24. Pandora's Box (1)
24. Pandora's Box (1)
[Chapter 24] - Pandora's Box (1)
Tuk, I heard the sound of something snapping inside me. And I knew immediately that it was the sound of my patience snapping. Was I expecting too much from a beast that wasn't even human?
No, even a mere beast doesn't abandon its own young. Then what on earth should I call the bastard inside here? It was certain that they were lower than a beast.
Now, I didn't care at all about what state the King was in, or whether the First Queen was alive. I just couldn't stand watching that sorry sight of someone holed up in a corner, causing trouble for others.
"...Take the princess to her room. And make sure not even a single ant comes near this place. Until I leave."
"B-but..."
One of the knights looking after the princess stared at me with an anxious expression. As if they could predict what would happen if they left their post. But I had no intention of backing down either.
When I glared fiercely at the knight, another knight apologized, bowed at a 90-degree angle, and took the princess away from there. I thought Vivian's notoriety was useful at times like this.
I couldn't stand the tyranny of the shut-in bum in the corner any longer. I felt like I wouldn't be satisfied until I grabbed that beast-lower-than-a-beast inside the room by the hair and dragged them out.
Despite the knight's worried dissuasion, I approached the room where the King was holed up and grabbed the doorknob, turning it hard. However, the firmly locked door clearly had no intention of opening.
Cheolkeok! Cheolkeok-cheolkeok-cheolkeok-cheolkeok-cheolkeok!
The lock, which was designed to be locked from the inside, didn't even consider opening from the outside. Cheolkeok, cheolkeok, my wrist just started hurting every time the handle in my palm went down.
Kwa-ang!
Every time I turned the knob, the annoyance rising to the top of my head made me feel like I was going crazy, so I kicked the locked door. In my heart, I kicked it with the intention of breaking the door down, but only my toes hurt.
"Ah... shit, my toes."
Perhaps because my head cooled down a bit thanks to the pain coming from my toes, I let out a long sigh and looked up at the firmly closed door. Even though I kicked it that hard, there wasn't even a scratch on the door.
As I was catching my breath, I heard Ainsel's trembling voice in my ear. She seemed shocked by the sight of the princess, rambling and bursting into tears.
-Ah, ugh... I, I'm sorry... If I hadn't been subjected to the 'Contract'... At least, if I had told them over there first... Th-this wouldn't have happened...
"......"
-It's a drawing the princess worked so hard on... For the first time... A drawing she made of me...
My heart felt like it was burning with frustration, but I couldn't blame Ainsel. Because Ainsel was a victim who had been forcibly silenced. She had a reason for not being able to speak.
Ainsel burst into sobs, looking at the pieces of the drawing scattered on the floor. I remembered Ainsel's voice, sounding truly happy when the princess drew her yesterday.
I took off the earring and placed Ainsel on my palm. Ainsel, reflected in the mirror, wiped her tears with both hands and cursed herself. She called herself a fool, a real idiot, and insulted herself.
I let out a small sigh of frustration and pretended to stroke Ainsel's hair with my finger. Perhaps it was effective, as Ainsel slowly began to stop crying.
"...It's not your fault."
-...No, it's my fault. If I, if I had told 'them' over there first, at least... this wouldn't have happened. So... so...
Ainsel, having stopped crying, looked up at me with an expression as if she had made up her mind. That she wouldn't run away anymore, that she wouldn't avoid it anymore; Ainsel clenched both her fists tightly.
-I have to take responsibility.
"...How?"
At my question, Ainsel looked up at me steadily. And then, she told me to listen closely, as she could only say it once. I brought Ainsel closer and began to listen to her story.
-...The 'Contract' placed on me is a contract that 'prevents me from harming' the First Queen. Of course, this contract also includes maintaining secrecy regarding the First Queen.
"So that's why you couldn't say anything about the First Queen."
-...Yes, that's right. I was forced into this contract. Someone stole my 'Main Body'.
"Main Body?"
At the question about the Main Body, Ainsel nodded slightly.
-Yes, actually, if it's an area the size of this royal castle, I can use all the mirrors in the royal castle as 'Clones'. The mirrors I turn into Clones become 'paths' that I can freely come and go through. Using those 'paths', Vivian gathered all the information in the royal castle to herself. That was one of the reasons Vivian could become the Second Queen with only me.
So, it meant that Ainsel, possessing her Main Body, could turn mirrors into CCTV. A hidden camera that others wouldn't notice, at that. Did this mean Vivian used that to dig up the dirty secrets of the nobles?
-...However, I had my Main Body stolen, and only two 'Clones' were left. This earring I'm in now and the 'Replica' in your room are the last Clones I have left.
"...Then, where is the Main Body right now?"
Ainsel sighed softly and glanced at the firmly closed door in front of me. When I looked at that door, Ainsel continued as if to say that was the correct answer.
