episode_0009

The box looked ominous. An unidentifiable bloody smell vibrated around it. My instincts screamed, I absolutely must not open it. But at the same time, I had an ominous feeling that if I didn’t check the box, I would never be able to find Lily’s whereabouts. Why did I have such a feeling? Terrible images formed and disappeared in my head repeatedly.

I couldn’t easily move towards the box, and continued to hesitate in that spot.

Then she urges.

“Open it now.”

Her suggestion was like the devil’s whisper. It crept into my ears. It gave me goosebumps. It was a truly horrible feeling. But I couldn’t refuse. The fear engraved inside me made it impossible for me to refuse her orders.

Gulp!

Eventually, I was pushed by her and ended up standing in front of the box.

Look down at the box.

As I got closer, the smell of blood grew stronger. I had smelled something like this before. It was a smell I often smelled when I was in the dungeon.

I tried to calm my rising anxiety and put my hand on the box.

Yeah… maybe it’s not what I think. Maybe it’s just her mischievous prank. Maybe there’s something trivial inside…

Open the box.

And then I saw it.

The contents of the box···

“!!!!”

It was Lily’s body.

The flesh was torn to shreds and the original shape was impossible to find. But it was definitely Lily. I could tell for sure because the face at least retained its original shape.

My vision starts spinning and my legs feel weak.

“Ugh···!”

I feel nauseous. I can’t believe the horrible scene before my eyes. Why on earth…? Why is Lily in the box…? Was what I just saw real…? Lily really dead…? Lily, who was laughing and joking with me just a few days ago…?

He slumps down on his seat.

But someone from behind stopped me from falling. It was her.

She holds my head straight in front of her and whispers.

“Why are you turning your head? Look straight ahead, Master. You killed him.”

She put my head into the box so I could see the contents of the box. I closed my eyes tightly, not confident that I could see. I asked her in a sobbing voice. It was the only thing I could do.

“······Uh, why are you doing this······?”

“Why did you kill him?”

She answered with a chuckle.

“The master said he only liked this motherfucker. He treated me like I was some kind of plague.”

She whispers quietly against the back of my head.

“You were being so warm to me a while ago, you were just acting to start a family with this motherfucker, right? I didn’t even know that, and I was happy that you finally opened up to me······”

Her voice grows cold.

“Actually, I wanted to kill this slut ever since she started flirting with her master. How dare a lowly bitch who doesn’t even know her place… That place is mine… Yes. To be honest, even if it wasn’t now, I was planning on killing her someday.”

“But why aren’t you satisfied with me, Master? I can do anything for you······. You’re trying to keep me as your exclusive maid or something, so this is what’s going on. If something similar happens in the future, this will happen, so please know that.”

She released me. I fell to the floor helplessly, spitting out all the vomit I had been holding back.

“Wowwowwow···!!!”

Her voice came from above my head.

“And remember, the promise not to harm the master only applies while the master is the master. If the master neglects his duty as the master, then I don’t know what will happen to me. Do you understand?”

“Then, you should go now.”

***

Since that day, I haven’t been able to spend a single moment in peace. How can I live with my mind? Whether I’m eating, taking classes, or sleeping, I think of that child without fail…

I keep thinking about Lily.

Lily, who would call me ‘Your Highness~’ with a bright smile. Lily, who would cry and say she got scolded by the head maid. Lily, who would often fall over while being clumsy.

And Lily, who became a dismembered corpse inside a box······

What makes me even crazier is,

The fact was that I was the only one in this vast palace mourning Lily’s death.

The head maid and the other maids went about their daily lives as if nothing had happened. As if Lily had never existed in the first place. No one paid any tribute to Lily.

Even the murderer who killed Lily, rather than commemorating her, was shamelessly trying to fill Lily’s empty spot.

She’s done with the Emperor’s work, and she sticks to me all day long, acting like she’s Lily. She imitates Lily so creepily. From Lily’s cheerfulness to Lily’s clumsiness… It was like a horrible monster wearing human skin and imitating human behavior.

It was madness itself.

***

However, I was not the only one in this world who mourned Lily’s death. Lily’s siblings also mourned her death. When I told them about Lily’s death, they cried. As I watched them cry, I gave the older one enough money to live on and left the place.

I thought about taking them to the palace and taking care of them, but I thought it was too dangerous, so I canceled. The palace was a bloody palace ruled by a crazy murderer. It was not a place for those children to live.

Living there is like walking on thin ice every single day. I can’t let that happen to Lily’s siblings.

under······

I curse myself for thinking that the girl I saw in rounds 1 and 2 and the girl I see now were different people.

This is her nature, so why was I mistaking her nature?

Perhaps this future was set for her from the day she was bought in the slave market. The devil’s bloodline does not go anywhere.

A question suddenly occurred to me.

If I die this time, will I regress? If I die once, won’t Lily come back to life?

I thought about it for a long time. Should I just die or not?

But soon I gave up.

I didn’t know how regression would work, and I didn’t have the courage to die.

If I had courage, I would have rushed at Lily the moment I saw her corpse. However, even after seeing her gruesome corpse, I could not bring myself to take revenge on her. Far from taking revenge, I felt a sense of relief when she said she could go back. A sense of relief that she was not dead.

I couldn’t stand feeling that way because I hated myself so much. If only I had just rushed in and killed myself then I wouldn’t have felt so bad.

I thought.

Yeah, let’s just run away.

Away from this crazy palace.

***

That night, I escaped from the palace. I was able to move without being noticed because I had already identified the palace guards’ blind spots.

“Ugh···! Ugh···!”

I run through the cold night air. Fortunately or unfortunately, tonight is a full moon. The night road is bright. If I move hard all morning, I can go quite far. Even if she notices that I am gone the next morning, I will already be outside the zodiac.

I even thought about where to run away.

This time, I will hide in the south. If you want to hide a tree, you should hide it in the forest. This time, I plan to hide in a crowded southern city.

This is already the third time I’ve run away. I could say I’m somewhat of an expert.

As I kept running, I came into view of the last wall. If I just get over that wall, I’ll be out of the city.

If I can just get over there, I can get away from her…

The moment I kicked the ground with that thought in mind.

Suddenly the ground rushes towards me. My head hits the ground.

Bang!

“?”

I couldn’t understand it. I was clearly running, so why was the ground rushing towards me…? Suddenly, a burning pain surged through my thigh.

I looked down reflexively.

For some reason, I couldn’t see below my thighs, and blood was gushing out of my thighs. Following the veins, I found two objects that I assumed were my legs lying a short distance away.

It was only then that I realized that it wasn’t the ground crashing down on me, but that I had fallen to the ground.

The pain is coming.

“Kkaaah!!”

Crack, crack

Someone walked towards me as I was writhing in pain.

“······.”

It was her.

She was looking down at me with cold eyes.

With her back to the moonlight, only her red eyes sparkled in the darkness.

That figure was like a messenger coming to me. No matter how many times I return, a messenger of death will eventually come to take my life.

“Eek!!! Kkeueuk!!!”

I couldn’t think of anything. I just squirmed like a madman, holding on to the ground with both hands and swimming away from her.

Dragging······

Dirt gets stuck in my fingernails. My consciousness is gradually fading.

And then, before I knew it, the head had separated from the body and rolled on the floor. The last thing I saw was a world spinning around.

That was my third regression.