Chapter 49

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 49

Chapter Title: The Secret Maid of the Count's Family (2)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

I left the mansion and headed to the spot where he had been standing just moments before. As I shone the lamp in my hand around the area, a fierce wind suddenly blew in. Dry leaves tumbled across the ground, and the lamp creaked and swayed, flicking its light this way and that.

Then something caught my eye. There were droplets on the ground, like traces of spilled water. But it wasn't just one or two drops—they stretched out like a trail leading somewhere.

"What is this?"

I approached curiously and examined it closely. It wasn't water. The color was dark. Not because of the shadows. I bent down and touched it, and it stained my fingertips. When I held my fingers up to the light to check, I gasped in horror.

It was blood. A trail of blood.

My shocked gaze followed the blood trail ahead. It led toward the corner behind the annex. I swallowed hard and straightened up. I tried to calm my pounding heart. This felt ominous. Should I call for someone?

Then I remembered Lucas, whom I'd just parted from. He wasn't anywhere in the mansion. Could it be? After wrestling with the chaotic thought for a moment, I steeled myself and took slow steps forward.

I shone the lamp on the ground where the blood drops had fallen. As I neared the corner, the drops grew more frequent.

The blowing wind whipped my hair ribbon across my face. I quickly tied it back short and focused intently on the corner. Amid the wind's howl, I heard a strange noise mixed in. Voices...?

By the time that thought crossed my mind, I'd reached the corner. I swallowed again and took a quiet step forward. I turned my body and shone the lamp's light ahead.

At that instant, a powerful gust hit me, forcing my eyes shut. My clothes billowed in the wind, and the lamp shook wildly, disorienting me.

I raised a hand to shield myself from the wind and barely cracked my eyes open. In the darkness, the lamp's flame flickered erratically. The shaking light swept across the ground, the wall, the figure standing before me, and the shape slumped beneath it.

Then a strong force smashed into the lamp.

"Aaaah!"

I screamed instinctively. As my body toppled backward, the lamp slipped from my hand and shattered on the ground. Darkness swallowed everything before my eyes.

I frantically groped around for the lamp. But all my hands found were shards of the broken glass. I clutched one anyway. And I kept screaming at the top of my lungs, hoping someone would hear and come running.

That's when something seized my ankle. My body slammed flat. I thrashed wildly, trying to shake off the grip. My screams turned to sobs. I swung the shard in my hand wildly through the air.

"Aaah! Get away!"

"...Po... la..."

"Aaah! Aaaah!"

Save me! Don't do this! Get away! I shrieked, kicking my legs frantically. I struggled for my life. Then, as I tried to scramble backward on my hands and knees, a familiar voice reached my ear.

"Paula."

The strained voice snapped me to attention. I whipped my head around. Tears of terror dripped down my face.

As my screams died down, the wind's roar filled my ears. Faint within it, I heard my name called. Clear as day.

"Lord Lucas?"

"..."

My eyes adjusted to the dark, revealing a rounded silhouette. I called his name again, but no answer came. Instead, ragged breathing grew clearer. Listening closely, I slowly reached out and felt the hand gripping my ankle. Something wet soaked my palm.

"Lord Lucas? Is that really you?"

"Pau... Paula..."

"Oh my God. Lord Lucas!"

I crawled toward him. Lucas lay collapsed on the ground. He'd been curled up, desperately reaching out to grab me.

I tried to check his face, but the darkness made it hard to see. Panicking, I touched his face with trembling hands, then his body. When my hand reached one side, it came away soaked. I tried to make out what it was, but in the pitch black, I couldn't tell.

I tried to lift him up, but his limp body was too heavy. Sitting him in my lap, I managed to prop up only his upper body. But without strength, he slipped, and I had to lean him almost fully against me.

All the while, my hands grew wetter. When I felt his abdomen where his hand pressed, I realized something was surging out.

I slowly raised my wet hand. Still hard to see. But instinct told me what it was. The blood trail on the ground, the constant drip. Blood. It was his blood soaking my hands. Blood flowing from his stomach.

Horrified, I pressed down on the spot with my hand. But the blood seeped relentlessly through my fingers.

"Wh-what is this? What the hell happened?"

"Pau... haa... Paula."

"Yes, Lord Lucas. It's me. I'm here. What happened?"

"Haa... haa..."

His ragged breaths brushed my ear. He leaned his face on my shoulder, exhaling labored gasps. But those breaths were fragile, on the verge of stopping. His condition was dire.

Who did this? Who the hell...?

"Lu-Lord Lucas. Stay with me."

I shook his shoulders. He responded by slowly rolling his eyes toward me. His gaze lacked focus. Seeing it, I burst into tears.

