Stepmothers Are Not Always Evil Chapter 124
Chapter 124
Rumble, rumble. The carriage running on the rough forest road shook wildly.
“Ugh!”
“Are you okay, Escal?”
“Yes…”
Even so, Escal, having a hard time getting into the carriage, suffered from severe motion sickness.
I wiped Escal’s back and looked at the back of the head of the knight driving the carriage.
It’s been days since we left the duchy. We’ve been riding nonstop, claiming it’s the middle of the night, but our destination is still nowhere in sight.
‘Something is strange.’
Unlike when he urgently reported Helios’ condition, the attitude of the knight driving the carriage was too relaxed.
The carriage did not stop, but the speed was slow, and even though he did not sleep at the inn, he ate a full meal.
No matter how you look at it, he doesn’t look like a man traveling to see his lord in critical condition.
… Is it a trap?
Suddenly, I wondered if someone had lured me using Helios as an excuse.
‘I was too hasty.’
Surprised to hear that Helios was injured, I quickly shook my head, blaming my foolishness in getting into the carriage without thinking.
The carriage was moving deeper and deeper into the forest.
There would be no one to call for help here, but it might be a good place to hide.
I whispered softly to the child, pretending to wipe Escal’s back.
“Escal, listen to your mother.”
“… Yes?”
“Mom will stop the carriage in a little while, so run away as soon as the carriage door opens, okay?”
Escal blinked in surprise and looked at me. I didn’t have time to explain in detail, so instead of talking, I hugged Escal’s back tightly.
The baby kicked caught between me and Escal, as if surprised.
‘I’m sorry, sweetheart.’
I quietly placed my hand on the stomach, then released it and tapped the middle window.
“Escal’s getting motion sickness, but can you pull over for me?”
“We are almost there.”
The man glanced at Escal and said bluntly.
“It’s because the child seems so unwell. Let’s take a break.”
“Tsk.”
The man clicked his tongue with a displeased expression and then reluctantly pulled the reins.
I grabbed Escal’s hand and let it go. The quick-witted child seemed to understand what I meant by that alone.
The carriage slowly slowed down. Just before the wheels came to a complete stop, I opened the carriage door.
“Go!”
At the same time Escal jumped out of the carriage, I opened the door on the other side and jumped out of the carriage.
That time when I ran into the forest thinking that if a man’s goal was me, he wouldn’t chase after Escal.
“Argh!”
Escal’s scream was heard.
I was too naive It wasn’t me that the man was chasing.
I turned my head, holding my pounding heart. The man was holding on to the struggling Escal.
“Escal…”
“If you want to save the child, please come over here, madam.”
The man, convinced of his victory, smiled a fishy smile. Escal struggled against his grip.
“Leave this! Mom, ugh-!”
“Be quiet.”
“No!”
The man punched Escal in the nape of his neck with an annoyed expression. Immediately, the man who held the droopy Escal and nodded at me.
“Get in the carriage.”
“……”
After he made sure I got into the carriage, he pushed Escal into the carriage.
Just as the man was about to sit down in the coachman’s seat, I grabbed the unconscious Escal and quickly jumped out of the carriage.
But just like a moment ago, I didn’t get very far.
A loud bang hit me in the back of the head. I fell to the ground, clutching Escal in my arms..
“… You’re being a pain in the ass.”
The voice faded in my fading consciousness.
****
“……”
Slowly, consciousness emerged from the darkness. I swallowed the lump in my throat and struggled to lift my eyelids.
‘Where am I?’
The back of my head hurt like it was going to break. Wanting to check my injured area, I unconsciously tried to move my hand, but it didn’t work.
‘Is it tied up?’
My arms and legs, as well as my body, were tied with ropes, so I could not move.
I reflected on what had happened before I lost consciousness.
‘That man….’
It seems that they kidnapped me and Escal and brought us here.
‘Escal, where is Escal?’
I hurriedly looked for Escal, but the child was nowhere to be seen.
‘What the hell happened? Who’s…’
The confusion did not go away. I tried to clear my mind and looked around to see if there was a way out, but in vain.
There were stones everywhere. Water dripped intermittently from the ceiling. The air was stale and a strange fishy odor stung my nose.
