Cunning Fish of the Forest - Chapter 13

Ger was frozen startled, staring at the door from which voices continued to emanate. He began to tremble. He looked utterly forlorn.

“Ger!”

While I had already ducked under the long chapel bench, I dragged Ger down with me. He seemed lost in a haze. If we were found now, neither of us would escape safely.

“Come here! Do you really want to be hung in the stables?”

“Yes, yes, yes!”

He finally came to his senses as I pinched his wrist.

Clumsily, Ger tripped over his own feet and fell down. Even as he crawled under the bench beside me, he scraped the back of his hand, a wound I couldn’t afford to tend to right then.

The men’s conversation seemed to be winding down, and I knew the chapel had two exits. A back door had been installed to allow bishops to exit quietly during services. Through that door was a resting area where we could catch our breath.

With my skirt in my mouth to keep it from snagging and my shoes in hand, I crawled forward. Being discovered now would mean a fate as bad as death.

Ger, who was following behind me, added to my anxiety. His heavy breathing as we crawled under the bench grew louder, just as I was about to chide him to breathe quieter, the chapel door opened.

“There’s nobody here.”

A deep voice filled the room, momentarily freezing my movements. I reached out and grabbed the end of the bench. Ger lay flat as if he was in the midst of a fierce battle, clutching his head.

“Where’s this Miss you mentioned?”

I leaned back against the armrest of a chair, straightening my back as a small victory for reaching our initial goal. I hoped the multitude of chairs would conceal me as the determined footsteps entered the chapel.

Only someone from the Ludig family could enter without undergoing stringent procedures. The voice was younger than my father’s but carried a serious, authoritative tone, which I couldn’t place.

Then, a voice outside the chapel called out.

“Sir Leijin, is the Miss not inside?”

“Right. Unless the Miss you mentioned is that statue over there.”

Lifting my chin, I peered over the back of the chair, my gaze climbing to meet the face of the tall figure standing before me.

“Who, who is it…?”

“Shh.”

Keeping Ger down was important as he was prone to acting out.

As soon as I heard the name Sir Leijin, clarity struck. I recalled the relationship tied to those piercing golden eyes hunting down the hidden mouse—that he was my uncle.

“My uncle.”

“Un-, uncle?”

I pressed Ger’s head down as a signal for him not to speak. He gritted his teeth submissively, no protest coming forth. It was understandable; neither of us had anticipated this daunting figure bursting into the chapel.

“Miss Araneth! Miss Araneth!”

A servant, plastered against the door, called out as if the chapel ceiling might collapse. The man referred to as Sir Leijin was none other than my father’s younger brother and my only uncle.

Formally known as Leijin Sarone Ludig. A bachelor, he had been labeled an oddity due to never dating anyone at his age. But aside from that, I found his mere presence distasteful.

Whenever he decided to end his nomadic escapades and return to the manor, a half-year’s supply of liquor would vanish. His hobby of hunting meant that whenever uncle stayed, carcasses of pregnant game were not uncommon sights.

It was defiance of father’s orders to spare pregnant animals, uncle would stack their bodies high in the central hall—rabbits, deer, foxes pregnant with new life.

“It seems she’s not here.”

“Then, perhaps she returned to the manor earlier than planned.”

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

The decorations on the scabbard tied around my uncle’s waist clinked as he moved. His disdainful gaze sent a shiver down my spine.

“Is that all?”

“Yes?”

“Shouldn’t you be running off to check if the member of your household has indeed returned to the manor, or if she has fallen somewhere, or died?”

“Yes… Yes!”

The recently blooming purple wisteria had left its unique scent on my uncle’s shoulder.

As the servant closed the door and left, my uncle did not linger; assuming no one else was watching, he walked over and knelt before a statue, beginning his prayers.

Despite his usual drunken wanderer and fortune-wasting lifestyle, he did not look the part as he prayed.