Chapter 20
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Chapter 20
* * *
Upon arriving at the village, I made straight for the kennels where hunting dogs were kept. The thought was simple—with their keen sense of smell, they could track down Claude.
Fortunately, when I explained the situation, the owner readily lent me the dogs. Since they were trained to obey only their master's commands, he even accompanied us to the Landslide Site.
"I'm truly grateful. I won't forget this kindness."
I immediately deployed the hunting dogs to the rescue operation. Sir Gillian, who would normally have lectured me, this time acquiesced to my plan without protest. He must have judged my approach sound.
Fortunately, the rain ceased before long. But the problem was that the sun had begun to set.
Winter days were short, and the evening after the rain was bitterly cold. It was hardly ideal conditions for a rescue operation.
"Miss, wouldn't it be wise to stop for today and resume work early tomorrow morning?"
"It's freezing. And with all this rain, if we stop now, he might freeze to death."
"...Very well."
Sir Gillian reluctantly nodded. He seemed to think that Marquis Agris dying near the Duke of Bellomen's territory would reflect poorly on the Duke.
'I will save him. I must.'
I'll find him and bring him back to Amelia. I promised her I would.
With that resolve, I pursued the hunting dogs.
The dogs sniffed at the wet earth repeatedly, scratching with their front paws. But most of their efforts yielded nothing.
'The ground will freeze by dawn...'
It had only just stopped raining. I could well imagine how quickly water-soaked earth would freeze.
My hope that Claude would be unharmed gradually shifted to merely wishing he would survive, even if injured.
Hope was steadily fading from my heart.
"Woof!"
The brown hunting dog ahead barked loudly. As if calling me over, it began clawing at a mound covered in soil and branches.
"It's found something!"
The owner's excited voice lifted me from the brink of despair.
Sir Gillian, the soldiers, and I rushed toward the dog with shovels and rescue equipment.
As we dug where the dog had scratched, a crushed carriage came into view. Every window was shattered, testament to the violence of the accident.
I peered through the hole the dog had dug into the carriage interior. But Claude was nowhere to be seen. Only soil that had poured through the broken windows lay heaped inside.
'He couldn't have been thrown out...'
With Claude's sturdy build, he couldn't possibly have squeezed through such a small window.
"Work faster! Hurry!"
"Yes!"
Meanwhile, Sir Gillian barked orders at the soldiers. They resumed digging, but thick tree roots and heavy soil made progress slow.
'At this pace, we'll never make it.'
Removing the massive tree blocking the entrance would not be easy. If we continued like this, Claude would succumb to the creeping cold and freeze to death.
Unable to bear it any longer, I removed my outer coat.
"What are you doing?"
Sir Gillian stared at me as though I were mad, stripping my clothes on such a freezing night. But I paid him no mind and continued.
I shed my thick garments to make my body slender, then draped them over the broken window.
Then, swimming-like, I threw myself through the window into the carriage.
My small frame slipped easily into the carriage interior.
"Miss, what on earth are you doing!"
Gillian cried out in alarm. The knights nearby wore equally flustered expressions.
I brushed the fur clinging to my clothes aside and opened my mouth.
"Do you have any idea how long it will take to clear away all the dirt piled up at the door?"
The problem wasn't merely the soil. A massive tree, swept down by the downpour, blocked the entrance entirely.
"We don't have time. If it's possible, I'll do it myself."
The burly soldiers wouldn't be able to squeeze through this small window.
I extended my hand toward the soldier, whose face still bore a dazed expression.
"Hand me the shovel."
"...Pardon?"
"Quickly."
I snatched the shovel from the soldier's hands. As he stepped back, a hunting dog that had been prowling nearby leaped through the window and bounded toward me.
"Woof!"
The dog clawed at the ground, thick with accumulated soil.
"The ground, you say?"
I began digging frantically with the shovel. That was when the ground began to resound.
"Over here! This way!"
At the unmistakably human voice, I ordered the soldiers who had resumed their work to stop. The soil was muffling the sound, so we needed silence to hear the voice clearly.
"Are you unharmed?"
I shouted as loudly as I could, hoping my voice would reach Claude. The answer came swiftly.
