PLML 43

Posted by Zahid, Released on August 9, 2025

CHAPTER 43……

“Lady, you know the story of Saint Estina, right?”

“Yes. I do.”

Saint Estina.

She suddenly appeared one day by the sacred lakeside inside the imperial palace, a place only the royal family could enter. It was said that her appearance was unlike that of the people in this world: black hair, black eyes, and clear skin with a faint golden glow.

The Emperor judged her to be a saint because she sometimes spoke a strange language that no one had ever heard before.

According to past records, saints possessed miraculous powers to heal the incurably ill and restore dead land.

Unlike previous saints, Estina showed no particular abilities, but the Emperor believed without doubt that she was a saint. A year passed under the royal family’s utmost care.

For one year and two months, the saint showed no abilities.

By then, everyone had realized that Estina was not a saint. Even the Emperor who brought her realized his judgment was wrong. Estina was just an ordinary woman.

However, the Emperor did not admit his mistake.

“The reason the saint cannot use her sacred powers is because there is no shrine to receive the divine power.”

The Emperor built a shrine in a place swarming with all sorts of monsters. Estina was confined in the shrine under the pretext of cultivating her sacred power.

Due to thorough concealment by the royal family, this fact seemed to have been quietly buried, but it was revealed to the world through a book written by one person who loved Estina.

“That shrine where Estina was confined—was it here?”

“Yes. So… they say the soul of Estina, who couldn’t leave, still wanders this castle. I’ve even seen curtains flutter or plates move on nights when the wind didn’t blow.”

Upon hearing Ellie’s words, Jaina’s expression stiffened.

Ghosts.

She hated ghosts above all else.

“D-Don’t lie. Ellie, there’s no such thing as ghosts…”

“There are! Many people have seen Saint Estina’s figure on the night of the ‘Blue Moon,’ when sacred power is strongest!”

Ellie told Jaina about those who witnessed Estina’s spirit and her appearance. Jaina listened stiffly, terrified. After talking for a while, Ellie said she had to get to work and left.

Jaina took out the key she had hidden in her arms.

Because of the story about Saint Estina’s ghost just now, the key felt even more suspicious.

“Should I just put it back where I found it? I don’t even know what this key is for…”

“Kyuuk.”

Cotton Candy, who had been rolling on the floor, stretched out its front legs and yawned. It jumped up at Jaina, who was looking at the key with a serious face.

“Kyu, kyuuk!”

Cotton Candy nudged the key with its nose.

“What’s wrong, Cotton Candy? Do you know what this key is for?”

Jaina held out the key in front of Cotton Candy.

“Kyu!”

Confidently, Cotton Candy tapped the key with its nose. Then, it tilted its head and hurried off on its short legs. Cotton Candy looked back and nodded for Jaina to follow.

Following Cotton Candy, Jaina arrived at a bare wall. Cotton Candy circled in place in front of the wall, then scratched it with its short front legs. The black dragon flapped its wings and tapped the wall with its tail.

“Is it in here?”

“Kyuuk!”

Cotton Candy touched the wall. Among the neatly arranged bricks, one was slightly protruding.

‘Is this it?’

Jaina pressed with all her strength, but the brick didn’t budge. She tried knocking and rubbing it, but nothing happened.

Why not?

After struggling with the brick for a while with no change, Jaina yelled at the bare wall in frustration.

“Ah, just open already!”

Jaina hit the brick hard.

Wooong—

With a faint vibration, a blue light flickered on the wall. The scattered lights slowly gathered and took shape.

‘Huh, what’s this…?’

The shape was unfamiliar to Jaina, but she immediately recognized the inscription on the wall:

[Pull]

A phrase that Koreans find hardest to read: “당기시오” (Pull).

‘Why is Hangul showing up in a place like this?’

Jaina cautiously placed her hand on the brick.

Because the brick was deeply embedded, pulling it was difficult. Scraping with her nails, the brick that hadn’t moved at all began to come out little by little.

Once halfway out, the rest was easy. Pulling the brick out revealed a huge iron door behind where the wall had been. In the middle of the thick chains was a lock where a key could be inserted.

She carefully inserted the key into the lock.

Click!

Turning the key lightly, the lock opened with a crisp sound.

The joy of finding the lock’s purpose was short-lived as Jaina hesitated to undo the chains.

She was scared because of the story Ellie had told earlier. But more than that—

‘This is it.’

She remembered a fairy tale from her childhood.

