CWMBR 57

Chapter 57

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*Past

Ain lowered his hand, which had been reaching for the curtain rod, and stared intently out the window. It wasn't his imagination. A rustling sound came from outside the window.

It was a rural village, after all, and he'd heard stories of wild animals—cats or dogs, for instance—roaming about occasionally. Could a wild animal be trying to get in through that open window?

Thinking this, Ain narrowed his eyes. He caught a glimpse of something grasping the window frame. It was barely visible, obscured by the frame, but it looked like fingers.

A person?

Ain's hand moved toward the cord again. He was here quietly recuperating while hiding his identity, but his parents' concern had waned since the beginning. It wouldn't be surprising at all if someone had come to harm him again, seizing this opportunity.

Even though he reached that conclusion in an instant, Ain didn't pull the cord. Because the sounds coming from outside that window were extremely chaotic. There were also sounds of someone struggling and grunting.

If it were an assassin or kidnapper, they wouldn't appear so carelessly, giving themselves away like that...

While he hesitated for a moment, someone finally revealed themselves beyond the window.

……………Well, "appeared" might be a bit of an exaggeration. Only the top of their head and eyes were peeking out.

Ain frowned when their eyes met those round, green pupils.

"Who's there?"

"Oh... Gyaaah!"

The head dropped down with a thud. Judging by the small thump that followed, it seemed the person had been hanging from the window frame and had fallen. While Ain’s window was quite high, if someone had to hang from the frame, it was clearly a child.

"…………"

A whimpering sound came from outside the window, followed soon after by the sound of rustling. Then, once again, a pair of green eyes peeked out.

Ain, who had been watching the situation intently with narrowed brows, asked sharply.

"Who's there?"

The child's eyes widened slightly at Ain’s question, tinged with wariness.

"I'm... um, Mom said I shouldn't tell my name to strangers."

"What?"

What kind of stupid thing is that?

While Ain momentarily lost his words, the child rolled her eyes and began seriously exploring the room. All the while, she kept letting out exclamations of wonder.

"But who are you? Do you live here? This place is huge."

Judging by the voice, it was a girl. And honestly, those green eyes didn't seem to hold even a speck of danger. But then again, the villa manager who had kidnapped Ain had also been a woman with such a pleasant appearance that you'd never suspect her of being a kidnapper. Just because this was a young girl didn't mean she couldn't be a threat. Especially now, when Ain was incapacitated by drug side effects and couldn't move on his own. Subduing and killing someone like Ain was something even a child like that could easily do.

His nerves were on edge.

"Did you come to kill me?"

The girl, who had been looking around the room, turned to Ain at the question.

"What? Why would I kill you?"

"Kidnapping me won't do you any good."

"What are you talking about? Kidnapping?"

Just looking into her eyes, he could tell the girl was utterly bewildered. Her eyes revealed her emotions so completely, it was the first time he'd seen it, and Ain began to doubt whether his own understanding was correct. Watching Ain, who still couldn't shake his wariness, the girl blinked her eyes and suddenly gasped.

"Ah, did you get kidnapped by the Snow Queen?"

"The Snow Queen?"

"Yes!"

Who was the Snow Queen? Ain rapidly scanned the genealogies of the royal families he knew in his mind. It was common for royalty to prefer nicknames derived from popular era names instead of their given names. However, to Ain’s knowledge, no queen bore the epithet 'Snow Queen'. Not even among the previous queens.

Ain pointed out with certainty.

"There's no such queen."

Perhaps "Snow Queen" was the criminal's alias. Or maybe it was their own secret code.

When Ain glared at the girl with a skeptical look, the girl retorted in shock.

"You don't know who the Snow Queen is?"

Taking Ain’s silence as an affirmative answer, the girl narrowed her brows and spoke in a tone of disbelief.

"You really don't know the Snow Queen? She's been performing at the outdoor theater since last week!"

A performance?

