Chapter 2: The Villainess Contract

Though she kept turning the question over in her mind like a broken record, she couldn’t find an answer. To her, who had come here dreaming of a happy family, it was just an incomprehensible string of words.

“Person who’ll die… person who’ll die… pure virgin… soon to die…”

Just muttering these words made her heart pound. Her head buzzed as if warning lights were flashing.

After mumbling the same words for a while, Lyra slowly covered her gaping mouth. Her face turned ashen as fragments of memories suddenly came together.

“Why would they give you a letter of introduction? Just wait a bit longer. The Head Maid said that soon, a large sum of money…”

“Are you eating properly? Then why aren’t you gaining any weight?”

“You fool! Do you really think you could become a noble lady of the Count’s family?”

‘They knew! They all…!’

Why had she been such a fool not to realize it until now?

Her held breath burst forth as her eyelashes trembled. She blinked hard to suppress her surging emotions.

“I have to… escape.”

Otherwise, truly…

‘I’ll die.’

After all, someone like her probably never had any hope to begin with.

She decided to listen to her inner warning bell. And so, she resolved to rebel against her parents for the first and last time.

Lyra quietly moved. She opened the door and walked down the corridor, pretending nothing was wrong, pretending she knew nothing. Occasionally, maids would ask where she was going, but she simply used taking a walk as an excuse.

She kept walking. Even when small footsteps began following her, she maintained her gaze steadfastly forward.

‘Where should I go?’

Her thoughts didn’t stop even as she descended the curved staircase. She hadn’t expected to draw so much attention to herself.

It was when she had just stepped off the last stair, considerably flustered, that Madam Jansen approached with measured steps and spoke with an icy expression.

“Dinner is ready. I’ll escort you to the dining hall.”

Under that cold gaze, Lyra instinctively stepped backward, only to bump into someone who had been standing close behind her.

“This way, please.”

Madam Jansen glanced at her and turned around. However, when she didn’t hear following footsteps after walking a few steps, she immediately signaled to the maids.

Polite yet forceful hands pushed against her back. Lyra took one step forward, then another, before suddenly spinning around and breaking into a run toward the entrance.

She didn’t look back, even as someone’s hand grazed her shoulder, even as harsh and vicious shouts echoed from all directions.

Once outside, lights illuminated her path from all around the garden. Whether they had anticipated such a situation or if it was simply for receiving guests was unclear, but it was certainly an unfortunate circumstance.

The yellow lights created long waves that matched her ragged breathing, as if declaring they could find her wherever she might hide.

“Over there! Catch her!”

Burly men chased after her. Lyra dove into the deeply shadowed areas.

Though her future dreams, happy imaginings, and everything else were now gone, she ran and ran, driven by the sole desire to live.

She was suffocating. Cold air rushed endlessly into her nose, but an even greater heat escaped from her mouth.

The forest was darker than she’d imagined. She tripped over tree roots countless times and crashed into thick tree trunks.

Lyra’s body was soon in tatters. One of her shoes had come off somewhere, leaving her walking at an uneven height.

Huff, gasp! Shallow breaths poured out. A pain like her lungs were being torn apart suddenly struck. Yet she couldn’t stop. If she stopped here, her first act of rebellion, which she had finally found the courage to attempt, would lose all meaning.

‘No!’

She hated that thought more than anything. Even if her life was at rock bottom, she didn’t want to let go of it so easily.

“Damn it! Where did she go? You lot, go that way!”

Men with torches were closing in. The closer the lights came, the more her fear multiplied.

‘This won’t do. Gasp. First, wheeze, I need to hide.’

But she couldn’t see anything useful. The darkness made it difficult to find any hiding place.

Just as her searching eyes trembled pitifully, a hand suddenly reached out from the undergrowth, rustling the bushes, and pulled her in forcefully.

Before Lyra could even scream, she found herself trapped in a firm embrace.

* * *

“Mmph!”

She continued to struggle as he covered her nose and mouth. Kaylon tightened his arm around the woman and whispered in her ear.

“Shh! Do you want to get caught?”

Though he had grabbed her because she was running away, he wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do. After all, there was no reason to risk himself for what appeared to be just an ordinary woman.

‘Even looking at her again…’

Isn’t she too insignificant?

He frowned as he looked down at her round crown of head, trembling with fear.

His gaze was intent on finding something special about her, but he couldn’t discover anything remarkable.

‘I don’t understand what the Count is thinking.’

Just as a hint of regret crept into his sharp golden eyes, a yellow torch passed over their heads.

“Search everywhere. There’s a cliff nearby, so she can’t have gone far.”

The men’s movements became more hurried at someone’s command.

