Chapter 7: CH 7

Juliana blinked her eyes slowly. She was embarrassed because Louis suddenly brought up the story from the night before yesterday.

“Oh, go ahead.”

Juliana smirked at his nonsensical remark and spoke informally first. Strangely enough, he became nervous and moistened his dry lips.

Yes, honorifics or informal speech didn’t matter in this situation. When her approval was given out, Louis turned his head to the side. His shoulders shook.

Wha-what? Why did he laugh..?

Juliana scratched her cheek awkwardly and casted a side glance at Louis. She was unsure why he had started laughing. Louis covered his mouth with his sleeves to hold back his laughter, but it was heard nonetheless.

“Anyway, I enjoyed the meal.”

The soup was delicious. Juliana, whose energy was recharged after eating, eyes sparkled. She looked for an attempt to run away again.

“Come on, let’s fight again to get out of here!”

“Yes, Juliana.”

Louis was still stuck with using honorifics, perhaps because of what he said earlier.

That aside, she never knew when the danger would come in any case. The thought of finding a solution as soon as possible dominated her mind, since she couldn’t even use magic.

Juliana felt a great sense of responsibility when she saw the handsome man holding her hand tightly. And she was determined to hold his hand tightly. To get out of here safely with him!

But contrary to Juliana’s expectations, no one showed up the next day or even a few days after.

***

“What are you doing?”

“Ah, you surprised me!”

Juliana screamed briefly as she was crouching down and digging a hole in the wall with a spoon. Louis may have just come out of the bathroom, since his hair was dripping wet.

“Make some sound if you are around…” Juliana murmured and clutched her spoon tightly. She was so shocked…! She looked embarrassed when Louis’ eyes were obviously staring at her with his back lowered.

“What is this?” Louis asked while tilting his head to the side.

“Shh, I’m making a secret hole.”

She whispered in his ear.

“I succeeded in making a small hole in the wall. I’m thinking of eavesdropping through here about the situation.”

“Eavesdropping? Why…?”

Louis raised one of his eyebrows. Juliana smiled awkwardly at his confused face in particular.

It took too long to dig the ground with a spoon, so she purposely made one in the wall, but the man looked unhappy as if he didn’t know the meaning behind it. Juliana bit her lip out of frustration.

“The person who brought us here is a noble. He must have a high ranking reputation as well.”

“….Hmm.”

“I don’t know who it is, but they just keep us tied up like this……. And we don’t even know what their intentions are.”

It was her first time encountering such a person.

They would normally make an appearance if they had a purpose. But no one had  been looking for her and Louis, although they should have revealed their face within six hours.

“First of all, I’d like to know which family brought us here through the clothes of servants that would pass through the hall.”

“So smart.”

Louis opened his mouth, admiring her. Juliana scratched her head in embarrassment as she got praised for thinking about what anyone could think.

She was the daughter of the Duke Hariens and a wizard that belonged to the Tower of the Wizard Organization. There was no doubt that she, who graduated from the academy, had been prepared with the ability to deal with the critical situation. Nevertheless, she was proud when a handsome man like Louis praised her.

“If it weren’t for this magic bracelet, I could have escaped somehow…”

“It’s alright.”

“Wait a minute.”

Juliana suddenly clenched her fists and glanced at the beautiful-looking man whom she had somewhat gotten used to. Louis put his hand in his pants pocket, slightly bent.

“It’s because my magic is sealed… I’m a capable wizard.” Juliana said while straightening her shoulders.

“If only I could solve this, I’d beat them all up.”

She understood a bit about why someone would want to woo a beautiful lady, but this was too much.

She couldn’t escape using magic because of the magic bracelet.

She would have escaped with Louis immediately if only she could use her magic…..She clutched her spoon while being determined to kick her opponent’s butt at any cost for committing such wicked deeds. Juliana wouldn’t give up on this sort of thing.

“How are you going to do that?”

Louis’ eyes twinkled, as if he was interested, a smile lingering on his face.

She wondered what attracted his attention, but he seemed to be genuinely curious.

“I can show you an example.”

Juliana cleared her throat and looked fiercely.

She thought of pushing him to the wall quietly and not letting her opponent get offensive.

But somehow Louis’ face went red.

“……”

At the end of the conversation, Juliana crouched down again and concentrated on digging a hole in the wall. There was no object that would be suitable for an escape attempt inside of the room, so she had no choice but to inevitably use a spoon.

‘There aren’t any sharp and good weapons around here…….’

