There is No Key to His Cage - Chapter 8
“Ah…”
The confusing first breakfast with him had ended.
Exhausted, Elena lay down on the bed and closed her eyes.
“…He doesn’t care even if I break, huh.”
A laugh of disbelief escaped her.
She had no intention of playing along with this crazy doll game.
She would escape this place somehow and meet Aiden.
Knock knock-.
At that moment, Jane entered with a knock on the door.
“My lady…!”
“Jane! I’m sorry. It must be heavy…”
Jane, who had brought an armful of heavy books, caught her breath, panting.
She must have had quite a struggle coming here from the library far from the main building.
I should treat her to something delicious later.
“A little?”
For a moment, she was surprised by her wordplay, eyes wide open.
But soon they burst into laughter, looking at each other.
“Ah, Jane. Did you bring all the books I mentioned?”
“Yes. The servants had quite a hard time finding these, my lady. What on earth are you going to use them for…?”
“I’m going to escape, from this wretched castle.”
I realized it properly while having breakfast.
If I stay quiet here, I’ll surely be eaten alive by that crazy psycho.
Before that happens, I need to escape from this insufferable mansion.
But I couldn’t make plans without knowing anything.
Understanding the geography of this huge mansion would increase the chances of escape.
Since I couldn’t go out freely anyway, I had to do something.
Elena sat down in the chair with a thud and boldly opened the thick book.
“But… I can’t read.”
As soon as she opened the book, unfamiliar squiggly letters caught her eye from the first page.
The white was paper, and the black was letters.
To Elena’s eyes, the imperial language looked just like an unfamiliar foreign language.
She felt like crying at her own foolishness.
How did she ask for so many books when she couldn’t even read?
“My lady, I will teach you how to read.”
Jane smiled, looking at the teary-eyed Elena adorably.
Then she pulled out a chair from the tea table and sat down close to her.
“Now… my lady, this is read as ‘A’. It’s a vowel. There are a total of 6 vowels in our imperial language. Repeat after me. A.”
And so Jane’s imperial language tutoring began.
Jane taught like a capable teacher, pointing out important things, and Elena followed the lessons well, learning quickly.
“My goodness, my lady. Are you a genius? How can you start reading in just a few hours!”
“Well, I did major in languages, you know.”
She folded her arms and raised her nose proudly at Jane’s praise.
Jane looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“Perhaps… did you graduate from a higher school, my lady…?”
It was a mistake.
A gypsy in higher education.
This is why memories from a past life are of no help here.
“Ah! No… I just wanted to go to a higher school… To, to learn languages!”
Jane then opened her mouth, clapping her fingers as if she had an idea.
“Then how about aiming for the public Ardeo Higher School in the future?”
Elena responded with rabbit eyes as if puzzled by her words.
“…What?”
“If you go to a higher school, you can learn all the languages you like to your heart’s content! You can learn modern and ancient imperial languages, as well as foreign languages like Kurnas. Also, Professor Killian, the Empire’s top linguist, holds a teaching position at Ardeo Higher School.”
She spoke non-stop, clenching her fists as if more excited than Elena.
“No… I, I just want to escape from here as soon as possible?”
Elena scratched the back of her head awkwardly and averted her gaze.
She felt sorry for Jane, but her future goal was to escape, not school.
“You can attend after you escape. The more goals, the better, my lady. Besides, you have talent. Your learning speed is much faster than the average person.”
“Is that so…”
Elena’s face turned red as an apple at Jane’s praise.
Then, as if embarrassed, she slightly covered her face with her hair.
“By the way, how was your meal with the Grand Duke?”
“Don’t even mention it. It was worse than I thought.”
“Worse?”
Jane elegantly covered her mouth and laughed at Elena’s comical expression.
Her sophisticated appearance was just like a scene from a fashion magazine.
“Yes, worse. It’s never been the best, not even average. It’s always the worst.”
Elena pouted her lips and expressed her dissatisfaction.
Still, it felt good to have someone to share her feelings with, even in this small way.
It felt like a five-hundred-year-old indigestion was being cleared all at once.
“But the Grand Duke always thinks only of you, my lady? Don’t hate him too much.”
“Ha, if that person had thought about me even a little, he would have let me go from here. No, he wouldn’t have confined me in the first place. What on earth is he thinking…”
Elena grumbled gloomily as if chanting a spell.
It hurt a little that even Jane seemed to be on his side.
“He probably doesn’t know how to treat people well. The Grand Duke has been alone since he was young.”
“Alone?”
“Yes, after the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess passed away. He lost all his precious friends too. So he was always alone.”
Come to think of it, he must have parents too, but I’ve never heard any rumors about them.
It seems it was taken for granted that he ascended to the title of Grand Duke at such a young age.
