I Ran Away And The Reverse Harem Started Chapter 93

“…What? F-Friends?”

Angela couldn’t believe what she had just heard.

Neither could anyone else.

Rosieta was just a mere maid, and Colin was one of the masters of the estate. How could they possibly be friends?

Colin brushed off his wrinkled robe, smoothing it out.

“She’s only working here temporarily to pay off a debt. She chose not to reveal our connection because she didn’t want to make the other maids uncomfortable.”

“T-That’s…”

“And then, I heard that some group of maids decided to bully someone who would only be here for a few months. I would have preferred if there were no conflicts among the maids, but I suppose Mrs. Rosa has been too busy to notice these issues.”

His gaze briefly landed on Mrs. Rosa.

Though he held no ill will toward her, it was clear that her oversight had allowed this problem to escalate.

“It’s unfortunate that this has been going on for years, Mrs. Rosa.”

Mrs. Rosa, looking remorseful, clasped her hands together and lowered her head.

She had no excuse.

The other maids still looked dazed, struggling to process what they had just learned.

‘Rosieta… was friends with the young masters?’

Colin turned back to Angela.

His unfamiliar, cold gaze made her instinctively shrink back.

“With this, you’ve essentially admitted that you’ve been tormenting and eliminating other maids while working in this household.”

“…”

“Tomorrow, you will return to the main estate with Mrs. Rosa and pack your belongings. That Miriam maid will be leaving as well.”

“…”

“You’re not going to deny your wrongdoing now, are you?”

Colin swiftly wrapped up the situation, as if he had been waiting for this moment.

Angela had practically confessed everything herself.

With their reputation ruined, neither she nor Miriam would be able to find work in another noble household.

Rumors about them would spread quickly among aristocratic families.

And if they gathered testimonies from all the maids who had been bullied or forced out, things could get even worse for them.

Angela collapsed onto the floor, her face blank with shock.

Meanwhile, Mika, Angie, and Marie blinked in surprise at how smoothly everything was falling into place.

It was as if the whole situation had been staged, playing out like a perfectly orchestrated performance.

“…Huh?”

Suddenly, Mika snapped out of her daze and lifted her head.

‘Wait a second… Angela did shove Rosieta into this room… right?’

She glanced around.

‘Then… where is Rosieta right now?’

 

 

****

 

 

 

The summer villa’s dressing room was right next to Daniel’s room. A cool night breeze poured in through the open terrace door.

The room was finally settling down from the commotion. The staged play was nearing its end.

From the start, I had never actually drunk the milk Angela offered me before falling asleep. I had a rough idea of what kind of drug she had put in it—there was no need to take such a risk.

When the time felt just right, I stumbled out of my room, feigning a sleepwalking episode. As I pretended to be in a daze and made my way toward the villa, I could feel Angela trailing behind me.

And I heard it clearly—her triumphant exclamation after shoving me into the toilette room.

Angela must think I’m just a foolish girl who walked straight into a tiger’s den.

But things had likely played out the exact opposite of how she had imagined. The way her furious shouts could be heard through the wall was proof enough.

This was all a carefully set trap. A performance designed to catch Angela’s misdeeds in action and drag up every crime she had committed in the past.

As I fidgeted uncomfortably, listening intently for any other conversations filtering in from the next room, a quiet sigh came from beside me.

It was Daniel.

The two of us were huddled together, holding our breath, eavesdropping on the noise coming from outside the terrace.

Even the slightest movement could alert someone to my presence in this room. Carefully controlling even my breathing, I glanced up at Daniel’s jaw.

Bathed in the bluish glow of the moonlight, he tightened his arms around me as if trapping me in place. A complex expression flickered across his face.

He looked deep in thought, completely lost in his own world, as if he didn’t even register my presence in his arms.

“…Hey, it looks like Mrs. Rosa and the others have all gone downstairs.”

Daniel himself might not have been thinking anything at all, but I felt incredibly uncomfortable in this situation.

“From here on out, we’ll take care of it. Rose, stay in the room with Daniel.”

That was what Colin had said when he came to find me after I had been shoved into the toilette room and Angela had gone back to gather people.

Colin and Lucas, who had been waiting in position, stayed behind to expose Angela’s crimes.

After all, it would carry far more weight for the master of the house to reveal Angela’s wrongdoings than for a mere maid like me to do so.

Not to mention, it would speed things up.

This couldn’t be reduced to just a petty fight between maids. If that happened, Angela and Miriam would slip away like eels, just as they always did.

Colin and Lucas had agreed with my reasoning. While they handled the situation, Daniel had brought me into the adjacent room to wait for everything to unfold.

Judging by the muffled sounds from the next room, our plan was working perfectly. Angela must have been utterly shaken—her annoying sniffles had even stopped.

But…

Why am I stuck here, clinging to Daniel?

Ever since I had told him about Angela’s torment and my sleepwalking during the day, Daniel had simply stared at me, lips pressed tightly shut.

Like someone who had so much to say but didn’t know where to begin.

Even now, he was just holding onto my shoulder without a word.

Okay, sure. When things were noisy in the next room, it made sense to stay close and avoid making any sound. But—didn’t this guy confess to me? Is this really the right situation for this?!

After a brief struggle, I awkwardly wriggled out of his embrace. His familiar scent slipped away as I moved. By then, Lady Rosa, Lucas, Colin, and the others had already gone downstairs after wrapping up the incident.

Even though I had pulled away, Daniel’s gaze remained fixed on me—intensely so.

