If this situation continues, Louisa and the coachman could die together. But, unfortunately, the man in front of her had a cruel hand that could do exactly that.

Erel wanted to stop it somehow, so she hurriedly knelt on her knees and begged, all the while grabbing the man’s collar that was in front of her.

“Please, I swear I won’t tell anyone what I saw today. So let me go.”

Of course, there was no chance that the man would listen to her plea. The first man he killed was begging with his hands, pleading for his life, just like her, but he ended up being dog food.

It was easy to kill two women and a servant on such a deserted mountain road. Knowing this well, Erel had no choice but to cling to him desperately and begged him. But, unfortunately, there was nothing else she could do.

“If I let you go.”

“What?”

“If I let you go, what will you do for me?”

The man who regained his original cynical smile asked. When asked unexpectedly, Erel stood in a daze for a moment and carefully opened her mouth.

“Money…..”

“Do I seem like I have no money?”

Erel’s shaky eyes scanned his luxurious suit, diamond cuffs on his wrist, and a heavy gold ring on his finger. To be honest, he looked richer than her noble self.

“W-Well then what….”

“Do I have to say that? It’s a sad suggestion.”

“I’ll write a deed if you want, so if I send it to you…….”

“Do you want me to use it as a kindling?”

It was a genuine dilemma. Louisa’s voice got closer and closer, but the man in front of her didn’t know how to back down like a barrier made of ice.

Not knowing what to do, Erel looked at him and soon realised. He was toying with her now. He looked down at her, who was touching his chest with a bitter smile.

He was enjoying her desperation and earnest plea as a snack.

He didn’t want to let her go from the beginning.

As soon as she realised this, her restless heart was broken helplessly. In particular, the negative level of favorability shown in red on the back of his head was even more frustrating.

“….Please.”

Her hand, which was holding his collar, slowly loosened. Tears welled up in her eyes in anticipation of the future tragedy.

“Don’t hurt anyone else. If you’re going to kill, just kill me only…….”

She never thought she would do him this favour. It would be much simpler to clean up a piece of a dead body than to clean up three pieces, and there would be no trouble.

“Who’s going to kill you?”

The man’s answer to my ears was unexpected. Surprised, Erel reflexively raised her head and asked again.

“What?”

“What a load of nonsense. Why would I kill you?”

The man who laughed as if it were absurd, spitted out coldly. She was agitated by his words that he wouldn’t kill her. She had heard it once again, even though she knew it was a trick.

“I was prepared to die…….”

The man squinted his eyes and repeated what Erel had just said. He stared at her with his eyelashes that fluttered like red butterflies and smiled slowly.

“So now, your life is mine.”

…… What’s wrong with the story? Erel was bewildered by his pace, which was like a blink of an eye. She thought she should do it now if she was going to refute it, but she was too scared of him to protest.

“My sweetheart, where are you? Please answer me….”

It was then, Louisa’s crying voice was heard right by the corner. Her heart thumped and sank at the voice that was getting closer to them.

She was afraid that Louisa wouldn’t have the luck of bumping into this man and surviving. Erel looked up at him with her eyes filled with fear, he then smiled unexpectedly and turned her shoulder.

“Go.”

The word she longed for fell from his lips. Despite finally being granted permission, Erel could not take a step.

Are you really letting me go?

Somehow, she went and naively said that she was going, but it terrified her that she might be backstabbed by a knife unknowingly.

“I told you to go. So, go.”

Looking back, shaking, she saw the man’s face was still smiling brightly. Of course, he was a man who would laugh like that even when he stabbed others in the back, but now she has no other choice but to believe what he says.

“M-Mother! I am here.”

Before Louisa came around the corner, Erel quickly ran. Fortunately, there was nothing that flew at her back to stab her.

“My baby!”

There was joy on Louisa’s face when she found Erel running. She had always walked with noble-like steps, but now she took off with her two feet and jumped. She swept her daughter’s back frantically, holding her in her arms and checking her daughter’s safety.

“Oh, my God, Lord. Thank you, thank you very much……!”

