DKVM Ch 36

Chapter 36

“Huh? Uh-huh.”

“Then it’s 45 points.”

After checking the doll’s score, Rahel threw a dart.

‘Another ten points!’

The vendor, who had been watching Rahel, was either feeling threatened or intrigued, and he made her a proposition.

“Kid, I see you’re not a very good player, so why don’t you make a bet with me?”

“…a bet?”

“This doll comes in a set of three. A mom, a dad, and a baby.”

The vendor winked as he set the three cute dolls down side by side in front of me and Rahel.

“Throw the remaining two darts at the spinning dartboard and score a point, and I’ll give you all three. Of course, if you miss, you’re still a loser. What do you say?”

I interrupted with a frown.

“Eh, mister. Don’t you think it’s a bit much to try to take money from children’s pockets?”

“Oh, isn’t it just for a doll? Your friend is so good at throwing darts, I wanted to see how far she could go.”

But yeah, it’s not fair to lose all the points you’ve earned with one failure!

I was about to decline the offer on Rahel’s behalf, but she spoke up first.

“I’ll do it ….sir. I’ll take the bet.”

“ Eh? Rahel, I only need one doll.”

I scolded Rahel, but she jerked her head at the vendor as if she’d already made up her mind.

“You’re as good as your skills!”

The vendor smiled with satisfaction and prepared a rotating dartboard.

Unlike a fixed dartboard, this one didn’t have a score in the center. Instead, it had a very narrow 10-point zone and a wide low-point zone of less than five points.

The dartboard began to spin.

Rahel’s face was impassive, but her eyes were intensely focused.

“Rahel, I don’t need a doll, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”

But despite my words, Rahel seemed to be in the zone.

‘I thought she wouldn’t like it and think it was childish.’

After all, she was a ten-year-old kid.

‘Well, as long as Rahel is happy.’

As I watched Rahel, she stared at the dartboard in silence, then threw her fourth dart.

The dart landed in the 10-point zone!

And the last dart, thrown in quick succession without any time to catch my breath, landed in the 5-point zone.

Precisely 45 points.

That was enough to win the dolls as a prize.

“Wow! That was so cool!”

I exclaimed and clapped my hands in excitement.

But at the same time…

-gurgle, gurgle-

My stomach growled.

‘This clueless body…!’

Rahel, who was right next to me, and even the nanny, who was watching from a step behind, looked at me.

I flashed a sheepish grin and touched my stomach.

“Ahaha, I must be hungry after playing so much…?”

Then the nanny suggested to me as if she had been waiting for this.

“Shall we get some snacks? I’m sure the young lady and the knights are hungry.”

“Sure, I’ll show you a good place to eat.”

As I eagerly followed the nanny, Rahel, who was holding my hand, naturally followed suit.

But the nanny gently restrained her.

“Miss, please wait here. I don’t dare send you on an errand.”

“I’m fine with it, so I’ll come with you.”

“No, Miss. We’ll be right back, so you can get your prize and shop some more!”

The restaurant was crowded and the line was long.

I couldn’t make Rahel, who hates crowds, go through all this trouble.

When I pleaded with her, she nodded in defeat.

“Then let’s go, Nanny.”

I headed off with the nanny to a good restaurant I knew.

I didn’t see the look on the nanny’s face as she glanced back at Rahel.

* * *

Rahel was quickly lost in the festival crowd.

Glancing nervously in Rahel’s direction, Margaret swallowed hard and remembered her plans for the day.

 

“There’s work to be done at the festival.”

 

The inspector who had approached her the other day had picked a festival day to deal with Rahel.

That’s because it was a day when it wouldn’t be strange if a child suddenly disappeared.

Margaret was reluctant to kill Rahel, whom she had raised with her own hands, not exactly out of affection for the child, but she had joined hands with the inspector.

If she didn’t, the inspector would inform Duke Karlz that Sally had let slip Rahel’s secret.

If that happened, Karlz wouldn’t let her mistake go either.

