Chapter 22: Fake Cinderella (2)

“Yes…?”

Her face was still hard to see because of the dazzling moonlight shining from behind.

Even though I couldn’t see her face, even though it was just a silhouette.

Ilesha couldn’t understand why it was so soul-stirring.

“Gasp.”

The girl in front of her suddenly covered her mouth.

It was an awkward movement as if she had made a mistake, as if she had said something she shouldn’t have.

And that small movement broke down a bit of the mysterious atmosphere that had overwhelmed Ilesha.

Ilesha slowly opened her mouth.

“Who… are you?”

No. More than that. What did this girl say just now…?

“You just said it’s been a while?”

The girl didn’t answer there.

She turned her head towards the window, and without any warning, she skipped to the branches lined up on that side.

“Ah, wa, wait a minute!”

Ilesha hurriedly ran to the window, chasing after her back view.

Tap tap. Taptap. The girl stepped on the knots and protrusions in the middle of the tree and quickly went down.

It was a very fast and familiar movement.

“Just a moment, please wait! Have we met somewhere?”

But Ilesha’s cry only drove the girl faster.

The girl, who made a big leap for the last time from the 2nd floor, finally landed on the ground.

And… it seemed like she had twisted her foot a little there.

The girl seemed to let out a silent groan while holding her ankle, but it didn’t last long.

She quickly got up again and went away in the direction of the garden.

“Please wait! At least your face… no, your name…!”

Ilesha, who jumped out to the window frame together, chased after the girl’s back view.

‘What did I just see?’

An employee? Judging from her clothes and atmosphere, that couldn’t be the case.

An intruder? Surely not. This girl? Sneaking into the Solenas mansion?

One of the relatives of the Solenas family?

But as far as Ilesha knew, there was no girl in this age group in the Solenas family, even including the collateral lines.

No, in fact, it was right to call the guards or something.

But… on the other hand, she didn’t want to be caught here at this time.

There was also the indecent thing that she was trying to do in this room.

Of course, there wouldn’t be any evidence left, but Ilesha, who was uncomfortable, couldn’t call anyone here.

‘I have to chase her.’

Ilesha, who had been hesitating, just trusted her intuition.

She couldn’t know the specific reason, but she had a strong conviction that she had to chase after her unconditionally.

I have to go and check her face. I have to ask her name. No matter what…

Once she made up her mind, Ilesha left the room and quickly went down the stairs. She, who had been a member of the Wyvern Knights, still had very good athletic ability.

Ilesha’s outfit was still a riding suit and pumps. It was an outfit that was very comfortable to move around in.

Even using the stairs, she could move faster than the injured girl.

When she came out of the building and ran in the direction where the girl had disappeared, there was the front garden of the main building that the Wyvern had smashed.

‘Where is she? Where to…?’

The moment she thought that, a silver figure brushed past beyond a ruined shrub in the garden.

“Ah…! Just a moment! Please wait!”

Ilesha hurriedly ran towards the middle of the garden.

Then, there was the middle of the maze garden. Thanks to the Wyvern that had ruined it, some of the hedges that made up the maze were holed and collapsed.

It wasn’t a small maze that decent mansions just imitated. The Solenas mansion was a different class from those places. The size of the maze in front of the main building alone was bigger than decent noble mansions.

The inside of the maze was blocked on all sides, so I couldn’t see almost anything, but Ilesha didn’t give up easily.

After thinking for a moment, she touched the floor and carefully drew in magic.

“…May I even hear the sound of dew forming on the hyeon.”

She enhanced her hearing with a short spell she chanted.

It was one of her specialties, body enhancement magic.

‘Not too much. Just a little. Just a little…’

As she used magic, the sounds that had been heard faintly entered her ears much louder.

‘I can hear footsteps beyond this. I can also hear the sound of bushes rustling…’

But I couldn’t grasp the direction properly.

While concentrating her mind, Ilesha recalled someone’s teachings.

‘If you move your head carefully, the position of both ears will change, and you will hear the intensity and pitch of the sound differently.’

‘Feel well how the change is happening. If you track the time difference of the sound reaching your ears, you can distinguish the direct sound and the reflected sound of the source.”

What is phase difference, what is direct sound, what is ‘frequency spectrum’…

Ilesha didn’t understand even half of what the person who taught her until the end was saying.

But she had learned and remembered as much knowledge as she needed to tracking someone.

Right, left, left again, right…

‘Which one is the reverberation? Which direction is right?’

But… after all, the technique she learned over her shoulder didn’t seem to be perfect.

The sound reflected and scattered wildly in the narrow maze.

Ilesha couldn’t become ‘that person’.

She could never imitate the person who had directly acquired that sense and skill with a body that was wearing away at every moment.

‘If I use magic a little stronger?’

No. Even for her, it wasn’t a good idea to use big magic carelessly in someone’s private residence.

She couldn’t even explain to herself why she was doing this so far, but crossing the line any further was something she felt too rejection.

And above all, her magic was…

It was dangerous. She knew that very well.

‘I’m confused. Are there several footsteps?’

She roamed the maze under the moonlight for a while.

All the sounds seemed to be close, and all the sounds seemed to be far.

“Can you hear me?”

Ilesha, who had become tearful before she knew it, opened her mouth quietly.

And she began to appeal to the other person who she couldn’t see.

“I’m not trying to harm you… I don’t want to scold you. I just want to talk.”

While hoping that her voice would sound as little scary as possible.

“Please answer me. Are you here? Can you hear my voice?”

Please answer me.

“…Aren’t you hurt? Aren’t you in pain?”

“I can heal you.”

