There Is No Paradise Where You Escaped - Chapter 89

“We found her! We found Miss Windler!”

The news was like rain ending a drought. 

Gideon, who had been frantically searching the manor, raced over at the servant’s echoing shout.

The place the servants led him to was none other than the stables. The horses, made skittish by the sudden crowd of people holding lanterns late in the evening, snorted and stamped in agitation.

In the far corner of the stables, the servants’ awkward yet urgent voices overlapped in a chorus of concern.

Spotting Gideon’s arrival, one of the servants raised his voice in relief.

“Oh, Baron! Please talk to Miss Windler. She’s acting strangely!”

The anxiety that had gripped him since the disappearance of the two women peaked. When he saw Charlotte—hidden behind a group of servants—his heart plummeted.

She was crouched on the ground, trembling all over.

Given that she was wearing a coat, scarf, gloves, and winter boots, her shaking seemed all the more out of place.

“And Miss Aveline?”

“There was no Miss Aveline. Miss Windler was alone.”

Gideon felt it in his gut—something ominous had happened between the two.

He knelt in front of Charlotte and gently cupped her pale cheeks, lifting her face. Her face was a mess, streaked with tears that had dried in the cold.

“Everyone, leave now. I’ll take care of Miss Windler and bring her back.”

The servants, anxious but obedient, left her in Gideon’s care and returned to the manor.

Silence returned to the stables. Even the horses, which had been huffing and stamping moments earlier, quieted down.

“What happened? Why are you alone? Where is Miss Aveline?”

Though the questions weren’t accusatory, thick tears welled in Charlotte’s eyes and began to fall in heavy drops.

Those ominous tears told Gideon that something irreversible had occurred—something Charlotte couldn’t bear to face.

Letting out a sigh, Gideon pulled her into his arms. That was when she finally broke down, crying heavily.

Charlotte cried like a child. And while he wanted nothing more than to soothe her, if his instincts were right, this wasn’t the time for comfort.

“Don’t cry. Miss Windler, please, stop crying. Crying won’t fix anything. Look at me, okay? Miss Windler, look at me. Shh. Stop crying.”

Holding her close, Gideon gripped her face and roughly wiped away her tears. Her terrified, pale expression seemed to regain a semblance of calm under his insistent touch.

“Where is Miss Aveline? You have to tell me. We can fix this if we know. The Duke is out looking for her right now. Let me find her before he does. Where is Miss Aveline?”

Gideon coaxed and comforted the panicked Charlotte, asking where Vivianne was, but she didn’t answer. The only response was the growing size of the tears in her eyes.

He needed to snap her out of it. Crying would solve nothing.

So Gideon decided not to waste time regretting why he hadn’t searched for Charlotte sooner, why he’d just sat and waited.

“Listen carefully. Stay focused. Whatever you did, whatever happened—it doesn’t matter to me. If there’s a problem, I’ll fix it. I’ll save you. So talk to me.”

“…”

“Weren’t you with Miss Aveline? Where is she now?”

Her frozen lips quivered, moving silently as if trying to speak. But Charlotte had already crumbled and was full of despair.

“… S-she’s dead.”

Even facing this shocking truth, Gideon’s eyes showed no wavering. Perhaps drawing some courage from that, Charlotte clung tightly to his collar, seeking salvation.

“S-she’s dead. Vivianne is dead.”

“So where? Where’s her body? Where is the body?”

Unable to hold back the tears again, Charlotte broke down in panic, sobbing bitterly. Gideon gripped her shoulders, his tone growing more stern.

“Answer me. Where is Miss Aveline’s body?”

“You won’t find it! She fell off the cliff! I—I…!”

Sobbing uncontrollably, Charlotte looked as if she might collapse at any moment.

Gideon closed his eyes and slowly exhaled.

“I was so angry. So angry at her arrogance—being able to so easily have the things I never could, and still saying it wasn’t love. I’ve loved the Duke my whole life and never once had a chance with him, but Vivianne, Vivianne…”

Opening his eyes slowly, Gideon looked down at the distraught Charlotte. Her small, fragile body collapsed onto the floor, crying wretchedly.

“I didn’t save her. I didn’t grab her hand when she was barely hanging on. Maybe… maybe I actually wanted her to fall. But, but… after I heard Vivianne die… I got so scared… What I did was so, so awful…”

At the end of Charlotte’s sorrowful and cruel confession, Gideon slowly helped her sit up.

His face was calmer and more rational than ever as he wiped the dirt from her tear-streaked face.

“Miss Windler. Listen to me very carefully now.”

Amidst his gentle, kind touch, her crying gradually subsided.

“I don’t know what Miss Aveline means to the Duke, but I’m certain she’s important and special to him. So now you have to decide. If the Duke finds out everything, will he send you to prison? Or will he choose to cover it up as an accident? There’s no time. You need to decide quickly if you want to survive this.”

A pale puff of breath escaped Charlotte’s dazed lips.

This wasn’t a matter that required much thought.

She already knew the answer.

If Edwin found out everything, he would send her to prison without a second thought. He would push her into ruin with cold, merciless eyes.

“… He’ll send me to prison.”

      Because to him, I’m only worth that much.

Sinking into utter despair, Charlotte—who had broken down countless times before—now seemed ready to collapse again.

And the only one holding her up was Gideon.

“That’s what I thought, too. Then the only option is to leave Rottermond for now. After that, you can face trial through the proper channels. Since only you know what happened between you and Miss Aveline, you might be able to plead innocent. So for now, we need to get out of here quickly.”

