Atonement, About it's Cruelty - Chapter 8
“…?”
Seo-ah’s muscles that were exhausted by the heat and boredom reflexively tensed up as if suddenly jolted. Instinctively, she held her breath, a chill running down her neck.
The eerie feeling seemed to seep in from the doorway the employee had been using.
It wasn’t just a feeling or a figment of her imagination. She felt the hairs on her body stand on end.
This was no ordinary presence.
It was the sound of footsteps deliberately muted, not just any stealthy steps but those of individuals trained in concealing their movements. The footsteps came from beyond the door the employee had used.
One person? No, it seemed like two.
Silently, silently.
Seo-ah huddled, praying like prey waiting for predators to pass.
Please, just pass by.
However, the muted footsteps stopped precisely in front of her room and seemed to edge closer to the door.
As if someone was listening at the door.
Her heart pounded as if it might burst.
Then it happened.
A uniquely leisurely knock sliced through the quiet air.
Knock, knock, knock, knock.
Seo-ah immediately looked up and found herself locking eyes with those green eyes.
“…!”
The employee who had been observing her, who now smiled slyly as if he had been waiting. He glanced behind him and stood up.
“I apologize. I’ll be right back, and I’ll arrange for a carriage for you, given the late hour.”
“….”
Instead of responding, Seo-ah nodded.
Stay calm.
I must stay calm.
Suppressing the urge to flee right then, she quietly watched the employee move. He walked with heavy steps towards the staff-only door, and when he finally opened it, Seo-ah involuntarily clenched her eyes shut.
“….”
Thud.
As soon as the door closed, Seo-ah exhaled the breath she had been holding. Her breath, rough and scratching at her throat, sounded as loud as thunder to her ears. Beyond the thunderous breathing, a profound silence flowed.
It was as quiet as if no one else was present. There was no sound of conversation, no indication of movement.
It was as if the person who knocked and the person called upon by the knock had agreed to stand mutely at the door together.
Why.
“The moment you revealed that you have the key, your life became as precarious as a candle in the wind.”
Seo-ah, as if a shadow were rising, silently got to her feet. She then calmly placed the key acquisition certificate and the key into an inner pocket of her coat, securing it to ensure they wouldn’t be lost. She then grabbed her luggage and cautiously stepped backward.
Without making a sound, she reached the door used by customers and slightly opened it to peek outside. She could sense the presence of the guards outside, but they were nothing compared to those who were watching her room.
Seeing that the hallway was empty, she slipped through the door gap like a snake and moved fluidly and quietly through the stringent security of Felpe Bank, almost like a shadow with no substance.
If all these guards were indeed out to capture her… well, she might indeed be caught. But unless she became a direct target, she was confident in her ability to vanish without a trace, indistinguishable from the wind. Elite guards might stop armed invaders, but not a rat sneaking through cracks in a stone wall.
With no one to stop her, Seo-ah left the bank and hurried away, intent on putting as much distance as possible between herself and the bank.
In the dead of night, on deserted streets, in a city strange and unfamiliar, the atmosphere felt almost violent.
Just as her mind was going blank, a dark shadow emerged from the dimly lit corner of the street under the faint moonlight.
Although she couldn’t see the face clearly, she had an intuition—it was the same person who had followed her from the train, whom she thought she had evaded by taking the carriage. She saw his lips curl upwards.
A rat that quietly sneaks may escape the castle, but one trapped in a dead-end alley gets caught despite its stealth.
Seo-ah clenched her teeth and started to run. Her heavy coat and luggage dragged at her like a swamp, but she ran desperately.
From behind, a vile and contemptuous laughter followed her.
“Wow, quite fast, aren’t you?”
In the brutal darkness, only his cackling laughter, her ragged breathing, and the thudding of footsteps filled the air.
Is there no one around, any place to hide? I’m good at hiding, just please…
Just when it felt like her mind was turning blank, miraculously, a carriage appeared as if out of nowhere on the road—or wherever I was.
“Hey, over here! Hey!”
Wanting to shake off this violent darkness, she called out at the top of her voice.
Fortunately, the coachman stopped his horse. Hood pulled down to his eyebrows, he looked at Seo-ah running towards him, clicking his tongue as if scolding her.
“A woman shouldn’t be out alone at this hour! Get in quickly!”
She had resolved never to take a carriage again, but money was not the issue now. Seo-ah quickly climbed in and shut the door, and the coachman immediately set the horse moving.
As Seo-ah looked out the window anxiously, the coachman asked loudly,
“Where to?”
Seo-ah leaned close to the wall next to the coachman’s seat and whispered out the window,
“To an inn.”
The coachman lowered his voice in response.
“An inn?”
“Yes. To the busiest inn you know.”
The busiest inn.
The coachman snapped his whip, hitting the horse’s rump and chuckled slyly. His yellow teeth glinted under the deep hood.
“Understood, Miss. Don’t worry.”
The carriage, carrying an unsuspecting foreigner, then passed along tree-lined roads and began running along the Daub River.
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