CH 298

The mansion consisted of a total of three floors. The first and second floors were divided into five rooms and there was a small prison in the underground.

After filling my stomach with bread, I gave Min Ah-rin a bedroom on the first floor as I and Cheon Sa-yeon thoroughly inspected the inside of the mansion.

“It’s quite spacious. I don’t feel any strange energy.”

“Have you ever met anyone while coming here?”

“No. We need to quickly find out where everyone is…”

I was even more worried because I couldn’t even guess what the other people would be like.

If they were under mental control and were harming each other as Cheon Sa-yeon explained… Just imagining it was terrifying.

‘The longer you delay here, the more dangerous it is.’

Wouldn’t it be better to change into Kwon Se-hyun and use the intervention ability instead of being stubborn?

I was starting to feel nervous and anxious. If we couldn’t find any useful evidence in this mansion, what should you do next…

“Han Yi-gyeol.”

A cool touch touched my lips. The bad thoughts that had been biting the tail suddenly were cut off and I came to my senses.

“Calm down. Nothing has been decided yet.”

I realized later that I was chewing my lips unconsciously at Cheon Sa-yeon’s touch, who was stroking my lips.

“Sorry, I didn’t know.”

Being nervous in this way only narrowed your field of vision and didn’t help. Cheon Sa-yeon, who smiled bitterly when I apologized while pressing his sore eyes tightly, said.

“Don’t apologize. I feel more regret.”

“Regret?”

“If there’s a scar on your lips, I think it will hurt when I kiss you later.”

“……”

This kid is doing this again.

Then, as I glared at the bullshit Cheon Sa-yeon, I slapped his hand, which was stroking my lips. Still, thanks to him, I was less nervous.

We couldn’t find any useful information on the first and second floors, so we ended up heading to the underground.

The prison, which was small enough to fit one adult, was made of iron bars and the ground was strewn with dry animal bones. It was the prison where the witch kept Hansel in the fairy tale.

‘Hansel was locked up to make him fat and it said Gretel was forced to eat him.’

In the end, the witch, who couldn’t eat Hansel and was pushed by Gretel, fell in the furnace and died. That was the witch’s end.

As I looked back at the contents of the fairy tale step by step, a thought that suddenly came to my mind made me raise my head. Wait, if the witch’s end is…

“Furnace.”

“Um?”

“The witch died in the furnace. If you take a closer look at the furnace, maybe something will come out?”

“Come to think of it, the furnace with the pot was inside the kitchen.”

We went up to the first floor again and headed towards the furnace we had seen before. As I got closer to the firewood burning fire, I felt a weak energy.

“I think this is the right answer.”

“The fairy tale itself was a hint. But what am I supposed to do with this furnace?”

Could I just break it? If you touched it wrongly, it might turn into even worse.

We couldn’t stay here, so we had to make a decision. While stroking the corner of my mouth and glaring at the furnace, Cheon Sa-yeon, who had been thinking for a while, pulled out an S-class sword from his inventory.

“Cheon Sa-yeon?”

“It said the witch would die by falling into that furnace, so I have to go to there.”

Cheon Sa-yeon, who had cut off his palm before it had even dried, dripped blood into the furnace. The fire burned red with blood and the energy grew stronger.

“I think we need more.”

“Wait a minute, but this way…”

Surprised by the blade pointing directly toward the wrist rather than the palm, I quickly grabbed Cheon Sa-yeon’s wrist.

Cheon Sa-yeon, who looked at me with a surprised expression, gently raised the corners of his lips.

“It’s good to be worried, but there’s nothing we can do now.”

“You’re not sure how much blood you need.”

“If you want to get out of here, you have to give as much as you need. Isn’t it fortunate that I’m in the role of the witch?”

“……”

Cheon Sa-yeon was right. Considering the safety of those who we didn’t know where they were, it would have benefited from getting out of here quickly.

However… the discomfort in my chest made me completely couldn’t accept it. It was very annoying to see Cheon Sa-yeon’s body created in this place by the Praus Cult was injured.

Clicking my tongue, I slowly lowered my hand that had grabbed Cheon Sa-yeon’s wrist.

“Don’t touch your wrist. Min Ah-rin-ssi can’t even use her ability now.”

The scene when Cheon Sa-yeon going rampage that I saw in the book kept hovering in my head.

I didn’t understand why I was so uncomfortable when Cheon Sa-yeon, who actually had been through that, was so calm but… I couldn’t stand still and watch.

“If that’s the Leader’s will.”

With his eloquent reply, the blade of his sword pointed toward the palm of his hand, not his wrist.

The blade of the sword brushed once more just over the long cut and the blood dripping out of it. It hurt just looking at it, but Cheon Sa-yeon, who cut off his palm, didn’t change his expression. It meant that it was a familiar pain.

A fire erupted from the furnace that once again swallowed the blood dripping from his palm. At the same time, a strong energy spread out and the ground began to vibrate.

“The wall…!”

As if there was an earthquake, everything shook while the landscape unfolded before my eyes became liquid and began to flow down.

The mansion and the other side of the forest had melted were filled with the orange veil I had seen before I fainted.

“Hu-ugh…”

“Han Yi-gyeol!”

Seeing it, my body felt weak with strong vertigo.

