I Wasn't Trying to Seduce with the Male Lead - Episode 60

‘This is the place.’

The moment she saw the huge, gloomy door, seemingly made for a dungeon, she had a gut feeling this was it.

“Are you really going to follow her?” The princess asked Blaine.

Blaine’s face was stiff, but he didn’t back down and nodded.

“It’s the viscount’s choice. Please, don’t resent me for it.”

As if you have any intention of sending him back.

Eleanor grumbled to herself.

“Go on in.” At the princess’s quiet urging, Eleanor and Blaine went inside.

“Gah!”

The moment he took a step, Blaine let out a cry.

“Viscount!”

Eleanor immediately tried to support him as he collapsed to the floor, but he had already passed out.

Looking back, she saw the princess with her arm raised.

“Let’s you and I have a little talk.” The princess said, her tone suddenly becoming much more casual.

Even if Blaine had only been on guard against the knights in front, the fact that she had knocked out the trained knight in one blow meant the princess must also be skilled in martial arts.

“Move him inside.” At the princess’s command, a few of the dazed knights who had been following them lifted Blaine and carried him inside.

Eleanor carefully surveyed her surroundings.

The air was murky and the light was dim, but surprisingly, incense was burning, so there was no foul smell.

However, Eleanor’s eyes darkened.

There was a faint scent of blood mixed in with the stale air.

“You came here so boldly, yet you’re frozen with fear.” The princess looked down at Eleanor with a triumphant expression.

“You should be glad. I’ve come up with a reason not to kill you.”

She was just repeating what she had said earlier.

So, she really doesn’t plan to kill me.

But the way she talked as if she were doing Eleanor a favor, even though she was just going to lock her up in this dungeon, was unpleasant.

The princess looked down at Eleanor arrogantly, a smirk on her lips.

“But there’s no reason to leave you unharmed.”

The princess signaled, and two of the knights standing behind her stepped forward.

Instead of longswords, they drew daggers.

The well-honed blades caught the dim light, flashing brightly.

“I’ll scar that face of yours so you can never be a nuisance again.”

Of course, this is what she’d do.

Eleanor glared at the princess.

“Let’s see how long you can stare like that.” The princess didn’t seem to like Eleanor’s gaze, raising her eyebrows before stepping back.

“Gouge out her eyes first.”

As the knights approached, Eleanor took a step back.

The solid iron door behind her was heavy and the walls were thick, so not only was escape impossible, but even her screams wouldn’t be heard outside.

The interior was quite spacious, but there was nowhere to hide or run.

She had no weapon in her hands, but even if she did, escaping four knights would be impossible.

In the end, Eleanor was helpless, surrounded by the knights.

At this critical moment…

Knights.

They were the strongest bodyguards, who were not supposed to intervene in anything else, but were sworn to appear if her life was in danger.

They were one of the slivers of hope that Eleanor had clung to, the hope that she might not die here.

She had been expecting them, but to have followed her all the way into this hidden dungeon without a sound was amazing.

Only two of the many had appeared, but it was impressive nonetheless.

Just as Eleanor was surprised, the princess seemed startled by the unexpected appearance of the knights.

“…Behind Knights?”

Realizing who they were from their armor, the princess’s face was filled with dismay.

“Get out of my way! Don’t you know that if you defy me, your master will die?” the princess shrieked, but the knights didn’t move an inch.

“As long as the vow isn’t activated, if you don’t die, the count won’t die either.”

“Just you dare to do something to me! It will all go back to him!”

It won’t go back to him if I just don’t let you out.

Eleanor muttered to herself, but she didn’t say it aloud.

The enemy in front of her wasn’t just the knights and the princess.

Eleanor knew about the monster the princess had hidden here.

‘Beatrice the witch.’

This was because of the secret of the dungeon.

As long as she was in here, if she disobeyed the princess, she would be in pain, so she would help the princess in a crisis.

Since confronting her was impossible at the moment, Eleanor decided to back down for now.

“I’ll stay here, so just leave without causing a fuss.”

“How dare you order me around!” The princess screamed nervously.

When Eleanor fell silent, a stalemate ensued.

She’ll accept it anyway.

She would hate to leave Eleanor be, but she would hate it even more if she were to be in a crisis by harming her.

As expected, she said in an annoyed voice, “All of you, get in there.”

The princess pointed to an iron-barred cage between the walls.

“Go inside and tie each other up. I’ll leave once I confirm you’re bound.”

“What guarantee do we have that you won’t harm us again as soon as we’re tied up?” Eleanor shouted, and the princess flinched.

“We’ll go inside, so give us the key to the lock on that door.”

“What did you say?”

