Chapter 37
Fortunately, Paiki didn’t press further. Aniella breathed an inward sigh of relief and vowed to be more careful with her words from now on.
“Be as lazy as possible. Understood?”
Even as he said that, Paiki left a new sketchbook on top of the used one. He might be a man with questionable morals, but in aspects like this, he could be kind.
Aniella beamed and opened the new sketchbook.
“What should I draw next?”
Paiki’s words about not being diligent had long been erased from her mind. She looked around the bedroom. She had already drawn most of the things there several times and was bored of them.
As she pondered deeply, a good idea came to her and she immediately started sketching. It was difficult to draw while observing, so she had to rely on her memory.
IV.
It was when Aniella was nearly finished with her third sketchbook. Paiki called for her.
“From now on, you can go anywhere you like, except for the rooms marked with an X. That includes both inside the mansion and outside.”
Paiki pointed a finger towards the window. Surprised, Aniella’s eyes widened as she stared outside. Did that mean she wasn’t confined to this room for the entire two months?
“Won’t it interfere with your research if I go out?”
“Just don’t leave the forest.”
Did that mean she could leave the forest?
Aniella thought to herself.
“What if I get homesick and run away? Wouldn’t that ruin all your research up until now?”
“Do you have the courage to run away to be saying that?”
Paiki smiled a relaxed smile, as if daring her to try.
Aniella felt offended at being called a coward. Of course, she acknowledged it was true, but it was still too much to be mocked like that.
Shooting him a sidelong glare, Aniella strode out the door. The corridor walls were gray; the carpet on the floor was plush but also a dull, dark reddish color. There wasn’t a single common decorative item, making it unbearably bleak.
It was quite different from the bedroom, which had seemed rather cozy and warm. If light hadn’t been coming through the narrow windows, she might have mistaken it for a path leading to a dungeon.
‘They should at least hang some picture frames,’ Aniella thought as she passed through the corridor to the entrance. She opened the door and stepped out, where lush, living grass replaced the plush carpet. Sunlight streamed down from above, and the breeze rustled, caressing her skin.
It was the freshness of nature, felt for the first time in a long while. It felt like healing the hurt from his annoying attitude. Aniella decided to forgive Paiki.
It might seem like forgiveness came too easily, but this gift was worth it. It seemed she could endure the remaining period well.
“The wind feels nice.”
She said with a bright smile, but Paiki’s face stiffened. With a peculiar expression, he moved his lips slightly and said, “I see.”
After that day, Aniella went outside whenever she had the chance. She went out to explore the surroundings of the mansion she had been staying in and transferred the scenes into her drawings. Having always drawn the same objects inside the room, drawing new things was incredibly enjoyable.
As her surroundings became familiar, her gaze naturally turned to the vast forest enclosing the mansion.
“If I just go past there, I can escape this place…”
She could see a path, likely formed naturally by people coming and going. She hadn’t seen anyone around yet, but it meant there were definitely people who passed through here.
Standing barefoot on the path, her heart gradually wavered. It wasn’t that she wanted to run home immediately. If she didn’t complete the two months, she wouldn’t get the money. Letting all that time go to waste was absolutely unacceptable.
It was better not to even look at this path. But then she remembered Paiki, who had dismissed her, saying if she had the courage to run away, she should try, and before she knew it, her legs were heading down the path.
“I’m a woman who can act when I need to.”
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