Chapter 133 (1/2)
The Path of the Dead (3) – Final
Placing both her hands on the wall, she rested her ear against it and closed her eyes
“…Ahh”
The voice was calm and subdued People often called that voice of his 'cold', but Liselotte had always liked the sound of it
– Lord Alois…
Liselotte i on the other side of this wall Surely, he had his back turned to her He'd be folding his ar to the sound of his own voice with a serious face
Without the uise it as silver, his hair must have reverted to that pale white colour that was his own His eyes uish his family's centuries of separation from the royal house His skin would be pale, his body much too lean He could never have known just how ht no matter how much he ate
Just as it? One day when she called hiot so upset Really, just as that? Perhaps it hen they were back in Mohnton Since then, there was a hard ban on ever coain
But, to Liselotte, he would always be a flower Without being able to choose where it sprouted orflower She only wanted to protect it fro winds, but in the end there was nothing Liselotte could do
“Next time…”
There wouldn't be a next time
She knew that, but that cheery voice still came from her mouth Liselotte was his shadow So, until the very end, she had to do what she could to support him
– What's more…
“…If we can ain in another life…”
She wasn't lying It wasn't some sort of trick In her heart, Liselotte's words were true
“We'll definitely go through with the wedding properly! You better not forget, okay!?”
“Yeah, yeah That's fine, we'll do it”
“It's a proht!”
As she pressed her ear against the wall even more, Liselotte poured her heart into her voice She felt like she could hear a soft sigh on the other side of the wall
“You absolutely have to-!”
Liselotte sed the words that were on the tip of her tongue
She turned away fro at the closed door to her cell… Someone was there
“…Who is there?”
Silence Instead, the door opened without a sound
Liselotte's eyes widened in shock when she saalked into the cell She almost shouted in surprise but covered her hand with her mouth quickly
Standing right in front of her was someone she kneell
A lean woe That slender build of hers was like a withered branch, but paradoxically there wasn't a single sign of weakness anywhere on her She stood straight, her eyebrows pulled taught, as she looked Liselotte over rigorously
She was a vassal of the Montchat family, as well as Liselotte and Julian's childhood teacher…
“…Lady Gerda?”
Liselotte spoke out to her, a note of fear in her voice Gerda didn't answer her even with a nod, her expression not changing even a whit She merely stood silently on the opposite side of the cell, staring at Liselotte
“W-what happened? How did you unlock the… what about the guard…?”
In Gerda's right hand, there was a knife She couldn't see clearly, but she was dragging so behind her with her left
“I need your assistance, Liselotte”
“assistance…?”
“I'll give you the keys This is the one for Lord Alois' cell”
She held them out to her When she did, Liselotte finally saas behind Gerda
The heavy thing that she dragged behind her with her left hand was a person A thin-looking man, who must have been even older than Gerda Was he asleep? He didn't see at all
Liselotte held her breath She couldn't raise her voice carelessly now She didn't co, but she kneas so that had to be kept quiet
Dropping the man to the floor, Gerda strode towards Liselotte and handed her the keys that she had hooked on the end of her finger Each key on the loop was nuine that they corresponded to the cells
“There's still some time before the lookouts are meant to swap shi+fts If you escape out the back entrance, no one will be there to stop you Once you're out, go to the left Once you reach the road, you should knohere to go from there The cell doors are numbered based on the keys”
“The keys… L-Lady Gerda, just how did you…”
“And lastly, here”
Instead of answering Liselotte's bewildered question, Gerda offered her the handle of the knife in her hand
This knife, just where did she get it from? As a criminal, Liselotte wasn't allowed a knife to cut her food, in fact she wasn't even afforded the luxury of a fork
But all the same, Liselotte took the knife that was held out to her The blade looked sharp and it felt heavy in her hand This wasn't a cutlery knife, it was soer a soldier would wear on his waist
“Once you use it,of further use Make sure to have Lord Alois change clothes with him before you do it I'll stay clothed as I am Our clothes match as prison uniforms, after all”
“Lady Gerda…?”
