Volume 8 - Chapter 8 – The Escape (1/2)
08-08 The Escape
Turning back time a little, to the night before Elsa and Mine disappeared. In one of the rooms of the hotel in provincial city Ikasanaato.
“…”
After returning to her own room Elsa wept without making a sound.
She knew Marquis Aizen. Because his grounds neighbored her family’s and because he had also been her father’s superior officer, he visited at times.
He had no hair on his head and a plump figure. It was said that before he retired from military service he had a toned body, but Elsa couldn’t imagine it.
Previously when Beana was proposed to by Earl Kuzuma, Beana had asked Elsa how she felt about marriage with Jin.
Elsa remembered thinking at that time that while she did like Jin, marrying and living together with him was unimaginable.
“But that man is…”
She hated him. She hated being around him. She would hate being married to someone like that even more. Just being looked at by him gave her the chills. Elsa could do nothing but bite her lip and cry.
However, being born a daughter to a noble’s house, she had to obey her father’s orders. Not to mention that in the case of a marriage proposal beneficial to the house, everyone must’ve rejoiced. With the exception of just one person, Elsa herself.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door.
“…”
Elsa did not respond, the door softly opened, and Mine entered.
“Young lady.”
“…”
Despite Elsa not responding,
“You don’t have to say it. You most certainly hate this marriage with the Marquis, right?”
Mine said. Elsa reflexively looked at Mine’s face.
“I understand. Because you’re the young lady that I’ve watched over since you were a baby.”
Mine smiled kindly, and tenderly hugged Elsa’s head.
“Mine…”
In the end Elsa became unable to hold back her emotions and called Mine’s name. Simultaneously she began to cry a second time and,
“Mine, Mine…”
For a while Elsa stayed like that crying into Mine’s chest.
When Mine estimated that Elsa had calmed down a little, she spoke.
“Young lady, you have two paths available to you. One path is to stay as a noblewoman and marry the Marquis. The other one is to throw away your status as a noble and earn the freedom to decide for yourself.”
“Freedom, to decide, for myself?”
That stirred Elsa and she raised her head.
“Yes. Common people like me assuredly have less rules than nobles. That way there are also hardships, but it’s the difference between hardships pushed onto you and hardships you yourself chose. There’s no telling which one would be the best no matter what, but don’t you think that it’s as well to choose your own hardship?”
＊ ＊ ＊
Mine’s tempting took time.
The truth was that while waiting for the day when they would arrive in this town that was near her birthplace, Mine had secretly made many preparations. To run away with Elsa.
However, if Elsa were to sneak away of her own volition, Mine would gladly say there was no greater fortune she could wish for.
Using sophistry, using schemes, Mine was trying to make Elsa receptive for the idea.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Freedom, to decide, for myself.”
Once more Elsa repeated it.
“You may not meet Reinhardt-sama again. Because he’s a noble. But Jin-sama is a commoner. Maybe in one or two years if things calm down you could meet him.”
Mine added. You could call it clever. She skillfully provoked Elsa’s feelings of worry, or no, feelings of something like pining towards Jin.
“If it’s Jin-kun, then surely…”
Were she to meet with Jin, just Jin by himself could maybe arrange her to meet Reinhardt. Elsa held a hope like like that.
Then before she knew it, she nodded to Mine.
“I’ll go.”
Elsa said only that, then Mine hugged her once again and,
“Young lady! So you’ve firmly made up your mind. Mine will protect young lady even if costs me my life.”
She said and gently brushed Elsa’s back.
＊ ＊ ＊
That night, the two vanished.
They put on commoners’ clothing Mine had surreptiously prepared and snuck out of the back door.
No one at all was expecting Elsa to run away, and so there weren’t anything like lookouts keeping watch.
There were soldiers guarding the place, but it’s not like they were there all the time, instead they only made periodical patrols and because of that it hadn’t been difficult to run away while they were gone.
They left behind all accessories that would immediately reveal that she was a noble, bulky objects, and everything unnecessary. The dagger and the ring included.
Because she had taken the ring off, by the time they noticed it they were no longer in a situation where they could go back to get it. However, the truth was that Mine who knew about the items she had received from Jin had purposefully done that.
(But, just this is.)
Elsa had secretly hid the brooch she had got from Jin as a birthday present in her breast pocket.