Villainess Wants to Live Freely Routh(El) POV 2

http://ncode.syosetu.com/n5260fe/84/

 

As I flew down the steps,

 

[???]: “Now come. Take my hand, and everything will work out.”

 

I heard a man’s voice talking down to Rose.
And so I cried out,

[El]: “What hand should she take!!!”

Reaching the bottom of the steps, I was greeted with a scene that made me doubt my eyes.
The always gently smiling Rose was locked up in a cage, her hands and feet shackled together with tears rolling down her face.

I wanted to immediately run over and hold her close.
I wanted to tell her that everything would be all right. That I would protect her.

She must be scared. Rose has lived her whole life until now as a noble lady loved by everyone. She’s never had any connection to a place like this before. She’s heard about my past before, but hearing about it and actually living through it are two very different things.
Locking her up in a dungeon where only a criminal would belong. Restraining her hands and feet so she can’t fight back. Even weighing down her legs to even prevent her from moving on her own.

Doing this to Rose, I will absolutely never forgive this man.

 

[Rose]: “……El”

A look of relief passed across Rose’s face when she saw me.
And then she looked as if she were going to cry after seeing the faces of the people who arrived shortly afterwards.

[El]: “Rose, sorry for being so late. We’ll save you right away!”

All of us spoke up, letting Rose know it would be okay.

[Damiel]: “W-What is this!? You can’t come down here without my permission! Roselia is mine. I won’t hand her over to anyone. She’s going to be another piece to my collection. Ah, but you can have the maid in the cell next to hers back. That should be sufficient right?”

My voice and the anger radiating off of the Duke had caused the Count to be flustered at first, but the look in his eyes changed when we started talking about saving Rose.

[Father]: “If you’re talking about your mistresses in your bedroom and attic then they’re already safe. We’ve already heard their circumstances. Now where did you get those drugs!?”

Rudolph’s fellow knights had separated from us upon entering the building, moving to the rooms where the other women had been kept during the previous investigation. In addition, it was written in the report that there was a strange scent coming from several of the rooms where those women had been staying, and many of them were unfocused when asked questions by the investigators.
So the Duke put two and two together and asked the Count the obvious question.

[Damiel]: “Ah, this medicine here? It was a gift from a nice noble girl. It’s been most helpful. I wanted to use it on Roselia if at all possible, but since I had my doubts about its effects, I tested it out on some other women first.”

A nice noble girl……so there’s still someone else who needs to be dealt with. But for the time being, I should just be happy it wasn’t used on Rose yet.

[Rudolph]: “Count Damiel, your mansion is already besieged by knights. You are hereby under arrest for the abduction of Roselia-sama and her maid along with the numerous crimes listed in the testimonies of the other women you held here. I have a writ right here from Prince William.”

[Damiel]: “Tch, my dear Roselia. It appears I have been caught. But I do not wish to part……so let us pass on together instead.”

What do you mean your Roselia!? Rose is mine!
Just the thought of this vile guy touching Rose was more than I could stand, so I ran forward without thinking.

The man had turned his head towards Rose, so he never saw me coming. I kicked him as hard as I could, and *THUMP* there was a dull thud as he collided with a nearby wall and collapsed right on the spot.
I’m dissatisfied with how easily the Count fell because I wanted to hit him a lot more, but I put that dissatisfaction to the side and put all my strength into hugging Rose instead.

[El]: “Rose, Rose…..Rose”

After almost a week, I’m finally able to see Rose again.
I’ve been going crazy ever since I heard Rose was kidnapped. But, here she is. Right in my arms. And I was able to rescue her…..

[Rose]: “Uuu…..you came…..you saved me…..”

Rose was so relieved that she fainted right in my arms.

[Father]: “She’s not the only one relieved. I’ll wrap things up here, so take Rose back home.”

As a parent, I’m sure the Duke wants to return home with Rose more than anything else right now, but because it’s his job to handle these matters, he can’t come with us.

So after Allen rescued Rose’s maid Anna from the next cell over, the two of us started our way back to the mansion while the Duke and Rudolph moved to get things taken care of here.

Routh(El) POV ⊥ Chapter 71