Chapter 11

I swallowed hard, the house was not much different from the last time I left this afternoon. There were no crowds of people who seemed to want to swallow me alive after the chaos I caused today. I hope they don't recognize me and don't come to demand accountability.

I walked quietly and my body was still shivering from the cold. The air is quite cold and it looks like it will soon be autumn.

"Can I come in? I'm not ready to meet that fussy old grandmother again! Ah...damn it!"

"Ella, is that you?"

I heard Emily's voice from the direction of the yard and that made me a little relieved because the first person I met was her.

"Yes, it's me!"

"Oh thank goodness!"

I heard the sound of Emily's footsteps walking closer. Then he opened the gate very slowly.

"Oh my gosh, what happened to you? Why do you look so messy? And what's with that dress? Where did you find it?"

"It's a long story, can I come in and change my clothes? I'm cold!"

"You can't come in now because all the family members are gathered in the living room!"

"What why?"

Emily looked back and surveyed her surroundings. Then took my hand and took me outside.

"Follow me!"

"Hey, what's wrong? What happened?"

"Listen, mother is currently in a very bad condition and if you go back now, she won't spare you!"

"What did I do wrong? Did he already know I went out without his knowledge?"

"Yes, but that's just one of them!"

"What do you mean?"

"This afternoon many people came to our house and complained about your actions!"

"W-what?"

"They took the dress you were wearing today and also a broken bicycle belonging to a man which they said you stole."

"I-is that so?"

This time it seemed like I couldn't avoid it, apart from the fact that I had stolen clothes from someone's clothesline and left my dress just like that nearby, I also took away a man's bicycle whose brakes weren't working so I almost hit a passing goat and sheep. just in the middle of the road. But what was much worse, I also fell into the lake.

"I'm relieved that you're safe. They saw you fall into a fairly deep lake and couldn't be seen again. They thought you might have drowned!"

"I'm fine!"

"How did you survive? Did a noble man save you this time?"

"Of course not! If it's just a lake like that, I've been used to swimming since I was little. It's so easy!"

"Since when did you swim in the lake when you were little? You don't swim, Ella!"

"What? Can't swim? I was a swimmer when I was in high school, don't joke!"

"I really don't understand what you are saying, be clear, tell me what really happened to you and how could your dress be left at someone else's house?"

Emily started to put her hands on her hips, I don't know how to explain it to her because in reality, I did steal.

"Okay, I confess. I stole clothes from other people's clotheslines and just left my clothes in the yard of the family's house. I completely forgot to remove traces. After that, I intended to borrow a bicycle parked on the side of the road, I didn't know that "The bike had an owner, so I just took it and it turned out the brakes failed so I couldn't control the speed and ended up falling into the lake."

The atmosphere immediately became silent after I explained what really happened. But a few seconds later, Emily burst into laughter.

"Hahaha...oh my gosh, Ella! You're really very funny!" He said while giggling. Seeing him laugh so happily like that made me only laugh bitterly.

"Haha..." I laughed like a loser.

"So, have you managed to meet the man you love?"

"Who do you mean, the man I love? Since when have I been interested in men?"

"You're really very cute! I mean Duke Aiden, who else? You like him so much that His Majesty King Zavier's good looks don't thrill you at all!"

"Wait a minute! I've never liked men at all, I think you've misunderstood, Miss!"

"What?"

"Ah never mind! I met a man in the forest, I don't know him but he seems to know me!"

"Is he a tall, burly man with brown hair and amber eyes?"

"No need to go into too much detail, the look on his face was so disgusting that I hit him twice."

"What? You hit him? Are you serious?"

"I've never been so serious in my life that I gave him a crushing blow that he'll remember for the rest of his life!"

"You've really gone crazy! If he's the man I'm talking about, it's definitely Duke Aiden De Velgemegeur!"

"Duke Aiden blah blah, whoever it is I don't care. The most important thing now is, when can I go inside? I'm getting cold in here!"

"I'll try to check the conditions inside, wait here a moment!" He said as he stepped into the house and left me here alone.

My body was shivering, like I was going to catch a fever. I've been wearing these wet clothes since last afternoon and I also missed dinner.

"Cold, hungry-"

"Ella, it looks like things are safe enough. You can enter from the back door!"

"Are you sure? The witch and her chatty daughters aren't wandering around the house?"

"They've gone into their respective rooms! But to be safe, you should just go through the back door!"

"Whatever is important is that I can immediately change my clothes and drink hot tea!"

***