“He must have been very confused. The Duchess was murdered, and the previous Grand Duke took his own life.”
“What…?”
Elena looked at her with wide eyes, surprised.
It wasn’t a chronic illness that took them, but murder and suicide.
She was a bit shocked by this story that wasn’t widely known to the public.
“I think it happened when the Grand Duke was about 11 years old. And he inherited the title of Grand Duke right after that.”
“11 years old…”
It was too young, even for a child.
11 years old would be 4th grade in elementary school.
To think such a little kid had to bear the enormous burden of being the ruler of a duchy.
“He must have had a hard time too.”
“Yes. He’s the type who doesn’t show his feelings outwardly, so it’s hard to know what’s inside. But he must have struggled a lot.”
“But I don’t want to justify it with things like that…”
Elena lowered her head and spoke softly.
No matter how unfortunate his life had been, she didn’t want to defend him.
It was like debating whether to morally judge a murderer who grew up in an unhappy family.
She had been unfortunate too, after all.
Not everyone becomes twisted just because life is hard.
He must have had a difficult personality to begin with.
And she didn’t want to have a competition here about who was more unfortunate.
It’s not right to weigh and judge another person’s sorrow.
“I was always alone too.”
Of course, Aiden was by her side, but still.
Looking at it this way, it was a bit pitiful that he had never had anyone by his side.
“Come to think of it, I’ve never heard your story, my lady. How did you live?”
It was like asking about someone’s well-being after not seeing them for a long time.
Slightly taken aback, Elena cleared her throat as if preparing for a speech.
“I, I. I…”
As if she had become a fool, words wouldn’t come out of her mouth.
Maybe it’s because it’s the first time she’s talking about herself in front of someone.
Her mind was in chaos, not knowing what to say first.
“You can speak slowly, it’s okay.”
Kindly, Jane held both her hands tightly.
A warm sensation seeped between her fingers.
“I’m an orphan. That guy might have had parents, but I didn’t. I don’t even know their faces, let alone their voices.”
“Ah…”
Jane’s face stiffened for a moment.
Maybe it wasn’t good to mention being an orphan after all.
It’s not like she wanted pity or anything.
“And I grew up in an orphanage all along. And also…”
Elena suddenly found herself at a loss for words.
She didn’t want to bring up the story of being beaten every day at the orphanage.
It was somewhat embarrassing, and she didn’t want to create a gloomy atmosphere.
“After leaving the orphanage, I lived freely. Though ‘freely’ might be a bit of an exaggeration.”
“……”
“I was actually just one of the insignificant drifters. So being treated like this feels unfamiliar, and you calling me ‘my lady’ makes me a bit uncomfortable.”
Elena fidgeted with her fingers and watched Jane’s reaction.
Seeing Jane’s expression turn sour, she wondered if she shouldn’t have said anything.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“No, my lady.”
Jane suddenly spread her arms wide.
“Come here and let me hug you.”
“Huh?”
“Come on.”
In an instant, she fell into Jane’s embrace as if defying gravity.
The warm, soft embrace was more comforting than anything else.
“Our lady, you must have been through so much hardship until now.”
“Huh? I wasn’t having a hard time at all…”
At that moment, inexplicable droplets flowed from her eyes.
“What’s this, why am I…”
Belatedly realizing they were tears, Elena rubbed her eyes in confusion.
But the damn tears wouldn’t stop, endlessly flowing down.
“What’s wrong with me, seriously.”
Jane just held her tightly without saying a word.
She wasn’t sad at all, so why was this happening?
So pathetically.
“Jane, something’s wrong with me. Why are these tears…”
The continuously flowing tears couldn’t be more vexing.
The tears kept falling as if her tear ducts were broken.
Jane patted her back gently and whispered quietly.
“That’s like a small moss growing in our lady’s heart. Moss that has grown secretly in the shade. It needs sunlight and love, but it hasn’t received any, that’s why it’s there.”
Jane spoke using a strange metaphor.
Moss in the heart.
Isn’t moss that damp, unpleasant, insect-like plant?
“So, my lady. Only happy things await you now. There won’t be anything to trouble you anymore.”
“I don’t think that’s true…”
Why did that annoying guy’s face suddenly come to mind?
This ominous feeling that she’ll be tormented by that man.
“No, there won’t be. You’re such a special existence, my lady.”
“I’m just… just an insignificant person. You don’t need to flatter me like that.”
She had never heard such words in her life.
She never had the chance to hear them either.
It felt awkward to keep hearing such things.
“I’m not special. I don’t deserve to be…”
Hearing those words, Jane chuckled and gently patted her back.
“What do you mean you don’t deserve it? Elena, my lady, you’re the most precious and special person in the world. To me, you’re a star brighter than anything else.”
