Back to the Nightmare
Lefonya whipped her head around in a frantic search for Havelian. She reached out a small hand as if pleading for help, but Havelian only kept his gaze cast down, watching her in silence.
Ah.
You ordered this.
Lefonya's eyes wavered, losing all direction. The tiny arm she had stretched toward him lost its strength and dropped limply to her side.
Seeing her reaction, Havelian spoke in a hurried rush.
“Don't worry. It's a good orphanage. I visited several places and checked them myself. The environment was pleasant, and the director seemed decent. I donated all the money I had to the orphanage, so you will never freeze or go hungry.”
An orphan... what?
“You are merely returning to the place you belonged all along.”
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
Why is that where I belong? The place I belonged was that house that burned to the ground!
Lefonya tried desperately to shout, but with her mouth and nose muffled by a heavy hand, stifled groans were all that escaped.
“Whenever I look at you, I keep... I keep smiling.” Havelian furrowed his brow, still averting his eyes from hers. “And I am not supposed to do that.”
“Mmph! Mmmph!!”
That's your own problem! If you want to throw me away, just tell me to get lost! Why dump me in an orphanage of all places?!
She refused that fate more than anything in the world, thrashing with every ounce of strength in her tiny body. Yet a five-year-old child lacked the power to shake off grown retainers.
“I will come visit you,” Havelian insisted softly.
“Mmph!!”
“Whatever you need, I will provide it all. So that you can live comfortably, I—”
“Aargh!”
In that instant, Lefonya bit down with all her might on the hand covering her mouth. Slipping free from the retainer's grasp, she lunged forward and clung to Havelian's leg with everything she had.
Even if she tried to run, Havelian was an Aura Master even greater than Pelens. There was no way she could escape. If so, then—
“No orphan—not an orphanage!” Lefonya cried out frantically.
When their eyes met—after he had fought so desperately to look away—Havelian's face contorted with guilt.
“Throw me away, it's fine! Just... just throw me out! Not an orphanage, please, not an orphanage! I hate it!”
She didn't care if she was simply cast onto the street. But an orphanage was the one place she could never endure.
“Anywhere far away instead of an orphanage... Ah!”
“My Lady. It is time to go.”
As she pleaded, retainers stepped forward from behind and hoisted her small frame into the air.
The retainers without children.
The retainers who had sent their own children to serve as her attendants were conspicuously absent. That meant only a select few were involved in this.
Lefonya gripped Havelian's hem with all the strength in her little fingers, refusing to let go.
Havelian's eyes trembled. From their very first encounter until yesterday, he had worn nothing but an impassive mask whenever their paths crossed. Now, confusion and guilt bled across his face like spilled ink.
“Teacher! Teach-er!”
In her panic, her pronunciation slurred, but she couldn't afford to care.
The retainers seized her tiny hands and pried them off Havelian's clothes with a sharp pull. Havelian instinctively reached out. But instead of catching Lefonya, he clenched his fist tightly and turned his head away.
“Just not an orphanage, please!”
Did I ask you not to abandon me? Kick me out of the mansion if you want, just don't throw me into an orphanage!
Lefonya reached her small arms toward Havelian once more.
“Teach-er!”
Behind her came the sound of a carriage door swinging open. Seeing her fierce resistance, they clearly intended to force her inside.
“…Brother!!”
Lefonya cried out at the top of her lungs.
Havelian whipped his head around in shock. His once-composed face lost all color, shattering beneath an unbearable wave of remorse. That was the last glimpse Lefonya caught before being shoved into the carriage. The door slammed shut, and a lock clicked into place from the outside.
Before she could even scramble to her feet, the carriage surged forward, speeding away from the estate.
The sudden acceleration threw her off balance before she could sit properly. Lefonya scrambled frantically to her feet. She pounded on the doors and kicked at the windows with all her might to break free, but it was completely useless. She screamed toward the driver's box to let her down, crying that she would leave the estate on her own if they just didn't send her to an orphanage, but no answer ever came.
There was nothing a five-year-old child could do.
Only after more than half a day had passed did Lefonya finally begin to calm down. She tried peeking out through the carriage windows, but they were covered completely, leaving the outside world hidden from view.
She had assumed she would be safe as long as she stayed inside the mansion. She never imagined she would be cast out like this. And at Havelian's hand, no less.
“…Why am I even shocked? It's not like we knew each other for long,” Lefonya muttered, casting her gaze downward. They had only studied together for a few days. Havelian had treated her like a complete stranger the entire time, so this shouldn't have been a surprise.
She slumped to the floor. Her lip was split and bleeding, likely cut when the retainer's ring-clad hand had clamped over her face.
I memorized your face, you jerk. Just you wait.
Lefonya clenched her fists.
I shouldn't have taken off the Return Stone.
Terrified of carrying around such an exorbitantly expensive gem, she had taken the necklace off, polishing it morning and night and keeping it safely tucked away. If only she had worn it, she wouldn't have been helpless like this—she could have teleported right back to the duke's office.
Next time, I'll never take it off.
The thought froze in her mind.
“Ha.”
