Chapter 15: Everything’s Collapsing

His polite tone made Urien flinch in surprise.

‘…Ah, our relationship’s changing, after all.’

He let out a soft “Tet…” before opening his mouth.

“Lord…Theobald… Why don’t we talk inside the shed?”

At that, Theobald shook his head. Even Urien’s expressionless facade crumbled when he saw that and he bit his lip.

For the past three months, ‘Tet’ and ‘Yuri’ had spent their afternoons enjoying each other’s company by the window inside the shed. But now, Theobald didn’t seem to have any intention of entering the shed.

Theobald’s calm air that he usually carried was now replaced with a tense one. Just from this exchange, Urien’s heart turned heavy and it felt as if his whole world became darker as well.

“You’re Lord Urien, right?”

Hearing Theobald’s gloomy tone as he said that, Urien looked up to see him furrowing his brows, clearly troubled.

Behind the other man, the grey cloud rolled majestically, as if trying to cover the entire world. That wasn’t a metaphor, the weather genuinely began to change.

“Mhm.”

“Why are you here? Isn’t your room supposed to be inside the main building?”

“Various things happened.”

Theobald’s frown grew deeper, but it wasn’t because he was angry at Urien, rather he didn’t get what was going on. “I see. ‘Things’ happened, huh?” He said, treading his words carefully before continuing.

“In any case, the duke’s consort isn’t supposed to stay in such a place.”

“…”

“I’ll explain the situation to my brother.”

“W-Wait a minute!”

His voice came out louder than he expected, startling even himself and Theobald, who opened his eyes wide in surprise. The latter knew what Urien’s concern was about.

Marx was in the shed. The environment here was perfect for both of them to live in.

Urien knew that the decision to make him stay here was arbitrarily decided by the head maid, and at some point, he’d have to return to the main building when this matter came to light. Seeing how things were, that would happen sooner than he expected. But, Marx’ hibernation was about to start soon.

If possible, he wanted to stay in this shed until then.

“Please don’t tell Lord Rodrick about this.”

“Even if you say so…”

“I’ll return to the main building eventually. But, Marx…”

Theobald remained silent. He had expected Urien to bring up Marx here, so he just nodded calmly.

“Marx is going to hibernate soon…”

“I know that you care about him so much, Lord Urien, but… We can’t wait that long.”

“…Then, can I stay here for just tonight?”

It was clear that Urien couldn’t push his selfishness any further. 

The reason why Rodrick knew that Theobald and Urien were friends was because the former had reported about the matter to his brother. He had no intention of keeping anything a secret from Rodrick. Though he granted Urien’s wish to stay in the shed for a little longer, he would report this to his brother too later.

Urien let out a weak, “I’ll pack my things,” which prompted a pained look to appear on Theobald’s face. But, that look only appeared for a moment as he nodded with, “Got it.”

“I’ll visit you tomorrow. After you move back to the main building, I’ll report to my brother about this matter, Lord Urien.”

“Yes.”

Theobald stood there, unmoving for a moment. Eventually, he turned around with a, “I’ll leave now,” and left the place. After seeing him off, Urien dragged his heavy feet inside.

The other man didn’t utter ‘Yuri’ in a familiar manner like before.

‘Does that mean we’re no longer friends?’ Weighed by the anxiety, Urien let his upper body flop on the table. Marx was there too, but he was comfortably sleeping inside his box.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. It was Ella, who glanced at the mansion with a curious look, saying, “Just now, I swear I saw someone who looked like Lord Theobald…”

“But, maybe I was just seeing things…”

“…Ella, I’ll be going back to the main building tomorrow.”

“Huh?”

Ella tilted her head in confusion, then as if suddenly realizing something, her eyes went wide as she said, “Could it be?”

“Did Lord Rodrick order him to…?”

“No, that wasn’t it.”

“So, Lord Theobald came here of his own volition?”

Urien blinked in affirmation at her words. After that, as if she had resolved to do something, her face turned serious as she muttered, “Actually…”

“It was the head maid’s arbitrary decision to move you to this shed, Lord Urien.”

“I see.”

