The Princess's Trial (4)

"Hey! Say something more before you go!!"

Even as Jang Siwoon thrust her arm out into empty air, trying to snag the man's voice, it was no use.

The room fell quiet. Jang Siwoon and I began racking our brains over the puzzle.

"A dream... Do we just lie down and sleep here?"

I barely suppressed a laugh at her somewhat one-track thinking.

"Falling asleep in here seems like a bad idea."

"Really? I can sleep anywhere."

"I envy you."

This was no time for comedy skits. The citizens could come after us at any moment.

Thud— Thud— Thud—

"Damn it."

So my thought had become reality on the spot. Clawing at my hair, I scanned our surroundings again.

"We're supposed to see the valley from the Mona Lisa right in front of us — so why is it nothing but a white room?"

Footsteps we hadn't heard for a while were drawing closer, and with them, the two of us grew more and more anxious.

"Ah, this is driving me crazy. Seriously."

Jang Siwoon snapped, squeezing her eyes shut.

"...?! Jisan, try closing your eyes."

"Close my eyes?"

Jang Siwoon shut hers as if to say hurry up and do the same, then motioned at me.

A little dubious, I followed her lead and closed my eyes.

"!!"

'This valley only scatters if you grasp at it. It unfurls only when you let go.'

'A dream that grows clearer the more it fades — this is a dream.'

"It's a dream that opens up when you let go of the light."

When I closed my eyes and blocked out all light from my vision, the backdrop of the Mona Lisa appeared.

Jang Siwoon and I stood on the valley path, facing each other.

Between the green-leafed trees, something like a small pit came into view.

'That's where we have to go, I suppose. Looks like a long walk.'

I walked with my eyes closed, in a half-crouched, awkward stance.

But picking our way down a valley path strewn with stones was no easy task.

'Ah.'

My foot caught on a jagged rock, and before I knew it my eyes had flown open.

The white room from before appeared — and when I squeezed them shut again, I was back at the starting point.

"Crossing this with our eyes shut... Be careful, Jisan. One slip and it's a sheer drop."

"Grab on, quick!"

"This is a mess. I can't even tell how far we've come."

BANG—!!

The sound of the citizens hammering on the door.

Even with my eyes closed and turned back toward the entrance, there was nothing but the valley path — no citizens in sight.

Jang Siwoon's figure suddenly grew hazy, as if she were about to open her eyes.

"Siwoon, don't open your eyes!"

"What?"

"If you open them, we go right back to the start of the valley. No matter what you hear, you have to hold out and keep running!"

Jang Siwoon nodded and dashed forward.

I ran after her across the rough stony ground.

Running blind was uncomfortable, but I could at least see where I was going — enough to make our escape.

"Quick, we must catch the princes!!"

"Otherwise, our own heads may roll!"

The citizens' presence was closer than before.

Their voices rang right at our ears, and I was terrified they'd grab us at any second — but...

'They haven't caught us yet, so it must be a phantom.'

Perhaps because we refused to be fooled so easily, this time a thick fog rolled over the valley path.

"F—king hell."

"Hearing you curse makes you seem a bit more human, Jisan."

"What, am I not human the rest of the time?"

"You just... look a little lifeless, that's all."

A touch nervous, maybe, Jang Siwoon tossed out something like a joke.

I was in much the same state, so I only managed to tug the corner of my mouth into a smile.

"?!"

Then, suddenly, a small figure appeared through the fog.

"Where are you going?"

"?!"

"Only I know the way."

A little girl in the dress of the Chinese imperial court appeared out of nowhere.

Judging by her outfit and her lines, she was most likely an NPC rather than a Visitor.

'Should we answer her?'

I worried that if we replied, we might be dragged away for it.

"We have to reach the end of the valley. Can you take us there?"

Maybe her nerves got the better of her — unlike her usual calm, Jang Siwoon blurted out an answer right away.

At that, the girl's face drained white in an instant.

"No. I can't go."

"What?"

"It's unfair. Why must I alone be unable to lose the scenery of the past?"

The girl turned and fled into the fog.

Why show up at all if that was how it would go?

"Do not kill them! Seize them and make them reveal the princes' names!"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Jisan! We have to follow that girl!"

The citizens had chased us to within arm's reach.

Jang Siwoon and I hurried into the fog to search for the girl, but everything around us was a uniform white, and we lost our bearings almost immediately.

'Closing my eyes revealed the valley path. Which means...'

In my mind, I imagined closing my eyes once more.

And there she was — the little girl, running.

"There she is."

"What?"

"Siwoon. Do not open your eyes under any circumstances — just imagine."

"What? Imagine what?"

"Close your eyes again on the valley path and picture yourself chasing the girl — and she'll appear!"

"Oh, come on — I've got no imagination at all!! It's hopeless, I just can't!"

Unable to manage it, Jang Siwoon grabbed at her hair and wailed.

In the end, I seized her wrist and ran after the girl myself.

"Uwaaah—"

"Just follow me!"

If I fell, it would all be over.

Holding the image steady so the girl wouldn't vanish, I kept chasing her.

Then someone grabbed Jang Siwoon's bag, and her body was yanked backward.

"We've caught a prince!"

"Aaagh!"

"Siwoon! Don't open your eyes!"

Keeping hold of the strap, Jang Siwoon swung the bag and sent the invisible attacker flying.

For an instant, I thought I heard a soft whoomph from her arm —

"Got it!"

Running on and on after the girl, we finally reached the pit we'd seen from afar earlier.

With our eyes shut tight, we slid down inside it.

Splash—

'It's trying to make us lower our guard.'

The second ball of light appeared, but I held out without opening my eyes.

