IYWHM Chapter 177

Kisa hid the ripples stirring in her chest behind a composed face, then extended her hand toward the servant.

 

“Is that so? Did it get very wet?”

 

On the front page of the newspaper she received, there was indeed something like blue paint smeared on it, just as she had said.

 

The same color as the handkerchief she had received before. This was the signal Kisa had been waiting for all along.

 

“I’ll quickly go out and bring you a proper new one,” the servant said.

 

Kisa, who had been skimming through the newspaper, shook her head at the servant’s words.

 

“No, it’s fine. Well, it’s only a little smeared on the front, and it doesn’t really interfere with checking the contents. I’ll just read this one.”

 

“Are you sure that would be alright?”

 

“Of course. And don’t scold the hotel staff too much about it. People can make mistakes sometimes.”

 

Since Kisa was always considerate of not causing unnecessary trouble for the servants, the other person followed her instructions without any particular suspicion.

 

“Understood. Then shall I bring up some tea, the usual kind you always have?”

 

“Yes, please do.”

 

After breakfast, drinking hot tea while reading the newspaper.

 

This had been Kisa’s regular routine until she had to stay confined due to illness.

 

After watching the servant’s retreating figure as they went to prepare the black tea, Kisa began her real work.

 

First, she opened a nearby drawer and took out a matchbox.

 

On the day she had gone to the concert hall, she had heard about it from Gale beforehand and had already figured out where the matchbox was stored.

 

After carefully checking that no one was around, Kisa lit a match.

 

‘Third page from the back, bottom right section.’

 

Then, with careful hands, she singed one corner of the newspaper with the flame.

 

Before long, somewhat dark letters magically appeared on the paper.

 

Kisa quickly blew out the match and took in the secret message with her eyes.

 

Naturally, this was a code that Chloe had left for her under Gale’s instructions.

 

The newspaper that Kisa read daily was prepared by the hotel and handed to the servants.

 

No matter how thorough Hillan’s people were, it would be difficult to check everything individually in this foreign land that wasn’t Sorbi.

 

Moreover, since this hotel originally had a service of providing newspapers for guests, it was efficient to use the existing system.

 

‘The servant does check if there’s anything wrong before I read it, but…’

 

That was only a simple inspection, so Gale had focused on the newspaper as a medium for transmitting codes.

 

When she saw him last time, this was the information he had hurriedly told Kisa before they parted.

 

She hadn’t heard the details due to lack of time, but from what she caught, it seemed Chloe had become quite friendly with the staff member in charge of newspaper distribution.

 

Perhaps during their chat, while that staff member was distracted, she had secretly switched the newspaper meant for Kisa with one she had brought herself.

 

She felt both sorry and deeply grateful to Gale and Chloe in many ways.

 

Thinking that they had obtained today’s newspaper, written the code on it, and immediately delivered it to Kisa, the effort involved was considerable. It would have been impossible without moving busily since dawn.

 

‘I must properly thank them later. And reward them too.’

 

With this thought, Kisa read through the concisely written code.

 

At first glance, it appeared to be a random arrangement of letters and numbers that couldn’t be interpreted.

 

A double cipher, so to speak. Naturally, Kisa, as the recipient of this message, knew how to decode it.

 

She had learned this not when they met at the concert hall, but much earlier from Gale.

 

From the moment she boarded an unfamiliar ship and left Sorbi, he had already been a collaborator helping with Kisa’s escape, hadn’t he?

 

Preparing for any possible emergency, the two had established a simple code that only they could understand.

 

There might come a situation where they would need to exchange coded letters.

 

‘I haven’t been able to use it until now due to unfavorable circumstances, but finally an opportunity to use it has come.’

 

Kisa quickly selected several letters according to the decoding method stored in her memory.

 

Only these were valid; the rest were mere decoys.

 

The real code that emerged began with a specific date.

 

A date several days away, approaching soon. Then followed a specific place name and a relatively unfamiliar name compared to it.

 

Presumably, it was definitely the long-awaited escape date, meeting location, and the ship heading overseas.

 

Kisa felt somewhat overwhelming emotions as the vague plan began to take shape before her eyes.