She couldn’t untie the bracelet, so she had been looking closely for the suitable tools to get the door opened, but there were no really good ones.

Juliana sighed deeply as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.

She leaned against the wall to catch her breath…

The wall gave way at her weight and slowly slid backwards.

She didn’t even inflict much effort in particular, then why was it pushed back?

“Gasp!”

Juliana was so surprised and as a result, she leaped up from her spot the moment she looked back. She rubbed her eyes with a stunned look.

There was a secret stairway that descended down from the wall.

“Louis! Take a look at this! It’s a secret passage!”

She had found a way out..!

Juliana jumped like a jumping rabbit in unbearable joy. Was this how it felt like when someone found an oasis in the desert?

Her face lit up after accidentally stumbling upon an escape way.

Louis approached Juliana with a relaxed step. He looked peaceful throughout the time they were stuck together.

She felt something suspicious, but she didn’t have time to think about it anymore. Juliana’s whole attention was focused on the secret passage.

“Hurry up, hurry up! We don’t have time for this. Let’s get down there quickly now!”

“Yes, Juliana.”

Louis slowly approached Juliana who was feeling impatient. She quickly held his hand and led him.

Louis followed her obediently into the secret passage, lowering his eyes.

***

The path ahead was dark.

Juliana walked down the stairs with Louis. The light automatically turned on as soon as they stepped on the stairs.

The burning pillar of flame was made of eternal fire that never distinguished even after several hundreds of years passed.

There were layers of dust on the old stairs, and it gave off a sense of antiqueness.

‘It’s an extremely well-off mansion…’

Juliana’s hands were sweaty. Whoever owned the mansion seemed to be at a position that she couldn’t disregard.

She didn’t know what her opponent would do if they found out that their captives had disappeared. There was a belated uneasiness rising inside regarding how she had been out too recklessly, but she had already moved on.

Thinking that she had come too far to go back, Juliana walked out the long passage firmly. Louis followed casually behind their joined hands.

She wondered how long they had been walking. As they went all the way down to the end of the passage, they reached a red door.

“…… ”

Juliana gulped and carefully opened the door. Her hands were wet with sweat due to being nervous. Louis held her hand tight.

Creak, the door opened with a loud sound. Juliana blinked as she looked into the room.

“What is this…?”

Juliana’s eyes grew wide as she found numerous weapons and armours on the glass display.

She looked around the warehouse. A long sword, which was covered with dust and wrapped around with the spider web.

The long sword she was peering at was a soft silver color, clearly an expensive product.

Juliana also looked at the other side. There were lots of armour and rare weapons that contained the blood and sweat of the craftsman.

Juliana smiled after she examined the weapons for a long time.

The confined weapons’ value in the underground warehouse was priceless. The amount was huge enough for her to be astonished.

Did he lock up prisoners in a room connected to an underground warehouse full of weapons?…

Oh my god, such a crazy person…!

Juliana shook her head with an amazed look. A sharp blade was revealed when she lightly swept through the dust that covered the sword with her ring finger.

The shining side of the blade would cut very well if she would touch it. Juliana shook the dust off her fingers while turning her head to look for Louis.

Louis stood there unimpressed. Juliana pulled his sleeve. Slowly, Louis’s eyes gazed at hers.

“Louis, let’s take this weapon.”

“You can have all of it if you want.”

Juliana tilted her head to the side. She could have all of them?

Oh!

She guessed what he meant was to take everything.

“No, I can’t take these… Pick up a nice one for yourself too.”

Juliana picked the long sword and dagger, spear and shield. She looked at the other weapons such as bows and arrows.

What should she take? A weapon that she could use to control the situation in an instant if a threatening opponent appeared….

“Huh? What is this……?”

Juliana held a sledgehammer which was confined in the corner with her hand. Wow, it was a very, very big one.

The large and thick sledgehammer wasn’t that heavy in one hand, perhaps because it was reduced in weight.

“I have a very good grip…”

Juliana examined the sledgehammer proudly. She would have to use this for the door.

Juliana was excited about the unexpected windfall that such a treasure chest was hidden under this room.

She couldn’t believe this treasure chest was hidden under this room…….. Juliana was excited by the unexpected lottery.

Then–

Shring-

Juliana hurriedly shifted her head back from the blade that flew through the air.

“……!”

That was dangerous. Juliana was shocked when she almost got hurt by the sharp sword, just a hair’s breadth away.

What the hell……?

Juliana turned her head slowly.