~Chapter 4~
As long as one lives within society, a person naturally develops various human relationships.
And the Crown Prince, when it came to Canis, could not tolerate that at all.
Her family, friends, colleagues.
The Crown Prince couldn’t bear the thought of Canis’s gaze falling upon anyone else and restrained her. Even though he wasn’t even her lover!
Naturally, Canis resists this and wants to break free from the Crown Prince. The more she does, the more the Crown Prince obsesses over keeping Canis in a narrow cage. Eventually, he forcefully imprisons her in his palace.
*’It was creepy enough that such a place was hidden in the palace.’*
Canis makes every effort to escape, but fails. Stimulated by her desire to leave his side, the Crown Prince becomes even more maniacal.
He ignores Canis’s protests to let her go and instead routinely threatens the lives of the people around Canis as leverage…
The problem was that this white-haired child was one of those hostages used for threats. What’s more, she’s beheaded as an example at the very beginning when the Crown Prince’s obsession starts!
*’Damn it all!’*
Eugene cursed internally once more.
She could guess why it hadn’t come to mind instantly.
White hair. An extra whose hair turned completely white from the shock of being abandoned by her parents.
The backstory setting existed merely as a device to show how unfortunate the children in the slave market where Canis was imprisoned were, depicting the protagonist’s poor past environment.
The white-haired girl didn’t even have a proper name. She appeared as Canis’s friend early in the game, and one might have thought she was a significant supporting character, but she was simply a tool to reveal the Crown Prince’s cruelty—killed as punishment for Canis’s attempted escape.
*’Wait, I thought when you died, you went to the underworld or heaven or somewhere to rest?’*
She had never heard of a new life starting in the blink of an eye right after dying.
It wasn’t that she expected a long trial judging good and evil in the afterlife or angels coming to meet her with the sound of trumpets. But shouldn’t she at least be given some time to acknowledge death?
“Hey, are you feeling a bit better now?”
Amidst her confusion, Canis, who had waited until she finished drinking, spoke to her.
The tail swishing behind Canis betrayed her innocent curiosity about Eugene.
“I’m Canis. I’ve been here for a few days.”
Her tail drooped a little as she said the latter part, probably because unpleasant memories of this place came to mind.
Seeing the sullen protagonist, Eugene felt pressure to say something in return.
“I’m…”
But she didn’t know what to say. As she closed the mouth she had opened and hesitated, only moving her lips, Canis, noticing her difficulty, continued.
“You came in yesterday, right? I saw those guys bring you and other kids in the carriage.”
Canis slightly lowered her green eyes as if recalling the not-so-distant scene.
“You were the smallest, so you stood out. I thought the smallest one cried all night and then fell asleep after quieting down. But you didn’t move at all in the morning either, so I thought you…”
Canis closed her mouth for a moment there, but Eugene could guess what she had swallowed.
Perhaps the owner of this body met death earlier than in the original story.
*’In the original, it was said her parents sold her into slavery directly.’*
Was a parent’s betrayal that shocking to a young child? With a bitter taste in her mouth, Eugene bowed her head for a moment and prayed for the peace of the nameless young soul.
Perhaps finding the continuing silence awkward, Canis fidgeted with her fingers a little and asked,
“What’s your name?”
Eugene reflexively opened her mouth, then hesitated for a moment.
What name should she give? This body’s name? But Eugene knew nothing proper about this small body.
After pondering for a while, Eugene finally said her original name.
“I’m… Yujin.”
Since surnames in this game world were something only nobles had, she omitted it.
Eugene was thankful that her name had a feel that blended in without seeming strange even in this Western-based setting.
Anyway, at least she could keep one name familiar to herself in this dizzying situation.
“Yujin. I see.”
That’s a good name. Saying that, Canis glanced at Eugene’s expression and asked,
“Have you calmed down a bit now?”
“Yes… Ah, thanks for the water.”
“Not at all. It’s nothing. Um, if it’s okay, could you tell me about when you came here?”
It seemed this was what she really wanted to ask.
“When I came here?”
“Yeah. We’ve been telling each other about what we saw when we were brought here.”
“…Why’s that?”
Even if I said what I saw coming here, all I could tell her about was the last headlights I faced. Thinking that, Eugene asked back.
Her voice, spoken out of panic, sounded cold as if out of wariness. In response, Canis put on an expression that could reassure anyone and answered in a firm voice.
“If we know the way in, we can think of a way out.”
Even though young, her green eyes with conviction shone reliably.
*’As expected.’*
Seeing that very protagonist-like demeanor, Eugene looked at Canis with a slightly excited heart. She had quite liked this kind and always dignified protagonist when playing.
Not being discouraged even after being captured by the slave caravan, embracing those around her, and planning an escape—it was completely in line with the actions of the Canis she knew.
*’Canis was gathering information for an escape.’*
For the children here, having hope—that they could grasp clues for escape by talking to each other—would be much more helpful than just trembling in fear without a word.
“It’s okay even if you just glimpsed it in passing. Just tell me what you remember.”
Before she knew it, Canis was looking at Eugene with earnest eyes.
“Ah…, I—”
The moment she met those green eyes, Eugene wanted to tell Canis anything.
But it was impossible. Regarding the path she was asking about—the way to this slave market before being captured—Eugene knew nothing.
She knew everything about what Canis would go through, about the invisible palace, about what kind of world this was, but she couldn’t tell her the way.
This wasn’t that kind of game where you wandered around collecting items. “The Golden Cage” was a story game where progression depended solely on the choices the protagonist made.
*’What should I do?’*
No, not just the answer to Canis’s question—Eugene genuinely didn’t know how to act in this place she had suddenly fallen into. Everything was sudden.
That’s when it happened.
*Flap.*
Suddenly, sunlight poured in from between the tent flaps. A silhouette could be seen entering amidst the dazzling rays of light.
“What is this place?”
It was like a statue molded by a god from only the most noble things.
Her eyes and hair were adorned with gold and silver, the most dazzling diamonds ground and sprinkled over her skin.
Her lips were painted with sacred blood, and her teeth were crafted from polished ivory.
As if still not fully unfolded, her broad shoulders and solid upper body revealed their presence even beneath the perfectly tailored uniform that precisely wrapped her form.
A boy of perfect form entered inside, with the pouring light behind him.
*’Crown Prince Michael!’*
Eugene could recognize him immediately. Because the angelic form, cherished by God, was exactly as depicted in the game. But his appearance…
*’Insane…’*
The game’s art wasn’t bad, of course. They were illustrations praised by fans for their excellent artwork.
But facing him in reality, the appearances shown on the flat screen felt lacking by far compared to the real thing.
Eugene was utterly astonished. Even within the game, praises for Crown Prince Michael’s looks were top-tier in the worldview, and he was a character handsome enough to marvel at in event scenes, but…
*’Can a human even look like that?’*
It was a face that evoked pure admiration. It was a shocking appearance, enough to blow away all the handsome men she had encountered through media so far.
Overwhelmed by the visual shock of her first encounter, Eugene couldn’t react for a while and stood still, frozen.
Because of that, she could only belatedly realize that the god-like boy was staring straight at her.
*’Wh-what is it?’*
As she became conscious of those inhuman golden eyes fixed on her, Eugene suddenly began to feel even her own breathing awkward.
She became so stiff that she nearly forgot how long to wait after exhaling before inhaling again. Just then, the angel—in appearance only—in front of her opened his mouth.
“What is this bizarre thing.”
It was a haughty tone, as if speaking down to anyone was natural.
And upon hearing that line, which she had heard many times before, she recalled a familiar scene.
