Escape

“Let’s go, Aria. Time for breakfast.”

Kaelan tugged on the chain after wiping my body with a damp cloth.

I felt the two plugs inside my body whenever they moved.

Back on all fours.

Into the hallway.

Into the servants’ line of sight.

This time, with the plugs in as well.

When we returned to the room, a steaming breakfast had been laid out on the table.

Kaelan sat in the chair and picked up his knife, just as he had yesterday.

And a bowl was placed in front of me.

“Here, Aria. Are you going to eat?”

“…I’m Ella.”

“Hmm… Then I suppose you’ll have to wait until lunch.”

When I refused, he lightly stroked my head, then took the bowl away.

After the meal, he once again began working on something.

I lay with my body stretched out, as far from him as possible.

The two plugs lodged inside me constantly made their presence known, weighing heavily on my lower abdomen.

When I curled up, the two plugs lodged inside me made their presence even more unpleasantly felt, leaving me no choice but to stay stretched out.

Unlike yesterday, Kaelan was writing something as he sent out and received carrier pigeons.

The same thing happened at lunch.

He merely offered me food and did nothing else.

But dinner was different.

My body was crying out with intense hunger after the violent acts that had continued since yesterday.

I didn’t think I could endure it any longer.

About a day and a half.

In my previous life, I had endured going without food for three days at a time.

But unlike then, I was weak now.

Thirty-six hours felt like thirty-six days.

A bizarre emptiness, as if my stomach had not merely emptied but clung to the skin of my back.

I didn’t even have the strength left to move a fingertip.

My body was trembling faintly, and even my eyelids felt heavy.

My body was desperately craving food.

To take revenge, I had to eat at least something.

My brain kept issuing that command.

And the bowl placed in front of me.

“Here, Aria. It’s dinner.”

“…Yes.”

The moment that single word escaped my lips, it felt as though something collapsed.

‘What…did I just say?’

Aria.

I had answered to the name Aria.

‘No… This is…because I was hungry…’

But it was nothing more than an excuse.

The name Noah had called me.

The name my parents had given me.

Ella.

I had abandoned that name myself.

Tears streamed down my face, but I no longer had the will to resist.

I slowly reached my right hand toward the bowl.

“No, Aria. What dog uses its hands?”

Words meant to trample my pride.

But I quietly lowered my head.

For the sake of revenge, I could play along this much.

I could give up this much.

I slowly opened my mouth and put the food inside.

It was delicious.

Food eaten after roughly thirty-six hours tasted unbelievably good.

Meanwhile, I crawled like a dog in clothes that barely covered my body,

with plugs inserted to control even my bodily functions.

Tears flowed from my eyes at my own miserable state.

Even so, I had to endure.

Even so, I had to eat.

I could do nothing with a weakened body.

I had to build up my strength, if only to drive my fangs into Kaelan’s neck.

“Good girl, my Aria.”

Kaelan gently smoothed my hair.

As though he were petting a dog.

Remember this moment. Remember it.

Tears fell into the bowl.

Someday, I would definitely tear this hand apart with my teeth, but for now I had to eat.

I had to build my strength, survive, and take revenge.

After that, each day was the same.

Once I acknowledged that I was Aria, I ate only with my mouth, like a dog.

I crawled through the hallway on all fours with a collar around my neck.

The plugs blocking my openings gradually grew larger.

I communicated only with Kaelan.

My daily life consisted of sleeping in his arms.

But on the seventh day, something strange happened.

“Ella.”

Kaelan’s voice brushed my ears, sounding unfamiliar.

“…?”

‘…Who?’

For a moment, I couldn’t remember whose name it was.

Three seconds.

For those brief seconds, I couldn’t remember who that name belonged to.

“Ah.”

A breath-stealing, ecstatic smile spread across his lips.

As though the perfect harmony he had awaited for so long had finally rung out.

“Yes… At last, the unnecessary noise of the past has disappeared. You’re a true Aria now.”

He looked at me as though admiring a score that had just been completed.

My heart went cold.

‘Just now…I…’

Ella.

The name my parents had given me—the one Noah had called me by.

I hadn’t responded to that name.

It had been only three seconds, but those three seconds said everything.

‘No… I was just tired… I was so exhausted that I got confused.’

I desperately denied it, but my mind remained in turmoil.

The name Ella felt faint and distant, as though it did not belong to me.

Kaelan’s hand stroked my head.

“Don’t worry. Ella has disappeared, but Aria is here.”