Bluebeard the Giant.

The story of a wife who was killed after entering a room her husband forbade her to enter.

Finding a key in a diary while her husband was away, wandering the castle, and discovering a secret room—this was just like the protagonist in the story.

‘If it wasn’t something really important, it wouldn’t be kept locked away in a diary sealed by magic.’

Writing in a language that doesn’t exist in this world. A hidden room and a key.

She felt an impulse to open the door and see what was inside, but she was afraid. She worried that if she faced what was inside, she might never be able to keep living her current life.

‘Is there really a reason to check the room?’

‘Wouldn’t it be better to wait for Theoris to return and ask him about the room?’

‘What if Theoris doesn’t answer?’

‘What if there’s something inside the room I shouldn’t see?’

Countless questions arose in Jaina’s mind.

Thud—

At the sound of footsteps faintly coming from afar, Jaina shivered.

The footsteps were too heavy to be Ellie’s.

‘Theoris and Homel said they’d return only in the evening…’

Goosebumps rose. Jaina froze.

As the footsteps got closer, her heartbeat quickened.

‘This isn’t a thriller horror game!’

Muttering a complaint about the sudden genre change, Jaina prayed that the approaching footsteps belonged to a person.

A blurry figure appeared in the distance. Wrapped in black cloth, it saw Jaina and quickened its pace.

“Ahhh!”

Jaina screamed instinctively.

“Jaina?”

The familiar voice brought Jaina back to her senses.

“Theo…?”

He removed the robe covering his head and approached her. His hair was blacker than the night sky, and his whites of the eyes sparkled. It was definitely Theoris.

Jaina stammered because of her still pounding heart.

“Theo, y-you… weren’t you coming in the evening?”

“I finished work earlier than expected, so I returned quickly. More importantly, why are you here?”

Theoris’s gaze landed on the locked door.

‘Ah, right. The key is in it.’

It was too late to hide now.

Jaina immediately confessed everything: finding the key, wandering the castle, and the story she heard from Ellie. Theoris listened silently, then said:

“I see.”

His voice wasn’t angry but was slightly subdued compared to usual.

“I’m sorry…”

Seeing Jaina’s slump, Theoris gave a gentle smile.

“Have you seen what’s inside the room?”

Though his tone was casual, maybe because the corridor was dark or because of the situation, his smile somehow felt scary. Jaina quickly shook her head.

“No, I haven’t.”

“You’re curious about what’s inside, aren’t you?”

His silver eyes twisted creepily. Jaina shivered and took a step back.

“No. I’m not curious anymore.”

“You don’t have to hide it, Jaina.”

Theoris stepped forward.

‘What, what’s going on?’

A scene from Bluebeard the Giant flashed through Jaina’s mind:

[Bluebeard shouted:

“Since you know my secret, I cannot let you live!”

“Please, I’m sorry! Spare me!”]

Seeing Theoris’s hand reaching out to her, Jaina shut her eyes tightly.

Dieting is Hard

Clink, click.

The tightly wound chains were undone.

Jaina opened her eyes.

“Theo…?”

Theoris, who opened the door, skillfully felt along the wall as if he’d done it many times before. A faint light lit the room, which had been pitch dark.

“This is…”

Jaina stared blankly into the room.

An old wooden table and chair. Walls lined with books. A perfectly ordinary room with nothing special.

“This is a secret library connected to the study. It was created to protect important documents from damage in emergencies and to provide an escape route.”

‘So it wasn’t anything special.’

The visions that had filled her head disappeared. Jaina sat down weakly. Relaxing the tension, she felt a mixture of frustration and embarrassment welling up in her eyes.

“Jaina?”

Theoris, looking surprised, bent down. His worried gaze made Jaina feel even more miserable, and she finally burst into tears.

“J-Jaina, why are you crying suddenly?”

Theoris tried to comfort her, but her tears didn’t stop. Forgetting her pride, Jaina lightly tapped Theoris as she cried.

“Sniff, do you know how scared I was? Why’d you suddenly try to act all serious like that?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just thought you were so cute I wanted to tease you… I was wrong.”

“What kind of joke is that? I’m the lady of this house, and I didn’t even know this room existed…”

“I was thoughtless. I’m sorry.”

Theoris promised never to hide anything from Jaina again and gently patted her back.

“Sniff, really?”

“Yes, really.”

Theoris even told her about the black book’s identity. Jaina wasn’t surprised since she already knew it was Theoris’s diary.