"Is that true?"
"Yes, the goods are currently in our possession, and although we haven't been discovered yet, we might be suspected if we dally here."
His subordinate's report caused Paul to grit his teeth.
'What impeccable timing.'
Did the Duke already get wind of the Devil's Nap already?
It would be difficult if the fact that banned drugs were being distributed in the duchy was discovered so early.
This will disrupt the plans of the master he was serving.
"There's no helping it. Has she arrived at the meeting venue?"
"Well, not yet."
"What? Then how are we supposed to hand over the goods?"
"The kids just received a letter from that woman, saying that a situation has occurred, making it difficult for her to leave the mansion, so she sent an errand runner instead."
"What do you mean, sending an errand runner all of a sudden? How can we trust that person and hand the drugs over to them?"
Lalisa listened to their conversation and frowned.
Goods, drugs, woman, the duke, errand runner.
Her eyes widened.
'So the one that distributed the Devil's Nap was actually this person.'
She felt like her complicated mind lightened.
"There's no choice. Contact that woman and tell her that we'll meet her on the last day of the festival. The duke seems to be on our trail, so we'll postpone the deal till then."
"Then are we going to go back immediately?"
"You fool, if we just go back, all of us will die. Firstly, since the inn has been discovered, let's move towards the hideout. We'll hold out there until the day of the deal."
Paul responded nervously to his subordinates' questions.
"Then, what about that woman?"
"How are we going to handle the clean up if we kill her right now? Take her along with us first. If the situation goes south, we can use her as a hostage."
If the worst-case scenario, whereby the duke found them, occurred, there wouldn't be anyone more suitable as a hostage than the duchess.
He jerked his chin at his remaining subordinates impatiently.
"Bring along the woman, and get rid of that kid. It'll be troublesome if he goes somewhere else and wags his tongue."
The kid was extremely clear what 'get rid of' meant.
Lalisa watched the kid that was truly crying this time and hugged him.
"If you kill the child, I won't follow you quietly either."
"What?"
"If you want me to follow you quietly, let the kid live."
"Shouldn't you be worrying about your own life instead of the kid's life?"
"Why do I have to be worried for my life? I'll be fine either way."
Lalisa quickly pulled out a dagger from the boots that she was wearing under the dress.
The sudden appearance of the weapon caused the men to take a few steps back flusteredly.
"If your goal is to catch me, it'll be better if you don't make a fuss."
"...Yes, our Duchess is such an excellent person."
Paul gritted his teeth as he recalled her kicking skill, and how she'd kicked his middle leg without hesitating.
There was no point in dragging time along for nothing.
"Bring that kid along. Blindfold them both."
When Lalisa heard that he wouldn't harm the child, she dropped the dagger that she was holding onto the ground.
She didn't resist when the men approached her.
Soon after, a cloth was wrapped around her eyes and her vision went dark.
* * *
"Ugh, what's the point of a watchman, this is so annoying. Stay put, you d*mned thing."
Paul's subordinate threw Lalisa onto the ground and locked the door with a curse.
The sound of a lock being fastened on the wooden door was loud.
"......."
Meanwhile, Lalisa, who'd fallen to the floor, managed to straighten herself with difficulty.
She quietly brought out a small blade that was hidden on the inside of her wrist.
Was it because she'd discarded her dagger in front of Paul and his subordinates?
Thanks to that, they neglected to search her body, and she was able to prevent the blade concealed within her sleeve from being discovered.
Sakak, snap.
Lalisa cut off the rope binding her wrists skillfully and took off her blindfold.
The place she was confined in was a dilapidated and abandoned house.
Straw was randomly piled up in a corner, and several rotten potatoes rolled about.
It seems to be a building that's used like a warehouse by a farmer.
Lalisa's eyes turned calm.
'First of all, this place shouldn't be far from the castle. It only took 15 minutes by carriage from the castle to this place.'
Additionally, the smell of grass became extremely strong just before she arrived here.
In other words, this meant that Paul and his subordinates' hideout was located somewhere in the forest.
"Huugh..."
Just then, she heard the sound of a small groan from beside her.
The kid that was caught with Lalisa seemed to have regained his consciousness.
He'd fainted in the carriage, and remained so until now.
Lalisa carefully removed the kid's blindfold.
Perhaps he was surprised when the blindfold was suddenly removed, as his eyes remained tightly closed and his shoulders flinched.
But when nothing happened, he opened his eyes slowly.
"What's your name, kid?"
"...Jan."
Little Jan replied hesitantly and softly when asked his name.
He seemed quite clever, as he wasn't surprised and didn't cry, even though he was suddenly dragged along.
A faint gleam entered in Lalisa's eyes.
"Jan, that's a nice name. Did your parents give you that name?"
"...Yes."
Jan's expression suddenly turned vague at the word 'parents'.
He lowered his head and began to sob again.