"Hic... Stay awake. You can't sleep."

"Why... haa, why didn't you... haa, send... him."

"Hic... Sob."

"I was... waiting..."

He mumbled. His voice was tiny, about to fade. I slapped his cheeks. I screamed for him to wake up. I was terrified he'd drift off.

"Don't sleep. Stay awake."

"Every day... I waited... In his place... you'd send... haa... I waited... haa, ugh, wait... hic!"

He groaned and twisted in pain. I held tight as he tried to slip from my arms. His breathing in my ear was too rough. The blood kept flowing without stop.

I looked around. I shouted for help, but this was a secluded spot even normally—no one was nearby.

Tears kept blurring my vision. I wiped my eyes frantically, scanning desperately for anyone who might pass and save him.

"Don't sleep. Please don't. Stay awake."

"It was... so nice... I really..."

"Lord Lucas. Don't sleep."

His mumbling voice faded weakly. I slapped his cheeks to keep him from drifting off. His skin felt cold under my hands. A living person, yet so cold. It terrified me.

I had to get him treated fast.

I couldn't waste time here.

I draped his arm over my shoulder and mustered all my strength to lift him. But dragging his limp body wasn't easy. He couldn't even take a single step without collapsing.

I hoisted him onto my back and started walking. His dead weight was still too much. I barely managed a few steps before tumbling forward. Pain shot through me, but I scrambled up, slung him back on, and dragged on. Yet again, I fell after just a short distance.

My heart raced with anxiety. All I could think was that I needed to get him to someone who could help, fast. After a few more failed attempts to carry him, I gave up and instead reached from behind, grabbing his upper body and pulling. His form scraped across the ground.

"You can't die. Please don't die."

I poured every ounce of strength into dragging him forward. Sweat mixed with tears on my face. But I didn't give up. Muttering like a madwoman, I took one step, then another. He was too heavy, and I was too weak to haul a grown man. I hated myself for it.

Please, hurry!

"We have to go faster. You can't die. Don't sleep. We have to go."

"...La."

"We have to go. Hurry. Hurry."

"La..."

His trembling hand clasped mine. Feeling it, I stopped.

We had emerged from the darkness into the moonlight, and the trail of his blood followed the path I'd dragged him.

I immediately checked on him. His face was deathly pale—like a corpse. With shaking fingers, I held them under his nose. A faint breath tickled them.

I clamped both hands over my mouth to stifle the sob. My hands were covered in blood. So much it might be fatal.

"Lord Lucas. Lord Lucas."

I called his name through tears. I begged him not to sleep. I longed for him to call me as always. But instead, his lips moved faintly, as if trying to speak. Realizing it, I gently laid him down and pressed my ear close to his mouth.

Between ragged, choked breaths, labored words emerged.

"Run... run away. Quick. Run... brother. Pau... Paula."

"Lord Lucas. I'm right here."

I gripped his slightly raised hand. He fumbled for mine in return. His fluttering eyes finally focused on me. Our gazes met, and he blinked once. Relieved, I sobbed openly.

That was the moment. A presence stirred in the darkness.

Footsteps. My face froze at the sound. I turned my heavy head toward it, and something glinted in the shadows. It sharpened, wavering into clarity.

Lucas squeezed my hand hard. My eyes flicked back to him.

"Go. Run... now. Go."

"..."

He pleaded desperately, but my body wouldn't move. My legs felt like lead. Frozen in terror, I couldn't twitch a finger. Fear crushed me. I'm scared. So scared. Someone, save us.

Watching me, Lucas suddenly writhed. A groan escaped him. He looked in agony. Yet he braced one hand on the ground, clutched his stomach with the other, and struggled to sit up.

His trembling hand gripped mine tightly. My dazed eyes met his shaking brown ones. Desperation poured from them into me.

A thin tear trailed from the corner of his eye.

"Go."

"..."

"Hurry... go. Go. Go—"

The hand holding me finally shoved me away.

"Run!"

The moment I saw his face twist like he was crying, my body moved on instinct. I forced strength into my heavy legs, stood, and spun around. Ignoring the approaching footsteps, just as he wanted, I poured everything into running forward, eyes fixed ahead.

'I'll never forget this moment for the rest of my life.'

As darkness swallowed me once more, I recalled Lucas standing before the mansion, looking at me. His eyes curved softly with kindness, his lips lifting in a smile that considered the other person. He always smiled at me like that.

Had he smiled like that then, too? And was he smiling at me now, as I ran away?

Tears streamed down my face.

All the way, I prayed desperately that Lucas wouldn't fall asleep.