A bitter laugh escaped her lips. Next time? When is next time? Why am I assuming I can ever go back to that mansion?
“Habits are so scary...” Lefonya murmured softly under her breath. “After everything that happened, after telling myself never to trust people, I fell for it again.”
She should have doubted Havelian. She should have stayed on her guard. Blaming her own complacency, Lefonya bit her lip until it stung.
When the carriage arrives, they'll open the door. I'll make a run for it then.
As long as there was no Aura Master around, she had a decent chance of slipping away. Just as she tightened her fists with renewed resolve, the speeding carriage came to an abrupt halt.
Lefonya tilted her head.
It hasn't been that long since we departed. We've arrived already?
Something felt wrong. Creeping toward the carriage door, Lefonya pressed her ear against the wood and listened intently. Faint voices filtered in from outside.
“The young master's heart might soften and lead him to search for her later, so switch carriages and take her to the place written on this paper instead of the original orphanage.”
“Where is this?”
“I don't know either.”
“Pardon?”
“If I know the location, I might not endure the interrogation if the Duke questions me later. So I jotted down several orphanages at random and drew one. I do not know where it is, so do not tell me either.”
“Ah.”
“Once you arrive at the orphanage, drop the child off and hand this money to the director. It is three hundred and fifty gold. Tell them never to release the child to anyone who comes looking for her.”
“Understood. ...What if the child dies or is gravely injured?”
“Why should I care about that? If she dies, leave her be. That would just mean her thread of life ended there.”
“Understood.”
“This is your share. I set aside three hundred gold, so it should be plenty. Once you drop off the child, take this money and lay low for a while.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Bring the child out.”
In other words, to prevent Havelian from having a change of heart and searching for her, they were dumping her at a completely different orphanage.
Lefonya creased her brow.
They might have knights stationed nearby. Trying to escape right now is too dangerous.
It would be far wiser to wait until they arrived at the orphanage to slip away.
The door rattled as someone unlocked the mechanism from outside. Curling into a corner like an exhausted, defeated five-year-old, Lefonya squeezed her eyes shut. Regulating her breathing was something she had done countless times; it came naturally. Relaxing her limbs, she let out slow, even breaths as though dead to the world.
The carriage door swung open.
“Huh? She's asleep.”
“…In a situation like this? Are you sure she isn't faking?”
“She really seems to be sleeping.”
“Go check. That kid is surprisingly tough.”
Try freezing to death and starving to death. You have no choice but to be tough.
At the command, the driver stepped closer to examine her.
“She really is asleep. She's just a child, so she must have exhausted herself crying. What should we do? Transfer her as she is?”
“Unbelievable... Hah. Just carry her over and go.”
Lefonya's body was lifted into the air. She heard the crunch of gravel underfoot as she was carried down and shifted into a different carriage. After a brief exchange of muffled words between the two men, the new carriage door slammed shut, and the horses set off once again.
Only when the presence outside receded did Lefonya open her eyes.
The carriage jolted violently, likely navigating a rugged mountain trail. She rattled the door in time with the bumps, but once again, it had been locked from the outside and wouldn't budge.
I've escaped an orphanage once before. It won't be difficult.
Rather than throwing a futile tantrum, Lefonya fixed her eyes on the window. Fortunately, this window wasn't covered, offering a clear view outside. She needed to memorize the path so she wouldn't lose her way when she broke out later. Throwing a fit now would only deplete her energy. She had to conserve every bit of strength to make her escape count.
The carriage rattled along without rest. Every so often, tiny rations of food and water were passed inside—barely enough to keep her from dying, as if they feared she might regain too much strength if fed properly.
She lost count of the passing hours. At least four days seemed to have slipped by. Lefonya gritted her teeth, enduring the gnawing thirst and creeping dizziness.
Yet something felt strange. At a certain point, the scenery outside the window began to look eerily familiar.
Why does this look familiar?
She discovered the answer the moment the carriage ground to a halt.
...No way.
The shock hit her so hard that she couldn't even pretend to be asleep when the door swung open.
“When did you wake up? Whatever, that works out. Get down.”
The man checked the name written on the slip of paper, shoved it into his pocket, and ordered her out.
Lefonya stepped down from the carriage.
The instant the familiar scenery registered in her vision, the breath caught violently in her throat. Her eyes trembled with raw panic.
“Why...”
The weeping willow drooping untended like a ghost's tangled hair, the faded fence, even the nail jutting out at the exact same spot on the wooden gate.
Everything was identical.
“How... why, of all places... here...?”
Her trembling breath spilled into the air.
“Oh? What brings you here?”
A voice spoke from behind. Lefonya's entire body shuddered—an instinctive, primal terror resurrected from the deepest recesses of her memory.
Lefonya turned her head stiffly, like a wooden doll with rusted joints.
“Are you the director here?”
“Ah, yes. I took over the orphanage after my father passed, but...”
Lefonya stopped breathing.
The hellish orphanage where her earliest memories were forged. That inferno where children were sold off like cattle, where savage beatings and verbal abuse were daily rituals.
She had been brought right back to that very hell.