There is No Key to His Cage - Chapter 23
Surprised Elena covered her mouth as soon as he finished speaking.
Her wide-open eyes met his intense gaze.
After a moment of silence, she opened her mouth.
“Let me out.”
“……”
His dark eyebrows moved up and down briefly.
Decarus stared at her with a look of incomprehension.
“I want to go outside, not just stay here.”
He sighed at her behavior, which seemed like a child’s tantrum.
“I have a lot to do. Go back.”
“Why won’t you let me go out?”
“Leave, Elena. I’ve said it twice.”
He looked down at her intently and spoke with emphasis on each word.
As if he would give her a severe punishment if she didn’t leave now.
“No. I won’t leave until you let me out.”
“Elena.”
He furrowed his brow, seemingly frustrated.
But she was just as frustrated.
What kind of treasure could he be hiding to keep it so tightly under wraps?
“Do you really love me?”
Elena expressed her frustration with an incredulous expression.
In dramas, when people are in love, they do anything for each other.
It seems this man only says he loves her.
“What?”
He tilted his head askew and asked back, as if dumbfounded.
“I asked if you love me.”
Elena frowned and spoke as if interrogating him.
He exhaled deeply and looked at her.
“I’ve told you many times.”
He gently grasped her delicate chin.
Their faces were close enough that they could feel each other’s breath.
Her eyes instinctively closed slightly at the ticklish sensation.
“That I love you.”
Yes, he had said it many times.
Then shouldn’t he show it through actions?
Elena opened her eyes and held both his hands.
“Then let me go out.”
The once silent air turned cold as if on a winter day.
His expression quickly hardened into a straight line.
“Go back now.”
He removed his hands from her shoulders and returned to his place.
A feeling of emptiness enveloped her entire body.
Why, just why.
She wanted to ask the reason.
Still perched on the desk, she cautiously opened her mouth.
“Why?”
He remained silent for a long time.
Under the chilly air, only the sound of turning pages filled the room.
She sat stiffly like a scarecrow, not moving an inch.
“Answer me, Carus.”
The breath lingering on his lips was heavy as if carrying a burden.
After a long silence, Decarus put down his pen and spoke.
“You’re in danger.”
Danger?
She’s not a child, how could going outside be dangerous?
After living like a gypsy for so long, how could it be dangerous?
She turned around with a sneer.
“I think this house where you are is more dangerous.”
Was it an illusion that she saw his eyebrows tremble slightly?
It seemed he was affected, serves him right.
“I have a lot to do. Leave now.”
A voice as dry as a desert reached her ears.
She wanted to slap him hard for being so insensitive.
“You’re annoying.”
Elena turned around and quickly opened the door and left.
“Hah….”
In the room where she had disappeared, Decarus was left alone, clutching his throbbing head.
He lowered his head with his eyes tightly shut.
The deeply inhaled breath escaped slowly through his lips.
“Elena….”
***
Bang-
A noise as loud as a tank explosion enveloped the interior of the mansion.
Elena’s lips protruded sharply, seemingly very angry.
“That bastard. That bastard…. May he die cursed….”
Her eyes were full of venom, as if ready to kill someone.
If someone were to tap her shoulder right now, that person’s life would be in danger.
Her body, limp like a corpse, was like a well-stretched jelly.
While wandering the corridor in such a gloomy atmosphere, she encountered Jane holding a basket of snacks.
“My lady…?”
Yes, Jane had reason to be surprised.
The lady who was fine until morning was suddenly wandering the corridor with such a terrifying expression.
Elena looked up at her with hollow eyes.
“Jane….”
“My lady, did something happen?”
Jane, looking concerned, slightly furrowed her brow and slowly approached her.
“No, nothing….”
Elena grinned awkwardly and showed a strange smile.
“My lady….”
“That bastard….”
Hearing those words, Jane stopped her for a moment.
Then, with a worried expression, she leaned in close.
“That bastard…. Ah, did you fight with the Grand Duke?”
It was quite funny that Jane also recognized him as a bastard.
“No. It seems I was unilaterally beaten….”
She didn’t have the power to defeat him.
Does she have money? Power?
Or is she eloquent?
“What am I trying to train….”
Her scalp hurt from hitting her head so much out of frustration.
It wasn’t about trusting him.
She was ashamed of herself for being so confident earlier, thinking she could train him.
“This won’t do.”
