.

 

Now that he saw it, he didn’t see a butler or a personal maid. They must’ve heard the news in advance and ran away.

 

Those who remained in the castle didn’t seem to have heard the news that the knights were on their way. That’s why they looked so confused.

 

If they’d heard the news, if they could, they would’ve abandoned the Duke and fled.

 

In the end, during this final moment, the Duke of Avery had no one to stand by him.

 

To the arrogant and selfish Avery. It was a horribly fitting end for him, who was so cruel.

 

Thump Thump Thump

 

The loud noise coming down the stairs made the Commander turn his head towards it.

 

“Commander!”

“What’s going on?”

“…the Duke’s study and some rooms are on fire.”

 

***