Chapter 75: Leaving

The room had been quiet for nearly an hour.

Lathel was still sitting on the bed with his back against the headboard, while the silver chain wrapped around his ankle extended down to the metal ring fixed beneath the floor. He had tried opening it twice, but both attempts failed. It was not because the lock was too complicated, but because the key had been taken away. With his current strength, breaking the chain by force was nearly impossible.

Lathel lowered his head and looked at his ankle. A faint red ring still remained on his skin where the shackle had pressed against it.

Pandora had been silent ever since Catrina left the room, unusually refraining from mocking him even once. Only when Lathel unconsciously touched the bruises around his neck again did she finally speak.

"Does it hurt?"

’Not much.’

"I’m asking about your neck, not your pride."

Lathel: "..."

He slowly lowered his hand.

Pandora snorted softly. "You can keep pretending to be calm, but I’m literally inside your head. Just now, someone walked past in the corridor and your heart immediately started beating faster."

Lathel did not argue, because she was right.

Every time someone walked past the room, he instinctively looked toward the door. One part of Lathel thought Catrina might come back, while another part did not know whether he truly wanted to see her right now.

He still clearly remembered Catrina’s hand tightening around his throat.

He also remembered her expression when she finally regained her senses.

Fear.

Regret.

Almost despair.

That was exactly what made everything more difficult.

If Catrina had truly wanted to kill him, perhaps Lathel would have found it much easier to make a decision.

But she had not wanted to.

At least, the rational part of her had absolutely no intention of hurting him.

Yet the result did not change.

He had almost died.

And after waking up, what awaited him was still a chain.

Lathel looked down at his ankle once more and slowly clenched his hand.

’This can’t continue.’

Pandora immediately asked, "Finally figured it out?"

Before Lathel could answer, the sound of a lock opening came from outside.

Click.

He immediately looked up.

The door opened slightly, and a female Black Rose knight stepped inside carrying a tray of food and a small medicine bottle.

She looked to be in her early twenties. Lathel had seen her several times during the days he had stayed here, but they had never spoken much.

What caught his attention was that after stepping inside, she did not immediately close the door.

The female knight placed the tray on the table beside the bed and looked at Lathel. Her gaze unconsciously lingered on the bruises around his neck for a few seconds before quickly moving away.

"Lord Lathel."

Lathel picked up the board.

[Where is Catrina?]

The woman paused slightly before answering, "Her Grace is resting."

Lathel looked at her.

The female knight clearly understood that he did not believe her, so she quickly added, "Her condition is still unstable. The captain advised Her Grace not to come here for now."

Lathel fell silent.

He did not know whether he should feel relieved or worried.

In the end, he only wrote:

[Is she injured?]

After reading it, the female knight’s expression clearly changed.

"Nothing serious." She paused, then lowered her voice. "At least physically."

Lathel nodded and put the board down, but the female knight still did not leave.

When he noticed and looked at her, the two remained silent for several seconds before she took a deep breath, reached into her pocket, and pulled out a small silver key.

Lathel’s gaze immediately dropped.

The key was shaped perfectly for the lock around his ankle.

Pandora noticed too.

"Oh?"

The female knight stepped forward, but when she was still about two steps away from the bed, she deliberately stopped.

"I want to ask you something."

Lathel nodded.

"If the chain were removed..." She looked directly at him. "...would you want to leave this place?"

Lathel did not answer immediately.

Even Pandora fell silent.

He looked at the key in the knight’s hand, then at the open door behind her.

No one was standing there.

Catrina was not outside either.

Once that lock was opened, he could leave.

Lathel picked up the board.

[Did Catrina tell you to open it?]

The female knight shook her head.

"No."

[Are you disobeying orders?]

This time, she remained silent for longer before finally nodding.

"Her Grace ordered that the chain was not to be removed without her permission."

Lathel frowned.

The female knight looked at the key in her hand, and her voice lowered as well.

"I’ve followed Her Grace for a very long time. I’ve seen her wounded, sick, lose control, even kill people. But yesterday..."

She stopped.

Her gaze unconsciously fell toward Lathel’s neck again.

"That was the first time I saw Her Grace almost kill someone she herself did not want to kill."

Lathel did not move.

"After you lost consciousness, Her Grace sat beside the bed for a very long time. She refused to let anyone touch you, and she would not leave either." The knight’s hand tightened around the key. "Then she ordered us to chain you."

The helplessness in her voice was so obvious that she did not even try to hide it.

"I don’t know what Her Grace truly wants anymore."

Lathel looked at her.

The female knight continued, "Maybe tomorrow she’ll be angry with me. Maybe I’ll be expelled from Black Rose. But if we keep locking you in here, I think both of you will only get worse."

The room remained quiet for a while.

Finally, she knelt on one knee without moving any closer.

She placed the key on the floor and gently pushed it toward Lathel.

"I won’t decide for you."

The key slid to the side of the bed.

"If you want to stay, then please stay. If you want to leave..." She lowered her head. "...the door behind me is open."

Lathel looked at the key.

Pandora suddenly asked,

"What are you going to do?"

