Dawn Breaks

"Ah…."

At ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the third calling of Calaf's name, his body began to dissolve away even faster than before.

Tunan threw her arms around the fragmenting Calaf and held him tight, without a trace of hesitation. To think that the princess who had regarded us with nothing but contempt all this time would now be wailing, drowning in tears.

"Hhic, Father! Do not leave me behind! Please, do not abandon me alone in this cruel world!!"

"Tunan, my daughter—"

"I cannot lose Mother's wish ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like this! I beg of you, please!"

Casting us entirely from her mind, Tunan clung to her father and pleaded with desperate earnestness. She wept like a child — just like the young Tunan we had witnessed in the past. Calaf lacked even the strength to lift his arm and stroke her hair; all he could do was call his daughter's name in a broken, hollow voice.

"You need not seek out love. Nor must you struggle to see this world without fear."

"Father…."

"But even without trying, you have love. Speak that love aloud, and… one day, warmth will return to your heart."

Calaf poured his final strength into conveying his heart to Tunan, then closed his eyes. The force that had been crumbling him apart piece by piece from his feet and fingertips finally climbed up to his face.

"Call my name…."

Before his face vanished entirely, Calaf sealed his last wish upon his lips. It was the wish Calaf had truly wanted all along.

"Father…. Please. Rest peacefully, at Mother's side."

Tunan brushed her fingers through the data fragments of Calaf drifting into the empty air, mourning him. Her whispering voice was as frail as a little girl's.

Cheep, cheep, cheep—

By the time Calaf's body had disappeared completely, the cry of birds came from beyond the castle walls. And then, thin rays of sunlight crept into the chamber.

Light slowly spread across the dim, predawn sky. …The sun was beginning to rise.

The wish that the sorcerer — capable, yet blind to what lay ahead — had granted. At last, we had severed Calaf's life and snuffed that wish out of existence.

Love and Freedom…?

Compared to the exhibitions on the floors so far, it was a rather perplexing title. In the final moments of the original story, Turandot had named Calaf before the Emperor as her love.

So the "love" in that exhibition title must refer to Calaf.

Then freedom would be….

"Dawn has broken. I never knew your names. You have won."

Bathed in the sunlight now flooding the chamber, Tunan calmly acknowledged our victory.

"You — you shall be my princes."

"……."

"Are you satisfied now?"

Twisting her body, she managed at last to rise to her feet, wiping her tear-streaked face with the hem of her sleeve. Having seen off the father she loved, she seemed to have become yet another doll. A doll merely clinging to life.

The wish must not repeat itself.

"Princess. We will tell you our names."

"?!"

At my sudden declaration, Jang Siwoon gaped at me in bewilderment. But when I shot her a glance, she stopped moving. Still, for someone who had trusted me time and again, the look on her face now carried more than a little doubt.

"What meaning could there be in hearing your names only now—"

Tunan shook her head, flustered by my words. I cut her off decisively and stepped forward.

"Our name is 'Freedom.'"

With dawn's first light spilling over me, I spoke the word. The word that had been written in the exhibition's title. Calaf's name had been Love — and ours was Freedom.

"We will depart for higher floors. Princess, speak our name as well — and may your heart, at last, grow light."

"……."

Could my plea for her heart to grow light have worked like the sorcery itself? The instant I finished speaking, Tunan's body slackened and sagged. No — she hadn't lost her strength. It seemed more that the tension had drained away, leaving her loosened.

Hurrahh—!!

"It's the prince!! A victor of the trial has emerged at last!!"

"?! Jisan! The voices are getting closer to the palace!"

The cheers of the people, realizing that the night of sacrifice — where princes of foreign lands perished — had finally ended, rang out. Judging by the roar of the enormous crowd, the citizens and soldiers were pouring toward the imperial palace.

There's no way commoners would actually come swarming inside the palace walls like this, but….

Turandot's world was built on a fantasy of the Orient to begin with, so there was no point in quibbling over historical accuracy.

"Come over here."

Just then, Tunan stiffened her face calmly and turned away. Then she walked back a few steps, lifted the carpet spread across the floor, and peeled it back.

Whoosh—

"!!"

Beneath the carpet, a hidden emergency exit appeared. The seam blended into the floor just subtly enough that the door would have been impossible to spot without looking closely. Tunan pressed down on it without hesitation and pushed. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Below lay a passage draped in crimson silk curtains, the path stretching straight downward.

"Take this road down. Walk on, and you will ascend to a land where dwell those whose hearts have frozen as mine has."

"Princess…."

"Leave before the people arrive. I shall let you go — true to your name."

To think she would so seamlessly hide the suitors before everyone's eyes, after proclaiming her vow before them all. The people would surely believe Tunan had killed them.

"I am not overturning the result of your correct answer. Soon, the warmth of the freedom you have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠granted me will find its way to me."

"……."

"Because that was my father's final wish."

Hurrahh—!!

While we listened to Tunan, the cheers of the crowd drew still closer. Soon the people would be standing before the imperial palace, shouting for the princes to be shown to them.

"Go down, then push the door shut behind you. Hurry, go!"

Tunan shoved me and Jang Siwoon downward and covered the exit with the carpet. Just as Tunan, holding her father's dying words in her heart, had seen us off, we could not afford to hesitate a moment longer.

"Hyaah—!"

Jang Siwoon swiftly pushed the small door shut and sealed it tight. Even with the door closed, lanterns hung at intervals along the underground passage, so walking it was not dark.

