Chapter 28
“—Come here, dear. Come here…”
The voice was gentle, soft, and kind.
Like a mother calling her daughter, or an older sister gently calling her younger sibling, the voice was filled with affection and care.
Drawn to the voice as if enchanted, Eve pushed back the covers and rose from her bed.
Despite having cleared her mind earlier, she now looked dazed again, as if still half-asleep.
The place she had just been lying in was a mess, the blankets tangled, but she paid it no mind.
For someone like Eve, who normally kept her bed tidy upon waking, this was very unusual.
Blinking hazily, Eve began slowly walking toward the source of the voice.
Tap, tap.
The sound of her footsteps echoed through the quiet room.
But Neil Royce didn’t wake, and the door to their room slowly creaked open as if waiting for her.
That was when—
[Kid! Where are you going? Hey, kid!]
From the fluffy basket next to Eve’s bed, X awoke and called out in a startled voice.
[Hey! Eve! Where are you going? Take me too!]
X shouted at the top of his lungs.
But Eve didn’t turn around. She just walked out of the room, like someone who couldn’t hear a thing.
[…What the heck?]
Leaving a baffled X behind, Eve quietly made her way down the halls of Duke Ferdinand’s mansion.
It was late in the night.
Hardly anyone was awake in the mansion, so Eve didn’t encounter another soul.
“—Come along now.”
Though she barely knew the mansion’s layout, Eve walked without hesitation, as if she had lived there her entire life.
She passed a long corridor, climbed a staircase.
Up the stairs, then through another long hallway.
Past rows and rows of rooms, she stepped into a corridor lined with dragon statues—symbols of House Ferdinand.
“—Yes, that’s right. Good girl…”
Her white nightgown fluttered around her knees as she walked.
A cold wind blew through the open window, tickling her soft cheeks.
It felt like someone was gently stroking her face to wake her from sleep.
Then—
“…Huh?”
Eve, who had been walking in a daze the whole time, suddenly blinked and woke up.
The chill wind had finally cleared her mind. Life returned to her bright blue eyes.
She was completely different from the dazed girl who had been sleepwalking through the corridor. Now fully awake, Eve looked around in surprise.
“W-What is this? Where am I…?”
A very long hallway, with dragon statues stretching down both sides.
Each statue was unique, sculpted with such lifelike detail that they looked ready to come alive.
A ‘normal’ eight-year-old might have burst into tears at the sight.
But Eve was far from ordinary—so she didn’t cry or faint.
Still, she turned around in a bit of a panic, startled.
‘Why am I here?’
Just a moment ago, she’d been asleep in her room.
Dad had fallen asleep first, and she’d drifted off while watching his back. She remembered that clearly.
So why was she in this hallway now? She couldn’t recall anything about how she’d gotten here.
‘I need to go back.’
After gathering her thoughts, Eve nodded to herself.
She was a guest in this mansion.
She couldn’t just wander around without the host’s permission.
Besides, this corridor felt creepy—there was something vaguely dangerous about it.
The dragon statues especially—spread wings and gaping mouths—seemed to threaten any who entered.
Wherever this was, she had clearly come somewhere she wasn’t supposed to be. However she’d gotten here…
Just as she turned to leave—
“—Come now, come in, Eve. I’ll show you what you most desperately want to see…”
The voice that had led her here.
It spoke once more to Eve Royce.
Eve turned her body and looked toward the source of the voice.
It was coming from the door at the end of the corridor.
“…Who are you?”
Eve asked warily. But the voice ignored her caution and continued.
“—Astrid Ferdinand. Heir of Siebold Ferdinand. Young Duke of House Ferdinand. And…”
“…Mother of Eve Royce.”
The kind, gentle voice listed off the titles belonging to “Astrid Ferdinand.”
Eve flinched.
The voice took advantage of that moment, gently caressing Eve’s heart with soft words.
“The face you want to see most is in here, Eve.”
The face she most wanted to see.
The one she’d always longed to see—and still wondered about the most.
“—Come in, Eve.”
Mom.
Eve finally stepped between the threatening dragon statues.
Her hesitant steps began to quicken the closer she got to the closed door.
Before she realized it, Eve was running.
Without thinking.
She ran clumsily and grabbed the doorknob.
The voice was definitely coming from inside this room.
‘No doubt about it!’
She tugged and pulled on the huge door handle with all her might.
Grunt. Grunt. Grunt… huh?
Why isn’t it opening?
Was it locked from the inside? She tried pushing and pulling, but nothing worked.
The door wouldn’t budge.
Rattle, rattle.
She shook it, but still nothing. It seemed to be locked from within.
‘Then why did they call me here if the door won’t even open?’
‘Unbelievable…’
She took a step back and looked up at the massive door.
A giant dragon was carved into it, and on both sides, symbols of Ferdinand—dragons and swords—were etched in relief.
This was clearly an important room.
‘Well, of course it’s locked if it’s that important…’
Then who called me from inside?
Eve pressed her ear to the door and waited—but the voice didn’t return.
‘Ugh, seriously…’
Just as she turned away, disappointed—
“—You’ve got Astrid’s temperament, too… Don’t just yank it. Try waiting a moment.”
The voice returned.
Eve quickly asked,
“Then… will the door open?”
“—Yes, it will open… I didn’t mean to bring you this way, though.”
As soon as the voice finished, it sighed.
A deep, bone-weary sigh, like the earth groaning.
Eve ignored the sigh and waited, just like it said.
Then—
Rumble…
The huge door slowly opened on its own. Eve jumped back in surprise.
A door… opening by itself?
X had taken off his scabbard on his own earlier too. Is everything doing things by itself these days?
The massive door that hadn’t budged under her pushing and pulling was now gliding open.
She stared blankly at the open door.
“…Come in.”
The voice called again from within.
Eve cautiously grabbed the door and stepped into the pitch-black room.
“Excuse me…?”
There were no windows in the room, no light anywhere.
She couldn’t see a thing.
‘This is kind of scary…’
She didn’t even know who had brought her here. And now she was entering a dark, unknown room.
It was definitely scary.
