Chapter 216 A Barefoot Veronica
“You’ve dislocated your knee cap. Hold the phone.”
The man gently touched the wound and made a basic analysis based on how the bone was slightly protruding out of place.
Under these conditions, Veronica did not argue with Matthew as she obediently took the phone and shone the light on her knee.
She then saw the man lift her leg up gently before he tilted his head a bit to look at her and say, “It might be a bit painful. I’ll count to three and then join it back.”
“Alright.”
Taking a deep breath, Veronica gripped her hands tightly while her heart was beating all over the place.
She feared feeling pain very much, so she was afraid that she might trash around in pain when Matthew set her bones back.
“One…”
“Two…”
“Argh! F*ck! Matthew, didn’t you say you would count to three?! Why did you do it at two?!”
Shouting in pain, Veronica slapped Matthew’s shoulder and pinched it tightly as the sensation made her breathe in deeply.
“Try moving it and see if everything is fine.”
Matthew, who was facing the woman’s sudden outburst, did not seem to mind her screaming as he was more concerned about her wound.
Lifting her leg, Veronica moved it a bit to find it was working just fine, so she immediately stood up and walked around. Except for the pain from the torn skin hurting a bit, she found that everything was functioning normally.
“I can walk just fine now. Thanks.”
She smiled at Matthew before focusing her attention on the dark basement they were in, making her smile vanish and replaced with a sigh. “What kind of place is this? There isn’t even a signal. We’ll have to find a way out, otherwise we’ll soon be… Ah!”
Spinning the phone around the basement, Veronica saw a skeleton in a corner, causing her to scream out loud.
Even though she was a brave woman, in this basement with unknown dangers ahead of them, she had not fully prepared herself and was frightened by the sight.
“What’s wrong?”
Then, Matthew ran to her before looking toward the direction where her flashlight was pointing only to find a body lying in the corner.
“The bones lay flat on the floor with no signs of people touching them. There are also black stains all around the skeleton, which look to be the remains of the body when it decomposed.”
Matthew closed in and analyzed the body.
As soon as he said that, Veronica added, “That means that this person didn’t die a long time ago, seeing how their clothes are still intact. It looks like the women’s uniform which the servants in your house wear.”
“I heard from Grandma around a year ago that a female servant went missing from the house. Back then, we all thought that she had escaped. Because she was an orphan, we had no relatives of hers that we could contact. Even though we made a police report, we still couldn’t find her, so we forgot about it as time went on.”
“She’s an orphan? That is too pitiful.”
Veronica, who recomposed herself, only felt pity for such a girl to disappear without a trace.
Standing in front of the body, she bowed three times. “Don’t worry. When we get out eventually, we will be sure to bring you out too.”
Although this was just a small act, it made Matthew feel that Veronica was a truly kind woman.
She really is pure, honest, and kind.
Holding her hand, he said, “Let’s go and find the exit as quickly as we can. Otherwise, we would die here too. You should switch your phone off for now to preserve its batteries for emergency use.”
Veronica felt a surge of warmth travel through her cold hands as a sudden reassurance calmed her nervous heart.
She did not resist him holding her, knowing that they could meet with danger or activate some trap at any moment. That was why it was the safest choice to keep holding hands and continue forward.
“Alright.”
Nodding, she then switched her phone off.
Walking in the hallway of the basement, they observed the basement made out of smoothed stone walls that had carvings of divine beasts on them.
Suddenly, Veronica pointed toward a wall that had a candle with a goddess carving on it. “There’s a candle there. Let’s see if it lights up.”
They both saw the candle at the same time.
Then, the man took out a lighter and tried lighting the wick. Even though the wick had become a solid black substance, it was still miraculously lit.
“Whew. That’s great. If we have a light source, at least we don’t have to walk around in total darkness.”
Veronica breathed a sigh of relief as her nerves calmed slightly.
If there was a light, that meant that there had to be an exit.
Otherwise, the only thing waiting for them in this secret basement without any light would be death.
While keeping the phone, Matthew saw Veronica when he lowered his head. He then promptly took off his leather shoes and stood barefoot. “Wear my shoes.”
Because she was here to attend a banquet today, Matthew had her change into a dress, which Veronica chose to match by wearing nine-centimeter-high heels.
When they fell down just now, Matthew only focused on saving Veronica and had forgotten about the shoes.
Besides, even if they still had them, high heels were not fit for exploring a secret basement.
Veronica looked at the shoes before pouting. “Are you sure that my size 37 would fit your size 42 shoes?”
She immediately stated an obvious problem.
The man’s feet were indeed size 42.
“It’s better than nothing,” he replied.
“How am I to walk in these? Besides, we aren’t even sure how big this place is. It will be exhausting for me to walk using your shoes, and you might even get hurt.”
Veronica analyzed this calmly.
Even though Matthew meant well by giving her his shoes to wear, not only did bigger shoes increase the burden of walking, they might even irritate the skin of her heel.
Also, she did not wear socks since she had to wear high heels.
Her words made sense.
With a solemn look, Matthew pondered for a while before looking at her. “It’s not as if we don’t have another way. Maybe you can try…”
He stopped halfway.
Tacitly, with Matthew, Veronica, who was smart enough to know what he was about to say, turned to the skeleton.
“It’s just a body. It won’t harm you. You don’t have to be that scared either. I’m here. You…”
“You’re such a nag!”
Although Veronica knew that Matthew was just building her courage, she was not as cowardly as Matthew thought she was.
Nevertheless, no matter what, she was still a bit scared as she pointed at his feet. “Give me your socks.”
Matthew was a bit shocked at Veronica’s reaction. Looking at her doubtfully, he then handed her the socks.
The white socks were already covered in a light layer of dust due to him stepping on the ground.
After he handed them over, Veronica immediately wore them while saying, “Could you go get her shoes?”
“Okay.”
The man agreed and went to get them.
Soon enough, he reappeared with a pair of pumps and gave them to Veronica.
He had thought Veronica would reject his suggestion with disgust…
