The Escape of Layla

The cold air is mixed with the smell of mold. It was so heterogeneous air that I almost accidentally flaunted my face.

Mr. Leanhardt's magical transfer was to a dim dungeon. Several cells line up to face a single passage of cobblestones. The sound of water droplets echoing from somewhere gave the impression that it was even cooler.

"Isn't it cold? Leila."

Mr. Leanhardt seemed to be trying to take off his wrapped coat. I guess you're going to call me. Smiling at that tenderness, I touched Mr. Leanhardt's hand trying to take off his coat.

"Thank you for your concern. But I'm fine. The fabric of the dress is surprisingly solid."

I have a lot to wear under my dress, and probably a warmer outfit than Mr. Leanhardt.

"Tell me when it gets cold."

"Yes."

Mr. Leanhardt stroked my head only once and looked into the dim passage. The only light source is the moonlight that plugs in through the small window, so you can't look far. There seemed to be no sign of Rose in the cell near here.

"Let's find your sister."

"Yep..."

The dungeon is literally in the basement of the castle. I meant to grasp the general structure of the royal castle, but I didn't even know about the dungeon on the boulder. On the cobblestone, only the footsteps of me and Mr. Leanhardt echo.

Rose, how are you doing by now? I can't imagine how things have changed over the past two weeks because it was that once-in-a-lifetime when I was brought up with a deal from Her Royal Highness.

Besides, there was something strangely disturbing about Rose's condition. Rose was my well-acquainted girlfriend when she confessed to me the truth about the accident two years ago, even though at first she was talking about her wedding with Her Highness as if it were a saying. It is possible that he was just playing weak in front of His Highness, but for that, those vain eyes are uncomfortable.

I don't know what Rose is in right now, but there was me somewhere nervous about confronting her again. I unwittingly put my hand on my chest, and I think about it.

I wonder if I can choose the right path in front of Rose. I wonder if Rose's tears will keep me from piercing my will.

In that running light, anxiety didn't completely disappear, although it was good that I was determined to make sure it was done. We, the Duke of Ashbury, have become a house of sinners because we have never been able to do so before. Can I face Rose properly?

"You have a face that doesn't float."

"Huh?"

Mr. Leenhardt peeks into my face as he was walking one step ahead to escort me, taking my hand. What I was thinking about no longer might have appeared on my face.

"It's okay, Leila's not alone."

"... Yes, thank you"

I inadvertently loosened my cheeks to Mr. Leanhardt's kind words. I just feel a lot different with Mr. Leanhardt beside me.

That's when, uh, Mr. Leanhardt stopped and looked far away. When I stop by imitating him, too, something slightly like singing echoes.

Can you hear me?

"Yep... this song..."

This is a babysitting song often sung in this kingdom. It's also what your mother was singing to Rose in that running light.

"... Rose's, voice?

To Rose's voice, which in one way or another made a strong impression, was full of sorrow. Even though Rose is usually reminiscent of a large circle of roses, this singing still seems to disappear.

... Rose could have spoken like this.

They say they're sisters, but they just don't know each other. I feel that was one end of this commotion, and I can't wipe away the feeling that I'm going to regret it somewhere.

"Shall we go? I don't want Leila to hurt me, and I'll see what happens first."

"Yep...... thank you"

I made sure Mr. Leanhardt escorted me again, and I walked out. As we go one step further, the singing gets closer.

And before long, we got to where we wanted to be.

The moonlight plug, in one cell, she was there.

Wearing a white piece that seemed to be of some better quality than I had seen before, Rose was in the moonlight slipping through a window near the ceiling. Her proud platinum hair seemed somewhat damaged, but she was somewhere fantastic enough not to let it feel. It's an impressive sight, like a single painting.

... Really, you're so beautiful I don't think you're my sister.

Regardless of her character and sin, there will be no one out to her right when it comes to appearance. I can't believe how beautiful it is to be a great sinner, and the name of Altair's treasure is not Dada either. So it was only the failure to utilize its beauty in the right direction that I really regretted.

"Rose."

Touch the iron lattice and gently call on Rose. Naturally my voice should have arrived because it's not a big spacious cell, but she kept singing without showing any reaction. I have a bad feeling about the way things are going, so I feel like I'm having a heartbeat.

"... go inside? I'll close the key in a minute."

"... yes, you are"

There's nothing I can do to get here and talk to Rose. Most importantly, there's no guarantee that she'll recognize us when she stops by, but I wanted to try something that I could.

