North x Northwest
Chapter 183

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‘If only I could capture Ed and interrogate him. But that’s nothing but a futile fantasy. This is Roahn. It’s imperial land and land ruled by Ed at that. It’s no exaggeration to say that I’m sailing alone on an enemy ship. If I cause a commotion, there will be dozens of enlisted soldiers barging in. Besides, most of Roahn’s residents must be from the Navy or have connections to the Navy… Damn Roahn. He governs this… He rules here…’

As her mind was mercilessly disintegrating, Lil could only laugh in vain. She had never thought of Ed as someone who would be governing a place. All she thought was that he had to be a young lord of some fallen noble house with its own sob story. This realisation made her collapse helplessly.

‘A man of power. It wasn’t enough for him to be an admiral, he’s even a marquess…’

Lil was unbearably burdened. The sea and the land here were all Ed’s territory, so she didn’t know how to start to fight against it.

The fear she felt when she first woke up and discovered Ed, strangled Lil with a tight grip. Unfortunately, it was impossible for her to run away.

Her crew were said to be in Gualtiero, but she didn’t even know where Gualtiero was. All she knew was that it was known as ‘The Vineyard’. A bizarre nickname derived from the pirates’ heads that were cut off and hung in clusters, resembling grapes.

‘It’s such an unforgiving place… Maybe even my crew…’

Lil, who lost herself in terrible thoughts, closed her eyes tightly and let go of her imagination.

‘Such a prison is a place where the usual plan of simply entering and breaking the locks will surely not work.’

Lil then thought of trying to get a blueprint.

‘I also have to secure a map. There must be a map of the territory in the study of this mansion. At the time when Gualtiero was built, the then-ruling marquess would’ve been involved. It will probably prove to be difficult to replace blueprints from more than 50 years ago, but I think I can at least get my hands on some kind of useful information… or maybe not…’

Lil realised she didn’t even know the structure of this mansion or whether the blueprints were stored in the main building or an annexe.

‘There should be a study on the first floor, but I have no idea how to get there… In addition, I can’t do all of this alone. I have to involve people… Can I blackmail Commodore Sagastar? Perhaps he might not have revealed my identity to Ed yet. Because if I had died, he would’ve been the one guilty of committing the heavy crime and I don’t believe he would be naive enough to take such a risk. Unless he’s a fool who wants to drag his family into ruin… He’s probably worried sick and thinking of ways to cover this all up…’

But even Lil, who only briefly fought him, could tell that Sagastar’s loyalty to Ed was extraordinary. No other subordinate would try so desperately to protect his superior. While Lil’s identity might have been relatively unknown in the far south, Sagastar would be able to contact Lil’s hometown at any given moment.

‘What kind of woman would be able to intimidate by using her status? In any case, it’s enough for me to have survived for now. Once I’m caught and dragged away, it’s over. Sagastar seems to be Admiral Retiro’s righthandman to the core.’

Lil’s options plummeted.

Her stomach instinctively ached at the mere thought of Sagastar. Just how thinking about alcohol while having a hangover could trigger nausea, thinking about the man who injured her and caused her to lay sick in bed, made her body shiver. Lil involuntarily twitched before recalling that Ed was still lying by her leg.

As Ed tossed and turned, Lil abruptly shut her eyes. Ed, who had rubbed his head several times against the duvet, slowly raised himself. Afterwards, Lil heard the sound of a chair scratching. She breathed as naturally as possible, hoping she wouldn’t break out in a cold sweat. Luckily, Lil had become pretty good at feigning her body was asleep. She didn’t know if she had always managed to truly trick Cesar, or if she had the temperament of a trickster by nature, but because of her ability to breathe in calm and regular intervals, she easily mimicked sleeping.

Lil then felt that someone was staring at her. It was the feeling of the skin between her eyebrows being peeled off one by one. It bothered her. Her increasingly sensitive nerves rushed between her brows, and it was as though something sharp could dig into it at any moment. However, the moment she wondered if it would be better to open her eyes, she sensed Ed turning away.

Apparently, Ed didn’t stay any longer. The sound of the door closing followed without him even trying to talk to her in order to wake her up. Lil then suspected that the throbbing between her eyes might’ve been because her feet were numb instead of Ed having been staring at her.

Lil began to open her eyes. Even though she was in a dream-like state, she could sense whether or not there were people in the room. Lil felt relieved, noticing that the person, who had been with her in the room, was moving further away. After raising herself, she pulled the needle out of her arm. Her head became dizzy when she put her feet on the ground and stood up. Her stomach hurted too. At this point, Lil couldn’t tell anymore if the feeling of being ripped open was because of hunger or due to her injury.

‘I only know that the longer I stay here, the more dangerous it will be for me. I have already woken up twice, and Ed knows it too. I don’t know what kinds of terrible things will happen in the future, so how can I calmly wait until morning in a situation like this?

Let’s just take a look at the study. After that, I can try to negotiate with Ed in the morning, but I need to be prepared to infiltrate Gualtiero at any time. I also need to replace a report that tells me in which section of the Port of Devito the Bell Rock is anchored. In any case, I’ll be escaping at the same time as my crew’s escape, so I won’t be able to free those sailors who fought the navy.’

Lil walked to the desk in front of the window. The desk was cluttered with dozens of books and piles of paper. She looked around to see if they held any clues, but they were all medical books. The sight of it made Lil remember that Ed was a doctor and she couldn’t help but suddenly think of him as one.

‘Ed might’ve been taking care of me who was seriously injured. I guess he may not be as harsh as I imagined…’

However, the growing sense of betrayal instantly calmed down her softened heart.

‘I can’t let my emotions take over me. If it was just my life on the line, I wouldn’t have minded being thrown in that prison, but as an unknown number of my crew is detained, I can’t let myself be swayed by this sight of Ed. It might be a foolish choice, but having fallen for Ed’s plan to gain my favour is even more unacceptable.’

Lil opened the door and went out onto the terrace. Seeing that it was already dawn, she had to move before the servants got up. The autumn wind blew through her negligees. Mondovi, a region in the mid-latitude, was incomparably cooler than the south.

Lil carefully checked over the railing. Judging from the clear view of the Devito Harbour, Lil got a gauge that she was in the main building, more specifically on the second floor of the main building.

‘I don’t see any enlisted men on guard, at least not below…’

Lil considered of going over the terrace railing and down to the first floor. Within the time frame she had been given, she thought going this route would be better than wandering around inside without knowing the internal structure of the mansion. Making up her mind, Lil walked around the room looking for anything that might be of help. Fortunately, there was another sword stuck in the decoration above the fireplace. She had previously pulled out one of the two crossed swords, so the second one remained.

‘To get down, I need something I can use as a rope. And it needs to be long enough for me to reach the first floor and come back up again…’

Lil looked around with an unfamiliar feeling. When she lived on the Bell Rock, ropes were among the most common things she could easily grasp, so now she actually needed to think of what she could use as a replacement. After measuring the lengths of different materials, Lil decided to go with the blankets of her bed in the end.

The layers of autumn blankets were too heavy for Lil’s physical condition. Resulting in Lil needing to put up with the blurring of her eyes several times. The gradually brightening dawn made her even more nervous and impatient. Then, as she threw the blanket onto the terrace, her head spun. She landed down on the floor as if collapsing and groped for the hems of the blanket’s fabric. When replaceing the tips of the blankets, she tied them together with knots. Lil worked deliberately, but at one point, she raised her head upon hearing a faint sound…

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