—Kel's POV—
—knock, knock, knock—
"Come in."
I open the door softly.
—smack—
A dull sound echoed from inside the room.
—smack—
Kel stepped in with a tray of refreshments balanced carefully in both hands, only to find Lady Velora standing beside the bed, her hair tied high to keep the damp strands away from her face. Her sleeves had been rolled up past her elbows, and the pale ribbon around her collar had long since loosened from all her movement.
At the side of the bed frame hung a strange, makeshift punching bag—nothing more than layers of firm bedding wrapped tightly together and bound with rope.
Lady Velora struck it again.
—smack—
Her fist sank into the fabric, the force of it making the bed frame tremble faintly.
"Lady Velora. "Your refreshments."
Velora lowered her hands. Sweat clung to her temples, and her breathing was slightly uneven.
She reached for a towel and wiped the side of her face.
"Thanks Kel."
I let out a gentle smile.
I looked at Lady Velora quietly.
'She grew an inch after a year had passed.'
This was not the bright chamber Lady Velora once occupied, where sunlight entered through tall windows and servants came and went with practiced ease. This place was distant from the main estate, far from the entrance, far from the usual paths of noble visitors and household staff or rather forbidden.
A place where someone could be hidden without anyone needing to ask where they had gone.
My fingers tightened around the tray.
'I could not do anything…'
—11 months ago—
When I opened the door, I found Lady Velora collapsed on the floor.
"L-Lady Velora!"
The tray in my hands nearly slipped.
I rushed toward her at once, my knees hitting the carpet as I knelt beside her. Her body trembled beneath the folds of her dress, one hand gripping the fabric near her legs while the other pressed against the floor as if she had tried to rise and failed.
"Kel…"
Her voice broke.
Tears fell from her eyes before she could stop them.
"It hurts."
My heart clenched.
For a moment, I did not know what pain she meant.
'Was it her legs?'
'Was it the grief she carried so tightly inside her chest?'
'Was it Lady Elie's death?'
'Or was it everything at once?'
Lady Velora stared toward the window in a daze. Her eyes were open, but she did not seem to see the view beyond the glass. She held everything in as if letting go would make her fall apart completely, yet the tears continued to spill down her cheeks.
I did not ask for permission.
I simply reached out and pulled her into my arms.
"My lady…"
She did not push me away.
For an entire month, that sorrow remained.
Until one afternoon, her voice suddenly returned.
"Kel."
I lifted my head.
"Yes, my lady?"
She turned toward me slowly.
"Does that mean no one will know what I am doing inside this room from now on?"
I hesitated.
"Well… as long as you do not leave this place, I suppose no one would bother to look too closely."
Velora suddenly turns around and looks at me. Her ruby eyes finally lit up.
"Kel."
"Yes, my lady?"
Velora smiles as her eyes follows.
"I know what I am going to do."
—smack—
The sound pulled me back to the present.
'Lady Velora did say that but—...'
—smack—
Lady Velora's fist struck the makeshift punching bag once more.
'I'm relief that lady Velora is finally fine.'
—smack—
I flinched despite myself from those sounds.
At first, I had misunderstood her.
When Lady Velora asked me for rope, I thought the worst. My heart had nearly stopped inside my chest. I thought grief had finally dragged her somewhere I could not follow.
But she did not use the rope to harm herself.
She used it to bind bedding together.
She used it to create that strange object beside her bed.
She called it a punching bag.
I had never heard of such a thing being used by a noble lady.
Yet the more I watched her, the more my fear began to settle.
Lady Velora was moving, sweating, breathing hard, alive.
She is happy and free.
—smack, punch—
Ever since we left the original manor, nobody came to look after us. As long as Lady Velora did not step outside, no one seemed to care what she did inside these walls.
This place had become a cage.
She asked for trousers meant for boys saying that she needs it for practice.
I was skeptical. Confused, even. A young noble lady requesting such clothing would invite scandal in any proper household.
I let out a deep sigh.
—smack—
I flinch.
Her fist landed again.
'I am beginning to get used to this.'
It truly felt as if Lady Velora was becoming more like a young lord than a sheltered lady.
I let out a long sigh.
Lady Velora glanced at me.
"What was that sigh for?"
"Nothing, my lady."
—poof, punch—
"You looked like you were judging me."
"I would never dare."
"You absolutely were."
My smile remain unchanged.
"Only with great respect."
