Translator: Nox

Chapter 24

I Will Save My Father

I Will Save My Father, Episode 25

Episode 25

“…Number 4…?”

Even the auctioneer, who had been raising the price with an excited voice, now looked toward Marian and asked for her intent.

Marian took a deep breath. She fanned herself to regain her composure, but because the connecting pin had snapped, the ribs and feathers fell apart in an unsightly mess.

“Honey, maybe you should stop…”

Her husband took the fan from her, glancing at her cautiously. Having married into the family, he was always anxious about upsetting Marian.

“…….”

A pair of pearl earrings worth a hundred million—no, since they were fakes, they might not even be worth a million Kona—had reached a price of one billion.

‘What kind of idiot would buy those for that price!’

Only Raytan. If so, who would take the blame for the counterfeit?

“At this rate, your annex will be mine in four years, Sister.”

Her hands, hidden beneath the table, trembled violently. Her fingernails dug into her skin, drawing blood.

Marian gritted her teeth and forced her lips to move.

“1.2 billion.”

At her words, everyone’s gaze shifted to one man.

Dressed sophisticatedly from head to toe, the man maintained his composure and leisure even in this suffocating situation.

The corners of Raytan’s mouth twitched. A short laugh escaped him, but it was immediately buried by his following words, so no one noticed.

“I’ll give up. It’s too expensive.”

Raytan set down the numbered paddle he was holding.

“…The Shushubia Archipelago Pearl Earrings have been sold to Number 4 for 1.2 billion!”

The auctioneer’s gavel struck the wooden block three times.

Thud.

Yosel excused himself, claiming he needed the restroom.

Thud.

Raytan shrugged at Priest Holt, who was offering words of consolation.

Thud.

Marian sat motionless, suppressing the rage boiling up to her throat, and glared at the stage where the auction item sat.

‘It’s not over yet…!’

The fake earrings were now in Marian’s possession, and 1.2 billion Kona was gone.

Raytan and Yosel.

Her anger was directed at both, but the fury surging toward Raytan was greater. Since things had come to this, she had to at least see that nonchalant face of his crumble.

Only then would she feel even a little better.

‘Any moment now!’

The maid she had intentionally let escape from the punishment room would appear on that stage and plead her grievances about what Raytan had done to her.

And those words would reach the ears of Holt, a high priest of the Aubout Church.

Marian steadied her breathing and waited for the maid to appear.

However—.

“She’s not coming out…?”

Even as the auction item was moved off-stage and the announcement of the auction’s conclusion rang out, the stage remained quiet.

The numbered paddle fell hollowly from Marian’s hand.

---

“I’ll withdraw the knights and have a servant open the door for you. No one will catch you on your way to the auction hall.”

Just as Marian had told her, as late afternoon arrived, the door to the punishment room slowly opened.

Anne was hiding behind the door. If she pretended to be gone, the servant would come inside to look for her.

Anne even held her breath, fearing the sound of her breathing might be heard. She gripped the tin kettle tightly in her hand.

“Come out, Anne.”

“…….”

“Why no answer? …Good grief. Maids these days have it easy. Instead of reflecting on her sins in the punishment room, she’s just sleeping.”

The servant walked toward the rusted bed. Anne had stuffed straw under the blankets to make it look like someone was sleeping there. It was at the moment the servant reached for the covers.

“Wake up. The Mistress—”

Thud!

Seizing the moment, Anne struck the servant’s defenseless back with all her might using the kettle.

The servant collapsed onto the bed and lost consciousness. Anne panted as she stared at the servant’s back.

“…Mistress?”

He had said ‘Mistress,’ not ‘Young Lady.’ The only person referred to as Mistress in the Trabel Count’s household was the Countess.

A question arose, but the deed was already done. There was no time to delay. Anne fled the punishment room and slipped out of the main house.

Sunset was approaching.

Sshhh.

The surrounding leaves rustled in the wind, sounding like falling rain, and the distant cries of crows echoed through the air.

Anne hesitated for a moment in front of the main house.

To the right was the banquet hall where the auction was underway. To the left was a passage through which she could secretly escape the Trabel estate.

‘…I have no choice but to trust it.’

Anne recalled the contents of the note she had torn up and swallowed last night.

---

Plan: If Marian instructs you to do something, do nothing.

※ If you want to escape the Trabel estate, do so. Your younger brother is at the Moonflower Inn in Hisport Town.

(Important) Bury ten thousand Kona under the peeing boy statue in the backyard of the Moonflower Inn.

(Important) Do not tell anyone about this note. Chew and swallow it so the contents cannot be seen.

(Escape map of Count Trabel’s estate)

---

The gold coins Marian promised were just gold coins.

No matter how much money she had, it wouldn’t cure Jeffrey’s illness. What Anne needed was a miracle, and yesterday, she had glimpsed a part of that miracle.

“Eek…! The blanket is fluttering…!”

“The straw is dancing…!”

“…Are you… Lord Aubaut?”

She had definitely been alone in the room.

Inanimate objects moving as if they were alive. It was reminiscent of the power of the god Aubaut, the creator of life.

She had never seen anything like it before.

If following the words of that note could cure Jeffrey’s illness—.

‘I’d give my life, let alone ten thousand Kona.’

Anne turned and ran toward the right.

She ran for a long time until she was out of breath. The entrance to the deserted hunting grounds came into view.

If she went there, she would find the secret passage out of Trabel’s inner walls.

“…….”

The sun had completely set. Large trees stood eerily clustered at the entrance of the hunting grounds.

As Anne ran toward them, something moving entered her field of vision.

She thought it might be the shadow of a tree, but as she got closer, the shape became clear. It was a person.

I mustn’t be caught. I have to run.

Anne turned around. She tried to bolt, but her feet wouldn’t move.

‘Where to?’

It was because the vast Trabel estate she had just run from filled her sight. From the sloping hill, she could see the two long, high walls surrounding Trabel. There was no end in sight. To Anne, they felt like a cage trapping her.

“Don’t go. I don’t need medicine.”

Jeffrey. I—.

The area near the hunting grounds was quiet and dark. Small sounds were clearer than during the day.

In Anne’s ears, she heard her own ragged breathing and the sound of footsteps. And then.

Click.

‘Oh, god.’

Anne despaired at the sound coming from the person descending from the hunting ground entrance. She knew it well because she had heard it incessantly over the past few days. It was the sound that occasionally occurred when the knights guarding the punishment room moved.

It was the sound of a sword hanging at the waist clashing against a metal ring.

“…….”

The footsteps stopped right behind her back. Anne bit her lips. If she didn’t, she felt like she would burst into tears.

Please, Lord Aubaut, take my life and save Jeffrey.

Sensing the end, Anne slowly turned around.