Vol 3 Chapter 34 (1/2)

Chapter 3: Captive

Part 4: Pg 247 - 271

When I enter the room, she bounces up from the bed and turns those blue eyes of hers towards me

“What a relief You’ve safely awakened,” I blurt out thanks to how relieved I am

When she was brought to the mansion, she was completely out of it Supposedly she had just been chemically induced into a sleep, but I hadn’t been able to rest easy without seeing her awake like this

There was so I needed to tell her now that she ake

“Katarina-saize for our violent conduct towards you However, I pledge to safely bring you ho is over, so please live here until then,” I apologize, bowing towards Prince Jared’s fiancée, Katarina Claes

I knew perfectly well that even though I was doing this for Ian-sa a noble lady with no involveh I kneouldn’t be forgiven, I thought that I ought to begin by apologizing

After listening to ht for a while Eventually, the word “… Kidnapping…” slips from her mouth

I was very surprised I hadn’t thought that she would realize the situation she was in when I hadn’t yet explained her anything… according to the ru infinitely forgiving like a saint, but it seems that in reality she was also pretty capable

“I aize again Though I of course understand that there was no way I would be forgiven

After listening to oes deep into thought again

“Um, so about how much will my ransom be?” she says

“…Ran - som?” I ask, unsure what she meant

“Yes Ranso About howa severe expression and puffing out her chest

“… Ah, no We do not plan to ask for that kind of ht that this kidnapping was motivated by monetary motives

“Uh… you don’t want money? Then why did you kidnap me?”

It’s just as Katarina says Without knohy she was kidnapped, she would probably be worried and unable to rest easy

“… That is…”

I was the one to drag her into thisthat, I tried to open my mouth…

“Selena-sama, we’ve confirmed Katarina-sama is safe, so let us return your roo a hand on ht, I really needed to return to my room

“Rufus… you’re right Well then, I will be returning to my room”

“Um, wait a second…”

“I’ Katarina-sa, just ask Lana She’ll do whatever she can,” I say before leaving the roos were hazy and unclear

Once I leave Katarina and return to my room, I zoned out for a little while for some reason My memory felt a bit murky at parts

While I was in that state, lunchti befitting her station for Katarina After learning that she had apparently eaten in her roouilty

Katarina is probably overwhelht to a strange place like this and being shut into her roo the reason why

Although she looked fine when she was in front of me – she seems to be as brave as the ru of thatI decided to do myself

I need to make sure that Katarina can at the very least enjoy herself the best she can I’ll prepare the highest quality food for dinner

When Rufus and I enter the room that had been prepared for dinner, Katarina is already sitting on a chair

“Katarina-sa well?”

“Ah, yes, thanks to you”

“I a particularly delicious for lunch, and had you eat in your size for what had happened in the afternoon and lower my head

“No no Really, I’ on a brave face There’s no way she’d be fine after getting kidnapped for so forced into a roo her too far My heart aches even worse

“… I’ you push yourself”

It’s pretty pathetic that I can’t do anything but repeatedly apologize like this

Even after we began eating, Katarina acted like absolutely nothing rong I greorried and told her that she didn’t need to force herself to eat, but she just smiled at me in response She even askedthat I had barely touched h much worse than I am… Katarina is truly like a saint, just as the rumours say

When ere alain

“Uis over, but what in the world do you ’?”

It was to be expected – there’s no way it wasn’t bothering her She probably felt terribly helpless fro stressed about it this whole time

And yet she desperately pretended to be fine… uilty I don’t knohat to do At this point, the best thing to do is to tell her everything

“Yes, of course YouAt this rate, you won’t be able to sleep…The truth is, I brought you here because…”

Immediately after I say those words, my butler Rufus cuts them off

“Young mistress Selena, dinner is over, so let us return to your room Katarina-sa a hand on ly that I shouldn’t tell her everything after all

… That’s right, I shouldn’t tell her everything I should return to my room, like Rufus says

I need to listen to what he says – after all, he’s a kind person who taught even someone like me a way to help Ian

“… Yes, of course Then, Katarina-saht”

I need to return to s seeain

It seeain I wonder if it’s just ination that I seem to do this a lot nowadays

When I cohttime My room was completely dark too When I think that I shouldat me in worry “Are you okay?” she had asked me… Katarina-sama!

For sootten about her after I returned to irl as kind to even the person who kidnapped her and trapped her in a roootten her? I’m really the absolute worst

She’s probably tossing and turning, unable to sleep in her worry and stress…

I need to go to her, I need to be by her side so I can do what little I can to help her

I quickly slip out ofthis late hour when everyone’s asleep As I quietly walk through the dark mansion, I feel like my head clears for some reason

When I reach Katarina’s roo in front of it It was Lana, aand was now serving Katarina

She had a very serious expression on her face – she see the entrance for quite some time But when I ask her whether she had been here all this time, she responds that she had just woken up

When I tell Lana that I want to see Katarina, she tells me to wait a little bit then enters the room And then, after a short while Lana says “Come in,” so I enter the room

“… Selena?” Katarina says in a somewhat dazed voice

“Yes Katarina-saht But I was just so worried that you were having a sleepless night, filled with unease…”

When I draw near, I see Katarina rubbing her eyes She was probably crying… what have I done?

I decided then to tell her everything to try to ease the unease and worry in her heart, even if only by a little

“… After dinner, for soly that I shouldn’t tell you why But now I think that it’s really not right to tell you nothing after all…”

“Uht ht, Selena-sama, you knohy?”

“Yes… I a, after all”

I begin explaining everything to an extremely shocked Katarina

“I aht to the throne by kidnapping you”

“… Forcing Jared to renounce his right to the throne?”

“Yes To have Ian-sa…”

It happened a fewman called Rufus Brode was introduced to our household by distant relatives He was a splendid young ood at his work, and would even serve nored by the rest of the household He would take my failures in stride, back me up, then talk to me kindly

Before I knew it, he had become my confidant

After hearing ofdesire to help Ian, no matter how, he told me “I shall aid you with your desires”

Then he thought up a plan… to force Ian’s rival princes to renounce their rights to the throne, allowing Ian to beco

When I first heard that plan, I thought it was an atrocious thing I couldn’t possibly carry out But as Rufus passionately re else I could do to help hian to accept the plan

And so, I decided to begin by setting the plan to kidnap Katarina in to motion

I told Katarina aboutback only the things about Rufus After all, if I told her about everything Rufus did for me, Rufus would have to shoulder the blauilty to let that happen

After listening to ht for some time

“I really don’t think that Jared would renounce his right to the throne even if you use me…” she finally says