Lady Velora lets out a chuckle.
—Velora's POV—
I wiped the sweat from my chin and looked at the miserable excuse for a punching bag tied to the side of my bed.
If someone from my previous life saw this, they would probably ask if I was training or attacking laundry.
I came to conclusion, if no fairies wants me even if I could finally see them or not know where to find them, I should level up my strength and physique.
For the past several months, I had tried almost everything I could think of.
Stretching, jumping, running in circles, walking, climbing up and down the stairs.
Sit up, push ups are quite hard and tiring that I could barely last a few minutes before my arms shook so badly I wanted to lie flat on the floor and accept defeat.
At one point, I even considered training like a spy from the movies I used to watch. Something flexible and dramatic, like climbing walls, balancing on ledges, or sneaking through shadows.
Unfortunately, this body was not built like an assassin.
It was built like a noble lady who had probably spent most of her life being told not to run in the hallway.
If I could not find one, that was also fine.
If the world insisted I remain powerless, I would at least make this body harder to kill.
Anything was better than staying still and waiting for fate to drag me toward my death.
Boxing, surprisingly, was the easiest to understand.
'I just hit and punch right.'
—smack—
The sound echoed through the room.
A strange satisfaction ran through my arm.
It felt like releasing frustration one strike at a time.
Like hitting two birds with one stone.
Exercise and anger management.
—bam—
Me and Kel startled by the sound from outside.
We moved toward the door and stepped out.
"Oh, High Priest."
Grand Priest Cassien stood there, one hand still raised, his face carrying the awkward expression of a man who had absolutely been caught doing something embarrassing.
For a moment, no one spoke as the statue seems to have broken has been placed back once again.
I stared at him.
He stared at me.
Kel stared at the statue.
Nervously and confused, looks at us as if shock that he got caught.
I let out a sigh.
As Kel gets closer and almost smack the High Priest himself.
Cassien glanced at the statue.
The statue, still tilted slightly to one side, silently betrayed him.
"Oh my Kel, It's so great to see you! M-may the blessings come to you...?"
Kel inhaled slowly in anger.
She was the only one who cleaned this place properly, so I could understand why she looked personally offended.
At times Kel can also order Cassien, The high priest himself! To help her clean—
'That I can't do.'
The Spirit Oracle that is also a High Priest doing normal chores is a bit—
Cassien cleared his throat and turned back to me, clearly eager to escape Kel's quiet anger.
"Were you working out in your room again, Lady Velora?"
His smile widened.
Cassien had, somehow, fought the Former duke and won.
Or at least, he had argued with them enough to continue visiting me. Apparently, his constant claim that the High Priest and being a Spirit Oracle to booth was untouchable had not been entirely a joke.
He visited a few times a month.
Not too often but enough for me to remember that the world outside this place had not completely erased me.
Aside from Kel, he was the only person who reached out.
I had not seen anyone else.
I do receive letters here and there from Mira and Cassien but aside from that nobody in my family ever left me, even Rey, Lucien, and Erisa.
No matter how many times I ask Kel about Erisa, her answer remains unchanged.
Not even Lady Elie's grave.
That last thought settled painfully inside my chest.
I let out a sigh.
'Would be nice if Marigold too leaves me a letter.'
Cassien's expression softened, as if he had noticed the change in my face.
Without another word, he extended something toward me.
A small paper-wrapped bundle of flowers.
"Daisies?"
I did not take them right away.
Instead, I reached carefully for the paper wrapping, avoiding direct contact with the flowers themselves.
"What are these for?"
Cassien watched my careful fingers with quiet understanding, but he did not comment on it as if he knew something but uncertain the reason as from the way the paper wrap is wrapped twice.
"I heard your punishment will be over soon."
He smiled gently.
"So I thought congratulations would not hurt."
The wind passed between us, soft and brief, carrying the faint scent of grass and distant blossoms.
Cassien did not press me.
Kel remained behind me, silent but watchful.
I lowered my gaze back to the daisies.
'Finally.'
The letter I got yesterday.
It did not mean freedom.
It did not mean I was safe.
But it meant the door of this cage had finally begun to open.
And for the first time in almost a year.
—Next day—
"Lady Velora, are you ready?"
I smile with confidence.
As I step out.
"ACK!!!"
I press both my hands against my eyes.
The sunlight struck my eyes so sharply that I instinctively squinted, like I had spent months locked indoors with only the glow of a computer screen for light.