When I Stopped Being Your Shadow - Chapter 109

<It was confirmed that Ines Brierton has received 50,000 gold from Count Hanson.>

 

…. the mysterious news.

 

“Felix.”

 

Marquis Usher beckoned at Felix.

 

“Yes, Marquis!”

 

Felix rushed to Marquis Usher.

 

Marquis Usher looked at Felix with a frown, and gestured to follow him.

 

Going to the back of the Atelier building, a large carriage was parked in front of Felix.

 

Outside the window, the shutters were closed, making it look like a prison.

 

At the same time, Marquis Usher snapped.

 

“You need to go somewhere for a while.”

 

At that moment Felix had a hunch.

 

The momentary peace that the boy enjoyed was now shattered.

 

‘Where is that?’

 

‘Can I come back?’

 

Frightened, Felix called the Marquis in a trembling voice.

 

“Marquis Usher, but…….”

 

“Why are you trying to talk back?”

 

The Marquis asked furiously.

 

So Felix couldn’t help but get into the carriage.

 

“If you stay quiet, I’ll pick you up someday.”

 

“What?”

 

Boom!

 

The carriage door suddenly snapped shut.

 

“Hey, open it!”

 

Surprised Felix knocked on the door but it was no use at all.

 

After a long run, loaded into a dark carriage where not even light can enter, Felix was imprisoned in a small house in a rural village.

 

[T/N: and he’s the president of Royal Art Association, unbelievable.]

 

* * *

 

After that,

 

Felix couldn’t get a single step out of the house.

 

Rough guards appeared out of nowhere, were strictly wary of the surroundings, while watching Felix.

 

One day, two days, three days, a week…….

 

A month went by like a long slumber.

 

In the meantime, Felix was stuck in the prison with guards.

 

He couldn’t even take a light walk, let alone go outside.

 

Even prisoners in solitary confinement would not be banned from outside like this.

 

“Well, when will I be able to go out…….?”

 

Felix couldn’t stand it, summoned up the courage to ask,

 

“…….”

 

As if they were looking at an inanimate object, they just looked down at Felix with indifferent eyes.

 

No answer was given.

 

“Well, the…….”

 

Felix was trying to talk more, faltering back.

 

It was frustrating as if talking to the wall.

 

One guard pointed to the door with a lazy blink.

 

“Go inside.”

 

“Yes……”

 

The moment Felix drooped his shoulders, was about to turn around.

 

Bang!

 

Something broke loudly outside.

 

“What is it?!”

 

Felix, startled, opened his eyes wide.

 

At the same time, the guards raised their voices.

 

“What are you doing? Get inside right away!”

 

Bang!

 

Someone kicked hard at the door.

 

The door flew open, and beyond it, people rushed in like water.

 

They were all security officers in uniform.

 

“Tsk, the security guards?”

 

“Why are the security guards here?”

 

The jail guards glared at the security officers, all tense.

 

One of the officers stepped forward with a leisurely walk.

 

“I got a report that the child was being illegally detained, so I came out for investigation.”

 

The security officer’s eyes reached Felix while he was standing blankly.

 

“I don’t think it’s a false report.”

 

By the time the words were spoken, someone threw a punch.

 

“Argh!”

 

Kudang! (Sound effects)

 

A guard was smashed in the wall, crumpling.

 

After that, a war broke out.

 

With screams and groans echoing, and the sound of a cheerful strike filling the surroundings.

 

Felix shivered, locked himself in a corner.

 

No one could watch Felix’s safety because the fight between the security forces and the guards was so fierce.

 

Felix looked at the open door with trembling eyes.

 

‘I have to get out.’

 

He had been stuck in this house for far too long.

 

If it was not now, the opportunity to go outside would never come again.

 

Felix tried to squeeze out all the strength he had and raise his shivering body.

 

“Where are you going to bounce off, you punk?!”

 

One of the guards managed to notice Felix moving and raised his voice.

 

Felix suddenly froze on the spot.

 

“I can’t stay here!”

 

A voice like a whip smashed in the ear.

 

Felix cringed his neck like a turtle.

 

“Hey, come here!”

 

Someone called Felix urgently.

 

“What?”

 

Surprised, Felix raised his head.

 

A beautiful woman suddenly pushed herself through the crack of the door and ran his way as if it were natural.

 

No matter how many officers were blocking the guards, it might still be dangerous.

 

He didn’t see any hesitation from the woman.

