For You In The Cage - Chapter 93

Deltinus’ arm wrapped around Canaren’s waist, as she unknowingly tried to hit his back. His eyes widened, as if he was very happy.

“Ah, yes. It’s this feeling. That’s it.”

Deltinus, who muttered ecstatically, bowed his head and buried his face in Canaren’s neck. Canaren didn’t even think of pushing him away. Because the horrendous moments when she was at the Imperial Palace were brought back to life and became her shackles and bound her.

Deltinus’ hot, humid breath spread across her skin, creeping like bugs crawling.

“It smells good. Yes. It smells so good that I want to eat it right here.”

“…Don’t touch me, don’t touch me… Let me go, Let me go!”

“There is no need to be too afraid. I’m just here to tell you some very important information. You want to think of this as a price for information.”

Deltinus’s lips touched her white and slender neck several times before falling. He looked like a monster, not a human, in Canaren’s eyes. The thought that it would have been better to remain in the Imperial Palace disappeared like snow.

“It’s a bit lacking compared to the information, but don’t leave it as a pleasure for later. Canaren, do you know? The fact that Yulif put a spell on Pionia.”

Canaren didn’t answer. Even a kid who had a nosebleed knew that Yulif was the best wizard in the empire. Deltinus looked at Canaren as if it was pathetic or cute, and then grinned and fiddled with her hair.

“Then do you know that one of those magics is to lock you up here?”

“…Lock me up?”

“It literally means that. Yulif is using magic to prevent you from leaving the castle and all over Pionia. It’s called a barrier. Think carefully. Have you ever gone out of Pionia by yourself after coming here? At the very least, you’ve never gone out freely.”

Canaren’s eyes began to tremble.

As he said, there were only a handful of times she had gone out of the castle, not to mention Pionia. The few outings were all with Yulif. Yuliif didn’t want her to be taken away by the emperor, so he told her to stay by his side for three months, but… 

“No… No. Yulif never locked me up. I just didn’t go out. Even Yulif said it was okay for me to fly!”

There was a condition not to go out of the castle, but it did not feel forced. If he was going to lock her in, she wouldn’t be able to fly at all. Why would Yulif imprison her? He’s the one who took her out of the palace… He said he would give her freedom, so it couldn’t be.

“If you are so confident, fly away and try. Very far and high. Your wings are still intact, so it won’t be difficult at all. Won’t it?”

Deltinus laughed while fiddling with Canaren’s wings. On top of his confident smile, Yulif’s words suddenly overlapped.

“My wife can’t ever step out of the castle.”

Yulif couldn’t have locked her up.

Canaren shook her head violently. It was to shake off the fear and absurd thoughts that Deltinus had encouraged.

There’s no reason to lock her to the point of using magic. Yulif said he would save her from the beginning. Anyway, thanks to Yulif, she was able to get out of the Imperial Palace. And she… she did everything Yulif told her to.

The woman she was now was not the only woman who was helpless in her Imperial Palace. She had Yulif, and she had the duty and dignity to be a duchess, even though it was for only three months. And this was Yulif’s castle. Without Yulif, the castle would have had to defend itself.

Deltinus would not have run all the way here from the Imperial Palace simply to see her. He was conscientious and savvy, taking on duties that no one owed or had to bear.

“Don’t touch me!”

Canaren slapped Deltinus’ hand resting on her wing. Unsurprisingly, Deltinus graciously let go of his hand and withdrew. Had she been in the Imperial Palace, it would have been unimaginable for her.

It seemed he really had a different plan.

Canaren bit her lips.

Will she ever be able to find out what’s his plot?

Although he looked exactly like Yulif, she was not confident enough to deal with a man who resembled a snake, cunning and vicious, unlike Yulif who was beautiful and elegant. But if she avoided him because she was afraid, she would surely regret it later. Regret was sometimes a more serious disease than despair.

‘Resist until I can’t. It’s never too late to regret later.’

“You doubt me. I understand. I did something to you, so it’s natural to be suspicious and wary.”

Canaren was prepared to have her hair pulled, slapped in the cheek, or even kicked in the worst case, but Deltinus’ reaction was strange. Eyes filled with determination trembled slightly.

Deltinus stared at Canaren, raised his hands up, and took a few more steps back. He seemed to want to express his unwillingness to do her harm.

“…What are you scheming?”

“I’m disappointed. Didn’t you say that earlier?” I’m just here to give you some information. If I had an ulterior motive, I would have dragged you away in the absence of Yulif. Yes?”

If it had been someone else’s words, she would have believed it. But the opponent was Deltinus. Canaren knew that it was better for her to trust the monster she met in the snowy north than to believe in Deltinus.