“Where… No—why… Why are you… helping me…?”

Gideon had always been there, no matter how often she pushed him away.

Even after hearing the confession of a sin—abandoning and turning her back on someone who could have been saved, ultimately causing their death, he still took her hand.

Gideon helped Charlotte stand. Staggering, she finally registered the pain in her legs; they had gone numb after crouching for hours.

“Because I love you.”

Gideon bent down and brushed the dirt off her coat.

As Charlotte struggled to make sense of his words, he gave a faint smile and gently smoothed her hair. Ending the brief silence, Gideon took Charlotte’s hand to leave the stables—

“Damn it…”

The servants, who Gideon thought had left, had returned. As if under orders from someone, they stood guarding the doorway.

“There’s evidence that Miss Aveline may be at the bottom of the cliff off the forest path. And one of the servants said they saw both young ladies heading up the trail together. Baroness Baytness has ordered us to bring Miss Windler back.”

It was Susanna who had taken a step closer to uncovering the truth behind today’s commotion.

Faced with this unexpected obstacle, Gideon gripped Charlotte’s hand tightly. Yet, on the contrary, there was no strength in her grip.

Her face, pale and drained of color, showed she had already given up on everything.

────── ✾ ──────

Evidence that Vivianne and Charlotte had climbed the snow-covered forest path was visible in the small clearing: a half-built snowman, neatly arranged chairs, and even their footprints. If Vivianne hadn’t returned from the forest path, the reason was surely nearby. Edwin and the servants reached the point where the trail met the open meadow.

“Over here…! The fence is broken!”

“They must have fallen down the slope!”

“What do we do now?”

Those who feared that something terrible had happened to Vivianne and Charlotte murmured anxiously, their voices filled with dread.

But Edwin remained calm, his gaze fixed on the broken fence and the white darkness filling the slope below.

The bottom of the slope—steep like a cliff—was invisible, like the open mouth of a beast, ominous and waiting to devour.

Edwin sent a servant back to the manor with a message: it seemed clear that the two missing women had disappeared at this location. He ordered a doctor and a carriage to be readied at the base of the hill.

Snow began to accumulate on Edwin’s black coat.

Looking up at the violet sky, he let out a long, deep breath.

Vivianne had fallen down there.

If it was an accident, it must have happened hours ago. The situation felt surreal; he couldn’t even be sure if she was alive or dead.

“Your Grace, then what should we do now…?”

The servants had already ruled out any chance of survival for the two ladies who had fallen.

They had only one question: how should they retrieve the bodies?

Lowering his gaze from the despairing sky, Edwin looked down at the boots the servant was wearing. Then he gestured to another servant behind him to come closer.

“Take off your boots.”

“Pardon, my lord?”

Then, Edwin removed his own shoes. Realizing his intention, the servant hurriedly took off his boots and handed them over.

“We’ll settle the price of these boots with my shoes.”

Now wearing the work boots, Edwin took a lantern and shone it down the slope.

“M-My lord, you’re not actually thinking of going down there, are you? Please don’t. It’s too dangerous. That hillside isn’t continuous—it drops off completely into a cliff! You saw the body of that maid who died here once before, didn’t you?”

“Fortunately, it snowed a lot.”

“But still—”

Unable to dissuade Edwin from his stubbornness, the servant bit down on the lamp handle and extended a foot down the slope.

Edwin began his descent, brushing aside the snow as he moved.

Climbing and descending cliffs had not been uncommon during the war. But this was his first time navigating a snow-covered slope.

The hill was steep and long, practically a cliff.

The servants’ concern was understandable.

If someone had rolled down here unprotected, the chances of survival were slim.

Especially since the hill was more stone than soil—if they had fallen, they likely hit their head hard on a rock. Even if the snow had formed a cushion, it couldn’t guarantee survival.

But Edwin proceeded carefully down the hill.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Soon, a sound echoed from somewhere below, signaling that someone was still alive.

      Vivianne…

Vivianne is alive.

The lower he descended, the clearer the sound became.

Before long, he reached the point the servant had described.

The slope ended, and there was no more ground to step on.

He couldn’t even tell how far the drop went.

Dropping a pebble would be futile; the sound would be muffled by the thick layer of snow.

With no other choice, Edwin had to hang on with one hand and hold out the lantern with the other.

As expected, even with the lantern, Edwin couldn’t see a thing.

He steadied his breath and, without hesitation, jumped down.

Landing on a snow-covered boulder, he winced and clutched his side, muttering a curse under his breath.

He glanced around at the pitch-black surroundings—the lantern had broken during the fall.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

But the desperate sounds of survival served as his guide now.

“Vivianne!” Edwin shouted.

At his call, the sound, which had briefly gone quiet, resumed—rapidly, frantically. A desperate plea: look here.

“Vivianne!”

And then, in the distance, he caught the faint glow of light. He sprinted toward it without hesitation, running through the forest where he couldn’t see an inch ahead, guided only by this signal for help, toward the place where Vivianne was, calling out.

That spark of life came from within a burrow, like the kind small animals might use to survive the winter.

It made sense now why the sound had seemed farther from where she had fallen.

She must have crawled to a safer spot to endure the cold.

Relieved, Edwin bent down and looked into the small cave.

“Vivi—”

But the first person to meet Edwin’s eyes was Sophie, swinging a thick branch against the cave wall.

And in her arms lay Vivianne—lifeless, as if dead, her golden hair stained with bright red blood.