The manor reminded one of those European castles she visited during her vacation. The hallway was wide and furnished with luxury carpets. Despite the melting snow, she could see outside from the windows, the inside was well-heated. That was a good sign, as the will spring arrive soon, and she will be able to secure a lot of food growing in the wild.
Suin runs through the hall as quietly as possible, to keep her escape attempt a secret. The mansion was like a maze with many closed rooms, but no entry door in sight. In the end, she opened a window on the ground floor and escaped through to the garden. The main gate will probably be guarded at all times, so her only option was to climb the wall.
If the castle was already big, the garden was like a vast sea compared to it. She could tell that everything was strictly managed, as she passed by the evergreen bushes covered under the snow. Count Randel is rich. Given his status as a war hero, he was probably bestowed with a lot of priceless treasures. But would it kill him a little if he looked properly after his daughter, even if she is illegitimate?
She walked for a long time and the daybreak arrived, colouring the sky in green and yellow tones, slowly transforming into the hue of pink and orange, until finally seeing the tall wall marking the territory around the castle.
Just like most of the castle, the barrier was constructed with light-coloured bricks, making the whole mansion appear elegant. It was about two meters high, taller than her, but how difficult would it be to climb over? She wasn't some passionate alpinist in her past life, but she conquered a fair number of domestic mountains in her past life.
However, she underestimated Arianell's fitness level by a lot.
"Huh? Why can't I climb over? My lower body seems to be heavy… Just a bit more, almost there…" Suin used her whole body to overcome the obstacle, clinging to the wall like an octopus. Finally, after all the hard work she was able to sit astride on the top of the protective fence.
"Huh?"
But what awaited her was unexpected. She thought there would be a street outside, but her eyes landed on the deep and wide river. It was impossible to escape from this side unless she was prepared to swim in this cold weather.
"My lady!"
"Lady Arianell!"
As she was wondering what she could do now, the voices of distressed servants called somewhere from the garden. Her disappearance was already discovered, and people were now looking for her.
"Abort the plan! There is no way I can escape now!" She wanted to jump back down from the wall, but the decorated top bricks weren't fixed permanently. The deck under her feet shook and she wobbled.
"Aaah!" Suin closed her eyes, prepared to land on her butt. The pain spread through her lower body, and she silently cursed.
"Lady Arianell!" The servants' voices were getting closer.
Suin looked at the knight with blaming eyes. It took her a lot of effort to climb over, but he just destroyed her plan! The man lightly bowed his head in voiceless goodbye and jumped over the wall without any wasted movement.
She sat on the ground, dishevelled from the fall. Her hand clutched the bag she had with her. There was no tree nearby and she had no place to hide. If they caught her with that rucksack, everyone would be suspicious of her.
Not thinking about it for long, she threw the bag with a heavy book inside across the wall, abandoning her luggage. It was a waste of that book, but she had no choice. Suin fumed and walked towards the voices of servants, pretending to be taking a walk in the morning.
"M-my lady!"
The man dressed up as a butler and the maid breathed relief when she finally showed herself. Both showed great panic when they couldn't find her.
"My lady! Where have you been?!" A middle-aged woman runs towards her with tears in her eyes. "You just woke up after being unconscious for a whole day, how can you walk outside in this cold dressed so lightly?!"
"The room was stuffy, and I wanted to breathe some fresh air…" Suin cooks up the quick lie.
"My lady, you will catch the cold at this rate…" The butler took off his outer jacket and put it on her shoulders. They didn't ask her any more questions and led her to the warm kitchen. She was seated by the fireplace, while the maid named Martha brought some blankets out and wrapped her in them.
Arianell fell into the lake a day before and almost lost her life. Despite being in the winter with freezing water outside, the countess told them to not make a fuss. Due to the butler's insistence, he was finally allowed to bring the doctor in, the one treating the commoners outside the castle. Fortunately, the healer said she would wake up soon.
Since the lady of the house ignored her, most of the maids and servants in the house were too bold to also neglect her. Only two persons by her side right now were the ones looking after her.
The kitchen was simple and rustic with a cosy feeling, but by no means resembled the luxurious kitchen in the noble's castles. This one was used by servants only, so the equipment available wasn't so great.
"I will send for a doctor, you need to have a full check-up," butler insisted.
Suin slowly nodded. She was feeling fine, but she knew to older man wouldn't stop worrying unless she accepted.
"But for now, you need to eat something! Martha, can we warm something for the lady?"
The wealthy class and the nobles could enjoy the rich variation of ingredients, starting from organic vegetables and fruits grown in their greenhouses to exotic meat like swan, peacocks, wild game and fish. But they were in the servants' kitchen right now and the supplies were lacking.
The commoners' diet consisted of soups, stews and hard bread, porridges, and all kinds of gruels. As the servants busied themselves with the work, she was given time to think.
From a look of it, count Randel was still alive for now. Count Randel has never made an appearance in the novel, but the story starts with his death. The Kingdom of Alviraz wasn't at war with other countries, they always had only one enemy – the demon race who dwelled behind the Forest.
Arianell was kicked out when she was 16 years old. The current her does look like that age, so the news about the count's death will be delivered soon.