Louisa’s face brightened up when she realized Erel was fine and unharmed. Tears of relief and resentment, however, soon melted down.

“You wicked little shrew! Do you have any idea how worried I was?”

“I’m sorry, Mother.”

“Why’s a sick kid walking around, wandering around! You didn’t know it was dangerous. I thought my heart was going to stop if something would have happened.”

Louisa sobbed and slapped Erel’s forearm, but even with the beating, it didn’t hurt at all, but her train of thought was rather heartbreaking.

What if Louisa was like Raeyeon’s real parents? They would probably go home and say, “I’m glad you left on your own,” without looking for their own daughter even if she disappeared. Even if Raeyeon somehow went back home, they would have a serious look asking why she came back.

It was the first time in my life that she had received such affection. So even though she knew it wasn’t her own, the warm arms felt particularly special.

“I’m so sorry to have worried you. You didn’t come back, so I went out to find you and……”

Erel was almost speechless and sobbing. When she recalled what she had experienced and endured thus far, tears leaked out of her mouth.

“We’ve both come back safely, so that’s enough. Why are you crying like a fool? It will hurt your pretty face.”

Seeing her sobbing daughter, Louisa stopped reprimanding her and wiped her face affectionately. The love handed down from her fingertips was overflowing, so her tears stopped.

“Shh, don’t cry, my princess. Let’s go home now.”

“Yes, let’s go back together, Mother.”

Erel smiled with a red face and wiped her tears away. She was glad that Louisa was okay and that she was truly glad to be able to ride home with her.

However, she couldn’t help but feel a little heavy inside. It was because of the man’s face as if it were engraved in her mind.

You can’t let me go like this.

Instinct whispered like a warning, but Erel tried to ignore the voice. Even if the carriage heading home rattled as it did earlier, she didn’t get motion sickness. She just appreciated the fact that every time the wheels moved, she was further away from this nightmare place and from that scary man.

In the carriage returning home, Erel asked as she suddenly became curious.

“Mother, may I ask what took you so long at the pharmacy?”

“I don’t even want to talk about it, dear.”

Louisa, who recalled what she had gone through belatedly, was resentful. She also had her reasons for being late.

Of course, she didn’t encounter a cannibal monster like a Kitan on her way. She and the coachman headed to the right path, where there was really a pharmacy.

Seeing the sudden rush of Louisa and the coachman, the pharmacist was very flustered. He dragged their time to find the right products. Even so, Louisa and the coachman, who were frustrated by this, still refused to leave the place.

As if there’s something they shouldn’t see.

“What a strange man! Your behaviour was suspicious.”

Louisa exploded into anger, saying it was obvious that he was smuggling. She felt very anxious about her daughter, who was left alone in the carriage. She couldn’t do this or that because the pharmacist acted as if he would pick up the goods right away.

“Someone would think I was out there, asking for gold. It’s ridiculous!”

Louisa said she would file a complaint with the police as soon as she returned to the mansion. After hearing this, Erel let out a sigh as she thought she knew what the pharmacist was trying to hide.

You must be working with him.

Perhaps the pharmacist is one of his subordinates working under him. Therefore, he must have bided his time desperately because he was afraid that Louisa would find him working in a nearby warehouse.

Erel didn’t know any of this, so she went out of the wagon and ran into him.

The face was smiling meaningfully as he let her go. So it was even scarier.

Erel, who was out of her element, leaned back and closed her eyes. Her motion sickness didn’t recur, but she wanted to get that scary memory out of her head.

“Yes. You must be tired. Close your eyes, sweetheart.”

Louisa patted her shoulder with a friendly hand beside her. As she focused on her soft touch, her mind was relieved a little, and she felt drowsy.

Erel yawned and fell asleep shortly afterwards. So she didn’t notice the cold and sharp gaze that followed behind the carriage.

“Are you going to let her go?”

His henchmen looked at Erel’s distant wagon and asked. The red-haired man, Barkan, smiled bitterly and directed with his fingertips.

“No. Go after her.”