Roemel paused. He saw Eliott and Aeron's faces completely still.
I see...
After collecting himself. Roemel nodded. He pressed a hand to his shoulder and sighed, "Perhaps I'm being too caught up in the moment.
"The guards. They have revolvers. I noticed them when we were escorted to our cells. Though they may seem like contraptions on the guards' waistcoats, they're not.
"They outline the same sinister shape that killed Elena."
Eliott turned away, and Aeron closed his eyes, his eyebrows twitching irascibly before finally calming down after nearly five seconds.
"Eliott. Will Deimfel be alright?"
...
The man in a plain linen shirt walked calmly in contrast with the fading and flickering oil lamps.
Holding an iron-cast revolver with one hand. The air was getting colder, so was his palm.
...
"Yes," Eliott answered after a short thought.
...
The man's face bore a gentleman's facade, refined and handsome. Dark hair, dark-brown eyes, and mixed with soft and chiseled outline.
However, his distant and despondent gaze betrayed the innocence of the appearance from the past. He remained eerily quiet.
...
"Good." Aeron turned his head toward the next hall, where the prisoners went, and parted with them.
"Let's find Christopher and Liam. Then get the hell out."
Amid this declaration of their task. Roemel stared with silent compliance. He swallowed the things that irritated him—things that diverted from his plans.
He followed closely behind his two friends.
...
At a halcyon villa situated south of Monte Seul's Gale County.
A beautiful woman with dark-brown, loosely coiled hair and gentle hazel eyes took a step forward out of the carriage with the help of the courtier.
In her fitted mocha dress, she sports a simple white headband with a floral beige design. Her waist accentuates the simple white dress draped with a shrug on her shoulders, painting a style that altogether tells of a woman who looks like she's about to help the maidservants in their toil.
The heels of her sandal met the soil beneath her. The lady darted her gaze around the villa and its surrounding forest. Closing her eyes and lifted her lips before saying, "How's father doing?"
"Your father is on a business trip. He won't be coming back for a week." A butler who expected her arrival said with a gentle demeanor.
Lucila smiled as her hands intertwined, wrapping a rosewood-guarded fan that dangles a miniature fish. She said, "I'm glad to hear that. Did he bring the food I packed for him?"
"He did miss Lucila." The dark-suited butler nodded.
Hearing that, Lucila nodded and didn't add anything else. She resumed her walk and stopped at the porch of the lavishly designed villa, its architecture bearing a resemblance to Amsterdam's two-story canal building.
Right then, the door opened from the inside—a woman, wearing a white headdress and clad in a worker's attire, appeared behind the pane.
"Good afternoon, Ms. Lucila." Greeted the maid.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Neile." Lucila curtsied for a moment before entering.
Neile sidestepped, and as soon as she saw the lady inside, she asked, "Have you had lunch already, Ms. Lucila?"
Lucila pressed a finger to her chin in thought before saying with a smile, "Actually... I haven't."
Neile nodded and simply replied, "You have to take care of yourself. Mrs. Gloria would press on you if you didn't."
"I know..." Lucila nodded slightly. "I just have to not make her notice, right? I could really fancy a southsberry and vegetable soup."
Southsberry is a steak dish garnished with dried sawsberry native to Monte Seul.
"Madam would still notice." Neile shook her head before heading off into the kitchen.
Lucila chuckled wearily and saw her down the hall while waving goodbye.
Aunt Gloria... She carefully withdrew her hand and saw her valet walking to her side.
"You don't seem to be fond of the foreign foods, Lady Lucila," The lady's maid, wearing a simple, elegant dark dress with a clean white lace apron and cap, said after stopping with Lucila's baggage in tow.
"I do," Lucila said slowly, looking rather concerned. "But I can't seem to find my appetite in these situations. Julie, do you think Aunt Gloria will be mad?"
The lady's maid Julie shook her head gently and responded, "Madam Gloria loves you dearly; she will only want what's best for your health."
Lucila withdrew her gaze upon glancing at Julie for a moment.
The fish toy was chubby and was likely made from wood, given that the blemishes revealed oak. The pastels all over it weren't properly done, but it resembled a goldfish.
She held that fan, suddenly a bit tighter; a few things crossed Lucila's mind before turning to the other hall.
The path was lit with oil lamps and candles from the chandelier above. They illuminated a few portraits on the wall—little Lucila in between a woman with dark hair, a tender face, and eyes brimming with a golden hue, and a man with an imposing air and hair that blended with silver linings.
"Father looked menacing in these photos. Like he hadn't begged for my cooking since before he left." Lucila exhaled, chuckling.
"Your father is indeed quite indifferent back then. At least that's what rumors suggest." Julie, the lady's maid, spoke her thoughts.
Lucila nodded with a smile; she could faintly hear their footsteps against the matted floor. Soon enough, they both saw a double door, embedded with varying designs; light leaked beneath it.
At that moment, Lucila stopped and told Julie, "You can go ahead and clean up the room that I'll be staying in. Aunt Gloria will likely want to see me as soon as I arrive."
"Yes, my lady." Julie nodded and continued without her.
As Lucila saw Julie's back fade after a turn, she heaved a sigh and pressed a hand on the double door.