A wooden door set into the corner inside the pit. That's the one.

"Whew... wheew."

"Jisan, you can open your eyes now."

The moment I pushed open the wooden door and stepped through, I opened my eyes, just as Jang Siwoon said.

An old but crimson chamber. It felt like stepping back into the Chinese imperial court.

"We've entered a new room."

"Even our sense of touch was part of the illusion. If it hadn't been for you, Jisan, I'd have opened my eyes in shock."

I unfurled my Leaflet and checked the item window.

Following the fragment Jang Siwoon carried, a second fragment was now drawn onto my Leaflet.

"Thankfully, the memory fragment wasn't an illusion. Now we only need to gather one more."

They'd said this room was the final gate.

There was nothing particularly special about the red room. Aside from a single painting hanging in front of the door on the far side.

'The Mona Lisa...? Tunan...?'

It was a portrait of a woman whose features seemed a blend of the Mona Lisa and Tunan.

"Another opera piece from Turandot, it seems."

A man's aria began, from who knows where.

The grand orchestration and the man's voice blended in harmony, ringing in our ears.

'I think I've heard this one...'

If even someone as hopeless with music as me had heard it, it had to be a fairly famous piece.

"Well done, foreigners."

The man's voice we'd been waiting for finally rang out.

"The last fragment of memory. If Tunan's smile does not fade, you shall obtain it."

"?!"

I wrapped my arms around myself.

A biting chill flooded the room.

As the temperature plummeted, Jang Siwoon and I shivered.

"Tunan's love. Name the single love she held. You have but one chance."

'So cold...!'

The corners of the woman's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mouth in the painting were sinking downward, ever so slightly.

And with every fraction of the smile that vanished, a colder chill swept through the room.

"Hnn... so the colder it gets, the closer the smile is to disappearing."

Jang Siwoon's trembling lips had turned blue.

"Siwoon, what's in that bag of yours?"

"A windbreaker."

"Perfect. Put it on."

"......"

As she pulled the jacket out of the bag and put it on, Jang Siwoon kept sneaking glances at me, as if she felt guilty about it.

So blunt and gruff all the time — the Student was more tender-hearted than he let on.

"What about you, Jisan?"

"Let's solve the riddle before it gets any colder."

Though the room had no openings, an icy wind kept blowing in from somewhere.

The indoor temperature had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠clearly dropped below freezing.

'If this keeps up, we won't last an hour... no, forget an hour — we might not last ten minutes.'

This was a space that had made up its mind to erase Visitors. It wouldn't grant us the luxury of a long, leisurely time to puzzle things out.

'Tunan's love... Given how she loathed the princes, it can't be a man.'

Much like Turandot before she met the male lead, Tunan didn't seem capable of romantic love at all.

"H-hnn—"

My teeth chattered against each other. Our limits might come sooner than expected.

Jang Siwoon, huddled in on herself, finally squeezed out a small voice.

"It must be her mom or her dad."

"I was thinking the same thing."

Turandot, Calaf. The candidates for the one Tunan could love narrowed down to those two.

"Shouldn't she have to love both her mom and her dad?"

Even half-frozen and addled, Jang Siwoon frowned, unable to accept it.

"...The depth of love for one's parents can differ, you know."

Just as some parents don't love their children equally, a child's love, in turn, may not be divided fairly either.

My body was freezing through, and standing was becoming impossible.

I staggered, then finally collapsed in a heap on the floor.

"Jisan!"

"I'm... I'm fine..."

Lying on the ice-cold floor would only increase my contact with the ground and drain my body heat faster.

I forced my heavy body upright again.

"That song is scrambling my brain...!! Make it stop, please!"

Jang Siwoon squeezed out the last of her strength and screamed at the room itself.

Her voice was cracking with tears. She'd hit her limit soon too.

'I have heard that song. But I can't place it.'

I couldn't interpret the lyrics, either.

But if it was the most famous song sung by a man in Turandot —

"Jisan!!"

"The man..."

The violent chatter of teeth gradually ground to a halt.

Was I dying of hypothermia? No — in this tower, death was impossible. I'd freeze solid and become a Component.

'I can't... fall asleep like this...'

Ah. As my consciousness began to drift, the song surfaced in my mind.

The song sung by Calaf, who guarded his own name until dawn broke.

"No one... let no one... sleep..."

"That's it! Hnn, we can't fall asleep!!"

Was Jang Siwoon crying, in the end? She shouldn't waste her strength on my account.

'Siwoon. The title of the song is "None Shall Sleep."

Why sing such a song?

Because he was certain of our victory? But that couldn't be it — the song had started ringing out the moment we entered this room.

Or did he simply wish for victory, as Calaf did?

'The Sorcerer is gone, so it must be that man — the one whose voice we only ever heard.'

The man who mourned Tunan's course through life.

While the citizens grieved over the dying suitors, the man had pitied Tunan herself.

A man who knew even her childhood.

'To wish for happiness for this cruel princess... because he loves her.'

Even with the same parents, a child's love is not always distributed equally.

Least of all from someone who pours out love like this.

"Cal...af..."

Calaf. Tunan's love had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been pointed at her father.

"You answer correctly."

Splash—

Fwoosh—

Jang Siwoon's Leaflet and mine unfurled on their own, and from within them, Tunan's memory fragments slipped free.

The three orbs of light merged into a single mass and blazed brilliantly.

'It's warm...'

My frozen body thawed rapidly, returning to its natural temperature.

Jang Siwoon, too, seemed to have warmed through; she looked at me and gave a weary smile.

"Come this way."

Creeeak—

An old man opened the door from outside the room.

"?!!"

The old man was the Sorcerer.