“Damn it. What is this, Cinderella? Why is a piece of shoe all we can find?”

That quick-to-curse personality. Though the joke was inappropriate for the situation, what caught his attention more was the all-too-familiar voice.

Jonad Lakan.

‘He never disappoints.’

So the Count’s dog is Ghost. Thanks for the confirmation, though nothing could be more ridiculous. He smirked, thinking he’d need to revise his plans.

That’s when he noticed it. His impassive gaze returned to the woman as the trembling in his arms seemed to intensify.

‘This is troublesome.’

Judging by her irregular shaking, she might die of respiratory distress if left like this.

After a moment’s consideration, he slowly removed his hand from her face. Immediately, shallow breaths escaped between his fingers.

Fortunately, the woman didn’t make a sound. At least she seemed to understand the situation properly.

Keeping his ears alert to what was happening behind them, he quietly observed the frozen woman. Though she had calmed somewhat, her slight trembling and pounding heart transmitted directly through his tight embrace.

Suddenly, he was curious about her expression. He felt an urge to turn her face and look into her eyes. It was strange.

Why? Unbidden thoughts spread through his mind of their own accord. It wasn’t just because of her hair tickling his face. Perhaps her unexpectedly composed attitude had piqued his curiosity.

Curiosity could be solved simply by investigating. His head naturally tilted to the side. His movements were careful yet decisive.

Just as he raised one arm to grasp her chin, a subtle scent of flesh suddenly invaded his senses.

For a moment, he had the illusion that the woman’s scent was stronger and more intense than the green fragrance permeating the forest.

‘Ah…’

What was he trying to do? His hand, frozen in mid-air, felt foreign to him. He watched her profile for a while before raising his head.

His golden eyes, having quickly severed their interest, now reflected only emotionless shadows.

How much time had passed? Men’s voices could be heard again from a distance.

“She’s not here. Could she have fallen off the cliff?”

“No way. We would have heard a scream then.”

“That’s true.”

“Damn. Could it be here?”

“Seems like it, but what should we do?”

“Let’s move on. You’ll keep searching this area.”

Some of the group left first. Shortly after, those who had stayed behind to search also moved elsewhere.

Only then did Kaylon release a long-held breath and rest his chin on Lyra’s shoulder.

“They’re gone.”

Unlike him finding relief, the woman didn’t move. It was as if her world alone had become isolated, like a pendulum frozen in its swing.

Kaylon turned his head sideways on her slender shoulder. Then he fixed his gaze on her small face, still hiccuping as she tried to stay quiet.

“Hey?”

Perhaps because of his deep, heavy tone, her frightened gaze slowly turned toward him. Beneath her trembling eyelashes, thin tears rolled down.

Kaylon unconsciously scrunched his face. He absolutely detested women crying. It was natural, given how sick he was of seeing it.

After watching quietly for a moment, he let out a soft breath and stood up.

“Shall we go?”

But she didn’t move, making his outstretched hand awkward.

“What are you waiting for?”

Only then did she respond with a small “Ah,” as if coming back to her senses. Then, completely ignoring his offered hand, she scrambled to her feet by herself.

At that moment, her precariously attached wig caught on a tree branch and came off. She quickly covered her exposed head with her hands, her face reddening. As if she had revealed something shameful.

Kaylon swept an indifferent gaze over her before retrieving the wig from the branch. Then, hoping the pursuers would misinterpret it, he tossed it near the cliff.

Just as he was about to turn around, a sudden small, fragile voice spoke up.

“Th-thank you for helping…”

“Never mind that. Let’s get out of here quickly.”

He grabbed the wrist still pressed to her crown and strode forward, causing her face to flood with confusion.

“Um… excuse me…”

“We’re going to an inn for now. We can’t spend the night in the forest.”

Even knowing her voice was trembling with anxiety, he didn’t stop walking.

“An… inn?”

“Yes. I have some acquaintances there.”

Suddenly, there was tension from behind, and the woman stopped abruptly. As if she had misunderstood his reassuring intention, she even showed a distrustful look.

“I-I-I… I…”

“Weren’t you running away? I’m saying I’ll help you.”

At his slightly irritated voice, tears began falling again from her reddened eyes.

Ah, what had he done to deserve this?

The sound of her sniffling and swallowing tears kept sticking to his eardrums, becoming quite bothersome.

‘This is maddening.’

He felt unreasonably wronged. It would be less frustrating if he’d at least kissed her. But since he also had no interest in crying women, his irritation only grew.

He let out a small laugh watching her slender fingers slowly trying to pull away from his grip.

“I’m not that bad of a person, you know.”

Releasing the wrist he had been holding, Kaylon quietly added:

“I promise. I won’t lay a finger on you.”