DKVM Ch 37

Chapter 37

Besides, the first booth was a waste of time and the chicken booth took no time at all, so it took only a fraction of the time she had expected.

If the girl went back now, it may screw everything up.

“W, wait a moment. It’s not safe for you to wander around by yourself. You could get lost. Why don’t you come with me?”

“I’ve lived in this neighborhood for five years, you don’t have to worry.”

Then Vivian started to go to Rahel, and Margaret quickly grabbed her.

“Then I’ll go, and you can wait here.”

Margaret left Vivian and headed toward the square where Rahel was waiting.

Once there, she ducked behind a nearby building and looked for Rahel.

She found Rahel still there, a little farther away from the crowd that had gathered to watch the play that had just begun.

‘They should kidnap her as soon as they can, so what are they doing?’

As she watched, biting her lip nervously, a shadow approached Rahel from behind.

It was an assassin sent by the inspector.

Margaret swallowed hard when she saw the figure and turned away.

She felt relieved, but at the same time, she was weighed down by guilt for the child she had helped raise.

‘This is the only way Sally and I will be safe… I had no choice.’

It was when she was about to go back to Vivian after rationalizing her actions.

“Rahel!”

Vivian’s voice, which should not have been there, rang out urgently.

Margaret, the assassin, and even Rahel stopped dead in their tracks.

“Watch out!”

At Vivian’s shout, the assassin paused for a moment, then lunged at Rahel, ready to attack.

But Rahel, seeing it coming, quickly dodged and went straight to casting a spell.

Margaret’s face contorted with rage as she watched.

‘That brat is going to ruin it…!’

The play was reaching its climax, and the dazzling sound effects were filling the square, drawing all eyes to the stage.

But once the climax had passed, people would see this spectacle.

Before then, they had to make a decision: subdue Rahel and kidnap her, or give up and retreat.

Then, seeing Rahel and the assassin face-off, Vivian dropped what she was holding and tried to run towards them.

“Rahel!”

But at that moment.

“…Ugh!”

Suddenly, another assassin emerged from the alleyway and tackled Vivian, gagging her.

The harder she struggled to get free, the more her consciousness faded and her strength diminished.

“Vivian!”

The last thing Vivian saw was the three dolls Rahel had won in the dart game lying on the ground, and then she was unconscious.

* * *

-drop-

‘Ugh… It’s cold.’

I opened my eyes and felt something small and cold brush my cheek.

In front of me was a dark stone ceiling.

‘Where am I…?’

As I was looking around, I suddenly remembered what had happened last.

As I was waiting in line for the cheese potato booth, I had an ominous feeling about the suspicious nanny’s behavior and followed her.

‘There, I saw the nanny turn away when she saw Rahel about to be attacked.‘

I quickly called out to Rahel to save her, but…

‘I’ve been kidnapped!’

As I realized what I was facing, my heart pounded with panic and my mind went blank.

‘Calm down. If they were going to kill me, they would have done it sooner.’

I told myself to steady my nerves and take stock of my surroundings.

It was dark, but there was enough light to make out a few things around me.

‘Is this…a cave?’

Inside the dampness of what appeared to be a cave, there was a cage large enough to hold a beast.

And inside it, I was trapped.

Just then, as I looked up, something cold landed on my cheek again.

It was a drop of water from the cave ceiling.

I finally realized what the cold thing was that had woken me up earlier.

‘I’m all wet….’

Just as I scrambled to my feet, trying to get out of the way,

I could feel movement not far away. It felt like this person had been here since before I woke up.

Surprised by that, I quickly closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep.

‘Did they see me open my eyes…?’

My heart was beating fast and loud.

After a few moments of holding my breath, I slowly opened my eyes.

Luckily, the guard didn’t seem to notice that I was awake, and he yawned loudly.

I stared at him, piecing together the information I’d gleaned to deduce what was going on.

‘Those people were definitely trying to catch Rahel.’

Then, when I intervened and failed, they switched the target to me and took me hostage.

‘But Rahel is safe, and not becoming a villain like in the original work, so it’s okay―’

I paused.

‘…Wait a minute. Was there a story in the original where Rahel was almost kidnapped?’

The original story takes place after the main characters have reached adulthood, and Rahel is a villain, not a protagonist, so her backstory is not detailed.

However, if there was an episode where she was in danger of being kidnapped or killed, it would have been a major event that could have been used to darken her character.

That means…

‘Maybe this incident, this is the aftermath of my twist on the original story.’

The fact that Rahel and I became friends in the first place was a huge departure from the original story.

My heart began to beat more uneasily at this possibility than it had earlier when I realized she had been kidnapped.

‘Rahel…could be in real danger.’

Because of me.

Because of me, for twisting the original story to save myself.

I couldn’t let that happen.

‘I have to get out of here.’

I started by looking at the cage that held me. As expected, there was a large padlock on the front of the cage.

‘Does that guy have the key?’

But there was a limit to what I could see in these conditions.

‘I wish he would leave the room.’

Of course, if he had the keys, it would be great if he would put them down.

As if someone had heard my plea, I heard footsteps approaching and another man appeared.

“How’s the kid? Is she not awake yet?”

“Well, I guess so.”

“Then come out. There’s no time for this.”

“What’s going on all of a sudden? I hope they’re not calling in the forces because they couldn’t handle a kid.”

“We’ve gotten word that there’s another one coming this way, besides the princess.”

“The duke’s knights?”

“They’re not here yet, but some weirdo has appeared, so they’re telling us to go out.”

“I’ve barely taken care of that one, and I have to go with you?”

“Do you get it? I’m telling you to pull your weight. Don’t think about sitting here and resting while the rest of us work.”

The guard cursed and stood up.

At that moment, I saw something shiny in his waistband.

‘The key!’

Don’t leave!

I stood there, watching the key slip away, unable to do anything about it.

In the dimly lit cave, a black shadowy figure grabbed the key and dropped it.

‘What…was that?’

I blinked, thinking that I had seen it wrong, but the men left.

And where the guard had disappeared, the key had fallen.

After the men’s footsteps faded away, I stood up and tried to pull the bars.

‘Ugh, it’s not budging.’

Well, once the bars are yanked off, there’s no need for a key.

Maybe if I had long arms like the hero of a manga I’d seen in a previous life, but my arms were too skinny.

I tried pulling on all the bars and peeking around, but nothing helped.

I pulled on the bars until my palms were covered in blood, and I finally gave up and collapsed.

‘Rahel is in danger…’

I sobbed.

“It’s not because you’re weird, it’s because you’re special.”

I was more terrified that Rahel might die because of me than the fact that I might die.

And most of all, I was angry at my helplessness to do anything but cry in that situation.

If that’s the kind of protagonist this novel is about, one who can do nothing but wait for a prince on a white horse…

‘I don’t want to be that kind of protagonist!’