When Mr. Leanhardt gently touched the iron lattice, he magically unlocked it for just a few moments and stepped into the cell. When he invited me in as he was, he closed the key again, trying to get ahead of me and walked by Rose. After coming that close, Rose finally seems to have noticed Mr. Leanhardt's presence. The babysitter song that was echoing in the dungeon quits perfectly.

"... well, angel."

Rose smiled all the time and looked up at Mr. Leenhardt. The smile was very similar to what Rose was showing when she was just a young girl and hurt like the back of her chest burning in nostalgia. Still, that's the grin I used to watch before our relationship was obstinate.

"Beautiful...... I love beautiful things"

Rose's empty eyes are somewhere, but her beautiful grin doesn't break. I look away unintentionally from that instability. After all, Rose seems to be quite distraught. I can see the pulse quickening before the reality of being poked at.

"There were two people who called me Reaper, but I've never been told I was an angel.... you must have lived happily ever after."

Rose deepened her beautiful grin at the words of some sarcastic Mr. Lenhardt. It was like a child who knew nothing about the ugly things in the world or anything else, a smile reminiscent of such purity.

"Yeah... I'm happy. Much more than anyone, much more than your sister..."

Don't tell him that, Rose sang the lullaby out again. Even though he sings with a sunny look, the singing still sounds so loud that it seems to disappear now. Now, it's strange because there's something that attracts the hearts of the listeners. Even as a great sinner, she seems to be good at attracting people.

I also softly step into the cell and walk over to Rose. I spoke quietly to her side, looking up at the moonlight and continuing to sing.

"Rose... it's me, it's Leila"

You reacted to my name, the perfect babysitting song stops. And when Rose turned to me, she reflected me in her pale, empty eyes. But it's also for a moment, and when you admit what I look like, the light immediately returns to Rose's eyes, the same reaction as it did two weeks ago.

"... Oh, sister? Why are you here?

I guess Rose really doesn't like me because of her sincerely disgusting voice. Even in this state, you hate me enough to recognize me. I don't know if I can say that's lucky, but I might be able to talk to you somehow.

"... I wanted to talk to you."

I don't have anything to tell you now.

Even though I could stare at her with staring eyes, I managed to keep staring at her without distracting myself. Even if the emotions in his eyes were profound hatred, he would no longer be allowed to flee. Looking behind his empty eyes, I told him.

"Rose... it's me, I'm trying to tell your father everything I've been through. All about one thing about you, all about my accident."

I tell Rose clearly in front of me what I decided to do in the running light. We did too much sin. No more dishonesty will surely save anyone's heart, even if it will save their lives.

I'm pretty sure that's just my personal idea. I have no right to decide the fate of the Duke of Ashbury family if I escape. That's why I decided at least to entrust the truth about a series of disturbances that I know to your father. On top of that, I didn't know what decision your father would make now.

Even if my entry into the monastery would soon result in a disposition to the Duke's house, it would be less shocking to have preached the truth. I can say that this is my last role as a Duke's Lady, who decided to set me apart from the Duke's family.

I dared to tell Rose in conclusion, so it wouldn't be an immediately acceptable story. Based on the fact that Rose, unlike me, was close to your father or mother, it's not hard to imagine disagreeing with this idea of mine. I intend to explain calmly, but if I were to be cried out, would I be able to penetrate this determination without distorting it?

Unexpectedly, I stare at Rose breathlessly. The time flowing into the dungeon, where only the sound of water droplets echoed, was as long as eternity.

But Rose's empty eyes did not shake at all, and she opened her mouth quietly.

"... you just have to be on your own. When did I tell your father to keep it a secret?"

Surprised by that overly pale response, Rose rises out of her crude bed and steps in front of me. She had a grin close to ridicule.

"Your sister, she always does. If you can save someone if you sacrifice yourself, life, mind, but dignity, but I don't hate being trampled on...... are you really going to be a goddess too? When did I tell you to save my life? He said he wanted us to improve the prison environment."

Rose took a step further and glanced up at me up close. It's certainly hateful to dwell in that eye, but I also feel like I've caught a glimpse of something like a kind of jerk, and I can't say anything.

"You're forgiving your body for someone who doesn't even like your sister for trying to take her life? I wonder if he's really stupid. Cleanliness is the only thing left to take it away from my sister. So your sister gets a sense of superiority? Does it make you feel like you saved my poor sister?