“…Do you have something to say?”

I couldn’t tell if he was expressionless or angry. And if he was angry, I didn’t know who he was angry at. His furrowed brow made him look troubled.

Outside, not even the sound of nocturnal animals could be heard. Silence weighed between us.

After a long pause, Daniel finally spoke, his voice slow and heavy.

“…Why did you only tell me now?”

His voice was thick with emotion. In the three months I had been working here, I had never seen his expression twist with such distress.

I opened my mouth, startled, but no words came out.

“The illness you’ve had since leaving the orphanage. The maids who tormented you. Why didn’t you tell me any of it from the start?”

Daniel stared at me intensely, as if trying to see right through me. His expression resembled that of a wounded animal.

“I told you, Daniel. I stubbornly chose to work here as a maid. Wouldn’t it be ridiculous if I ran to you all to complain just because things weren’t perfect?”

“Then what about your sleepwalking?”

A shadow of pain—one I couldn’t understand—flitted across Daniel’s face.

“You only told us about your illness because you were trying to expose the power struggles among the maids. If it weren’t for them, we would never have known—not even when you left this place.”

“……”

“…I’m not saying I have to know everything about you. I just…”

Daniel trailed off, exhaling another heavy sigh. He must have been agonizing over this all day.

He ran a hand through his jet-black hair, letting his head droop forward.

“I’m just… angry. The reason I desperately searched for you wasn’t to make you suffer like in our childhood. It was because I didn’t want you to go through that again. Now, I’ve become someone who can take care of you. Not just you, but Colin and Lucas too…”

“……”

“But you’re telling me that after leaving the orphanage, you ended up with a wound in your heart. That you’ve been suffering alone all this time. Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you let me worry about you, let me take responsibility for you?”

Daniel’s face became uncharacteristically desperate and sorrowful.

He had pieced together that after leaving the orphanage, I must have wandered aimlessly and eventually developed an illness of the mind.

This world I had been suddenly thrown into one day, the separation from the children I had lived and struggled with, the longing for my parents.

All of it had weighed down on me, crushing me under its pressure until it finally exploded into my illness.

And Daniel—more than anyone—had an acute sense for loneliness and suffering. Perhaps he even felt responsible for my pain, even though there was nothing he could have done about it.

I forced a faint smile.

“Daniel, you’re seriously mistaken. You have no reason to take responsibility for anyone.”

“…What?”

I calmly lowered my gaze for a moment before lifting it again. My eyes, adjusted to the darkness, caught Daniel’s bewildered expression.

I knew well why he had fought so desperately to survive. And I now understood, at least vaguely, that I had been part of that reason.

Daniel was expressing his disappointment with me.

To some, five years might be a short time, but we had lived through life and death together in that orphanage. We had survived—among children who starved to death, fell ill, or ran away to become street beggars.

And yet, I had kept not one, but two secrets from him. It was only natural for him to feel hurt. Especially considering that Daniel had even confessed that he liked me.

Chasing money so relentlessly all those years—it was all because he wanted to take responsibility for everyone, wasn’t it?

But…

“As kids, we all swore never to keep secrets from each other, didn’t we? I’m sorry I couldn’t keep that promise. But everyone has things they want to keep hidden, don’t they? Isn’t that right?”

“…….”

“If I hadn’t told you my secret today, Angela probably would have exposed it eventually, and I would have been in big trouble. What I feared most was having you all find out about my sleepwalking against my will.”

There were two reasons why I had decided to report Angela and Miriam and tell the three of them about my illness.

First, I wanted to make sure the maids I had come to care for wouldn’t suffer anymore.

And…

If I hadn’t taken care of Angela myself, she would have eventually exposed my secret to the others. Before I could do anything about it.

She would have revealed my weakness at the worst possible moment—one I could never have predicted—and turned it into a flaw. Then Daniel, Colin, and Lucas would have heard about my pain from someone else’s mouth. And that would have left a scar on my pride forever.

That’s why I believed this was the best possible timing.

“The truth is, I didn’t want to say anything. I mean, who would want to talk about something so painful? I’m sorry for keeping it from you. I really wanted to keep my weakness hidden from you all.”

While I managed a faint smile, Daniel’s face only twisted further in anguish.

“If Miriam and Angela’s group hadn’t tormented me, I would have just worked here peacefully for a while before returning to my inn. Without revealing a single thing.”

“…….”

“I have my pride too, you know? I couldn’t just meet you all after ten years and immediately start talking about how much I suffered after we were separated.”

A bitter smile formed on my lips.

I had only planned to work here for a few months before leaving, but now it felt like I had come too far. Daniel, belatedly realizing his mistake, looked at me with a face full of regret.

Lowering his head, he muttered an apology.

“…I didn’t mean to pry into something so personal. This is all my fault. I should’ve stopped you when you said you’d work as a maid.”

“It’s not your fault. None of us did anything wrong.”

I spoke reassuringly, but Daniel’s face didn’t relax.

The anger flickering in his eyes—it wasn’t directed at me. It was at himself. Even after bringing me into his home, he had failed to realize what I was going through.

That was just like Daniel. Blaming himself for things beyond his control. It was both frustrating and pitiful.

Without thinking, I reached out to touch his cheek.

Unlike in our childhood, his face had grown gaunt, his cheeks hollowed out. I wanted to soothe him, even just a little.

But before I could, Daniel lowered his eyes and muttered in a low voice.

“…You want to leave here now, don’t you?”