 

But before she could even savor that sense of hope, her head tilted.

 

The code written in the newspaper didn’t end there.

 

Kisa haltingly read aloud the words that followed the ship’s name.

 

“Two… choices… to be continued… next?”

 

Two choices? What could this mean? And when does “next” refer to?

 

Just as Kisa was about to contemplate the meaning of the code, she heard signs of someone approaching from not far away.

 

“Have you been waiting long? I’m sorry. Since it’s been so long since you’ve had this, I asked the hotel to take special care, and the refreshments came out late.”

 

It was the servant who had gone to get the black tea returning.

 

“If the tea has gotten cold, please let me know. I’ll bring a fresh pot.”

 

Kisa quickly turned the newspaper to the next page so the servant wouldn’t notice, then shook her head.

 

“It’s fine. I actually quite like cooled tea.”

 

“Still, you don’t need to force yourself to drink it. Preparing tea again isn’t a difficult task…”

 

The next moment, a crashing sound echoed through the room.

 

Kisa had dropped the teacup while receiving the black tea from the servant.

 

“Oh my!” the servant exclaimed, hurriedly checking on Kisa’s condition.

 

“Are you alright? Did you get burned?”

 

Kisa answered with a bewildered face that she hadn’t.

 

“I was just a little startled. I’m sorry for wasting what you prepared so carefully.”

 

“Not at all. This is nothing to worry about. The most important thing is that you weren’t hurt.”

 

The servant said this while personally examining Kisa’s hands to see if she might have gotten any burns.

 

Other servants who came running upon hearing the commotion cleaned up the teacup and wiped away the puddle of liquid from the table and floor.

 

It was fortunate that the black tea had cooled. As she had said, there really was no problem for Kisa.

 

The problem was the dress stained with tea water and the newspaper that had become completely unusable for the same reason.

 

After being attended to by the servants, changing into new clothes in the dressing room and returning, one servant asked Kisa:

 

“Shall I bring you a new newspaper?”

 

In that person’s hands was the newspaper that had become soggy and unrecognizable, not just in content but even in its original form.

 

Kisa shook her head without even glancing at it.

 

“No need. I had almost finished reading to the last page anyway. I’m more eager for a walk than a newspaper.”

 

It wasn’t for nothing that she had changed into outdoor clothes.

 

The servants, understanding Kisa’s intention, escorted her out of her room.

 

Kisa didn’t bother to check whether the servant had properly disposed of the newspaper.

 

There was no need to, and paying attention to such things would look strange. What would it matter if they didn’t throw the ruined newspaper in the trash?

 

The code was securely stored in her head, so that newspaper was something that shouldn’t be left behind.

 

‘To be continued next…’

 

Kisa pondered inwardly.

 

The important thing was the next newspaper to come. Considering the word “continued,” it was likely the newspaper that would be delivered to her tomorrow.

 

Throughout her walk, the beautiful garden scenery couldn’t enter her mind.

 

Why had Gale split the code into two parts?

 

Because the code’s content was long? Or simply to increase security?

 

But neither seemed very convincing, and there were other questions as well.

 

‘Two choices.’

 

She couldn’t understand what this meant.

 

‘Simply thinking about it, it could be read as meaning he’s prepared another escape route besides what’s written in this code, but…’

 

For some reason, she kept getting the feeling that it didn’t mean that.

 

Hadn’t Gale, when she last saw him, worried that the plan he had devised was too obvious? That the Duke of Hillan would see right through it?

 

Nine times out of ten, there seemed to be some deeper plan, and Kisa swallowed dryly at this thought.

 

If it was the capable Gale, there was plenty of possibility that he had found some other method in the meantime.

 

She was so absorbed in wondering what it could be that she lost track of time.

 

“Lady Kisa?”

 

At the servant’s call, she looked around and saw that it was late afternoon, with the sun having moved far to the west.

 

Facing the puzzled gaze looking at her, Kisa opened her mouth as if making an excuse.

 

“Today’s walk is particularly enjoyable.”

 

It was the most blatant lie among the things she had said recently.

 

The next morning, she bit her lips in front of the newly delivered newspaper.

 

As expected, this newspaper also had a code written in it.