Jake sat in Ellen’s uncomfortable chair and observed the situation until the day changed. It would have been better to wait in a more comfortable environment, but he couldn’t greet the room’s owner, who could return at any time, while lying down. What if Ellen West saw someone with the exact same face as himself and was so startled he swung his sword—wouldn’t it be terrible if he fell asleep lying down with a relaxed mindset?
‘The side that grasps the situation first gains the advantage.’
Certainly Jake would be too weak to win even an arm wrestling match against Ellen, but he was ahead of Ellen in that he accurately understood the situation at hand. If he used this well, he could easily obtain what he wanted without having to scuffle with Ellen.
Of course, that would only be the case if he could present what he wanted to the other side.
While Jake was surveying the situation, various servants came to the room. Without even noticing that the room’s owner had changed, they greeted Jake.
“Good morning, Ellen-nim.”
“What are you doing awake at this hour? I’ll bring up a meal.”
“I’ve prepared warm water.”
“What is your schedule for today? If you’re planning to go out, shall I bring you a coat?”
There were also those who strode right into the room, then were startled and shocked to see Jake sitting in the uncomfortable chair.
“Oh my, what a surprise! Ellen-nim! You didn’t go out today. Shall I bring you refreshments?”
“Ah, Ellen-nim. So you were here. Please call me anytime if you need anything.”
“Ellen-nim! It’s been a while since I’ve seen you in your room.”
From the tone they used toward him and the content of their words, what Jake could guess was that Ellen treated the castle’s servants quite warmly, and that he left the castle empty every day, spending almost no time in his room.
Perhaps Ellen West’s disappearance wasn’t because he died, but because he was away for a long time.
‘Even so, the fact that this is a good place for me to stay doesn’t change.’
Even though a full day had passed, Ellen didn’t return. There were no traces of Klad either. Only then did Jake get up from his seat and leave the room.
As he walked straight down the corridor, he encountered knights, servants, and maids stationed in the castle. They didn’t immediately notice Jake’s presence, which was close to that of a corpse, but unlike his father’s knights, they didn’t ignore or mock him.
“Oh my, what a surprise! I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were behind me…”
“Ellen-nim? What brings you here? Do you need something?”
“Good morning, Ellen-nim. The Duke is in the study.”
Jake answered briefly to those who spoke to him and made a full circuit as if exploring the castle. Unlike the bustling first floor, the second floor corridor was empty except for a few knights guarding the study and some rooms.
Jake, who had been about to return to Ellen’s room, couldn’t take his gaze away from the opposite end of the corridor.
In his memory, it was where the Duke’s bedroom was located.
‘Father’s room would be… the same.’
During the long years spanning hundreds of years, they could have changed the internal structure of Duke’s castle or arranged the rooms differently, but even so, the Duke’s bedroom wouldn’t have changed. After all, that room had a magic circle engraved in it that couldn’t be moved without redrawing it.
In the secret space of the Duke’s room where the true history was hidden, there would be records piled up with no different content than what Jake had already read… no, there would be even less.
However, there was one possibility that information Jake didn’t know remained there.
The parchment fragments that were torn and corroded so that not a single character written on them could be properly read.
If the time when that was recorded was before this current period when Ellen West existed, and if it hadn’t been torn yet, Jake would have the opportunity to check it.
‘So what of it?’
Jake took his gaze away from the Duke’s room and strode forward.
He didn’t know what the contents of that parchment were, but if someone in the past was angry enough to tear it up, something tremendous might have been written on it.
But he wasn’t interested.
Jake walked straight down the corridor with a face much more lively than before entering this place and returned to the room.
‘The back gate on the first floor guarded by knights, the window at the end of the second floor corridor… and the dining room window, I suppose.’
Those were the only routes through which Ellen, who seemed to secretly enter and exit the castle without reporting his outings, could enter the castle interior without going through the main gate.
‘I’ll need to block them all.’
Then the ways for Ellen to sneak in without activating the magic circle protecting the castle would be reduced to just one.