“You said it’s been a while… What do you mean…?”

The moment she felt like the shadow was shaking, Ilesha hurriedly turned her head to the side.

At the end of the dead end of the maze she was looking at, there was a small clearing.

“…Is it there?”

There was a small fountain in the middle of the clearing, but that fountain was not working because it was night.

The footsteps that had been quietly ringing in her ears had become silent before she knew it.

“I just… just want to check your face.”

Intuition whispered. It seems like this is right.

She slowly walked towards the fountain.

“Please don’t be scared…”

Her voice that said that was trembling more.

‘Ah. It seems like it’s here…’

The hearing enhancement magic had already been released. It was because her agitated mind had disrupted her concentration.

Gulp.

She stood in front of the fountain.

A fountain that was only slightly taller than a child’s height.

Ilesha slowly turned to the side and tried to check behind it.

‘I’ve come to the right place. It seems like she’s behind the fountain. If I walk just a few more steps…’

Gulp.

“Your Highness?”

Then, not from the fountain, but another voice was heard from behind her.

She, who was startled, quickly turned around, and there was a face she knew standing there.

“…Parnen-ssi?”

Parnen, holding a lamp, was standing in a position a little away from Ilesha.

“H, how, at this hour…?”

“I saw Your Highness the Princess running busily in the garden.”

Parnen slowly walked towards Ilesha.

And she bowed her head deeply.

“I followed to see if there was anything I could help with. Did I get in the way?”

“No. It’s not that…”

“I also heard the voice of something about treatment. Is there someone hurt here?”

“It’s not that either…”

Ilesha’s confused eyes wandered between the fountain and Parnen.

“P, Parnen-ssi, what are you doing at this hour?”

“Ah. As you can see, I’m touring this place because I’m making a restoration plan for the ruined garden.”

Parnen opened one hand and pointed around.

“As you can see, the crash accident… damaged the fences and shrubs a lot. It became more of a mess because it was scratched by the tail and wings while moving the Wyvern to the runway. There are a lot of things I have to figure out before consulting with the gardener.”

“That’s… that’s right.”

Ilesha nodded without realizing it.

“Um… Is there anyone else in this garden?”

“No. I’m the only one touring here until this hour.”

“…Yes?”

“To be exact, it means that only I and Your Highness are here.”

Parnen lifted the lamp and showed it around.

‘Then, the footsteps I heard… were Parnen-ssi’s? It was a light sound for that… and clearly the silver silhouette towards the garden…??”

Ilesha was confused.

“But…”

“If there’s anything you’re looking for, would it be okay for me to help you?”

Parnen asked politely.

Ilesha, who was hesitating a little whether to say this or not, opened her mouth with difficulty.

“Um. Have you seen a girl around here?”

“You mean a girl?”

Parnen’s eyes widened slightly.

“Which girl are you talking about?”

“That’s…”

Ilesha, who was about to answer Parnen’s question, suddenly realized that her words would sound very stupid.

‘A beautiful girl who jumped out of the window of Thermis-nim’s 3rd floor room disappeared towards this garden, and I, who happened to be in that place, have chased after her for no reason or purpose, but as if possessed by something.’

“There is a slightly young apprentice maid, but it doesn’t seem like she would be touring the garden until now. The Dukedom always puts young employees to bed early.”

“How old is she?”

“The youngest child is fourteen years old.”

Fourteen…? It seemed a little younger than that.

But… that girl might be a little small, right?

If that’s the case, the dress and atmosphere were clearly not something a maid would have.

As Parnen said, there was no special reason for such an apprentice maid to be in Thermis-nim’s room now.

While Ilesha was hesitating, Parnen seemed to be thinking for a moment.

“If you’re looking for such a child, shall I wake her up now and call her here?”

“Ah, no. There’s no need for that at all.”

“…Is that so. I’m sorry.”

“No. There’s nothing to be sorry about. I guess it was my mistake…”

“If so…”

Parnen bowed her head deeply again.

“Your Highness. It’s embarrassing to report this, but as the head maid, I’m ashamed that Your Highness is seeing this ruined garden up close.”

“Ah. That’s right. Right.”

It was a story that Ilesha had already heard during the day.

“And I’m worried that Your Highness’s clothes will be damaged by the protruding stone beak and branches on the night road.”

“Yes. I know what you mean.”

“Would it be okay if I escorted Your Highness to your accommodation?”

“No. You don’t have to do that much.”

Ilesha softly rejected her words.

“I’ll… go back alone. Parnen-ssi said you were busy, too. I’m sorry for bothering you.”

“You’re very welcome. Then I’ll just follow you to outside the garden.”

“…Thank you. Then I’ll ask you to.”

Ilesha, who felt sorry for rejecting Parnen’s polite suggestion twice, decided to follow her words.

Before her feet fell from her standing position,

Ilesha, who was looking towards the fountain until the end, soon closed her eyes tightly and shook her head.

‘Was it just my feeling after all…?’

But even after returning to the entrance of the garden and breaking up with Parnen, her mood was not right.

Ilesha’s footsteps went to the tree under which the girl had jumped without her knowing.

‘It’s closed…’

Looking up from below, the window on the 3rd floor was closed.

Whether someone heard the sound and closed it again, or whether it had never been opened from the beginning.

Did a depressed heart see something that wasn’t there?

So did I do this ridiculous thing?

Everything seemed real, but no evidence was left, and I didn’t know what was going on.

Ilesha felt like she was still dreaming.

After lingering around that place for a long time,

Something caught on her feet as she was about to give up and go back.

“This is… a shoe?”

One small, very small shoe was rolling around on the floor.