Chapter 21.1

Celina wasn’t dead anyway. She couldn’t die.

‘Writer.’

At that moment, a tidal wave of frustration enveloped me. I never wanted this. Never.

It was fun for all my characters to be autonomous in the game, but I never wanted this kind of unrealistic behavior.

‘Please be with Mikael. Please help him.’

When did things start going wrong?

‘I’m going to die as soon as I wake up in bed.’

‘I can’t stop you, but I don’t really recommend it. You’ll see me again anyway.’

The anxiety I had tried so hard to ignore gradually became a reality and repressed me. Regardless of what this world was really like, I couldn’t help but believe just one thing.

I can’t get out. Even if I go around and around, in the end, I’m here.

I gripped Elijah’s collar with uncontrollable tears as I became buried in the choking reality.

And I buried my face in his chest, not caring at all if he was embarrassed or not. I needed something to hold on to.

Why won’t they let me go? Why is this unrealistic thing even happening?

I didn’t want to show this unsightly appearance, but I couldn’t stop crying.

The sobbing noises were muffled hideously by Elijah’s chest. I don’t know if this was unfortunate or fortunate, but this man didn’t say or do anything.

Does this make sense in the first place? Why do I have to go through this? I’m so annoyed and scared.

After sobbing for a while, my throat began to hurt. The crying faded naturally. I should have just lied face down and cried alone. I looked up sluggishly, feeling belatedly ashamed.

“All three of you.”

He immediately got up. Drip, a drop of water fell from his clothes. Maybe it was my tears.

“Yes, my Lord.”

The maids answered stiffly. I stared meaninglessly at Elijah’s shiny shoes, my body curled up miserably.

“What did you just see?”

“We didn’t see anything, my Lord.”

The woman’s words trembled slightly.

“Then, how do you explain what just happened?”

“I’m sorry. Please punish us.”

“No. Not that.”

“Sorry?”

“I mean, how are you going to explain it to other people? You’ll have to answer well.”

There was a moment of silence because of that dreaded question that contained a hidden meaning. I could almost hear the maids racking their brains.

“The Young Lady…”

The middle-aged woman started speaking cautiously.

“Lost her footing and fell into the water by mistake. It was all our fault.”

“Don’t run your mouths carelessly.”

Elijah left those words behind and disappeared.

“We’ll make sure to keep that in mind.”

Without the person concerned to hear them, only the meaningless answers from the maids lingered in the space.

“Young Lady?”

One of the younger maids called, hesitant. I blinked my eyes, which were out of focus.

“… Help me up.”

The maids quickly approached me and stood me up. I staggered, entrusting my body to them.

“The Lord has suddenly ordered you to be prohibited from going out.”

After changing into indoor clothes in the dressing room located between my room and the bathroom, I returned to my room. Ian gave me a questioning look.

“What happened in ther…”

His eyes shook slightly as he touched my cheek. There was only one person who could leave such an open mark on the precious face of a noble lady.

Elijah’s slap that came occasionally. We have always kept our mouths shut about these marks.

“That… The Young Lady slipped and fell into the water.”

Noticing, the maid answered instead of me.

“I lost my footing because I didn’t have strength.”

I calmly supported the lie and went straight to bed. Elijah knew very well that I had fallen into the water on purpose. So I said that, and accepted the ban.

“And you three were just looking?”

Ian’s voice hardened.

“I told them I wanted to be alone.”

“So you were told to leave, and you just left. You left someone who was severely injured and is still recovering alone.”

“Excuse me. I used to be alone quite frequently. They’re not at fault.”

“You’re all on probation until measures are taken.”

Ian, who had his hands on his waist, didn’t even look at me. The maids lowered their heads, not knowing what to do.

“Ian, who am I talking to right now?”

“I’m sorry. You must have been very startled.”

When I said that, he approached me.

“I wasn’t.”

“Do you feel uncomfortable?”

“I don’t. I just want to sleep for a bit.”

“Then I’ll just apply this.”

Ian took an ointment out of his inner pocket and applied it to my puffy face. His hand while fixing the gauze was quick and delicate.

After he closed the bed curtains and retreated, I lay face down and sniffled quietly. It remained to be seen whether this display of emotion would further depress me or be my own driving force.

***

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