BID Chapter 9

…A place to go?

I looked at my mother with a puzzled expression. However, it seemed she hadn’t been told specifically where or why we were going either, as she simply smiled, tilting her eyes and added, “Come here,” without further explanation.

“Then let’s go.”

At the duke’s words, the servants who had been standing motionless sprang into action. Some started to tidy up the table, others followed us, and a few moved ahead to open the door, their heads deeply bowed, leading the way.

The way the servants moved so cohesively at just a word was still unnerving. It was as if their brains were connected, their movements seamlessly coordinated.

“Oscar.”

“I’m sorry.”

Lost in thought, I realized the duke and my mother were waiting for me in the distance. I hastened my steps to quickly stand beside my mother.

“Oh, my child. You were barely eating earlier. Were you not satisfied with your meal? And why do you look so pale today?”

“It must be because winter is approaching. My body doesn’t cope well with the changing seasons.”

As soon as I stood by her side, my mother’s hand reached out to touch my cheek. I had grown tall enough to be almost at eye level with her, yet she always tended to treat me as a child.

I quietly rubbed my cheek against her outstretched hand, giggling softly, and my mother couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“How do you not grow up? Huh?”

The behaviors I often displayed as a child had become a part of who I was, ingrained as habits.

Especially my mother, she loved and found it endearing when I rubbed my cheek like this. I didn’t mind being pampered by her, so I acted a bit spoiled and quietly followed the duke.

‘Where are we going?’

It seemed like… a lot of doors had been opened.

‘Isn’t this the duke’s workshop?’

It was the place where the duke performed tortures or cast his sorceries.

The walls were lined with books, almost like a library. The workshop had a total of six doors. The duke usually entered through just one for general work, but he said he went beyond the last, sixth door for the most secretive and complex tasks.

‘We’re already at the third door.’

I had been in the workshop before, but I had never ventured this deep. The reason being, even my mother, the duke’s wife, couldn’t enter here without the duke.

Of course, I had often visited this place secretly without my mother’s knowledge. The duke, wanting to teach me about sorcery and suggestion, would covertly call me here and share stories about his sorcery. However, he always made sure to draw a line, never taking me beyond the second door.

‘Now the fourth.’

Looking back, I could see that we had just passed the fourth door. The servants were closing it behind us as they followed.

With each door we passed, a chill ran down my spine.

The damp, musty smell, and the dark red stains that hadn’t been fully cleaned here and there.

The rhythmic, mechanical sounds of creaking and banging doors continued until we found ourselves in front of the sixth door.

“…”

The duke, who had arrived first, stood in front of the door, gazing back at us intently.

As the servants stepped back, leaving only the books and candles, my mother looked around, seemingly fascinated as if it was her first time here. However, I was engulfed in a strange sense of unease, staring at the duke.

‘Anxiety?’

Though I felt a subtle sense of discomfort since this morning, I had brushed it off as a mere misconception. Now, it seemed it wasn’t.

The duke had been clearly tense since earlier.

“What exactly are you planning to show that requires so much walking? I find this place displeasing. It’s damp and smells bad.”

My fearless mother seemed merely annoyed by the situation.

It looked like her irritation had risen from walking so far in uncomfortable shoes.

Usually, the duke would have soothed her, but today he didn’t. Instead, he gazed solemnly at the flickering candle flames, sighed, and began to speak.

“I have already informed Erhan by letter… The more I think about it, the harder it seems to keep this matter a permanent secret. I’m worried about your safety if you find out about this later.”

…What on earth could it be?

I had never seen the duke like this before. Despite his timid and gloomy appearance, he was usually clear and decisive. Yet, now, he was hesitating, visibly anxious.

“Let’s go inside. I’ll explain everything there.”

As the duke spoke, he pushed the door. All the previous doors had been opened by servants, but from this point, they did not approach. He struggled with the heavy door for a while, the screeching sound grating on my ears. Finally, the door opened.

Even as my face contorted involuntarily from the harsh noise, I had no idea that my life would be drastically altered from that day forward.

…A person?

Indeed, it was beyond my wildest imagination.

As soon as we entered, I was immediately struck not just by the person placed at the center, but by the ghastly scene before me.

The first thing that overwhelmed my sight was the blood-red floor. It was unclear whether it was originally that color or stained with blood, thick and sticky. When I lifted my gaze from the floor, I saw strings hanging down from the ceiling.

Curious about the strings with talisman-like objects attached, I tilted my head back and realized they were for retrieving books densely packed into the ceiling.

Were the strings used solely for that purpose?

How come every string seemed stained red, as if soaked in blood? There were so many, hanging so densely, they resembled people suspended in mid-air.

“What is this…”

I wasn’t the only one taken aback by the sight.

My mother, known for her strong nerves and indifference to the intimate affairs of the duke’s family, sometimes grumbled about a lack of decorum but always considered these matters beyond her interference. Yet, even she appeared visibly shaken now, her eyes wide open in shock.

Such was the disturbing nature of what lay beyond the sixth door, the duke’s most private space.

The area exuded an aura of numerous deaths, making me wonder if the duke’s rise to his position was not without sinister undertakings.

‘They didn’t come here by choice.’

I finally understood why the servants couldn’t enter this place.

Even though the trained servants were incapable of revealing secrets, the reason they couldn’t open the doors to this space became clear to me.

‘Fear.’

Each of them must have passed through here at some point.

I didn’t know the individual pasts of the servants, but I had heard they were rehabilitated criminals and informants. If they were so tight-lipped and yet had been made to comply, the torture they must have endured here was unimaginable.

They hadn’t just refrained from coming here; they were unable to.

Rooted in their subconscious was a fear so deep that they couldn’t even consider entering this place.

‘Is that person a criminal too?’

I looked at the individual who, I assumed, could not leave here unscathed now that they had been brought in. I had been subconsciously avoiding looking at this person, who had been trying to draw my attention.

However, contrary to my expectation of a dangerous criminal, the person was very small in stature. Maybe it was because they were hunched and crouched, but their frame appeared exceptionally diminutive. As I tilted my head in confusion, the duke approached them.

The moment I saw the duke’s face, filled with complexity, I realized that this child was what he referred to as ‘something that might threaten our safety’.

“I’m telling you this because this individual might cause trouble for our family in the future. So, keep what you see here confidential. If you wish, I can erase your memories of this.”

The child sitting on the floor was bound. Their hair was so matted and disheveled that its color was indiscernible, and their skin was almost entirely covered in filth.

The duke gently grasped the child’s face, a surprising act given his usual preference for cleanliness. As I wondered about this, the duke spoke.

“This is the prince of the Thaddeus Empire.”

“My goodness.”

My mother covered her mouth with both hands, her face turning pale. The child was a member of the royal family chosen to serve Lumina, possessing the unique ability to wield divine power.

The prince of the Holy Empire, blessed by the gods and ruling over a prosperous land, standing at the pinnacle of the continent and commanding other kingdoms, was right in front of us.