"Make it a trend then. 'The one-eyed Duke of the Serpente family.' Woaaah, it will become a legend for generations to come."
"But then–not everyone in the continent will follow suit."
"Brother can just beat them up."
"Indeed. I can't be the only one suffering."
…I'm worried about whether I should just laugh or cry… Should I do both?
As I approached, Lettis opened one eye and looked at me. A clear and pure sky-like eye… The welcoming smile that filled it was so delightful that tears welled up at the same time.
'Oh gosh, you jerk…! You rotten bastard!'
"Sorry. You're in pain because of me, aren't you?"
"It isn't the first time Hyung suffers because of you though?"
"Hey, stupither, don't talk about the past…"
Lettis then ate some biscuits, drank water, and fell asleep. We took his temperature and, finally, exhausted, headed to the library. I was thinking of taking the remaining candles out.
"Sasha, you too, go upstairs and get some sleep. I'll check on Hyung. The fever has gone down now. It seems that he's back to his senses."
Pfft– Laughter came out. Even though it wasn't the right moment, laughter and tears welled up at the same time. As I sat down in front of the candle cabinet and sobbed while laughing, Venya carefully grabbed my arm.
"What's the matter…?"
"…You know. Letty oppa's eyesight may never heal. If we're trapped inside and he doesn't get any treatment, the other eye could go very wrong."
Even if only one eye was ruptured, the other eye can be damaged too. To prevent that, I had to prepare myself to remove the injured eyeball. Perhaps because I had been up for two full days trying to recall all the medical knowledge I remembered, my body lost its strength. I gasped for breath and stretched out on the floor. Venya looked down at me with blank eyes for a moment but immediately lay down next to me. His arm moved down my neck. We lay there for a while without saying a word. A thin ray of sunlight came in through the small window above me. The sky-blue eyes right in front of me blinked, drowsy. I was death-sleepy too.
"Let's get out of here. Since Hyung has come to his senses, we'll find a way somehow. It'll be fine with the plan you mentioned last time."
It was a languid voice. A soft, mellow voice as if suggesting playing a fun game rather than plotting our escape. I answered in a similar voice, moving my head to fit his pillow-like arm more comfortably.
"How…? Those two are as strong as monsters. Second to King Kong."
"What's King Kong?"
"Like a huge gorilla."
"That's one amazing analogy."
"They might cut out food from now on and we'll be less energetic."
"They might bring something worse than garbage, but won't cut off food."
"How can you be so sure, Venya?"
"It's obvious that they enjoy feeding us those things. If we die, their fun would cease, so they can't."
"True. It seemed like they fulfilled some lifelong wish of hitting a nobleman. I mean, it felt like they were relieving some accumulated sense of inferiority there."
"And we, nobles, will lose energy eating such crap. We'll act like we're half-dead, and then they'll be off guard. Until then, we'll have to come up with a plan to raid them. If we collect the broken ladders and sharpen the end it will be a pretty good weapon, don't you think?"
"Will it work? How about making a trap with a belt? If we attack from behind it might work."
"That's fine, too. Let's plan things out."
"Will we be able to succeed?"
"We will. Didn't you say it yourself? We will get out of here alive."
'I did. Although I don't know how to get out. I don't know if our escape would be successful, or if we got out in some other way…'
"It will be the household anniversary at the beginning of spring. Then, a banquet will be held. Let's escape that day."
"Mn. Let's do that."
"After getting out of here, Estelle will get healthy, and Hyung will be able to receive treatment for both eyes."
"Mn, all of you will be supported and cherished as before."
"You too."
"If anything goes well, I'll be a maid. Will you make me your maid?"
"Is there anything else you want aside from being a maid? Is there something you want to be?"
'What do I want to be? Who knows… without a proper background or family, what can I dream of becoming? There was a thought I had but never said aloud. I always carried a dream with me in my previous life when I was raised as an orphan.'
"…Anything?"
"Anything you want."
"There is. I've always wanted to go to school. I heard that in the Republic of Vibrato there's a school where commoners like me can attend."
"It's like a place sponsored by our family…"
"What? Really?"
"You know the Python Bank Foundation? I think they sponsor that place."
'I see. Hopefully, if things go well, my longtime wish might come true. First of all, survival is my priority. Phew, those who have passed away already, please watch over us.'
"If we get out of here…"
Venya moved a little and put his forehead against mine. As the warm sensation spread, the eyelids became heavier. His eyes peering into mine were different from those of Lettis I had seen a while ago. Although the color was the same, the emotions swirling in them were of an extremely strange and unfamiliar nature. Something a little more intense, unconditional, dark, and dangerous. The pure and mischievous eyes of the past days would never be seen again. The change might be the same for me. Maybe we both had the same sad expression in our eyes.
We looked at each other as if we had only one another to comfort each other,
And then we fell asleep.