Chapter 9

"I've never been so serious in my life that I gave him a crushing blow that he'll remember for the rest of his life!"

"You've really gone crazy! If he's the man I'm talking about, it's definitely Duke Aiden De Velgemegeur!"

"Duke Aiden blah blah, whoever it is I don't care. The most important thing now is, when can I go inside? I'm getting cold in here!"

"I'll try to check the conditions inside, wait here a moment!" He said as he stepped into the house and left me here alone.

My body was shivering, like I was going to catch a fever. I've been wearing these wet clothes since last afternoon and I also missed dinner.

"Cold, hungry-"

"Ella, it looks like things are safe enough. You can enter from the back door!"

"Are you sure? The witch and her chatty daughters aren't wandering around the house?"

"They've gone into their respective rooms! But to be safe, you should just go through the back door!"

"Whatever is important is that I can immediately change my clothes and drink hot tea!"

Emily asked me to come in from the back door, I felt so miserable today that my mind kept wondering when this would all end.

All the lights were turned off and I had to sneak into this house like a thief. I hope it doesn't get any worse because my body is really cold.

"The door is locked, oh what is this? How do I get in if the door is locked? What about Emily? She told me to go through the back door but she didn't unlock the door. Tch, what can I do!" I muttered as I pried the door with a small wire to open the kitchen door. When I managed to do this, I opened the door slowly and stepped in carefully so as not to be seen by anyone.

I'm confused, why do I have to do all this? Am I not the daughter of this family?" I thought.

"Who's there?"

My steps stopped when I realized someone might still be hanging around in this house. A woman's voice, I'm sure she's one of the servants in this house.

I was forced to freeze in the dark and try not to make the slightest movement. But when I saw the light from the candle, I realized that I would soon have new problems if I didn't hide immediately.

"Damn, how is this? What should I do now?" I thought. I swallowed hard, like a strange sense of déjà vu having been in this situation before.

Someone approached and the light from the candle he was holding made the room brighter. I used all the opportunities I could to hide behind the pillars.

"Is anyone here?" asked the woman. I'm sure he won't leave soon before he finds the answers he wants.

"Meow-" I unconsciously responded to his question by imitating the sound of a cat.

"Cat? I think thief!"

It seemed like she was a very innocent woman that she could just believe a cheap trick like this. He left with the candlelight illuminating the room and I felt very relieved because it seemed like I had gotten through this without being noticed.

I don't want to think about what will happen to tomorrow as long as tonight I can sleep soundly in that very soft and comfortable bed.

I walked silently towards my room on the second floor and when I made it into my room, I immediately closed the door and locked it.

"I did it!" I mumbled in pleasure at making it through this tension safely. But now my stomach is very hungry and I haven't eaten anything since this afternoon.

"I'm hungry, is there no food in this room?" I tried to find spices for the cake that I brought to this room to eat while lying down. But there's nothing. This room has been cleaned and that means I have to endure hunger until tomorrow morning.

"Damn, how is this? I'm so hungry! I can't wait until tomorrow!" I cursed in annoyance while holding my rumbling stomach. The feeling of hunger made me forget the cold feeling that I previously felt.

Knock...knock...knock...

Someone knocked on the door, I immediately fell silent and even held my breath. I'm sure no one knows I've come home besides Emily and when I sneaked into this room, no one saw me.

"G-it's serious-"

Knock...knock...knock...

The door was knocked once again but with a very soft and slow knocking sound. That made me suspicious, could it be that Emily knocked on the door to make sure I had actually entered the room?

I walked slowly towards the bedroom door and tried to peek through a small hole in the middle of the door. I saw a woman standing and when I tried to confirm, Emily's worried face was clearly visible.

"Emily?"

I opened the door slowly after being sure that standing in front of my bedroom door was Emily, the only person on my side at the moment.

"Ssssttt..." Emily asked me not to say anything and immediately barged in with a tray in her hand.

"What are you doing?"

"I brought you dinner!" He said while handing over a tray containing a bowl of cream soup, two slices of bread and a glass of water.

"Really? Oh thank goodness!" I accept it with pleasure. I really need food now.

I devoured the bread and cream soup greedily, while Emily could only stare at me with a surprised face.

"You're very hungry, aren't you?"

"I'm so hungry and so cold. It's been a very hard day!" I said with a mouth full of food.

"Don't talk while eating, Ella! Never mind, just eat first. You can tell me more clearly later!"

"Okay, boss!" I devoured the food with joy. I don't know what Emily thinks of me right now, I'm obviously very hungry.

"Ella, eat slowly! No one will ask for your food!"

"You should have brought more bread, what's with these two slices of bread? Do you think I'll be satisfied with just two slices of bread?" I started to protest because I felt like the food Emily had brought wasn't enough to fill me up.

"Sorry, Ella! I didn't know you were this hungry."

***