“Now that the truth has come to light, she’ll be punished for sure.”

“…”

Urien glanced at the box on the table. He placed it there so that the sun could bless it with its light, but the sky was darkening rapidly, and it was clear that rain was about to fall.

There was no way that he’d be allowed to stay in this shed anymore. He managed to procure enough food for Marx, so that wasn’t of any concern, but who knows what would happen if the servants were to find out about Marx if he were to return to the main building. That thought made him feel anxious. He really didn’t want them to find out about Marx.

“…But, I’m curious. Has your husband noticed how you’ve been treated by the other servants, Lord Urien?”

Urien looked up at Ella. The girl was eyeing the main building with a suspicious glint.

Her dissatisfaction towards Rodrick seemed to be growing. She even began to suspect his ignorance. At that, Urien just replied with a calm “I don’t know.”

“It just has been two days since he returned from Barca. If Lord Theobald of all people noticed, then he should’ve too. Also, I’ve heard that he had been treating you coldly, Lord Urien. How was last night’s dinner?”

“Um…”

The reason why Ella was able to voice out these complaints was because she had no direct connection to Rodrick. Since his mind was occupied with Marx, Urien only nodded at her question in half a daze.

At this, Ella muttered in frustration, “Lord Urien…” But, there was nothing she could do. She wasn’t in a position to reprimand the head maid, let alone confront Rodrick himself.

All she could do was treat Urien the best she could.

“Lord Urien, do you dislike your husband?”

Urien glanced at Ella briefly before turning his gaze at Marx’ box in the corner of his eyes.

Ella didn’t know about the contract marriage.

She didn’t know that he only benefitted from this marriage, so she felt indignant about the way he was being treated. On the other hand, Urien couldn’t care less about the way he was treated. After two years, he’d get money and his freedom. To him, this was like half a miracle—a few months ago, he’d never imagined that such an opportunity could arise.

In that sense, one could say that Rodrick was his savior. There was no reason for him to like him in that way, but he at least felt grateful that he’d be granting money and freedom to him.

“Do you think that your husband is cruel…?”

Ella asked in a mutter, her tone sounded sad. She couldn’t accept that Urien was being treated this way and was devastated that he didn’t seem to mind his situation much.

But… She didn’t know.

Whether it was Ella, who treated him so well even though the rest of the servants treated him coldly, or Theobald, whose pained face was still vivid in his mind—those people who were willing to sympathize with his situation…

They didn’t know.

What kind of hell Urien had gone through.

What kind of person Urien actually was.

He had no desire to tell anyone about it, even more so if their care for him was so genuine.

——Not long after, the rain finally started to fall.

After dinner, after Ella returned to the main building, the rain only got heavier. Each rain drop felt like a bullet falling from the sky, while the wind blew fiercely it stung one’s skin.

Urien had heard that at times, a disaster-level heavy rain would strike this region without warning, and seeing how the rain and wind only got heavier by the second, he became concerned that this was what was happening. The possibility of the shed being in danger became bigger as well.

This was completely out of his expectations. The more the night grew, the heavier the rain became. At one point, he curled up in his bed, holding Marx’ box in his embrace.

“It’s gonna be fine. It’s gonna be fine…”

From inside the box, Marx looked up at Urien.

His eyes were wet, probably mirroring Urien’s anxiety. Seeing this, Urien repeated his words again and again.

“It’s gonna be fine. We’ll just need to endure…”

——Unfortunately, because he had been shivering on the second floor, Urien failed to notice. The river was overflowing. Water pressure from outside was strong enough to bust the door open and when it opened, along with the roaring wind, the incoming water burst into the shed. When he realized it, he immediately tried to come down to the first floor, but it was too late. 

‘Oh, no.’

‘The shed’s about to collapse.’

His face quickly turned pale and he rushed to grab Marx’ box. He had to get Marx to a safe place—the roof. As long as he was able to grab his box and get something that could make it float—

At that moment, the water suddenly came rushing in at an incredible speed.

The old staircase gave way and Urien fell into the pitch-black water.

The last thing he saw before he lost his consciousness was the wooden wall of the shed collapsing.