Then, she opened it.
Lucila saw a room—with a wide bay window that overlooked a forest, a lake, and the distant Flora Valley of the north. A lady was there, resting on a rocking chair while knitting a rug from yarn.
Aunt Gloria acts like she's already in her seventies... Lucila muttered playfully as her gaze softened.
Gloria, with her hair tied up, turned to where she heard the groan of the double door being opened. Behind her nose glasses, a pair of ink-colored eyes reflected the pristine Lucila.
"Good afternoon, Auntie." Lucila tilted a bit and smiled warmly.
"Oh! Lucila!" Gloria dropped the two needles to her tie and almost got up with both hands when suddenly she realized something.
Out of coy, she smiled and stayed there, opening her arms as an invitation.
Lucila's smile turned to a weary grin as she sighed inwardly, even in her mannerisms. Aunt, you're so young! You're still in your thirties! Why?
However, she bottled that up momentarily and came to embrace the fair lady, leaning on the rocking chair.
"Oh, Lucila! I'm so glad you came to visit!" Gloria's eyes were filled with vibrancy as she added, "My..."
Her eyes suddenly narrowed. "Lucila! You're so thin!"
Lucila turned her head slowly away in penitence.
"I know, Auntie. It's just that I'm feeling rather homesick lately, so I came back to visit," she replied softly.
"Hmm..." Gloria still scrutinized her from head to toe for a bit until she sighed and said, "You have to take care of yourself more, dear. How about I prepare you some meal?"
Right as she set the things on her thigh aside on the table, Lucila quickly said, "Oh, uhm, I already sent Rari for a Southsberry steak. I'll come to the dining hall once it's done."
Gloria fell silent. Her eyebrows twisted up in concern as she called out, "It's because of Deimfel. Am I right?"
Lucila lifted her head, a little baffled.
"Heh heh." Gloria balled her fingers into a fist and pressed it to her lips as she chuckled. "It was so obvious from your expression."
"You knew?" Lucila asked slowly.
"Of course. I was at the banquet when it happened. Sigh, poor Deimfel. I still couldn't believe he joined in to rebel against the people..." Gloria feigned complacency as she turned her head away in dismay.
"No." Lucila retorted. "Deimfel and his group wouldn't do such radical acts. No, they wouldn't even cause harm to the innocent."
Hearing that, Gloria smiled. "You know them quite well as I do. However, the same applies to you as well.
"I'm not saying rebels are bad; however, they tend to bring casualties in their cause."
Lucila opened her mouth, but she couldn't utter a word back. At that moment, she heard Gloria say with utmost gentleness, "I'm not accusing anyone. But know that right now, being with Deimfel is as dangerous as joining any sort of rebels.
"He became a wanted man, he was sentenced, his image was soiled, and there's likeliness you will be affected if you remain by his side. I merely want what's best for you."
"..." Lucila lifted her forearms and held both of her elbows loosely.
Gloria gazed at her for a bit and nodded, "Deimfel... I don't know what's turning the gears in his head, but I'm certain one of them is an explanation.
"His letters to you were used against him. And I'm sure that you're innocent. Heh heh, perhaps being here, near Seul, is one of the reasons why you came to visit?"
"I want to clarify everything to Deimfel. Or else he..." Lucila paused upon realizing the words appearing at the tip of her tongue. She held back at the last second before wearily adding,
"Sigh... that idiot."
A soft breath escaped Gloria's lips. She said, "You told Margaret that you'll be expecting them here, right? After all, Margaret is a part of the secret Ex-Regimes, which Deimfel's friend Eliott is in.
"Mhm, and since Ravel Town, their usual grounding area, is about a day away on foot. Horses from there arrive here in around three hours; perhaps we'll be expecting a visit?"
As the shimmering light paints the room in a reminiscing glow, Lucila looked out the bay windows, glimpsing the valleys from afar as it outlines grazing animals as dots.
Her heart clamps and tightens little by little, unable to fend off the thoughts in her mind; she turned back to her aunt and took the seat right next to her in silence.
...
Casted by the dim orange glow of the lamps.
Deimfel walked seamlessly across a pile of corpses as he continued to hear other footsteps coming from a corner.
Bang!
He didn't waste any time; right after seeing their head peek out, their vision was as good as static, black and red.
Deimfel watched one body drop to the cold floor.
I should be close to the stairwell leading to the surface... He muttered to himself after seeing a familiar intersection.
His next plan is simple: disrupt the wardens while the sent guards haven't returned and cut off their communication with the main nest headquarters.
Telegrams are the devices mainly used in the current age. It relies on wired cords that travel from Seul Prison underground to the lavish Saint Borough, North of Gale County.
Due to the proximity of the prison. One trigger would inevitably bring down dangerous circumstances toward the changed future. Deimfel has to be calculative about his decisions, as simply knowing the future you came from does not mean it will be the same in the present.
Hence why Deimfel decisively claimed the hardest part of the escape: getting rid of the main obstacles.
"Stop!"
At that moment, Deimfel heard a man's voice calling from behind him.
"Deimfel Leor. Turn around, you'll die. Try anything funny, and you'll die.
"Do as I wish and drop your revolver."