Elena said with determined eyes.
“Mmh…? What won’t do?”
“I’m going to escape.”
Her eyes, which had been lifeless, suddenly shone brightly.
“What? What do you….”
“There must be at least one small hole in this vast mansion, right?”
“What?”
“Jane, if anyone asks where I went, say you don’t know.”
“My lady! My lady!!!”
Her voice calling from afar echoed like an echo.
But Elena paid no attention and ran straight out.
“Haa… Haa….”
Was it because she hadn’t run in a long time?
She stopped midway as she was out of breath.
“I’m out of shape….”
After panting for a while, Elena stood at a crossroads.
Like a researcher, she put her hand on her chin and pondered for a long time.
“Hmm….”
Instead of the path leading to the main gate, she chose the side path towards the library.
The library side has a dark forest path and less human traffic, so she might find at least one small mouse hole.
“Hmm, the smell of grass.”
All her senses responded to the smell of grass she hadn’t experienced in a long time.
In the past, she used to wander around freely enjoying the smell of grass and flowers, but now she couldn’t do that easily being stuck in the mansion.
“It’s all because of that psycho. What’s the use of keeping a sane person like me locked up like this.”
She muttered to herself in a lecturing tone as she walked down the path.
The birds seemed to be keeping rhythm with her spontaneous humming.
“If only I could be reborn anew, that would have been nice.”
If she were born again, she could fly freely in the sky.
Even if threatened by humans.
“I’m like a blue bird in a cage.”
Elena sighed deeply and looked up at the sky.
In the blue sky above, a flock of small birds glided, drawing a horizontal line.
“I envy you all….”
“Who are you talking to?”
“Not… birds….”
Suddenly, a man poked his head out, breaking the silence.
“Y-You… What are you…?”
Startled by his sudden appearance, Elena quickly stepped back.
The man, frowning deeply, raised his hand as if looking for flying birds.
“Ah, are you talking about those birds over there?”
“I’ll ask again: who are you?”
Elena was on guard like a hedgehog seeing a stranger.
“If you ask who I am, how should I answer, my lady?”
He tilted his head slightly and bowed.
Judging by how he called her ‘my lady’, he must be someone working in this mansion.
The strange thing is, although she had been here for a month, it was a face she was seeing for the first time.
The man with light brown hair and dark chestnut eyes, like Jane’s, had a soft impression like a pretty boy.
Also, there was a deep scar on his face as if cut by a knife.
“Who are you?”
Elena picked up a fallen branch and pointed it at the strange man.
“My lady, you’re quite cautious, aren’t you?”
He slowly approached and tapped the branch she was holding.
This man, who on earth is he to be so relaxed?
A spy? One of the administrators?
He’s clearly not a servant.
“Decarus’s friend.”
“What?”
She laughed involuntarily at the unexpected words.
Her body, which had been frozen like ice, quickly melted, and the branch she was holding fell with a thud.
“Ha!”
That he’s Decarus’s friend.
He should have said that from the beginning, why did he beat around the bush?
He, who had been smiling leisurely, took another step closer to her.
Then he lowered his head and closely examined her expression.
“Better than before.”
She tilted her head at his incomprehensible words.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you look better when you smile, my lady. I can see why Decarus is so protective.”
It seemed there was no more value in talking to him who was just spouting nonsense.
“If you’re his friend, you’re not on my side. Goodbye.”
She coolly turned around and dismissed him.
Discarding without regret if unnecessary.
It’s one of the principles of a wanderer’s life.
“Do you want to go out?”
Did he read her mind?
She stopped moving for a moment and turned back at his words, which were like those of a fortune-teller.
“How did you know?”
He then approached closer and met her eyes.
His slender fingers gently tangled in her pink hair.
“It’s written all over your face, my lady?”
He raised one corner of his mouth slightly and smiled, then leaned back against a tree.
The sunlight shining through the dense foliage gently illuminated his light hair.
“Shall I help you?”
His appearance, smiling with half-closed eyes, was like a gumiho with a hundred tails.
In dramas, trusting a gumiho always leads to misfortune.
“But you… Decarus’s….”
“Yes, I’m his friend. But I’d like to be your friend too, you know?”
His brightly smiling appearance was just like an innocent child.
Even though his physical appearance was that of a very robust adult man.
“Then… where will you take me?”
“To the outside world you desire, my lady.”