He did not answer immediately.

After a while, Lathel bent down and picked up the key.

Click.

The lock opened, and the silver chain immediately fell from his ankle.

The sound of metal hitting the floor was not loud, but the female knight still unconsciously tightened her hand.

Lathel stood up. His leg was slightly numb from being restrained for so long, forcing him to brace himself against the bed for several seconds before regaining his balance.

The female knight did not step forward to help.

Perhaps she understood that Lathel did not want anyone touching him casually right now.

He picked up the board.

[Thank you.]

The woman shook her head.

"Don’t thank me. I don’t even know whether what I’m doing is right or wrong."

Lathel looked at her and wrote:

[I don’t know either.]

The female knight looked slightly surprised.

He continued:

[But at least this is my choice.]

She stared at those words for a long time before finally lowering her head.

"I understand."

...

Lathel did not have much to take with him.

Most of the things in the room had originally been prepared by Catrina, from clothes, books, and medicine to even the blanket she had replaced after he once complained that the old one was too thick.

Lathel stood in the middle of the room and looked around before finally taking only his small bag, some money, his writing board, two basic magic books, and the notes related to Leviana’s condition.

Pandora watched him place each item into the bag and asked,

"You’re not taking anything she bought for you?"

’They’re not mine.’

"I thought she gave them to you."

Lathel paused briefly.

’I still don’t want to take them.’

Pandora said nothing more.

Before leaving the room, Lathel stared at the table for a while before pulling out a chair and sitting down.

He took a sheet of paper and wrote several lines.

They were not long, but they were very clear.

[I’m not running away.]

[I simply can’t continue staying somewhere I don’t have the right to decide whether I can leave.]

[I’m going to the Magic Academy.]

[When both of us are calmer, I’ll talk to you.]

Lathel read it over once.

After hesitating for a few seconds, he added one final sentence.

[Don’t hurt the person who opened the door for me.]

Pandora was silent for two seconds before asking:

"You know she might go mad?"

’I know.’

"And you’re still protecting the person who just disobeyed her?"

Lathel put down the pen.

’That is my decision.’

Pandora laughed softly. "I’ve heard that sentence quite a lot today."

Lathel did not react.

He placed the note beneath the cup on the table, picked up his bag, and left the room.

...

No one stopped him.

News that the female knight had opened the door clearly had not spread yet, or perhaps those who saw Lathel had already received some kind of signal from her.

He passed through two corridors, went downstairs, and left through the side entrance of the estate.

When he stepped through the iron gate, Lathel unconsciously stopped.

This was the first time in several days that he was standing outside without Catrina or Black Rose beside him.

No one was holding his wrist.

There was no silver thread.

There was no carriage waiting for him.

Lathel looked at the road ahead.

The first feeling that appeared was relief.

His shoulders, which had always been unconsciously tense, slowly relaxed.

Even his breathing became deeper than usual.

But only a few seconds later, Lathel stopped again as an uncomfortable feeling quickly appeared.

’Am I happy to be away from her?’

Pandora answered immediately:

"What’s strange about that?"

Lathel said nothing.

"She strangled you until you lost consciousness, then chained you up." This time, Pandora’s voice carried no trace of teasing. "Feeling safer after leaving that place is normal."

Lathel turned and looked back at the gate behind him.

But he did not walk back.

After a while, he continued forward.

"Lathel!"

A familiar voice suddenly came from the opposite direction.

He raised his head and immediately saw Elias running toward him.

His brownish-blond hair was being blown into a mess by the wind, the old bag was still hanging from his back, and he was holding two loaves of bread he had just bought.

"I was just about to go look for you."

Elias raised the bread as he spoke.

"I bought extra."

Lathel looked at the two loaves, then at him.

Elias coughed awkwardly.

"All right, actually I bought three."

He patted his stomach and naturally added:

"But one disappeared on the way here."

Pandora laughed.

Even the corner of Lathel’s lips curved slightly.

Elias stepped closer and, out of habit, reached down to pat him on the shoulder.

But the moment his hand came down, Lathel unexpectedly leaned aside and avoided it.

Both of them paused.

Elias looked at his own hand, then at Lathel.

The smile on his face slowly disappeared.

"Did I hurt you?"

Lathel immediately shook his head and wrote:

[No.]

Elias frowned.

Only then did his gaze fall on Lathel’s neck, where the bruises had faded but were still obvious enough to notice.

"Your neck..."

Lathel pulled his collar slightly higher and wrote:

[It’s fine.]

Elias looked at the sentence.

He did not ask further.

He only handed the bread in his hand to Lathel.

"All right."

Lathel looked slightly surprised.

Elias scratched his head and said very naturally:

"If you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t ask. But if you don’t want to go home tonight, you can sleep at my place."

He thought about it for a moment, then began evaluating his own suggestion.

"My house is a little small, there’s only one bed, and my mother might wake up in the middle of the night and call you George..."

Elias fell silent for several seconds.

"...Maybe that’s not a very good offer."

Lathel looked at him and finally wrote:

[Thank you.]

The smile on Elias’s face immediately returned.

"It’s nothing."