The large window that occupied one wall of Ellen’s room.
Jake planned to lure Ellen here. To prevent others from seeing two Ellens with the same face standing face to face.
Swooosh—
Jake drew the curtain, leaving only a fist-sized gap. There was a small light attached to the top of the window, so if someone approached the window, a shadow would leak out between the curtains. That way, he could hide his appearance and notice the other person’s approach first.
At least he could prevent Ellen, who had returned to the castle, from being startled at seeing someone with the exact same face as himself sitting inside the room and running away.
‘I wish he’d hurry back…’
He didn’t plan to kill Ellen and take his place. He didn’t have the strength for that either. However, if Ellen was more interested in the world outside the castle than being tied to the House of Duke West and confined in the castle, he planned to propose taking over being Ellen in his stead.
If he refused that, he could use the knowledge of the ‘future’ that he knew. For instance, that Ellen West would soon die.
Since there was no evidence, it wouldn’t be easy to convince him that his words were true. But it didn’t matter even if the negotiation broke down. If Ellen attacked the unwelcome guest trying to steal his place, Klad’s protection magic would activate, and…
‘…Klad.’
Jake stopped organizing his thoughts and gripped tightly the edge of the curtain he was holding with his fingertips.
If he was attacked by Ellen or someone else and the protection magic activated, would Klad come find him? If that attack shattered the magic and pierced his heart, then what?
This place was comfortable and cozy, and just thinking about staying here calmed him, but Klad didn’t want such an ending. He would try to take him back to the original world by any means. Just thinking about going back made his heart pound and his head throb.
‘I don’t want to.’
He didn’t want to go back. Why should he make a painful, agonizing, uncomfortable choice when there was a place where both his body and mind were comfortable?
It would be good if Klad would also choose to stay here with him.
Jake recalled Klad’s eyes when he’d made the proposal to run away together. Klad would absolutely not remain here. Thinking that made him feel a bit gloomy.
Jake missed Klad. No, he hoped he wouldn’t come.
Thud.
Jake let go of the curtain edge he’d been gripping and turned around. Then he sat in the uncomfortable chair and waited for Klad… no, for Ellen to come.
He didn’t come.
Not that day, nor the next day.
And not even after several days had passed.
***
“Good morning, Ellen-nim. Shall I help you prepare to go out?”
“No. There’s no need.”
At Ellen’s answer, the servant nodded lightly.
For the past several days, his master, Ellen, had been consistent with ‘no,’ ‘it’s fine,’ and ‘there’s no need’ to every question. It was a different manner of speaking from the Ellen West he remembered, but what would a mere servant like him know? Even after being assigned to clean Ellen’s room, this was the first time he’d faced him for so long thanks to the room’s owner who was away all the time.
He didn’t know what wind had blown to make him stay in the castle for so long, but after a few days he’d probably go out every other day like before. Even if that weren’t the case, his master who refused everything wouldn’t request anything from him. The servant thought so.
Until Ellen opened his mouth and uttered the following words.
“Instead…”
“Yes? Instead?”
“Bring me a new chair.”
“Pardon? A chair?”
The servant who had stupidly repeated his master’s order realized his mistake and opened his eyes wide. Fortunately, his kind master didn’t rebuke him for his earlier mistake.
“What kind of chair shall I bring?”
“A comfortable one. Preferably with a soft back.”
A comfortable, soft chair. Was he planning to receive a guest? Various questions arose, but a good servant doesn’t ask many questions. The servant pressed down all his doubts and asked only what was necessary to carry out the order.
“What should I do with this chair that was here?”
“You may remove it.”
“Yes.”
The servant removed the uncomfortable chair and brought a new chair. Jake, who had been watching, only sat in the chair after the servant left.
Since he would be staying here from now on, Jake, who didn’t want to spend time sitting in an uncomfortable chair, smiled with satisfaction.
The chair was comfortable and nice to sit in. As if it had been his from the beginning.
Jake had successfully escaped and hidden himself.
Into a fragment of the past.