 

In addition,

 

‘Isn’t that… Countess of Brierton?’

 

Dark brown hair flowing gently over the shoulders, gently shining dark green eyes.

 

And the appearance was as elegant as a deer.

 

‘Isn’t she the same as I’ve seen in the newspaper many times?’

 

The lady grabbed Felix’s hand and slipped through the mess.

 

“It’s dangerous here, let’s get out of here!”

 

“What?”

 

Felix was dragged out with his hand held by the lady.

 

Then,

 

“Ah!”

 

The first thing that came into his view was the dazzling sunlight.

 

‘I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve been inside.’

 

The fresh air filled his lungs.

 

Along with him, the lady was running with Felix.

 

Then she asked kindly.

 

“Are you all right?”

 

“Uh……”

 

It was a voice as warm as a feather quilt, far from the brutal noises around it.

 

Worried look and gaze, only concerned about Felix’s safety.

 

In addition, the warmth that spread from the hand held his.

 

It was the first time when Felix took risks and came to such a dangerous place that something wonderful happened.

 

“That, that.”

 

Felix reflexively tried to say sorry.

 

He was so ashamed and sorry for the lady to be in the middle of that fight because of him.

 

But Felix was speechless when the lady said the next thing.

 

“You were very scared, weren’t you? But you endured it well.”

 

Felix swallowed his breath.

 

So far, Felix had only had adults around him who would bully him or get angry.

 

For there was not a single one so comforting to him.

 

But then.

 

The security officers surrounding the mansion freaked out this way.

 

“Countess of Brierton, how can you come in when there’s a fight? I’ve already told you several times to stay outside because it’s dangerous!”

 

The lady replied with a wary expression, as if she had lost it.

 

“If a fight breaks out like that, the child might get caught up and hurt. The security forces have to surround the outside, so we can’t rescue the child immediately…….”

 

She blurred the end of her words, then immediately handed over an apology.

 

“I couldn’t pretend not to know the child was there. I’m sorry.”

 

“No, that’s true.”

 

The security officers agreed.

 

And Felix.

 

“…….”

 

He was struggling to hold back the tears that sprung from the depths of his eyes.

 

But, overshadowing the effort, Felix suppressed his emotions.

 

“……Ugh.”

 

“What?”

 

The lady looked down at Felix with a quizzical expression.

 

At the same time that her dark green eyes were round, Felix raised his voice in fear.

 

“I’m sorry!”

 

“What are you sorry about?”

 

The lady squatted down and looked into Felix’s eyes, regardless of the drag of her dress to the floor.

 

“You were scared. If I were in the same position as you, I would have cried.”

 

“Well, still.”

 

‘Can I really cry?’

 

Felix secretly looked at the lady’s face with tearful eyes.

 

The adults Felix had experienced so far had explicitly expressed their annoyance at the mere sign of Felix crying.

 

In fact, being lazy was a mild response.

 

It was natural not only to yell at him when he wasn’t even wrong, but also to raise their hand…….

 

“So you can cry as much as you want.”

 

The lady patted Felix on the back with a pitiful expression.

 

“It’s okay, there won’t be anything scary in the future…”

 

The way she patted on his back was so sweet.

 

Watching the scary guards being dragged out by the security officers just in time, he suddenly felt that he didn’t have to be scared anymore.

 

In a flood of relief, Felix burst into tears.

 

* * *

 

The exact details of the incident were roughly like this.

 

After Ines announced that she would build a school.

 

The Royal Art Association felt a great threat to the school Ines was trying to build.

 

No wonder, Ines’ intention to build a school was to give educational opportunities regardless of gender or status.

 

“Even now, Countess Brierton’s popularity is sky-high, saying that she has raised Lancaster’s honor thanks to the exchange exhibition and individual exhibition abroad…….”

 

‘What if Countess Brierton setting up a school would make the graduates of that school her own division?’

 

In addition, public opinion about the Royal Art Association was at its worst day by day.

 

Marquis Usher, president of the Royal Art Association, felt a strong sense of crisis over the preservation of his place.

 

So it was Charlotte that Marquis Usher found.

 

Charlotte was in a state of revenge and frustration.

 

She went around trying to get revenge on Ines and Ryan somehow but she was sent away by everyone.

 

To Marquis Usher such pitiful Charlotte seemed a pretty good tool.

 

To use her to bring down the Countess of Brierton.