24.Agrane Karold

Kean’s little words did not leave my side throughout the afternoon routine. I’m used to Ingord? It’s been almost half a year since I came here. Half a year is enough time to get used to a new home.

But Kean’s words always touch the depths of people. One word that I have only gotten used to makes it sound sarcastic that I no longer seem to want to run away. Late night of the day, which seemed like a particularly exhausting day. I took out a jewelry box hidden deep in the drawer before I went to sleep. It was given by Wilhelm at crohertz. Somehow, even after arriving in Ingord, Richton did not collect this jewel box from me.

<Agrane Karold>

<My lovely Nui*. I think you’ll need my help one day, and I hope to see you again soon.>

(P/R: Wilhelm used ‘누이’ {translation: sister} to address Agrane. They’re not technically related, but it is used to women they’re close with, both younger and older.)

<The first floor of 36th mansion in Britgil.>

Wilhilm said he could help, but well. I’m addicted to Ingord’s poison. Insomnia, headache, irritability. If Richton doesn’t give me an antidote, I’ll never be freed from this pain for the rest of my life. To get out of the pain, I have to win the bet.

“Agrane Karold”

If I use Wilhelm, I can learn more about Agrane. But do I have to know about Agrane? Am I not Agrane? I put the jewelry box back inside the drawer and lay down on the bed. As always, I won’t be able to fully sleep… I needed a break.

***

In my dream, I was walking down the corridor in fear. It has been a very long passage, both splendid and extravagant. A ceiling painting with four angles and a window frame without a grain of dust. Carpets of colorful embroidery were everywhere, making my eyes dizzy. I slowly took a breath.

The way to meet ‘him’ always made me tense up to the back of my neck. I was afraid of him. But I couldn’t refuse. Because ‘he’ is the owner of my leash. Squeak. The door opened and a chandelier as colorful as the sun greeted me. ‘He’ was sitting somewhat under a sparkling chandelier. The red eyes that were facing the picture frame hanging on the wall turned to me. He smiled softer than the breeze.

[You came. My lovely Nui.]

A young man approached me and kissed me on the cheek. Carefully and calmly as if he were dealing with a glass doll. I smiled at him too.

[Hello, Wilhelm]

He didn’t take his eyes off my face for a long time, as if recalling my name on his tongue. It didn’t take long to get out of his castle. They walked hand in hand through the forest beyond the garden. Wilhilm led me to a new path, different from the previous one. It was a forest full of the scent of acacia.

There was no special conversation going on. He was quiet as if savoring the moment itself, and I looked into his eyes, pretending to be obedient. Shortly thereafter, an old, small castle appeared among the lush greenery. A strange boy appeared in front of him. He was two spans shorter than Wilhelm, and half of his face was covered with his head stretched out madly. How could there be a beggar-like being in a place like this? Isn’t it incredibly strange? I stopped walking along and pointed to the boy.

[What is that?]

The boy was holding an old book whose leather cover was ragged. The boy’s eyes were fixed on the book. With his head bowed as if he was about to swallow each letter.

[I saw him for the first time. Will Wilhilm raise him too?]

It couldn’t be. At this time, Wilhilm had only three dogs, including myself.

[Alas…It’s the first time I’ve brought you down this road.]

He responded with an insignificant tone. His gentle voice didn’t show any interest in the boy.

[That’s useless. It was of no use, so I tied it up to the castle. Not to take even a single step.]

I closed my lips. A lonely little castle nestled among the unmanicured bushes. And the boy trapped in it. And even Wilhelm’s remark that it’s useless at all.

[You threw him away.]

[Yes.]

The boy seemed to be a person Wilhelm had been playing with. No, Wilhelm affirmed, so the abandoned dog was the right thing to say. However, the treatment was very good for an abandoned one. Abandoned dogs I’ve ever seen would usually be dragged away like slaughtered pigs or disappeared without a word. But isn’t the boy still living his life here?

[Are you going to abandon me too?]

I grabbed Wilhelm’s hand, which I was holding, even tighter. I bit my lip and looked up at him with a pathetic face. This absurd struggle was the best and best weapon I had. Wilhelm loves me as weak, passive and dependent. He gently stroked my face with his white hand like a nobleman.

[Abandoning you, Nui. Funny jokes. It’s such an absurd joke that I wonder if that day will ever happen in my life.]

[Right? Then… Can I have that?]

Wilhelm’s face suddenly hardened. I pretended not to see and turned my head to look at the boy. His tousled platinum hair was crumbly like straw.

[Give it to me. I want to get a dog too, it’s not fair to be raised only by Wilhelm]

[No. That’s dangerous and dirty, so it’s not something you can raise.]

A firm rejection that there is nothing more to see. Today Wilhelm was in a very good mood. It was the first time he had turned down my request in such good condition. A boy who was abandoned but still alive. Wilhelm refused my request even on a pleasant day. All were unfamiliar to her.

[Good girl, Agrane. Come here…]

The hand that led me, passed the old castle and went deeper into the forest. It was a little faster than usual. You hate boys. Why? Why is Wilhelm, who has it all, so reluctant to see that poor boy? I continued to go for a walk with him, contemplating over and over again. And at the end I swallowed a cheer down my throat.

Finally, I finally found it. The only way out of this place!