Even then, unable to shake his doubts, Ain narrowed his eyes. He hadn't paid any attention to outdoor performances or anything like that, so he didn't know much about it.

Shock and disbelief filled the girl's large eyes. Blinking rapidly, unable to continue speaking, she then said seriously in a voice that had grown intensely grave.

"They said it'll be on until the day after tomorrow, so you can still see it! Should I tell you where it is?"

It seemed that the girl was genuinely talking about the outdoor performance of 'The Snow Queen'. Ain, who had been looking at her with a disinterested gaze, replied in a somewhat blunt tone.

"Why would I want to see something like that?"

The girl gasped at Ain’s words.

"Why would you watch it? Haven't you ever seen the play?"

"Do I have to?"

Ain’s reflexive retort made it easy for him to see the pity in the girl's eyes as she looked at him.

Pity? For Ain, who had only ever encountered that word in dictionaries, it was truly shocking. Even in this situation, where he was recovering from illness, no one had ever called him pitiful. Instead, everyone was always saying, 'You have such formidable parents, you have to endure it.'

"You're really strange."

"What about you?"

As if not even hearing Ain's irritable retort, the girl chattered away to herself.

"The Snow Queen is really fun."

Her attitude seemed to imply pity for him, as if he were the one missing out on the fun. Ain glared at her with displeasure.

What he didn't know, he didn't need to know. Therefore, whatever this girl was going on about—The Snow Queen or whatever—was something he didn't need to know.

"So what?"

"Goodness, you're just like Kai."

"Who's Kai?"

The girl seemed in no mood to listen to Ain. She grew intensely serious, groaning and fretting over something before suddenly lighting up as if she'd made a decision.

"Hmm. Got it. I'll look into the schedule for you!"

Without even waiting for Ain’s reply, she let go of the window frame and dashed off. Even after the rustling footsteps faded completely, Ain stared blankly at the empty window for a long while. Then, suddenly, he scowled.

Where did that idiot come from? For the first time, Ain began to doubt the security of this mansion.

Was everything that happened yesterday just a dream?

As if to mock that fleeting thought, the girl reappeared at nearly the same hour.

"You."

"I came to give you this! Luckily, the date is still two days away!"

The girl still only peeked out with her eyes. Despite that, she grunted and struggled, then practically tossed what she was holding over the open window and onto the bed. It was paper, but from Ain’s position sitting on the bed, he couldn't properly see its contents.

"The place and time are written there!"

The fluttering paper seemed to catch on the window frame, but soon fell helplessly, fluttering down.

As he stared at the fallen paper in bewilderment, the girl said in a cheerful tone.

"You have to go see it. Well, I'll be off then. Bye!"

Ain, who had been fixated on the paper, belatedly looked up, but the girl's head had already vanished down below.

"Hey!"

The sound of her footsteps pattering away grew faint.

It wasn't until much later, almost dinnertime, that Ain realized the paper the girl had left behind was a 'performance pamphlet'. The girl had genuinely been chattering about a show currently running.

The servant who came to check on Ain and bring him dinner saw the pamphlet lying on the floor and tilted her head in confusion. When Ain said, "Someone left it here," the servant assumed it had been left by someone working in the mansion. Ain didn't bother to correct the misunderstanding.

"I'll dispose of these."

The employee picked up the pamphlet without asking and left. Ain didn't stop the employee either, but just before falling asleep, lying in the dark room, he briefly imagined what might have been written on that pamphlet. Having never encountered one before, it was hard to imagine.

Somehow, he felt that girl would show up again. If so, she'd probably ask about the pamphlet too.

Maybe he should have at least skimmed the contents? It was just a single sheet of paper; skimming it would have taken no more than a few minutes. Ain caught himself thinking that and startled himself, pulling the blanket up over his head. The feeling of being dragged into that stupid kid's mess was thoroughly unpleasant, so he closed his eyes tightly and tried to sleep.