Deltinus’s eyes narrowed as he looked at her, who hardly ever loosened her guard. The dark, subdued purple eyes exuded an unusual energy, and then it became quiet. Deltinus shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s up to you whether you believe what he says or not. Just remember one thing. Yulif is my younger brother. What can’t a man who aimed his sword at his brother who shared blood to take over you do? It’s easier for him to take away your freedom than to flick a finger.”

“Yulif is different from you. He brought me here to save me from you!”

“Is that so? Unlike me, it seems like he already has a new woman. The name… Is it Rena Harrodsell?”

The expression disappeared from Canaren’s face. The sight she wanted to forget, so hard to push away, struck her heart painfully.

No. Something’s wrong. There was no way that Yulif could truly love that woman. She had to say that, but her mouth didn’t open. This was because Yulif, seen from the beginning, seemed to really want Rena.

A different sense of fear and helplessness raged like a wave when she faced Deltinus.

“If I were you, I’ll start by checking to see if it’s enchanted or not. It’s never too late to worry about it after that. I’d like to think well. Who is lying? Who is trying to hide the truth?”

After finishing what he wanted to say, Deltinus immediately turned and walked away. Canaren leaned against her wall and sat down.

‘He’s using a spell to lock you in, so you can’t get out.’ Deltinus’s squishy voice seemed to stick between the feathers on her ear, so she got goosebumps. An unbearable discomfort remained near the wing he touched.

Canaren wiggled her ears and brushed her wings hard. If she could, she wanted to pluck out all the wing feathers that had been touched by his hand.

*******

“Madam Canaren! Where the hell did the person who went for dessert go? Canaren!”

“Hey, Roana. It’s a big deal. They said she never came to the kitchen.”

“Has nobody seen her?”

“There is no sign of her. What do we do? Isn’t this enough to get out of the castle?”

“There is no reason, no reason! She is not someone who will suddenly disappear without a word.”

“There may be reasons we don’t know.”

“Shut up! Are you saying she can disappear if there is a reason?”

“I don’t mean that… Ah! Why are you hitting me!”

Roana slapped Derek on the back of the head as hard as she could. It hurt so much that tears welled up in his eyes at the one blow that contained her sincerity. Derek rubbed the back of his head and looked at Roana, who was pulling her hair with both her hands.

“Our lord… When will our lord come back?”

“I do not know. Wherever he goes out these days, he goes out early in the morning and comes back the next morning… So, there is no sure knowlege.”

“What do you know?”

“Do you think it’s any different? I don’t think you’re going to make that sound if you look at how secretive he is. If you’re so confident, you can be the lieutenant!”

“Are you crazy? I will retire after only escorting the angelic Canaren for the rest of my life. Oh man, anyway, where could she have been? Madam Canaren!”

“Try magic. Like tracking magic or something.”

“Damn, I would have used it earlier if I could! How much magic did our superior lordship lay on the castle? It doesn’t work with a lot of magic!”

Roana burst into rage. If she had known this, she would have followed Canaren. She regretted in tears of her own blood, but the water had already been spilled. She somehow had to find Canaren before Yulif returned. Otherwise…

“You go west. I’ll look for it in the east. Mobilize all who can be mobilized. Okay?”

“Yes. It would be better to find them separately. Let’s meet at the main entrance in an hour.”

Roana and Derek scattered in opposite directions. The sight of the two of them and the sound of footsteps were far away, and after a long time, the door opened. It was Canaren, gently pushing out a small, white face through the crack.

Canaren made sure that no one was around her, and she sighed heavily. Now that Roana and Derek have gone far to find her, this was her chance.

Canaren went back to the room and locked the door and opened the window. It wasn’t as big a window as in her room, but it was big enough for her body with her folded wings to pass through.

She hesitated and groaned until just before she jumped off her window sill and soared. Even though she thought that Deltinus was lying, she kept thinking about his dignified attitude and what Yulif said to Muasa.

She wasn’t suspicious of Yulif. No matter how harsh he spoke or what cruel things he did, she could neither hate him nor doubt him.

What she was about to do now was for Yulif. She wanted to show Deltinus. She wanted to confirm. She wanted to shout and fly freely through the expanse of beautiful Pionia.

Look at this. Yulif was different from him. He was not a person like Deltinus who locked people up and treated them badly.

Canaren sprinted to the window sill and jumped. Two pairs of wings spread wide. After flying in the wind, she flapped her wings vigorously and quickly moved away.

The higher she went, the stronger the wind. Canaren had a good sense of her direction so as not to go against the wind. Contrary to her gloomy heart, the sky was clear and high today. The occasional passing white clouds were peaceful.

The flight, which was going smoothly, started having problems at some point. An invisible power drove the wind away and embraced Canaren, pulling her inward. A gentle but stubborn force was clearly felt.

Flustered, Canaren looked down. The moat surrounding the castle was right under her feet. It was the border of the castle.