***

Knock, knock.

When she woke up to the sound of a sudden knock, she was lying in the middle of a room in the dim light of dawn. As she was looking up at the ceiling, she heard the sound again.

Knock, knock.

“Susan? Did you oversleep? Come quickly, Mrs Colento will be mad.”

After that, she checked the table clock on the drawer. Five thirty-five in the morning. Five minutes had already passed since the day started.

“Susan!”

“I’ll be leaving soon, Lina. Please stop knocking on the door….”

Unlike the words, my body was so stiff that it was difficult to move. This is not a vain dream. The sharp nerves that stood up all over the body were saying that. Her body remembered and her head remembered.

This was Agrane’s past. I forcibly got up and quickly got ready and left the bedroom. I didn’t know why, but my fingertips were trembling. In my memory, I was Wilhelm’s dog. Wilhelm’s dog, not Richton. Laughter came out of nowhere. Wilhelm. That the sister you were looking for was just a dog? I wanted to vomit

“Susan, are you fine?”

I’m not fine. I slowly pushed the approaching Lina.

“I guess it was because I prepared it in a hurry. I’m about to get nauseous.”

“You’re nauseous about everything.”

Fortunately, Mrs. Colento did not rebuke me. I was able to find the reward of waking up earlier than usual and preparing here. She handed out papers one after another to us gathered in one side of the kitchen. It was a piece of paper with simple personal information written next to the nineteen names.

“This is a list of nobles visiting Ingord.”

The names were long, and the side-by-side explanations were even longer. Mardel Ronaire, the second daughter of the Count Ronaire, dark hair and bulbous nose, nineteen, unfriendly to the employee, demands for attention……It was a letter with a clear content, but it did not enter her head and only hovered nearby.

‘Come. My dear Nui.’

The longer the time spent here, the greater the sense of disparity between the Wilhelm described in the book and the Wilhelm that I saw and felt in person. Dealing with people is the role of the villain. In 『River Where the Sun Manoeuvres』, the villain is Richton, and Wilhelm has always been portrayed as the protagonist with a sense of justice and good duty.

But why? Why is it different from the world of book? I shook my head to shake off my thoughts. Of course, it’s impossible to get rid of it properly. I listened to the maids’ conversation to focus on the immediate task.

“Is Mardel Ronaire coming again this year? She’s ugly because she has a lot of greed. To be greedy you should be good at it”

“How come the list gets longer as the years go by?”

“It is because he is single. Everyone is eager to make their daughter the Duchess….”

“Mary.”

Mrs. Colento, who was good-natured, caught Mary’s voice wonderfully even in the noisy conversation. Mary shrugged her shoulders and whispered in an ant-crawling voice.

“They are so excited to have the Duchess seat. Where is such an opportunity common?”

“His Excellency won’t even look at her with that face, sweetheart.”

“He has such high eyes.”

As the murmur subsided, they began to leave one by one to clean up the mansion. I headed to the second floor with Mary. Mary memorized the list so eagerly that I had no choice but to open the folded paper again.

“Wow. The great nobles I have only ever heard of are coming.”

“Only heard? You seem to know the aristocratic world well.”

Mary raised an eyebrow awkwardly.

“What would a kid like me know? It’s just, everyone dreams like that when they’re young, right? It’s the story of meeting a handsome noble gentleman and marrying him in a large mansion.”

“It sounds like you’re investigating a noble family to find a bridegroom.”

“Still, thanks to you, I will have less trouble memorizing names. That such a childish act at that time would bring you all such good fortune…But I didn’t know Will’s family daughter would come.”

Will family. It was a name I had heard somewhere. Along with Krohertz, the noble family often mentioned in the book was evident.

“Will?”

Mary, who was looking around at my question, bowed her head to me.

“It’s Azmaria Will. I heard that she is the fiancée of Prince Wilhelm… The nobles there and Ingord have a bad relationship.”

“You know everything.”

“I was picking things up. If you want to make money as a maid, your eyes are vital, right?”

Laughing shyly, Mary entered the first bedroom upstairs.

Wait, this is Azmaria Will? I looked again at the list I was holding. Mary was right. If my memory is not wrong, Azmaria Will was Prince Wilhelm’s only fiancée. The supremely lovable and precious lover who embraces the protagonist, Wilhelm’s, from his hardships. However, the Count Will is one of Ingord’s main enemies, along with Krohertz. The fact that a person from such a family visits Ingord….

‘It’s something that wasn’t in the book.’

It was not enough of what didn’t exist, so it was to put a bright red line between Wilhelm and Richton. My mind has become complicated. After all, it’s Azmaria. It’s dangerous like this. The one who leads the sudden change has received the corresponding price so far.

“Sunbae, what are you doing outside? Did you fall again?”

“I didn’t fall. Go in now.”

I crumpled the list in my pocket and went into the bedroom. Anyway, there would be no place for me to intervene. I just want it to pass quietly.

***

Two days after that. The guests of the Ingord autumn banquet began to arrive one after another.

T/N: okay, Wilhelm will be addressing Agrane as “누이” in future chapters, but I wouldn’t be Translating it to “sister” because they will be having *ahem* so instead I will be using the word “Nui”. I don’t want readers to misunderstand this as in*est.