Chapter 29
As a child, I hated sleeping.
Because I knew that come morning, the father who sang me lullabies would disappear.
Father had to go to the royal palace, summoned by my grandfather, and he returned to the mansion where his wife and twin siblings lived, so his visits to the villa were rare.
To spend as much time as possible, even a single minute or second longer, with such a father, it seemed my younger self thought that not sleeping was the best way.
On days Father came, the night was a war. Enough that even the maids pitied the young prince of the nation.
Unable to bear it, one of the maids volunteered to be the villain.
She decided to tell me a fairy tale about the monster in the wardrobe.
A common story about a monster that would come out of the wardrobe at midnight and eat those who didn’t sleep.
Of course, I didn’t know that at the time.
Even now, I vividly remember bursting into tears after hearing the story.
I wasn’t scared at all of being eaten by the monster.
The thought that my father might disappear forever was what filled me with extreme terror.
After that, I was often plagued by nightmares.
They subsided after I came to live with Father.
I forgot all about it—the monster in the wardrobe—as I spent time with my twin siblings and attended various lessons.
I never considered what would happen if I ever witnessed with my own eyes the monster I had only seen in dreams.
“Awake?”
“…Grandmother Bianu?”
“Yes, it’s me. Can you see?”
As my vision gradually focused, I saw the ceiling of the dispensary and Bianu Grandmother’s face, pale with worry.
Why am I lying in the dispensary?
“Yon-seok, if you’re not feeling well, you should rest. Why push yourself to work?”
“…Did I collapse? In the office?”
“My goodness.”
Her tone scolded me for not even remembering that.
Lying still, my head wouldn’t clear. Struggling, I sat up. And I tried hard to recall my last memory.
I was cleaning the office and found a report. I burned documents related to the Pedeluke mine. I was startled by a noise and turned around.
Immediately after, thunder and lightning struck.
Did I faint from the shock of the sound?
I saw a monster… what was it? Did I mistake a soldier for one? Or was it an afterimage from the lightning?
“Oh dear, I can’t scold a sick child.”
Just as Bianu Grandmother opened her mouth wide to launch into a full-scale scolding, she began pounding her thin chest with a thump-thump.
“Could you stop worrying me so much? Every time you’re carried here unconscious, my heart skips a beat!”
“I was carried here? By whom?”
“By whom? Who else would carry you and run to me?”
In this castle, the only person who would carry me is Daniel. But Daniel didn’t have permission to go to the office floor. Even if he’d climbed the stairs by mistake, he would have been stopped by the soldiers.
Then who on earth was it?
“Grandmother—.”
A man’s voice came from behind the curtain separating the treatment and recovery rooms.
It was unfamiliar, yet somehow familiar.
“This prescription… the recipe for this medicine.”
Then the curtain was pulled aside.
The moment the person strode in, I felt a sensation as if gravity had reversed.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
Jet-black attire and a face covered in fur.
It was clearly the wardrobe monster.
Why is it here too?
Am I still dreaming?
“Monster! Get away! Disappear now!”
I threw whatever I could grab at it.
Though the only thing at hand was a pillow.
The pillow hit it squarely in the face, but the monster didn’t disappear.
What should I do?
“Oh, for heaven’s—!”
Bianu Grandmother, who let out an earth-shatteringly grand sigh, approached the monster.
Huh? No, don’t!
“G-Grandmother, it’s dangerous…!”
“You rascal!”
Bianu Grandmother raised her palm high into the air.
Whack!
“Ugh!”
It must have stung terribly; the monster toppled forward.
Huh? It has a physical form?
The monster couldn’t get up right away, rubbing its back with its hand.
“How can you roam the castle looking like that? Have you no shame?”
“I told you I was in a hurry! And by the way, Grandmo—”
“Quiet! Unless you have monsters chasing your tail right now, go bathe, get a haircut, and come back! Before the patients’ hearts give out!”
