While smiling broadly, Adeline clapped her hands together.
“There is one good thing though!”
“…….”
Honestly, it’s as if she’d gone completely crazy. There was no other way to describe it.
“It is said that those who have descended once and succeeded in coming up again will gain a new destiny.”
“…A new destiny?”
“Yes, for example, a person with very bad luck will be blessed with very good luck, or a beggar will be destined to become a king, or something like that.”
“…….”
“How is it? Don’t you think this is a great opportunity to change your gutter-like life? Why don’t you stop leaching on Theo and disappear forever down there? Or maybe you can try climbing up somewhere with your own strength and change your destiny. Good luck, Lily Everett.”
Still with that broad smile, Adeline tapped my cheek with the tip of her fan and backed away.
Those dressed in black, who seemed to be the attendants of that crazy woman, dragged me to the pit.
Up close, the pit seemed deeper and more dangerous… Truly, once trapped down there, it looked impossible to get out.
“Then, on the count of three… No, just throw her in now.”
As soon as Adeline finished saying so, I plummeted down the never ending abyss.
* * *
Pitch-black darkness swallowed me. It was so terribly dark that nothing at all could be seen.
As I fell endlessly, I felt my body sinking straight down into a deep body of water.
I didn’t know how to swim. I’ve read about it in a book, but I never put it into practice. Besides, I was afraid of water. Because of how Hessen had once drowned me, whenever I’d fall into deep water in this way, my whole body would stiffen and leave me choking.
So, I couldn’t even register my own actions, but somehow or another, I started swimming.
…I thought I was drowning, but when I came to my senses, I was already on the shore. I swam all the way here without dying.
“…….”
I had a strange feeling. For the first time in my life, I realized that my will to live may be stronger than I thought.
I lifted my wet body up. My body was as heavy as a thousand pounds because I had been through many things. It wouldn’t be strange if I died soon.
Yet I was still alive.
I had lived my life without even knowing what it meant to cling to life. Or, even if I had any such motivation to keep holding on, once I was facing death like this, I suddenly found a great desire to live through it all.
…I could not die in this way. Charlotte would be left in anguish if I were to die in a place like this. My unfortunate death would make Charlotte unhappy, too.
I didn’t want to be the kind of person who would make Charlotte so heartbroken if she looked back in life.
It’s just… Despite being a little sad, I only wish that she could smile comfortably whenever she’d reminisce on the days gone by, remembering me someday in the future.
‘…Therefore.’
I would not allow myself to die in a place like this. I paid no attention to the superstition that I could change my destiny. I just wanted to get out of this deep abyss.
Go out, meet Charlotte again, and then…
“…….”
I wanted to know the identity of the unfamiliar emotion floating in Theodore’s eyes that I saw right before I lost consciousness… Perhaps it was just my own imagination, or perhaps all that he felt was anger.
However, I wanted to get a chance to understand it properly. Even though I had been running away from him until only recently, in a situation like this, I felt the need to know.
Maybe facing death was a way to gain bravery.
‘…First, I need to find out if there’s an exit. The position I am in right now… I think it’s on the bottom floor.’
I was looking around to see if there was a way to go up.
[ Hiic… Hiiccc… Please save me… ]
Out of nowhere, I heard someone sobbing.
For a moment, I felt chills running down my spine. Stopping in my tracks, I hardened where I was and could not move. What Adeline had said echoed in my head.
‘So… It is said that only ghosts roam in that deep pit, imprisoned forever.’
There were ghosts, she said.
…I did not know if that statement was true. Most likely, she said that only to frighten me.
[ Help me… uwaaah… ]
The sobs continued. Even as I tried to relax, I didn’t let my guard down… It’s okay, let’s stay calm. If I get distracted by that sound and fail to find a way out, it would really be my end.
I need to get a hold of myself.
[ Mom…! ]
“…….”
As I watched in the direction the sound was coming from, I hesitated at that moment… Listening closely, it sounded like… the cries of a child.
‘…A child was imprisoned in a place like this?’