It was… a cave?’
Sirius’ words suddenly came to mind.
‘If I hadn’t found her, this woman would have already been torn to death in that cave by a monster.’
Sirius said he found me at that time in a cave…
I looked around again, holding back the throbbing pain in my back.
At that moment, a faint light appeared from one side of the cave.
Starting with the first light, the number of lights increased one by one. Before long, dozens of candles lit up the walls of the cave.
And I saw the back of a man.
‘… Marquis Melks?’
Although I could not see his face, it was the Marquis of Melks, with an unmistakable hair color and back figure.
The Marquis was looking down at the large coffin. A strangely shimmering black mist hovered around the coffin.
After standing still for a while, Marquis Melks carefully opened the lid of the coffin.
“My poor daughter.”
A cold voice echoed through the cave.
‘My daughter?’
My fingertips became as cold as ice.
“Don’t worry. This father will surely save you.”
The Marquis Melks, who had been muttering as he looked down at the coffin, turned his back. As our eyes met, he moved his lips darkly.
“You woke up.”
“Marquis Melks, what are you doing now?”
“How dare you do this to my daughter and think you’ll get away with it?”
There was a glimmer of madness in his sparkling eyes.
‘What do you mean? Did I make Charlet Melks like this?’
While I was puzzled by the words I couldn’t understand at all, the Marquis stroked the coffin affectionately. A black mist followed his gestures.
‘I thought Charlet might have taken you, so I followed her and found you trapped in a cave.’
If this is the cave that Charlet Melks locked me in, then the person lying in that coffin…
Suddenly, I stopped thinking at the sound of the metal ornaments clashing.
The Marquis opened the large box in the corner of the cave and pulled out the droopy Escal from it.
“Escal!”
The Marquis ignored my shouts, laid Escal on the floor and drew his dagger.
“Stop it! What are you doing!”
I screamed in surprise, but he didn’t care.
The sharp tip of the sword brushed Escal’s finger without hesitation. The Marquis stood in front of the coffin with a small bottle of blood gushing out of the cut.
“It’s all over, Charlet.”
The Marquis Melks smiled creepily and slowly tilted the bottle of blood. Drops of blood dripped down the coffin.
The cave began to vibrate.
The black mist gradually increased in volume and completely covered the coffin. A loud vibrating sound and a terrible fishy smell occupied the cave.
When I was biting my tongue and staring into the fog because I felt like I was going to get nauseous, Boom! The coffin broke with a roar.
“Charlet!”
“…….!”
What appeared with a joyful shouting was the form of a terrible woman whose face was unrecognizable.
The figure was too terrifying to look at, but not unfamiliar.
It was the same ‘figure’ that had always appeared in my dreams.
The ‘figure’ opened its mouth.
“Father.”
“Yes, Charlet. It’s father!”
“Where is my body?”
“There, there it is. Charlet.”
As soon as Marquis Melks’s finger pointed at me, it approached me at such a speed that the ‘figure’ was invisible.
“… Ugh.”
A foul stench stung my nostrils. Disgust overcame fear.
The figure lifted my chin with what looked like a hand protruding from the black mass and observing me.
The figure, which had been carefully examining me as if seeing something strange, suddenly stopped moving.
“Lenia Evelyn.”
The sound of the voice calling my name over and over again brought me back to life. Before I could open my mouth to say anything, the figure strangled me with a terrifying force.
“It’s all because of you.”
“Ugh…!”
The power of the figure was immense. I struggled to escape, but it was no use.
The hatred it emitted tightened its grip, threatening to break my neck.
“If it weren’t for you, Helios would have been mine…!”
“…….”
“Why! Why is it you and not me? What are you doing!”
It was my limit. As the rest of my breath ran out, I gradually began to lose consciousness.
Marquis Melks, who had been watching the scene from behind the figure, approached with his sword drawn.
“… If you stab… her … take her body…”
The voices were intermittently cut off. The moment I close my eyes helplessly because I don’t have the strength to hold on any longer, I need to take a deep breath! A burning pain spread through my body, along with a stabbing sensation in my back.
He-Helios…
“Now your body is mine.”
A black figure entered me.
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