I couldn’t say anything.

I wanted to deny it, but I couldn’t.

I had just forgotten my own name.

“Aria, we’re going out today. I have to leave the estate. There’s someone I have to meet.”

Kaelan spoke to me, still reeling from the shock of the day before.

His announcement that he would be leaving the estate was enough to pull me out of my shock.

My heart pounded.

It was an opportunity.

“When will you be back?”

“Around dinner? Or it might be tomorrow morning.”

He lifted my chin.

“You’ll be lonely, won’t you, my Aria.”

“…I’ll be fine.”

“Good girl.”

He lightly stroked my head.

The metallic clink of the collar being fastened to the bedpost.

“Stay here. Mary will bring you food.”

The door closed, and his footsteps faded away.

I didn’t move.

To make sure he had really left.

After about an hour, Mary opened the door and came in.

She was carrying food.

“Mary. This is my chance. Please help me.”

Her eyes wavered.

“Just this once, please.”

A brief silence.

“…What should I do?”

“Clothes. I need underwear and something that leaves my collarbone uncovered. And a robe to throw over it.”

I couldn’t possibly walk around in this outfit.

And because the wound on my collarbone had not fully healed, I couldn’t put clothing directly over it.

“Please wait just a little!”

When Mary left, I reached toward the table.

The paper knife was still lying there.

A sharp blade.

With this, I could cut through the thin collar.

I slipped the blade between my neck and the collar and sawed back and forth several times, until the collar snapped.

The tightness I had constantly felt around my neck disappeared.

I hurried toward the window.

It wasn’t locked.

Had Kaelan known from the start that I would try to escape?

The fear that all of this might be part of his plan stopped me in my tracks.

But the humiliation and pain I had endured for days pushed me forward.

If I stayed like this, I would truly disappear.

Even if this opportunity was a trap, it was better than staying here.

For now, getting out came first.

When I opened the window, a cold wind blew in.

The bushes directly below the window.

If I fell onto them from the second floor, I could land without suffering any major injuries.

“These clothes should do! And I brought some money. The western wall. You remember the ivy, right? Once you get over it, that’s the village. And beyond the village is the forest.”

“Thank you, Mary.”

She didn’t answer and hurried out of the room.

I took the clothes Mary had brought me.

Underwear.

My hands trembled as I put on underwear for the first time in eight days.

The fabric touching my skin felt unfamiliar.

Putting on underwear with the plugs still in felt bizarre.

My body was covered, but my insides were still full.

Once I got out.

Then I could remove them.

With every second precious, removing them now was too risky.

After putting on the dress and covering my head with the robe, I took the paper knife and money pouch.

If there had been a mirror, I would have looked like an ordinary woman, even if I seemed suspicious.

But I knew.

That beneath these clothes, the marks left by the collar, the brand on my collarbone, and the plugs inside my body still existed.

I shook my head.

Getting out came first.

All my preparations were complete.

When I saw no one around outside the window, I climbed over the sill and threw myself down.

Something from the window frame stuck to my clothes and body, but I had no time to care.

With an impact that shook my entire body, I crashed into the bushes.

Pointed branches scratched my skin and tore my clothes, but I felt no pain suggesting broken bones.

Swallowing a groan, I quickly got to my feet.

In the suffocating silence, I ran desperately.

Every movement made the two plugs lodged inside me violently jab my abdomen.

The one in back, especially, had gradually grown over seven days and was now the size of a fist.

I had thought I’d grown used to it, but moving so violently brought the pain back.

Every time I ran, the pressure in my lower abdomen made it hard to breathe.

Even so, I couldn’t give up.

‘Hang on…just a little… Once I get over that wall, it’ll be over.’

At last, a huge wall appeared before me.

The soles of my bare feet were covered in dirt, but I couldn’t stop.

Just as Mary had said, part of the wall was completely covered in dense ivy.

Gasping raggedly, I grabbed the vines.

A tough, sturdy stem caught in my grasp.

When I began climbing the wall, my arms and legs, weakened by days of abuse, screamed, but my survival instinct kept my body moving.

Three meters—not a low height by any means.

When I had climbed about halfway, some of the vines supporting my foot suddenly snapped.

Stifling a scream, I desperately grabbed another stem.

My heart felt as though it would burst.

‘Just a little more… Just a little more!’

At last, my fingertips felt the rough stone at the top of the wall.

I summoned the last of my strength and pulled myself up.

I sprawled precariously across the wall and looked down.

On the other side, freedom awaited.