“We’ll take the key, go inside, and tie each other up. Then you can’t touch us, and we can’t get out, so it’s fair.”

Wanting to get rid of her quickly, Eleanor offered a compromise.

The princess seemed to think it wasn’t a bad idea and soon took a key from her pocket and threw it.

Eleanor, along with the Behind Knights, went into the cage, locked the door, and put the key in her pocket.

Then they started to tie each other up with the ropes scattered on the floor.

“Tie it tightly so it doesn’t come undone!”

Under the princess’s watchful eye, they all put their hands behind their backs and were thoroughly tied up.

Meanwhile, the princess’s knights meticulously tied and locked Blaine in another cage.

When everything was done, the princess asked, “They’re the only ones who came in here, right?”

“Yes.”

Ilia answered for Eleanor, but the princess retorted coldly.

“I didn’t ask you.”

Soon, a chilling voice echoed from inside the dungeon.

“They’re the only ones who came in.”

The voice was so husky it was hard to tell if it was a man or a woman, but Eleanor knew instinctively that it was Beatrice.

Satisfied with the answer, the princess approached the cage.

“You should be happy you didn’t get your face torn off. You’ll be locked and tied up in this sunless beast pen, unable to wash, repeating your bodily functions, and surviving on food even animals wouldn’t eat. You’ll think death is better.”

“You talk like you’ve locked up a lot of people.” Eleanor’s face was expressionless as she mocked the princess.

“Even if I die, the count won’t be yours.”

The princess’s arrogant face crumpled.

“Fine. Be as insolent as you want. You’ll be dead in less than five days anyway.”

After saying this, the princess shouted for them to never be let out and left the dungeon.

The huge door closed, the latch was secured, and the echoing footsteps in the cave faded away.

Eleanor slowly lifted her bowed head.

As expected, the princess had left a guard behind.

The four people standing guard around them were the dazed knights.

Since they were all tied up, they were sitting around a table, resting.

“This is good enough.”

When Eleanor spoke, Ilia, who was tied up beside her, looked over.

“Did you complete the favor I asked of you?”

Ilia just gave a slight nod, but the relief it gave Eleanor was beyond words.

With a more relaxed face, she asked another question.

“Isn’t escape training for when you’re captured a necessity for soldiers?”

It was something she had once heard from Lian.

Ilia, in a rare moment, curled his grim lips into a slight smile and then lifted his arms.

“It’s a secret technique of us Behind Knights.”

The rope that had been so tightly bound was already undone.

“Please turn around.”

By the time Ilia had cut the rope on Eleanor’s wrist, the guards had spotted them.

“What are you doing?!”

But the other Behind Knights were faster at unlocking the cage than the guards were at approaching them.

They immediately went out the door and fought the guards.

They had no weapons, but subduing the confused and disoriented guards was over in a flash.

“That’s amazing. They’re also Imperial Knights.”

“Warriors who have lost their will are nothing special.”

Ilia said it as if it were nothing, but it was far from it.

Seeing the power of the most skilled knights of the Behind Knights made her heavy heart feel a little lighter.

“First, let’s tie up and imprison these men and wake up Viscount Canterbury.”

“Let’s do that.”

“And we have to find Adrian.”

She had wanted to ask about Adrian as soon as she met the princess, but she decided against it, thinking that mentioning him might remind her that she had a hostage.

While Ilia started looking for Adrian, the other knight poked Blaine through the bars to wake him up.

Meanwhile, Eleanor began to walk toward the deeper part of the dungeon.

“Are you there?”

In the dungeon full of nothing but iron bars and cages, there was a place with silk curtains.

That was the place, but there was no answer.

“Beatrice.”

This time, she called out her name.

A squeaking sound like a mouse was heard from inside, and then the same shrill voice rang out.

“How do you know me?”

It’s her, all right.

Eleanor smiled.

The Behind Knights and Beatrice.

They were Eleanor’s last hope.

“Answer me now!” Beatrice shouted irritably when Eleanor stayed silent.

But instead of an answer, Eleanor asked a question.

“Did you kill Adrian and put his hand in the box?”

“I didn’t kill him! I wanted to, but I just left him stuck over there.” Beatrice pointed to a dark corner of a cage right in front of them.

Ilia, who had been watching them from afar with a frown, approached the direction she pointed.

“Is he there?”

Ilia nodded.

As he bent down toward the cage, Beatrice shouted again.

“Don’t wake him up! He keeps crying and screaming; he’s so noisy!”

Ignoring her words, Eleanor walked toward the curtain.

“Don’t come this way! I’ll kill you if you do!”

Eleanor knew she hated to show her face.

“Beatrice.”

Eleanor stopped right in front of the silk curtain and said softly.

“Won’t you make a deal with me?”

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