We had to put the Marquis off guard.
That chance wouldn’t come quickly. Both I and, perhaps, Zachary who was listening to me now, knew this.
But still—if he lowered his head and endured long enough, one day a chance would surely come. Just as I’d found an opportunity to secretly come meet him now.
“When that chance comes, I’ll let you out.”
And then, you can leave.
I wanted him to leave this place without being too broken.
I prayed he would return safely to the Empire and not become, like in the original story, someone who slaughtered mercilessly without shedding a single tear.
Because Zachary’s eyes were still too clear, too upright, for that.
“I really have to go now.”
The fourth door closed.
The Marquis was right at hand.
I released his shoulder, checked quickly that I had left no traces, then headed for the secret passage. It led toward the bathhouse, but since I couldn’t climb to the ceiling with Zachary watching me suspiciously, I had no choice.
I hurried to knock on the snake’s passage door, ready to slip away, when—
“What… is your name…?”
Small, but clear.
It might have been the loudest sound he had uttered today, so it rang all the more vividly. Startled, I didn’t answer right away and turned back—yet Zachary wasn’t looking at me.
He’s trembling.
Could he not know? The sound of the doors opening.
Of all things, it was the sound he had heard most often for the past five days. He couldn’t possibly not know what awaited him once it stopped.
The weak would have soiled themselves just at that sound; others might have fainted. It was that terrifying—and the more ingrained the fear, the more overwhelming it became.
“P-please tell me your name.”
His voice shook, as if he had no way to withstand this terror, his whole body trembling. Yet he asked it firmly. The sight was so pitiful, yet so strong, it stirred me strangely. But I had no time for sentiment.
“Oscar.”
Oscar Serpentine.
Even in that moment I was disgusted at my selfishness. Wanting him to feel a little less hostile toward me, I gave him only my name, dropping the Serpentine surname he already knew too well. Wasn’t that selfish?
“We’ll greet each other properly next time. Oh, and…”
“……”
“I’m a man.”
I had no time to hear his reply. No time to check his face again.
The fifth door opened as I finished the sixth knock, and I shoved myself into the passage at once.
***
Ah. The world was blazing yellow.
Just lifting my body felt like the morning after drinking myself to death.
How many days had I spent like this?
The first few days I could barely remain conscious, dazed and helpless under the drugs.
My head spun endlessly. I ate nothing, only gagged and collapsed again and again, leaving me with no real memories.
At some point I lost track of days entirely. By the tenth day I had given up counting.
“Why has his condition worsened so much in just a few days? Have you still found no cause?”
“Marchioness, we are doing our utmost, but…”
At least today my mind was clearer. I could hear voices.
Every other time I woke, my mind was fogged, my throat only retching, spitting up the thin gruel they forced between my lips. In such a state, I couldn’t possibly have heard voices.
Through the haze came one furious voice, and another cowering one. They must have summoned the physician again.
Ah… Mother sounded furious. Her voice rang through the room, seething with anger. I tried to open my eyes, to rise and calm her, but it was useless.
“Cough, cough!”
“Oh, my child! You’re awake!”
The moment I opened my eyes, a storm of coughing wracked my chest.
Mother, pale as a sheet, rushed to me, touching my cheek and gasping that I was burning hot. Through the blur I saw the Marquis standing beside her. If even he had come, then I truly must have been gravely ill.
“Do you know how terrified I was, hearing you’d collapsed in the hall? And you, already unwell, what business had you going to bathe, ignoring the servants?!”
That was right. I had gone straight to the bathhouse after leaving Zachary. In haste I had washed my bloodied clothes in the bath water, hidden the blueprints in the passage, and drenched myself in heavy perfumes. It must have worked—Mother and the Marquis looked worried, but not suspicious.
The problem was my body.
Until I came out of the bathhouse, it had been perfect. The corridor was empty of servants, and I had only to slip into my room as though nothing had happened.
But somehow, on the way back, my eyelids had grown impossibly heavy. They fell shut, and I collapsed.
It was so absurd it seemed like some hidden illness. But I accepted it. This wretched body of mine, untrained and frail, dared sneak out to meet Zachary—of course there would be a price.
“Why did you go there?”
“I’m sorry. I started sweating a lot. I didn’t want to trouble anyone, so I thought to wash quickly on my own…”
“What? Eiles Serpentine!”
I flinched. Mother raised her voice, shouting the Marquis’s name—surname included—then whipped her head toward him.
“I’ve told you time and again. Our child needs a proper servant!”
The Marquis stiffened at her furious glare. He averted his eyes, troubled, staring at the floor.
“But the Retributors already have duties, I can’t spare them for Oscar. And anyone I haven’t trained myself… if House secrets leaked—”
“Before that, my child will die. No. He needs convalescence, for years if necessary!”
“Adele!”
If the Marquis hadn’t cut her off, I might have cried out to her myself.
Convalescence? That sounded wonderful. Leisure was tempting, but the timing was terrible. If I left with Mother now, Zachary would be left here alone. Who knew what might happen to him?
The Marquis hesitated long, lips pressed shut, then finally spoke.
“As you know, the sorcery we employ must never leave this house. All hired servants must be trained—and trained ones can never touch our bodies…”
“Enough with your ‘education, education, education!’ I don’t want lowborn criminals, I want a servant of decent blood, unstained by crime! One who may attend my son directly without worry. How many times must I say it before you listen?!”
Mother had been asking him for this steadily. She herself had one personal maid from childhood, but I had no such attendant.
The servants of this house were wretched in origin.
Most were criminals, dangerous enough that they were trained never to touch their masters. Which meant no one could ever serve me directly.
“But…”
“No buts!”
Until now Mother had tolerated it, but this time she seemed determined. She believed I had been struck down with fever because, lacking a personal attendant, I had lain untended in the hall.
“Haa…”
The Marquis seemed to agree, unable to rebuke her further. He sighed heavily, brow furrowed in thought. After all, I had collapsed often since childhood in unattended places, or worsened suddenly in the dead of night.
Servants trained like machines, obeying only input commands, could never sense such subtle changes. So I had been neglected, collapsing in silence again and again.
“Choose well. Without blemish.”
Mother demanded firmly. The Marquis glanced at her, then turned to me with an awkward smile, as though to dodge her fury.
“Are you feeling better? Forgive me.”
“I’m fine.”
This time, my illness hadn’t been from lacking a servant. It was because my trip to see Zachary had been grueling and tense, leaving me with fever.
I did feel sorry the Marquis had drawn Mother’s ire on my account… but in another way, I didn’t.
Because who was to blame for all this suffering?
If the Marquis had simply refused to take in the imperial prince, the royal family would have found another way. Perhaps even offered terms to the Empire and sent the prince back. Then Zachary would not be suffering like this, nor later fall into darkness.
Is he holding out well now?
Honestly, I had little faith he’d follow my last advice. I hoped he would, but Zachary was too proud, too stubborn, to feign submission.
At least may he be in less pain.
I wanted to bring him more medicine, to check on him, but I was bedridden myself. I could only recall his wretched state and stare blankly at the air. That was when the Marquis asked me gently—
“Do you have any conditions in mind? It’s not the best time to bring in someone new, but I’ll try to match your wishes.”
“Conditions?”
“For the servant who will attend you.”