Chapter 229
“Forget about it. We’re safe. Duke Krygen can’t even imagine you’re here. The imperial search parties won’t come near this place.”
Anyway, they made a safe nest, out of Duke Krygen’s sight.
It was a stroke of luck that Arzena Krygen, the owner of the Lettern villa, willingly offered to hide them through Dia.
At first, both Macy and Anna were shocked and reluctant, but Macy was under an imperial decree—wanted nationwide—and couldn’t flee to another country.
Moreover, there was no place in Obelit beyond the Krygen family’s influence. So Dia’s idea to hide within the family grounds was reasonable.
Macy refused until she spoke with Arzena Krygen, and after that conversation, she accepted it.
Above all, Macy could use the entire mansion, and Anna could work as her maid and take care of her. It was the best possible arrangement.
The gifted but ill-fated painter was a gentle and kind friend to Anna.
They wished her happiness above all, but Macy chose death to escape misfortune. Anna knew watching her friend die was painful, but she understood it was the best option.
“Macy, want me to read to you?”
“Yes.”
Anna’s only wish was to stay by Macy’s side as long as possible—hoping Macy would at least feel happy in her final moments.
Anna helped Macy into bed and sat beside her, letting Macy rest her head on her shoulder as she read aloud.
It felt like returning to the old days—before Macy was hurt by harsh fate, when they dreamed of a bright future and smiled clearly.
* * *
“I’m going out.”
“Okay.”
Macy sat in her wheelchair by the window, gazing blankly outside. The Lettern mansion was surrounded by a birch forest, giving a peaceful atmosphere.
Soon, snowflakes would bloom on those bare branches. Lettern village was known for heavy snowfall in winter.
Despite initially opposing it, Macy had come to like this place.
Though her body was stiff and she couldn’t move a finger, no one troubled her here, and the silence was so deep that even if someone came and went, it wouldn’t be noticed.
Knock knock.
“Macy, it’s me.”
“Yes, come in.”
A familiar voice came with the knocking. Though someone entered, Macy didn’t even turn her head and was barely moving.
But the visitor, knowing Macy’s situation, did not find it strange.
“Madam Krygen, you’ve arrived.”
Arzena Krygen, too, used a wheelchair like Macy.
Arzena was the one who changed Macy’s mind about coming here, though Macy initially disliked it.
Macy understood Dia’s choice of settling here, but was uneasy knowing Arzena was deeply involved with Eren’s secret.
She couldn’t fathom why Arzena wanted to help her.
Dia suggested they talk with Arzena first, and Macy met her.
“Eren recently sent me some tea leaves. They contain a poison not yet known to the public—one that slowly kills a person.”
Arzena’s first impression was of a noble and graceful woman. Though she looked thin and sickly, she was still beautiful.
“Though we’re all dying, I cannot tolerate insubordination.”
Her gentle face bore a grave dignity—a presence that compelled respect without kneeling. Though not resembling Eren, that pressure was strikingly similar.
“Have I answered your questions about why I want to help Macy?”
“But what if you suddenly change your mind?”
Perhaps because of that, Macy remained guarded.
She suspected that if not for the Lettern estate, she’d have nowhere to go—and that Arzena might hand her back to Eren after reassuring her.
“Personally, I feel sorry for Macy. Long ago, I brought Eren with me to see Macy for the first time. I wonder if things might have been different had I not gone then.”
Macy had heard Eren had visited her in her youth—but never that it was with Arzena.
“What kind of situation?”
“I don’t think Eren would have become so twisted.”
Arzena likely didn’t know everything that happened in the basement. Macy found it strangely comforting.
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