-My 'Main Body' is inside there right now. That's why I know 'who' is inside there right now. Until now, I couldn't do anything because I was afraid of the 'Contract', but...
Ainsel smiled brightly and looked at me.
-I told you, didn't I? That I would take responsibility.
At that moment, a jjeok- sound came from the small earring, and it began to crack. As if it wouldn't tolerate any more talking, the mirror was breaking with a sharp sound.
"...Are you really okay?"
-...Yes, I'm okay. And, I have you, don't I?
The edges of the mirror began to turn into sand-like powder. When I looked at Ainsel, not knowing what to do, she smiled brightly at me even as she was turning into sand.
-I'll open the door from the inside with magic. If I sacrifice this Clone, I should be able to avoid the 'Contract' regarding the Main Body.
Jjeok, jjeo-eok.
The small mirror's pieces began to fall off as shards. The pieces that fell onto my palm instantly turned into sand and scattered as if they were powder.
Ainsel said, looking at me one last time.
-I'll be waiting inside. Vivian.
Cheolkeok!
At the same time the mirror in my palm turned to sand, I heard the sound of the firmly locked door's lock disengaging. Then, with a kki-ik sound of the door dragging, the room door began to open very slowly.
The door, opened just narrowly enough for air to pass through, seemed to whisper for me to come in quickly. At that whisper, I slowly grabbed the doorknob, turned it, and pushed my body inside.
*
The moment I opened the door and entered, I had no choice but to hold my breath due to the terribly foul stench. The smell of something rotting and the foul smell of paint were mixed together, vibrating throughout the room.
The floor was filled with countless paintings, to the point where there wasn't even room to step. Every time I took a step, the sound of stepping on paper echoed through the room. I frowned and lifted my head.
The room was completely dark, so it was hard to see, but a figure that looked like someone painting something on a canvas in the corner of the room caught my eye. Surely, that person must be the 'Your Majesty', the shut-in bum.
"Your Majesty."
I spoke to the thing in the shape of a person in a small voice. However, that person said nothing. They were just silently looking at something and painting.
I lowered my head again and looked at the paintings piled up on the floor. They were all paintings of a woman with black hair and red eyes, laughing, crying, getting angry, and having expressions filled with various emotions.
The floor, the walls, and even the ceiling were full of paintings. I realized that the paintings in the detached palace and the main palace were nothing compared to the paintings here.
"Your Majesty."
Taking my eyes off the paintings that made one lose their mind just by looking at them, I turned my head and spoke to the person expected to be Your Majesty again. However, there was still no answer.
It was so dark that it was difficult to check the inside of the room with only the light leaking from the window. As time passed, my eyes began to adjust to the darkness, and I could be certain that the figure was a person.
So slowly, I slowly approached the figure.
Hair that had grown long from not being groomed for two years, hands and feet that looked like they were just bones, skin sticking to the back, and gauntly exposed thighs. I couldn't see the face properly, but it was like looking at a mummy.
The moment I saw that sight, a surge of emotion welled up.
Couldn't even a tiny bit of that heart thinking of the First Queen have been directed toward the princess? Did they hate the princess so much as to tear the pictures the princess drew to shreds?
"Your Majesty..!"
I reached out to the person painting on the canvas. Goosebumps rose as their dry, black hair brushed against the back of my hand, but I didn't stop and grabbed their shoulder.
"Please! Just stop..!"
As I grabbed their clothes and pulled them up from the chair, I couldn't help but widen my eyes in surprise for a moment. Because the person was too light. It was so light that I wondered if this was really the weight of a person.
I grabbed them by the collar with both arms and forcibly lifted them up. I tried to force them to stand, but it looked like they couldn't even stand anymore with their chopstick-thin legs.
As I cleared away the blackout curtains that were making the room dark, sunlight entered the room, and I could finally see their face properly. I looked down at them steadily, checking if they were actually alive.
Unkempt black hair reaching the waist.
Red eyes that had lost their light.
And... the mounds of breasts that would only be on a woman.
"...What are you?"
I know this person's face.
Because in the detached palace and the main palace, there were dozens, no, hundreds of portraits with this face. I grabbed their collar and shook them, shouting. Telling them to explain this situation that I couldn't understand at all right now.
"What on earth are you!!"
At my shout, they rolled their eyes and looked at me. When they grabbed my wrist with their bone-only hand, I got goosebumps from the coldness I felt from their hand. This wasn't just a simple corpse, was it?
"You ask... who We are?"
Severely cracked voice.
"Second Queen, have you already forgotten Us?"
"What..?"
They, held by the collar by me, chuckled and introduced themselves.
"We are Edric Snow White."
The 'woman' who referred to herself as 'We' smiled a crazed smile.
"Are We not your husband?"