“Once you're outside of the cell, there's noas you aiic With that, I think you knohat you have to do, but…”
Gerda's eyebrows didn't flinch
“Make sure to leave the body in the room once you make the stab Keep in mind that there's an obvious difference in severity between self-inflicted wounds and a wound inflicted in anger Steel your heart and don't shy away from what you have to do Also, make a le Always keep in mind just how the scene will be perceived by others”
“…You mean to swap them? That man and… Lord Alois…?”
“If they think that he's died in prison, then there won't be any pursuit So, disguise the corpse with your enders, so ic is intricately cast”
Liselotte's breath ran shallow
Disguising a corpse as Alois with the intention of fooling people into thinking he had died in prison, and then helping hier for a tithy head start on any pursuers The better the disguise, the more time Alois would have to put distance between himself and the capital
With Liselotte's ability, even other es should be fooled by the deception If the 'real article' hadn't appeared at the trial, they would have all been fooled to the end, after all
That said, a guard would still have goneFor whatever reason, a criht, an unrelated guard disappears froht away, this would raise people's suspicions In effect, he could potentially only have until they realize a guard isbefore the pursuers would be hot on his tail He wouldn't have enough time
But, if he didn't run, the only thing that awaited him was death Liselotte had no choice
“…I understand Then, let's go to Lord Alois' cell At the very least, we have to make sure that Lord Alois survives, even if he's alone”
“No”
As Liselotte plucked up her determination, Gerda cut her short
“The people ill have 'escaped' are the traitorous servant who bore a grudge against her uard who conspired to help her Two people”
“Two people…?”
“The wouard over to her side and then killed both theIf that is the motive, then it won't appear so unnatural There will be two dead bodies Likewise, two people will escape”
Liselotte couldn't coht away As Liselotte looked at her with confusion, Gerda let out a faint sigh
“We can't leave Lord Alois to wander the world alone In order to escape, he needs your help Using your ic, you can deceive the eyes of any pursuers”
“B-But, Lady Gerda… there's only one body to substitute…?”
“There will be a second”
Gerda's words were just as i as she usually did In the sa schedule for the day, she continued to speak to Liselotte
“Did I not say it earlier? Only the gender matches So, you'll have to be very careful with how you cast the ic”
Just as that thin and frail body paradoxically stood strong, so too did her eyes re The knife in Liselotte's hand felt all the more heavy
Gerda alone was the only person in the room who matched that description After she had handed Liselotte the knife, she had looked her up and down,sure that their clothes matched
Simply put, that's hoas
“…Are you serious, Lady Gerda?”
Liselotte looked up at Gerda Even in a situation like this, she stood tall, not a single crack appearing in her expression
“This is hardly the ti you, then please do it quickly”
“But… but…”
But, there really wasn't tiue Liselotte herself knew that all too well
Gerda's plan ically gifted Liselotte by his side than to try and escape alone There were only prisoners and guards in this jail It would be difficult to prepare a woman's corpse Therefore, they had no choice but to use the only one that was the most readily available
She understood Using other people like this, they had been doing it for a long time Just how many sacrifices had they stood on in order to reach the royal family like they had?
“Lady Gerda, are you truly fine with this…?”
Gerda blinked silently in Liselotte's direction for a moment Then, she nodded
“The only reason my body exists is to fulfill the hopes and dreae or in sin No matter how many people were betrayed or sacrificed over the years, the fact that the four houses of Mohnton have pledged eternal allegiance to the Montchat family is an immutable fact”
To that end, she was even willing to lose her life Willing to be stabbed and disguised in order to conceal the true nature of the murder
“The only thing that is important to me is the Montchat family For the sake of the Master of the house, as well as his family For that reason, I never had a family, never had chil… No, we don't have time to talk freely like this”
Closing herher expression When she looked back again at Liselotte, her face was as stern as ever
“Lord Alois is the last re member of the Montchat family From now on, you must protect him Make sure to fulfill his wish… Even if that e anymore”
Liselotte looked at the ground
She could only breathe