"I'm, I'm sorry about deceiving you, because of me..."
"Shh. It's alright, so don't cry."
Lalisa hurriedly covered the kid's mouth.
She gave him a signal with her eyes to look at the door.
He could spot a huge shadow moving back and forth through the door's gap.
Jan only swallowed down his tears forcibly when he noticed that someone was keeping watch outside.
"Jan, it isn't your fault that we were kidnapped. It's all because of the kidnapper."
"B-but because I deceived you, so..."
Lalisa watched Jan, who kept her head bowed, and held his face with both of her hands.
"In that case, Jan, promise that you won't lie when answering my questions from now onwards. Can you do that?"
At her words, Jan blinked his big eyes and nodded slowly.
"Are you good at running?"
"R-running?"
Jan was bewildered by the unexpected question, but soon nodded his head.
"I'm the fastest among the children of the streets."
"Are you smart?"
"...I don't really know, but I won't forget what I've seen before."
"Alright, that's great."
Lalisa ruffled his hair gently.
"Jan, if you want to escape from here, would you like to make a deal with me?"
Lalisa's eyes gleamed as she looked at the child that looked at him with a puzzled gaze.
"I'll let you escape from here first, and all you have to do is find the person that I've told you about and let them know that I'm here."
* * *
"You're going to let me escape?"
Jan's eyes trembled uneasily.
"H-how?"
"I'll create a chance for you to escape. For that, I'll have to fight those guys out there."
"Fight? With those guys that are outside?"
"Yes."
Lalisa smiled at the child, who was still looking at her distrustfully like he couldn't believe it.
"Jan, I'm not lying. So just tell me whether you can do it or not."
She began drawing a map on the dirt floor with a small blade that she was holding.
"We started from the castle's southern gate and came to a forest not too far away."
Lalisa drew all the forked roads that they'd taken from the castle to reach here.
Right, left, right, right, left, left, right, left, right.......
Perhaps because it was a hideout, the route here was very complicated.
"If you memorise this the opposite way around, it'll become the way back."
Lalisa looked at Jan and asked.
"Can you memorise this?"
"That..."
Jan was taken aback.
It's because there were so many forks that thinking of traversing through the forest alone was dizzying.
"Actually, even if you can't memorise it, it doesn't matter."
In any case, this road was only needed in order to return back to the castle as fast as possible.
If his purpose was just to escape, there was no need for him to memorise the way.
All he had to do was run until he could spot the castle.
"If it's too much pressure, it's alright if you can't do it."
Lalisa smiled at Jan, who was staring blankly at her.
"Ah, I mean it when I said I'll get you out of here. Whether you're willing to or not."
Lalisa smiled softly at Jan.
"Your older sister is waiting for you. You have to go back."
She handed Jan the money bag she had hidden in her pocket.
She didn't expect that she'd be spending the prize money from the arm wrestling competition that Jungkook had forced into her possession in this manner.
"Take this. This should be enough for medicine."
Jan stared blankly at the heavy purse that's placed in front of him.
The kid remained silent for a while and pushed the money bag back towards her.
"...I'll memorise it."
"Hmm?"
"I can do it. I'll do it."
Jan ignored the money bag and focused on the map that's drawn on the floor.
As he muttered which direction should be taken at which fork, he tried his best to memorise the map.
A few minutes passed just like then, and Jan finally looked at her.
"I-I think I've memorised it all."
"Really?"
"Yes, I've memorised it all."
He was better than she'd expected.
Lalisa raised an eyebrow and a satisfied smile appeared on her face.
She rose from her seat and Jan followed her in standing up.
"By the way, who should I look for when I return back to the castle?"
She'd almost forgotten about the most important thing.
Lalisa pondered for a while, and explained it in a way that's easier for children to understand.
"He's a handsome guy with blond hair, and you'll meet him if you go to the place near the alley that we were abducted from."
By now, Jungkook would have noticed the twisted situation.
There's also the body of a knight in the alley, so he must have found out that something happened to her.
"But will that person believe my words? I'm..."
Jan knew better than anyone else that with his shabby appearance, it was hard to win an adult's trust.
"Don't worry, Jan. If it's that person, he'll believe your words."
Lalisa waved her hand as she said, "Don't worry," and added some advice.
"Oh, he might seem a little scary, but you don't have to be scared. He isn't a bad person."
After she finished speaking, Lalisa cleared her voice and shouted loudly.
"You people truly are fearless, aren't you! Have you gone mad, daring to abduct the Duchess!"
Lalisa continued to scream.
"I am the mistress of Esbaden! If the Duke finds out about this, do you think you'll be safe? Even if your limbs were dismembered and you're hung on the streets..."
The man guarding the door finally reacted to Lalisa's words.
"Oh, noisy! Shut up!"
Her eyes twinkled when the fish rose to the bait.
* * *