Bianu Grandmother grabbed the nape of the monster—no, the unidentified man’s neck—and dragged him out of the dispensary.
“I’m sorry, Lacey.”
“Wh-why are you apologizing?”
“Of course I should apologize. My grandson nearly made you faint again.”
“Ha, haha. Even I wouldn’t faint again so soon…”
Huh? Did she just say grandson?
The one who was said to have left the castle on an errand for Ash Kanish…
“It seems spending months alone in the wild has dulled his sense of reality. He doesn’t normally go around looking so hideous.”
“Ah, that, well…”
“Your expression wasn’t wrong. He’s a complete monster.”
He’s really Bianu Grandmother’s grandson? That monster… no, that man with a nature-friendly appearance?
“But forgive him. He was the one who carried you on his back when you collapsed in the office.”
“What did you say?”
So, I…
I treated my life’s savior like a monster?
And not once, but twice?
* * *
Losier.
The person who found Lacey collapsed in the local villa.
My gratitude toward him always resided in a corner of my heart.
It’s no exaggeration to say I’m living a second life thanks to him.
How can I repay this favor?
Repay him with a gift?
Right now, even if I spent all my wealth, I could barely put together a decent present.
I suddenly regretted not taking the money Blake had offered.
Considering how my luggage was ransacked after the stable incident, it would have been a headache even if I had accepted.
First, I should express my thanks. That’s the human thing to do.
But…
“Losier? He said he was hungry and went to the dining hall.”
I looked in the dispensary.
“I think he went to the aide’s office.”
I looked in the dining hall.
“What do we do? He just left.”
“We must have just missed him.”
I also checked the library, garden and greenhouse, training grounds, etc. Everywhere I could walk.
But I couldn’t find Losier anywhere.
“Where on earth is he!?”
I let out a sound of frustration, startling a bird perched on a branch, which flapped away.
Could he be in the stable?
“Do you think we live in the stable? Get out now!”
I was afraid I’d be chased out the moment I poked my head in. Maybe if I steeled my face, the blow would be lessened?
Honestly, I wasn’t confident.
But I should try everything I can.
“To get to the stable from here… huh? Who’s that…?”
Having spent almost a season in Kanish Castle, I thought I had seen or spoken to most people. But I saw a person I had never seen before walking past a window.
A slim build with lingering baby fat, and above it, sharp eyes like a young man just out of adolescence. I don’t remember seeing that appearance before.
But that deep bronze-colored hair… somehow it looks familiar…
“…Could it be Mr. Losier?”
Oh my god.
Is that his real face?
What kind of errand could cause such a horrifying transformation?
Anyway, I could finally greet him. It would be foolish to miss this chance.
I should act as if I know him.
“Huh?”
Losier entered a room connected to the corridor, receiving a soldier’s salute.
A straight corridor, a room guarded by soldiers at all times. On the first floor, the only place with that structure is the Ceremony Room.
I was sure there was a no-entry order in place…
“Could it be…?”
I circled around the wall and approached the Ceremony Room window. I had to stand on tiptoe to barely see inside.
The statue of Euruf was gone now, but the platform below remained untouched.
Losier placed his hand on the platform. To catch his movements, I strained my eyes.
“It’s too far, I can’t see well…”
If only my eyesight was a little better, I might have figured out the opening mechanism.
When Losier removed his hand, the curtain right next to him began to sway noticeably. Yet, the vibration I felt from my hand against the outer wall was almost imperceptible. Was it built with a special structure?
Meanwhile, the floor inside slowly split apart. It was the seam I had discovered earlier.
“So it was there.”
The secret space of Kanish Castle!
Losier walked down into the fully opened passageway.
I waited for a while, but the entrance didn’t close. More time had passed than when Ash Kanish and Fritz had entered before, yet it remained open.
Did he leave it open on purpose?
If the window position was just a bit lower, I could have climbed in through it.
If I could see what it’s like inside…
“What are you looking at?”