Jang Siwoon and I ran along the passage leading outside.

The silk keeps catching on my feet!

The red silk we had trampled on our way to the imperial palace lay piled all along the path.

"What kind of road is this? It's a mess."

"Siwoon. Shall I take the lead?"

"No."

Perhaps she decided there was no point in my going ahead — Jang Siwoon shot the offer down instantly. She hopped high, nimbly picking her way around the silk. Just as we pressed forward, wiping the sweat streaming down us—

Light!

At last we reached the exit, where a faint light was leaking through. It was a wooden door — with the two of us putting our strength together, more than enough to open it.

"Pull together. One, two, three!"

Matching Jang Siwoon's signal, I yanked the handle with all my might. The wooden door groaned — creak, creak — and began to move.

"Right, let's go."

Beyond this exit lay the Floor 22 exhibition hall. As I spoke, wiping the sweat beaded on my forehead, Jang Siwoon broke into a faint smile. Merely stepping through the door, the tension melted away and new strength for the quest ahead took root in its place.

'!!'

The moment we emerged from the exit, warm sunlight burst over us. Just as my vision flickered from the dazzling brightness—

"Come on, everyone! We have to hurry before it gets colder!"

Flap-flap—

The sound of birds wheeling through the sky, wings beating, brushed past my ears. My eyes adjusted to the bright surroundings, and my vision slowly sharpened.

"Uwaah—"

"Siwoon!"

Caught in the current of a flock of black birds sweeping past, Jang Siwoon tumbled over.

Cheep-cheep-cheep—!!

"We must reach the warm lands! Don't stop flapping!!"

The flock soared through the sky, calling out to one another in encouragement. Just like Jang Siwoon, I was swallowed up by the black birds, thrown into such disarray that I could hardly collect myself.

I can't see anything…!!

I shielded my face with both arms and waited for the birds to hurry past. Flap-flap—

By the time the beating of wings slowly receded into the distance, I cautiously opened my eyes. A flock so dense it looked like a black cloud had smothered the sky.

"Magpies — no. Swallows…?"

While I was still guessing what species they might be, I realized I'd overlooked something. With feathers whirling from every direction, I had completely forgotten about Jang Siwoon.

"Siwoon?"

…Jang Siwoon was gone.

"Siwoon, where are you?!"

Had she been swept away into the darkness, like Yang Myeonghyeon? Only her footprints remained in the dirt road — not a single trace of another person.

"No. That can't be it."

To drive back the anxieties surging over me like a current, I said it out loud, trying to soothe myself.

I clearly saw what happened to Myeonghyeon, but I never actually watched Siwoon vanish among the swallows.

I chose to believe that, like when we crossed the sea to the Dragon Palace, this was an individual quest and we had simply been split apart.

…It was the only thing left to believe.

"Hoo…."

With a complicated heart, I wiped my face dry and forced down the unease. And then, as if to keep me from dwelling on Jang Siwoon any longer, a chill crept in, curling through the air.

The weather changed in one second?

At first it was merely brisk, but in the blink of an eye the cold had deepened. Every breath exhaled a cloud of white vapor.

Forget people freezing to death — the ground itself is about to freeze solid.

It was cold enough that even a padded winter coat wouldn't have helped. Shivering, I looked around. I found myself longing for the warmth of fire — that thing I feared more than anything. From a safe distance, of course.

"Cheep-cheep! We have to hurry!"

Just then, the chirping of swallows following behind reached my ears. I'd seen cats and even an eagle speak human words — a talking swallow hardly warranted surprise anymore.

I should follow those swallows.

Just as my foreboding suggested, the ground was freezing over bit by bit — right now, the swallows were the only ones who might help me.

I ran, chasing the birds across the sky, cutting straight through the icy wind that whipped at me.

Come to think of it, isn't it strange from the start that swallows haven't reached somewhere warm yet in weather like this?

Questions welled up from the very root of it all. But this cold was surely nothing more than a grueling system designed to sift out visitors. Rather than raging at the sky, I'd do better to find the NPC who would issue the quest.

A European village? Unless goblins suddenly pop out, this doesn't seem to be a heavily fantastical world.

Pushing through a fir forest that opened up out of nowhere and following the direction the swallows had flown, I arrived at a European-style village. Perhaps because of the winter weather, not a single passerby could be seen.

Doesn't feel like an upper-class district either. Roughly the modern era, I'd guess?

Shabby houses of commoners barely enduring the depths of winter. Working class, most likely. I doubted those walls could hold back this savage wind at all.

"Mister."

"?!"

Startled by the sensation of my sleeve being tugged, I whirled around. A boy was looking up at me with pitiful eyes — from where, who could say. His nose was red raw, his body trembling. Nothing but suspenders and a shirt, no coat thrown over them.

No — he hasn't chosen not to wear one. He can't.

"Mister, aren't you cold?"

"Ah. It is a bit chilly."

"But a gentleman must at least keep his shoes shining!" ….

The boy's eyes suddenly sparkled, and he began pulling out his shoeshine kit, item by item. But the moment he flashed his salesmanship smile and looked down at my feet, his expression froze solid.

Worn-out sneakers — useless for any shoeshine kit.

To someone from an old era, they'd be utterly unfamiliar. He probably takes me for nothing more than a vagrant.

"E-excuse me—"

As if there was no more time to spare for conversation, the boy left me without a trace of regret. I stared blankly after his retreating figure — colder, somehow, than the icy wind itself.

To think that even inside the tower, I'd have to ache over having no money….