The voice of Rose, who overlaps questions with questions, is the exact opposite of her fantastic singing earlier, and she had a temper not to think of herself as younger - though, in the sense of life experience, I can say that she has had more experience for a year than I have slept for two years. Unexpectedly, I'm about to retire after a step. Rose went on without worrying about my such agitation.

"If you were really only willing to save me and the Duke's house without even having that emotion... I knew I didn't like you, sister. Something too human and disgusting."

Every word is spicy, but for some reason I don't feel harmful. Instead, he felt strongly like a terribly obstinate Goto.

Rose probably looked at me a lot more than I thought. I'm the only one who proclaimed that we don't know each other all the time, and maybe it was me who didn't see them properly.

"Your sister... doesn't even know what it's like to be saved. You know how miserable I've been? How hard it was to keep you alive with the passion of your sister who hates you, even though you should die for a great sin......!

Rose accidentally grabbed one room of my hair and tried to pull it gently to pack the distance from me. She's not the only one who committed what Rose calls a major sin, so I couldn't say anything back, even though there shouldn't be any muscles stuck like this.

That's how painful Rose was. Empty eyes were moisturizing at some point, but they don't confuse people as usual. The first time I saw it, I realized it was a tear from Rose's heart, and all I could do was stare at her blindly.

"Really, I hate, hate, hate your sister! I can't help but hate all this flax color, the bluntness in my pain, and the spirit of self-sacrifice! Your sister... how miserable can you make me feel..."

Poop, and I saw the tears of a zero fallen Rose, and I was stopping thinking for a moment.

Really, I can't help it. Were I ever alive without even trying to read Rose's deep hatred and disgust so far beside me? I was always too oblivious to the feelings around me because I was always the best about myself.

Something that wasn't enough between Rose and me. Again, maybe it was a word. If we weren't prepared to expose our feelings and afraid to get involved, I'm sure we would have been a little more decent sisters.

"Rose -"

- I'm sorry.

Close your mouth like that and gently bite your lips. The bite wound I had when I was drinking tea with Lewis hurt a little, but the rejection made my feelings clear.

Maybe it's just sweet to apologize here. Apologize, I just want to be forgiven. Haven't we been so obstinate because we had chosen only a path that would make our hearts easier?

Never mind, stare straight into Rose's empty eyes. Those eyes, seeped with hatred as the words say, were still beautiful even when negative emotions dwelt, and I felt an overwhelming difference from me.

Every time I looked into those eyes, I was reminded of the emptiness that your father and mother would not love. It was all unconscious, but I wasn't comfortable with Rose because I'm sure she wanted to escape the irrationality of pushing. Rose was jealous of her flat enjoyment of the love from her father and mother that I could not give her no matter how much I sought.

"... I don't like you either, Rose. I hate it, though I honestly don't know if it is. I'm sure he was jealous. Because you were so beautiful like your mother and loved by everyone...... But you were nothing but mutuality."

This may be the first and last emotion I have to say to Rose. It was a far cry from kindness, but still, I felt much better than I had ever said anything.

If we had built a relationship that stretched each other's virtues with confidence in what we had, would we have been close sisters? I wonder if I could support the Duke of Ashbury family with two of them, me, who are either good at studying, or a gorgeous, sociable Rose.

I was reminded that it was now a relationship that I had no intention of achieving, no matter how I scratched my feet, but if I had only made an effort to walk over, it would not have been an unlikely future, and a little cleavage seeped into the bottom of my heart.

At the same time I learned such a sentiment, Rose's eyes wobble only for a moment. The glimpses of emotion were slightly uncut and reassuring. Most importantly, it was really only for a few moments, and the color of hatred immediately dwells in the empty eyes.

Keep it up. Rose pushed her shoulder to let me go. Unable to cope with the sudden, Mr. Leanhardt's hand supports my shoulder, which was gently lifted.

"Don't show yourself again. Don't worry about me. Report it to your father or whatever you want. Get the hell out of here.... I want to be free now, I want to be free from your sister's curse. I'm sure it's the same for your mother."

"And your mother?

Rose laughed sarcastically somewhere, picking her own platinum hair and telling her.

"In the end, your mother is just like me. You're just one of those poor people driven mad by your inferiority towards your sister."

When Rose wiped the tears that had accumulated in the abyss of her eyes, she turned her gaze to Mr. Leenhardt, who supported my shoulder.

"... I don't know how you're going to report it to your father, but you better not let your sister see your mother. You don't want me to take your sister, do you?

"You understand very well. I thought you were stupid as far as I'm concerned, but you're surprisingly sharp."