I heard Cheon Sa-yeon’s voice holding me in his arms as I fell, but I couldn’t overcome the sleepiness.

‘I can’t, if it’s like this…’

While being hugged by Cheon Sa-yeon, I tried my best to open my eyes somehow, but eventually lost my mind as if fainting.

* * *

A fragrant smell could be felt on the tip of my nose. Something unknown kept tapping my face.

“Uh…”

“Prince, are you awake?”

As I opened my eyes with a groan in pain, a woman spoke to me. As I tried to rub my eyes on the blurry vision, someone stopped me in a panic.

“Oh my, Prince! You cannot rub it like that.”

“…pardon?”

Pri… what?

When I looked up in surprise, I saw three strange women in maid outfits looking at me with a smile. My shoulders flinched.

‘Where else is this place?’

High ceilings, sparkling white marble floors, golden decorations and furnishings came into view one after another.

However, no matter how much I looked around, I couldn’t see Cheon Sa-yeon and Min Ah-rin. As I sat in the chair and looked around, a woman came to me with a mirror.

“Here. Please look here, Prince.”

Han Yi-gyeol’s face was reflected in the mirror, with all the bangs turned over.

The old, thin clothes had disappeared all of a sudden and changed into a uniform full of decorations of one kind or another.

“Your skin is so good that the makeup was done quickly.”

“Do you like perfume? It is a popular scent these days.”

“You are so handsome as it is an important day, Prince.”

“……”

I think I’m going to get motion sick.

I felt my stomach churn and cleared my head. Let’s start by understanding the situation.

Apparently, the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel ended when Cheon Sa-yeon’s blood was put in the furnace. Now it seemed like a different fairy tale had begun.

When you think of people’s clothes or calling me a prince… was this a royal castle? It was hard to guess a fairy tale from that alone.

‘I need more information.’

I also wondered what kind of relationship the three maids in front of me had with this space.

It was at that time when I was about to ask the maid who was standing there looking at me with her twinkling eyes, coughing briefly.

Knock, knock, the door opened and a man in a black suit entered. When I saw the face of the other person, I was startled and called out his name.

“Woo Seo-hyuk-ssi?”

Woo Seo-hyuk, who approached me with a dull expression as usual, was silent.

“Prince, are you ready?”

“Ah…”

The happy feeling faded away in an instant. Right, now he was in mental control…

Still, meeting Woo Seo-hyuk in an unfamiliar place gave me a little relief. I’m glad he’s unharmed.

“It’s all ready.”

If you followed Woo Seo-hyuk, you might learn something more. When I calmly nodded my head in response, the maids and Woo Seo-hyuk showed signs of surprise.

“Prince. You must not use honorifics to the lower class ones.”

“Oh, um.”

Don’t use honorifics to the lower ones… were you saying that because I’m a prince?

However, it wasn’t easy for me to talk informal to Woo Seo-hyuk. Woo Seo-hyuk, who was silently staring at me, sighing inwardly, opened his mouth.

“When you are ready, I will guide you to the ballroom.”

“Yes. No, yeah.”

I’m dying of embarrassment. I swallowed dry saliva and stood up. The maids behind me, who was walking to the door following Woo Seo-hyuk, cheered with high tones.

“Have a good day, Prince!”

“You will find good friends!”

“Please tell us about it later~!”

“……”

What was that? What? What kind of fairy tale was this?

I was more confused than before, left the room, and walked across the ornate hallway to the huge door. The guards standing on either side of the door bowed to me.

“I will open the door.”

Woo Seo-hyuk, who opened the door filled with gold decorations with S-rank power, politely gestured as if to go inside.

I moved slowly, forcing my eyebrows to straighten, which was constantly gaining strength. As I passed by Woo Seo-hyuk and went inside, I saw bright lights and heard sound of music.

A wide hall with a bright white chandelier hung from the ceiling unfolded. As I entered the ballroom, the attention of people in beautiful dresses and robes caught my attention.

“The prince has come.”

“Prince!”

“Prince, you are so handsome today.”

A cold sweat ran down my back at the sound of the whisper.

I felt like I wanted to run away right away at the sight of dozens of people looking at me with their eyes hoping for something.

“Prince. We have reserved a seat inside.”

Woo Seo-hyuk, who didn’t notice my feelings, closed the door and said in a low voice.

“Or do you want to dance right away? You can point out the person you like.”

Dance. It was something I had never done since I was born. When I was about to refuse with disgust, I found a familiar face over Woo Seo-hyuk’s shoulder.

“Ha Tae-heon-ssi?”

The man wearing a social uniform with gold embroidery was definitely Ha Tae-heon. Ha Tae-heon was also looking at me with a strange expression.

“Do you like that man?”

“What?”

Woo Seo-hyuk moved first when I was thinking about whether or not to pretend to know Ha Tae-heon.

“The prince has chosen. The chosen one, please come closer.”

“Wa, wait. This…”

Before I could stop him, Woo Seo-hyuk sent a glance to Ha Tae-heon, asking him to come closer.

Ha Tae-heon, who got attention from the people at the ballroom due to my mistake, approached with a frown on his forehead as if he was displeased.

“You can go to the centre and dance with the person you choose.”

Even dancing in the centre. As I faced Ha Tae-heon, I shed tears inside.

‘It’s ruined…’