Karlz was already a rotten rope that she needed to let go of. [T.L. Note: This is referring to the Korean folktale “The Brother and the Sister Who Became the Sun and the Moon”, where the children flee from a tiger on a rope provided by the gods. When the tiger also asks for a rope, the rope that drops down for him is rotten and breaks, leading to his death.]

 

“I assume there is usually a guard following the child?”

“…Yes, usually two.”

“Enjoy the festival with the guards and the young lady. Then at nine o’clock, we’ll start the play in the square.”

“Nine o’clock….”

“Then take the commoner kid with you, for she must know that the princess has met with an unfortunate accident.”

 

Karlz would surely recognize that it was the emperor behind this since he always had his eyes on Rahel, but that didn’t matter.

What mattered was how it looked to others.

To the outside world, Rahel was supposed to have gone to the forbidden western forest on a festival day and been killed by a demon along with the knights.

That way, Karlz had no obvious reason to act out in fury.

‘We’ll have plenty of time to buy three snacks and get back.’

Make quick work of the two bodyguards hiding in a nearby alley, then approach Rahel and kidnap her.

That was the inspector’s plan.

In fact, time shouldn’t be a problem.

It’s just a matter of how quickly they move.

 

“The young lady has kept her magical abilities hidden until now, but she’ll use them in a pinch, so we’ll need to take her down once and for all with a quick strike so we can catch her without too much fuss.”

“You shouldn’t underestimate her.”

“If you fail, His Excellency will be even more vigilant…and we may never get a second chance.”

 

She had told the inspector to be careful, so the rest was up to them.

Margaret glanced back anxiously, then turned her gaze straight ahead.

“Hmmhmm.”

Vivian was humming a tune and leading the way.

That innocent look in the face of what was happening brought forth a surge of anger.

‘That foolish girl is the reason this is happening to the young lady.’

If only Vivian hadn’t been Rahel’s playmate, Sally wouldn’t have thrown a temper tantrum and blown it all up in front of the inspector.

It was all her fault, after all.

She had ruined the plan to raise Rahel into someone who would marry Sally and turn her daughter into the duchess.

The guilt of having raised Rahel and then having her killed by my own hand, all of it was on Vivian’s hands.

“Gasp!”

Suddenly, Vivian, who had been trotting ahead, let out a gasp.

When Marguerite looked up in surprise, the child pointed a sullen finger at the vendor.

“He must have run out of ingredients already. It looks like there are more people at the festival this year!”

Just as Vivian had said, the vendor was already cleaning up his supplies.

They headed to another vendor nearby.

But that vendor was also closing early.

As a fellow villager who knew all of the vendors, Vivian sidled up to him and asked.

“Mister, are you sold out already?”

“Ah, is that you, Vivian? If you’re here for the chicken, you’re a little late. I’ve had a lot of customers today… I’ll have to go get some supplies right away if I want to stay open tomorrow.”

Though he was wheezing as he spoke, the old man smiled.

“Hmm, too bad. I was hoping to give the princess a taste.”

As Vivian stretched out her lips to express her disappointment, the vendor who was organizing the stall asked curiously.

“Did the princess come with you?”

“Oh, the princess is waiting over there, watching the play.”

Hearing this, the merchant suddenly pulled out a chicken skewer from nowhere.

“Here, take this and eat it.”

“Huh? Hadn’t you sold all of them?”

“I saved some for dinner, but I’ll give it to you. It’s a little cold, but you can take it to the princess and give her a taste. And show off our shop. Okay?”

Vivian noticed his big plan and gave him a thumbs up.

“So you’re a schemer too.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“It’s a compliment for a merchant to be called a schemer! I’ll be sure to give the princess a taste.”

Vivian exchanged pleasantries with the vendor and parted ways.

Next on the list was potatoes with cheese, and luckily the stall was open, but the line was long.

Vivian ran quickly to stand in line and spoke to Margaret.

“Nanny, I’ll bring this over to the princess since I’m sure she’ll be getting hungry.”

Margaret paused.

‘I’m not sure if the kidnapping has happened successfully yet.’