[Chapter 5]
I carefully fastened one side of the shackle to his front paw. As I stood up to secure the other side, a solid chest suddenly filled my vision.
“I told you, officer.”
…He transforms into a human just with one shackle?
I instinctively stepped back at the unexpected situation, but a large hand smoothly reached out and caught my wrist.
“If you’re planning to get yourself killed by some other bastard, come to me instead.”
I hadn’t even fastened the other one yet.
There wasn’t even time to feel regret. Like a predator cornering its prey, he trapped me between both arms, pressing against the wall to block my escape.
I was surrounded by his presence. I hurriedly reached for my whistle, but he was faster. He seized it first. My neck stiffened. Maybe he just wanted to enjoy the look of panic on my face, because he leaned in slowly, tilting his head as he drew closer. His sharply defined, masculine features closed in on mine.
“At least if you come to me, it won’t be a quick death. I’m planning to thoroughly play with you before I kill you.”
Was my expression that satisfying to him? I could feel the relaxed air of a predator watching its prey trapped in a snare.
“Officer. By the way, it’s been bothering me for a while—why are you suddenly being so polite? It doesn’t suit you.”
My breath caught.
“You’re also making such a scared face—it really doesn’t suit you. You’re acting very different from usual.”
He was so close that I could feel the chill of his low voice brushing against the tip of my nose.
“…Because the situation’s changed.”
“A textbook opportunist, I see.”
“If I say so, will you spare me?”
“Hm.”
The hand that had been resting on the wall moved toward my right ear. His hand was so large and broad that it could easily crush my small face. I flinched and closed my eyes, but surprisingly, nothing happened. When I cautiously opened them, I saw him staring at me, then he lowered his gaze.
As if something had just occurred to him, he swept back his hair with an annoyed motion.
“Take the shackle off. Only a guard can undo it.”
I heard a metallic jingle near my left ear. He shook his shackled wrist deliberately. But I wasn’t stupid.
The whistle and the shackles—these were the only tools Lemoni, the prison guard, had to stand against a Class 1 criminal.
“…I can’t.”
Deon clearly didn’t believe me.
“Don’t mess with me. Take it off.”
“I’m telling you, I don’t know how.”
“You’re a prison guard and you don’t know how to remove a shackle? That makes no sense.”
“If you keep doing this, I’ll blow the whistle.”
I quickly reached for it, but cold breath rushed in and seized my ear.
“Will you blow the whistle faster, or will I kill you faster?”
He was too fast. I hadn’t even blinked. From the hallway across, I would’ve been completely hidden behind Deon’s broad back. His proximity was so intense that I could only vaguely make out the curve of his earlobe and the smooth muscles shifting slowly beneath it. It was unnervingly like watching a living sculpture.
It felt like something that shouldn’t exist in reality had come alive.
“…You wouldn’t be dumb enough to kill the only person who can release the magic shackle, right?”
“That’s why I fastened the other one to you.”
“What?”
It took me a moment to understand his words. My lips parted like an idiot, and Deon’s dark eyebrows rose in satisfaction when he saw my stupid expression.
“Guess you can’t run away now.”
As if to prove his point, he raised his right hand. Oddly, my left wrist lifted in sync. The other shackle was now clasped around my wrist.
“…Are you insane?”
All the blood drained from my body.
“Yeah.”
Deon’s face was cold and expressionless as he muttered,
“I went insane because of you.”
No matter how hard I pulled, the shackles wouldn’t come off. At first, I planned to release mine and run, but having never handled one of these in real life, I didn’t even know how to unfasten it.
According to the original story, there were only two ways to remove a magic shackle:
First, the assigned prison guard could manually release it.
Second, the shackle would release automatically if the guard lost consciousness, as the magical force would disappear.
There was no way I was going to faint on purpose. I had to unlock it myself. But why wasn’t it working?
Click, click. I pressed the metal button like I was flicking a lighter, but nothing changed. When it wouldn’t release, I ended up wrestling with Deon’s thick wrist, trying to force it off.
“Officer.”
If I didn’t release it, there was no way I could escape.
“Officer Lemoni.”
His palm, dirty with dust, was so large it couldn’t be grasped even with both my hands. When I suddenly grabbed his hand and clutched the shackle, his long, thick fingers seemed to stiffen slightly.
“Officer.”
I was so focused on removing the shackle that I ignored him calling me. Watching me struggle, Deon let out a short, incredulous laugh.