While smiling broadly, Adeline clapped her hands together.
“There is one good thing though!”
“…….”
Honestly, it’s as if she’d gone completely crazy. There was no other way to describe it.
“It is said that those who have descended once and succeeded in coming up again will gain a new destiny.”
“…A new destiny?”
“Yes, for example, a person with very bad luck will be blessed with very good luck, or a beggar will be destined to become a king, or something like that.”
“…….”
“How is it? Don’t you think this is a great opportunity to change your gutter-like life? Why don’t you stop leaching on Theo and disappear forever down there? Or maybe you can try climbing up somewhere with your own strength and change your destiny. Good luck, Lily Everett.”
Still with that broad smile, Adeline tapped my cheek with the tip of her fan and backed away.
Those dressed in black, who seemed to be the attendants of that crazy woman, dragged me to the pit.
Up close, the pit seemed deeper and more dangerous… Truly, once trapped down there, it looked impossible to get out.
“Then, on the count of three… No, just throw her in now.”
As soon as Adeline finished saying so, I plummeted down the never ending abyss.
* * *
Pitch-black darkness swallowed me. It was so terribly dark that nothing at all could be seen.
As I fell endlessly, I felt my body sinking straight down into a deep body of water.
I didn’t know how to swim. I’ve read about it in a book, but I never put it into practice. Besides, I was afraid of water. Because of how Hessen had once drowned me, whenever I’d fall into deep water in this way, my whole body would stiffen and leave me choking.
So, I couldn’t even register my own actions, but somehow or another, I started swimming.
…I thought I was drowning, but when I came to my senses, I was already on the shore. I swam all the way here without dying.
“…….”
I had a strange feeling. For the first time in my life, I realized that my will to live may be stronger than I thought.
I lifted my wet body up. My body was as heavy as a thousand pounds because I had been through many things. It wouldn’t be strange if I died soon.
Yet I was still alive.
I had lived my life without even knowing what it meant to cling to life. Or, even if I had any such motivation to keep holding on, once I was facing death like this, I suddenly found a great desire to live through it all.
…I could not die in this way. Charlotte would be left in anguish if I were to die in a place like this. My unfortunate death would make Charlotte unhappy, too.
I didn’t want to be the kind of person who would make Charlotte so heartbroken if she looked back in life.
It’s just… Despite being a little sad, I only wish that she could smile comfortably whenever she’d reminisce on the days gone by, remembering me someday in the future.
‘…Therefore.’
I would not allow myself to die in a place like this. I paid no attention to the superstition that I could change my destiny. I just wanted to get out of this deep abyss.
Go out, meet Charlotte again, and then…
“…….”
I wanted to know the identity of the unfamiliar emotion floating in Theodore’s eyes that I saw right before I lost consciousness… Perhaps it was just my own imagination, or perhaps all that he felt was anger.
However, I wanted to get a chance to understand it properly. Even though I had been running away from him until only recently, in a situation like this, I felt the need to know.
Maybe facing death was a way to gain bravery.
‘…First, I need to find out if there’s an exit. The position I am in right now… I think it’s on the bottom floor.’
I was looking around to see if there was a way to go up.
[ Hiic… Hiiccc… Please save me… ]
Out of nowhere, I heard someone sobbing.
For a moment, I felt chills running down my spine. Stopping in my tracks, I hardened where I was and could not move. What Adeline had said echoed in my head.
‘So… It is said that only ghosts roam in that deep pit, imprisoned forever.’
There were ghosts, she said.
…I did not know if that statement was true. Most likely, she said that only to frighten me.
[ Help me… uwaaah… ]
The sobs continued. Even as I tried to relax, I didn’t let my guard down… It’s okay, let’s stay calm. If I get distracted by that sound and fail to find a way out, it would really be my end.
I need to get a hold of myself.
[ Mom…! ]
“…….”
As I watched in the direction the sound was coming from, I hesitated at that moment… Listening closely, it sounded like… the cries of a child.
‘…A child was imprisoned in a place like this?’
