Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Caught Red-Handed
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However, fortunately, nothing as disastrous as falling flat on my back and cracking my skull open happened.
Dad had spun around with reaction speed so blindingly fast that my eyes couldn't even track it, reaching out to grab me successfully.
I'd nearly taken a nasty tumble, so I clung to his hand with both of mine, startled out of my wits.
Even so, my heart was still pounding like a drum.
"You okay? Anywhere hurt?"
Dad peered down at me, his face even more shocked than mine had been.
At the same time, his gaze quickly swept from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.
Fortunately, I didn't have a single scratch. Even the ankle I'd slipped on felt perfectly fine now.
"The floor must've been slippery from all the rain."
Dad confirmed I was unharmed several times over, relief washing over him.
Watching someone even more rattled than I was about my near-miss gradually calmed my racing heart.
It didn't bother me at all that he kept checking on me repeatedly.
Though it felt so unfamiliar to have someone fussing over me like this that my mouth stayed stubbornly shut.
"I'd love to just scoop you up and carry you to your room, but..."
But that still felt a bit awkward.
As I awkwardly mumbled without giving a proper reply, Dad gave a wry smile.
Then he tried to gently release the hand I was holding onto.
Dad was an incredibly strong man, and I was just a tiny little baby.
Even so, he was making every effort to respect my feelings first and foremost.
'He could've just picked me up without anyone batting an eye.'
It made me grateful, but also strangely uncomfortable.
Above all, I didn't want to hurt Dad's feelings.
I quickly grabbed the fingers he was trying to pull away.
"Holding hands... should be okay..."
It was so embarrassing I could barely lift my head.
I stared down at the wet marble floor, wiggling my toes, when laughter suddenly burst out from above me.
Dad laughed for a good while before tightening his grip on my hand again.
"This way, you won't slip and fall."
Dad's hand was huge and firm.
I'd thought someone who wielded ice like blades would have cold hands, but they were slightly warm—almost hot.
Clutching that warm hand, I lowered my voice.
"One favow pwease."
"A favor?"
"Yes."
Dad leaned down toward me a little.
I leaned in close to his ear and whispered my request.
Hand in hand with Dad, I'd returned to my room, changed into fresh, fluffy clothes, and now cracked open the door to the hallway again.
As expected, enough time had passed that Dad was long gone.
Good thing I hadn't actually gotten hurt in that fall.
If I'd ended up going to the infirmary with Dad, I never would've been able to carry out my plan.
Hugging Kiki, the rabbit doll that had been neatly tucked into bed, I slipped into the hallway and crept toward the infirmary, avoiding prying eyes.
Muffled voices leaked from behind the door, too indistinct to make out—so it seemed Knight Stipe was still there with the resident physician from the estate.
"Knock knock. Open da door pwease."
"Wh-who is it?"
"Mariella!"
Something inside got hastily shoved aside, and the physician flung open the door in a panic.
'This physician was sent from the main family too.'
I eyed him for a moment—he was visibly flustered—before poking my head into the infirmary.
Sure enough, Knight Stipe was still inside.
Seated in a chair, he raised an eyebrow at the sight of me entering.
"What brings you here, miss? If you need anything, you could've just had the physician summoned to your room."
I was ready for that question.
I held out Kiki—the rabbit doll that was extra grubby today because the rain had thrown off the laundry schedule—toward the two men.
"Lotsa rain today. Cold. Kiki hurts. Fix pwease."
The physician's face visibly relaxed at my three-year-old babble.
The infirmary looked ordinary enough.
Vials of potions and jars of powdered medicine lined the shelves, giving it a cluttered feel overall, but nothing wildly different from a typical sickbay.
Which made one thing in the corner—rolled up tightly—stand out all the more.
Why the heck is that here?
"Miss, I'm actually a doctor for people, not dolls. Fixing toys is a bit..."
"It's for the twampoline, right?"
Why would they bring monster membrane used for trampolines here, rolled up like that?
Our house storeroom wasn't exactly short on space.
And even if it was, why stash kids' toys in the infirmary? It wasn't like this was a servant or maid's room.
The moment I showed interest and started toddling toward the membrane, Knight Stipe shot out his hand and snatched Kiki from my arms like a thief.
'What the...?'
I stared at him in disbelief, and he shook Kiki at the physician.
"Kiki is mine."
"Doctor, come on, just treat it if you can. The young miss came all the way here herself."
Ignoring my words, Knight Stipe shook the doll once more, and the physician hurriedly grabbed his stethoscope from the desk, jamming it into his ears.
Then he pressed the end not to Kiki's "heart," but randomly against its ear.
I had no idea what had him so distracted, but he definitely looked out of it.
Knight Stipe stood there, arms crossed, staring us both down intently.
His gaze carried a subtle pressure, and with it, sweat beaded more heavily on the physician's forehead.
"This rabbit has a serious illness, miss!"
Hadn't he just said moments ago he wasn't a doll doctor and it was tricky?
These two were acting extra suspicious today.
I narrowed my eyes at the physician fumbling through his lame excuse.
"If it doesn't go straight to bed and sleep right now, the rabbit will die. Yes, probably."
The physician, clearly desperate to shoo me out, kept wiping sweat from his brow as he eyed me.
But what's that smell?
I hadn't noticed at first, but lingering in the infirmary was a faint, unpleasant odor.
Heavy and sour, like the stench of rotting food...
It's monster poison.
No mistaking it. It matched exactly the smell I'd encountered just hours ago, in the very recent past.
Even the nausea roiling in my gut and the dimming of my vision felt identical.
The stench emanated from the bundled monster membrane.
It was so foul, you had to wonder if the membrane itself was rotting.
Yet the physician and Knight Stipe sat there calmly, not so much as cracking a window.
Knight Stipe doesn't know I've been exposed to monster poison before.
I was just a tiny kid, surrounded by burly northern knights.
Time to play the part.
I thumped my chest a couple times like it was stuffy, then pouted my lips.
"Dat's why it hurts here."
"Yes, it's just shock. Take Kiki back to your room and sleep it off—you'll be fine. So please head back."
"But Kiki... it's a gift for my fwiend. Can't give if it's a wittle sick..."
"A friend?"
That last question came from Knight Stipe.
While the physician scrambled to eject me, he'd looked bored, but now he leaned forward with interest.
"Who’s the fwiend?"
"Secwet. Same wed eyes as Kiki. So I give Kiki. Gotta say bye-bye."
Recalling the prince's transparent ruby-like eyes, I spoke, and Knight Stipe's eyebrow twitched.
"Bye-bye? Is your friend going far away somewhere?"
"Yeah. Daddy talking to other uncle. Fwiend go vewy far. Hide secwet. Secwet pwace."
"Where did they say they'd hide him? You're a smart girl—you must remember."
The knight's name Dad had mentioned to Walter...
"Petty? Pepper?"
"Sir Peter... is that who you mean?"
"Yes! To Sir Petew's house."
The trusted knights assigned to prisoner escort were Peter and Gilla.
Peter was the one who'd stayed behind because his injury hadn't fully healed.
I gazed up at Knight Stipe's darkening face and inwardly cheered.
'Gotcha.'
He bit his lip anxiously before abruptly jumping to his feet.