“Drop the act and take it off.”
But I was just as frustrated.
“Deon. Try taking it off yourself.”
Maybe the command magic would work. Desperate, I blew the whistle—but Deon, unaffected by the command, stood calmly with arms crossed.
“I told you.”
“I ordered you to take it off!”
“This shackle can only be released by you.”
His curious gaze settled on the crown of my head. But after ten minutes of wrestling, Deon’s patience finally started to wear thin.
“…So, you’d rather die than remove the shackle.”
A cold sigh came from across the hall.
When I looked up, his blood-red eyes were icy cold, like those of a feline predator. He clearly thought I was pretending not to know how to remove the shackle.
“Then let’s go together.”
Clink.
A crisp sound rang out as something loose tightened. Deon suddenly turned and began walking. The shackle on my wrist tugged in his direction.
The distance between the two shackles was about 30 cm.
“Where are you going?”
Deon, with his long legs, didn’t bother slowing for someone three handspans shorter than him. I was forced to stumble after him, panting for breath.
“Downstairs. Plenty of prisoners there. Thought I’d give you a tour.”
“What?”
“I heard all the prisoners down there dream of hitting a guard just once.”
I tried to keep a straight face despite his teasing tone—especially when he suddenly turned and looked down at me with expectation.
“What? Scared?”
I clamped my mouth shut in silence, and he chuckled like he was enjoying himself.
“If you’re scared, cry. Who knows—maybe if I see you bawling, I’ll decide not to go downstairs.”
I nearly lost control at that. To keep myself from crying, I bit my lower lip—so hard it could’ve left a walnut-sized dent. The injustice of suddenly finding myself in Lemoni’s body burned at my throat, but this was my reality.
I had to stay calm. Deon wanted to see me suffer. Bound by this shackle, the only form of rebellion I had left was to stay composed.
“Back off, Deon.”
I swallowed the heat in my throat and blew the whistle. He clicked his tongue in disappointment but took a step back.
Only one step.
Maybe the command spell wasn’t working well. I gave a stronger order.
“Back off more, Deon. Keep one meter between us.”
“Oh, but the chain’s only 30 centimeters long. Can’t do that.”
But he didn’t budge. He just sighed as if his neck ached and rubbed the back of it.
“All this looking down is giving me neck pain.”
Deon didn’t retreat. All I could do was try to stop him from harming me—control his movements.
But for how long?
Until I started crying and begging, like he said?
“Officer. Try giving me another command.”
The mocking tone made my hand tremble around the whistle.
Was it his height? His sheer size? Or the crushing realization that I couldn’t escape his shadow? Maybe it was the calm gaze that seemed to see right through my masked fear. Or maybe it was the fact that we couldn’t even be separated by more than 30 cm.
There were too many reasons to be afraid.
“…Don’t you hate me?”
After a long silence, I managed to speak, but my voice cracked annoyingly.
“I despise you.”
For once, he responded without hesitation.
“If you hate me that much, why not just ignore me?”
“Officer. You hated me first. But instead of being indifferent, you clung to me and kept issuing humiliating commands.”
Something unpleasant flickered across his face.
His already deep voice dropped even lower.
“I’m just like you. Because I despise you, I can’t leave you alone.”
A torch nearby flickered suddenly. Its light erased the shadow half-hiding his face, revealing his sharp features fully. My body froze, breath caught. His face held nothing but hatred and contempt.
Had I ever been hated like this before?
Then it hit me.
I’d never truly been hated—or loved—by anyone. Sure, relatives had hurt me in the past, but it was closer to ridicule than hatred, and colder than any form of love. They hadn’t hated me—they’d excluded me.
Right. I’d never formed any deep relationship with anyone.
“…So.”
I swallowed hard. The feeling was unfamiliar and uncomfortable—like ill-fitting, poor-quality clothes.
“You want to become someone just like me?”
He paused, then answered coldly.
“Yes.”
The chain yanked suddenly. I stumbled forward, my forehead bumping into his solid chest.
“…Then I guess it’s better to be the same.”
His voice, once flat and low, twisted oddly. Though his face was still fierce, for a split second I thought I saw a slashing wound flash across it—like an old scar.
What was that just now?
But before I could linger on the thought, a deafening explosion rang out. The blast, from across the corridor, shook the entire hall. I only realized it was a gunshot after my head hit the cold floor.