"Yes, I'm fine!"
"Just hold on a moment longer!"
Thank goodness. Truly, thank goodness.
I swallowed the tears welling up and moved my hands again. Once Claude's safety was confirmed, Gillian too urged the soldiers onward.
Moving frozen, numb hands quickly was no easy feat. My body, unaccustomed to such labor, cried out desperately for rest.
Yet I could not stop now.
After some ten minutes of excavation, the carriage floor gradually began to reveal itself.
"Woof woof!"
The hunting dog pawed at the shallow layer of soil covering the ground. Then a small door with a handle came into view.
"Woof!"
As if to say this was the place, the dog barked once more.
I gripped the door handle with trembling hands, summoning all my strength to pull it open.
And finally.
"Found you!"
Claude appeared before me.
* * *
Claude gazed at the savior who had come to him with the light.
After spending so long in darkness, the woman before him seemed to glow with an almost blinding radiance.
Claude blinked repeatedly to adjust his vision. Only then did the woman's face come fully into focus.
Tears clung to her long lashes.
"Why are you crying?"
At his question, the woman's lower lashes trembled. Tears that had gathered at the corners of her eyes spilled down her dirt-smudged cheeks.
The woman roughly wiped away the tears that had dampened her cheeks and opened her mouth.
"Amelia is waiting for you."
"...!"
"That child believes her uncle will surely find her. Let's leave this place at once and go to the Orphanage."
"Then you are...."
Claude could not continue speaking. Yet it was not difficult to infer what remained unsaid.
"Yes. That's right."
"...."
"I am Lucella Rilprey."
Lucella Rilprey. The name written in the letter that had revealed Amelia's whereabouts.
"So our Amelia truly is there...."
"Yes. She's at the Büsnie Orphanage, waiting for her uncle to come."
Claude sprang to his feet. Yet contrary to his will, his legs gave way beneath him, and he could scarcely walk.
Lucella hastily supported Claude.
"...Good heavens."
The right leg of Claude's trousers was soaked through with blood. She had thought only his forehead was torn, but it seemed he had been injured while taking shelter in a cramped space.
"Didn't it hurt?"
"I didn't even realize I was injured."
Lucella retrieved the outer coat she had draped over the broken window and wrapped it around Claude's body. It was to preserve whatever warmth she could.
Lucella moved forward with his arm slung over her shoulder. Between the digging in this bitter cold and the sheer weight of Claude's body, her legs trembled violently. Yet she had to press onward.
"We've rescued the Duke! Everyone, increase your work pace!"
"Yes!"
The moment Claude emerged safely, Sir Gillian and the soldiers moved with renewed vigor.
Soon the massive tree blocking the way was cleared, and the firmly sealed door swung open.
Physicians who had been waiting nearby draped a thick blanket over Claude's body and examined his wounds. The rescue had finally succeeded completely.
"His body temperature is somewhat low, but there is no danger to his life. The wounds on his forehead and leg are not particularly severe either."
"Understood. Take him directly to the Duke's Mansion."
Lucella boarded the carriage, following the physicians who were supporting Claude. The carriage carrying the patient raced down the road faster than ever before.
"I am fine, so please take me to the Büsnie Orphanage instead."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Didn't you say Amelia is waiting? I can treat my wounds after meeting my niece."
"That won't do."
Lucella spoke firmly, gazing at Claude bundled tightly in the blanket. In the darkness before, she had not been able to see properly, but now she could see that blood from his forehead had soaked half his face. Moreover, his lips, chilled by the cold, had turned a pale blue.
"No matter how strong you are, you won't last long in that condition."
"I can endure it."
Yet Claude remained resolute.
"Please, let me see Amelia first."
Those sitting beside him rolled their eyes. Claude's attitude was far too stubborn.
Should I instruct the coachman to change direction? As I wrestled with the dilemma, Lucella spoke up.
"Were you planning to knock Amelia unconscious?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"You're covered in blood and planning to see a seven-year-old child. Aren't you concerned about how frightened Amelia will be?"
"Ah...."
I turned my head and stared out the window.
My reflection in the glass was caked with blood. My face had turned deathly pale from shivering in the cold for so long.
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