To Mr. Leanhardt's somewhat thorny narrative, it came from the inside that he didn't feel good about Rose. After all, I guess you have the matter of my accident at your root. It would be harder to treat him favourably after being told such a story, but I've only seen Mr. Lenhardt calm, and found it rare.

"If you have romantic experience, you are much richer than your sister. We'll see."

"Oh, that doesn't sound wrong"

Rose took a small breath and looked up at me sitting on a crude bed.

"Your sister decided to live with that person, didn't she?

"... Yes, it is"

When she answered that, Rose asked again, whining, "That person sounds kind of troublesome too..."

"Do you have the math to escape His Highness?

"I'll go to the monastery, though I'll skip the details. I was wondering if I could discuss it with His Highness there."

"... oh, yeah. If you want to run, you can run as you go, but it's really sweet or something..."

Rose took a huge sigh of sigh, but then zeroed a grunt and a small grunt.

"... we just hurt that one. - No, from your sister, though it must be your sister who's hurt. Still, he tried to confront me..."

Was Rose aware of His Highness's sincerity? It gets ironic, but it's still not going to be right for her in terms of love.

"... even Rose, who didn't really interact with His Highness, realized I was a fool."

"Your sister is a real idiot. It's impossible to guess just how His Highness is doing. Even I realized it was after your sister's accident. I finally realized it when I saw her getting sick."

"I'm going to get sick... Your Highness?

"Of course."

Rose tells me she's not decent at the time she imprisons her sister. That's true, but I didn't think His Highness would have thought of me so deeply during my two years of sleep.

… I wonder if His Highness's thoughts are greater than mine.

No, I can't really feel it. How can the cold eyes of His Highness not be associated with your fondness for me? Rose is right, if His Highness was really sick of his heart, although it is certain that he will remember his sorrow and a certain sorrow, it was a painless emotion, as if when he were sympathetic to the person in the book.

There are limits to just hearing from Mr. Leanhardt and Rose. Above all, even as I tried to guess how His Highness felt, it was also true that all the pain and fear when he was strangled resurrected and his head didn't work well.

"... I've already committed a sin that I'm not even allowed to face that one, but maybe your sister will make it"

A slice of uncut seeped into Rose's expression, who shrugged so. It's no different to being a great sinner, Rose, but maybe that thought she admired His Highness was the only real one.

Again, I have to face it. Both the emotions His Highness can direct at me and the differences of the past nine years.

"Leila, people are coming"

I just renewed my resolve, and, uh, Mr. Leanhardt groaned looking out of the cell. Guess it's time for a look around. Not good if you don't get out of here right away.

"Hey sister...... I wonder how my baby is doing. He's dead?

Unexpectedly, Rose has asked me that there is no such thing as a context. But when I see the grief on that look, I get stuck in words for a moment.

"... I don't know the details, but I heard the servant took them."

The only source is His Royal Highness's words, but he probably isn't lying. Because it's us who didn't have enough words, but His Highness has never lied to me.

"Yes, you're alive... It was refreshing to hear that."

Rose looked up at me and Mr. Leenhardt as she smiled like a blowout somewhere.

"People are coming, aren't they? Well, you should go now. What I hate about your sister's face is something I don't want to see for a long time."

It's the same thing, but only at this moment do I spare even those words. This is the last time I'll be face-to-face with Rose. I had myself to hesitate.

But you spotted my hesitation like that, Rose makes me laugh with her nose all the time.

"I don't need a cliché goodbye from my sister who hates you. You're sweet everywhere this time of year. I'll let you scatter it gorgeously at best."

The grin was a high-flying grin that seemed to be Altair's treasure many times in the social world. What a rose-like look, I accidentally take up a smile as the Duke's Lady that always floated on me, too.

"Yeah, so is that. … good mood, Rose"

"Yes, be in a good mood, sister.... Whatever happens to us, don't let the tragedy stop you from getting drunk because of your nasty guilt."

- Nothing about your sister, because it's not bad.

Rose smiled and said such a dialogue. I unwittingly open my eyes to that look so soft that I don't think it belongs to Rose that I stare at her seriously.

... I can't believe you said that after the metastatic magic started. You're as bad as ever.

I smiled unexpectedly, too, with such evil in my heart. Moments, Mr. Leanhardt's metastatic magic is fully activated so as to hide the tears that seeped into both eyes.

The last look on Rose's face was the same innocent, clear grin she used to see that smile at a young age.