As soon as Rose heard that the mansion’s renovations were complete, she climbed into the carriage without so much as a backward glance.
“At this rate, anyone would think she’s fleeing in the middle of the night.”
Leaning against the window of the family head’s private office, Dion watched the departing carriage with a puzzled expression and muttered to himself.
‘Did she eat something weird or what?’
It was hard to believe a person could change so drastically overnight.
Just a few days ago, the family physician had examined Rose and confirmed that everything—from her pulse to her breathing—was perfectly normal.
If Rose a month ago had been like a clear, still lake—easy to read—then the Rose now was like the deep sea: dark, turbulent, and impossible to gauge.
Naturally, Dion had expected her to storm in at any moment, waving the contract and demanding to nullify the agreement—her usual second round of rebellion.
But watching her leave the mansion like she had been waiting for this very moment left him so stunned, a hollow laugh slipped from his lips.
“Are you really going to let the young lady go to Lusein just like that?”
Oliver, the butler who had served the Salome family for nearly twenty years, voiced his concern. Dion scoffed in response.
“Roseciel, who has never even stepped outside the capital in her life and throws a fit if her bedroom is even a little messy, how long do you think she’ll last in a place like that?”
It would be a miracle if she lasted even half a day in that remote, mountainous estate.
Just as he’d warned her, Dion had made sure only the bare minimum repairs were completed. He had even instructed that the old furniture and the overgrown weeds around the mansion be left untouched on purpose.
“…She might get so exhausted on the way to Lusein that she turns back before even getting there.”
“You know her well. All the better. Maybe this will finally knock some sense into that nasty temper of hers.”
There was only one reason Dion had agreed to Rose’s sudden proposal.
To finally get a firm grip on the family’s ticking time bomb—the official wild horse of the house.
“I’ll bet this townhouse, she won’t last a single day before she comes crawling back to the capital.”
At the time, Dion had no clue. He never imagined he’d really lose the family’s long-standing townhouse in the capital.
* * *
After three days of nonstop travel through winding mountain paths.
We finally reached the foot of the mountains—Lusein, a secluded region nestled deep within the highlands.
Once I got off at the final train station, I switched to a carriage and rode for another three days. My back ached like it was about to snap in two.
“Are you alright, Miss?”
Isabel, who was overseeing the workers unloading the carriage, glanced back at me with a worried expression.
In the original story, she had been the only loyalist who stood to Madrose until the very end.
‘She was the first person I met in this world.’
Seemingly in her early thirties, Isabel was also the next head servant of House Salome.
“I feel like I’ve lost my waist. How about you, Isabel?”
“I’m fine. Where should I put the things you asked me to prepare earlier?”
I pushed aside the weeds that had grown nearly knee-high and pointed toward a nearby warehouse.
“Just leave them over there for now.”
“Got it. I’ll help organize the warehouse with you while I’m at it.”
With her head slightly bowed, Isabel pushed her way through the thick weeds.
Originally, I’d planned to come down here alone to save on labor costs.
But I changed my mind as soon as I heard the mansion in Lusein had four floors.
“If you need any help managing the mansion, please take me with you.”
“Huh? But aren’t you a strong candidate to become the next head servant?”
“I don’t mind. All I want is to be by your side, Miss.”
I just wanted to chat a little more with Isabel. She seemed like someone with a story to tell.
The past month had been hectic, filled with preparations for my return to farm life.
Still, I was grateful that someone as capable as Isabel had chosen to stay by my side.
As the workers moved in and out of the crowded mansion entrance, a cloud of dust clung to my clothes.
Only the bare minimum renovations had been done. Dion really was a terrifying man, he meant every word he said.
‘I’ll have to clean this place up first.’
The weeds growing around the mansion had to be cleared before I could even think about building a garden.
Rolling up my sleeves, I began cleaning in earnest.
Isabel worked diligently, sweeping and scrubbing the first floor with the cleaning supplies she had brought ahead of time.
Before I knew it, it had grown so dark I couldn’t even tell if the sun had set or not.
‘Is Isabel still cleaning the warehouse?’
The mansion, now completely silent, felt so eerie that it wouldn’t have been surprising if a ghost appeared at any moment.
Just as I was fumbling along the wall, trying to light one of the wall-mounted lanterns—
“Graagghh!”
A sharp scream pierced the heavy silence.
“Isabel?”
The scream had come from outside the mansion.
Just moments ago, it felt like I was living in a peaceful countryside healing story.
In the blink of an eye, the genre of my life had flipped into horror.
Gripping a mop, I bolted out the front door and sprinted toward the storage shed.
“Isabel!”
Panting heavily, I looked around in a panic, but the storage shed filled with all sorts of odds and ends was empty.
Only a mop and broom lay abandoned near the entrance, as if dropped in a hurry.
If it hadn’t been for the strange footprints stamped clearly beside them, I might have thought I was just hearing things from sheer exhaustion.
The beam from the portable lantern I had grabbed in a panic landed squarely on the massive footprints.
“Fuxx.”
No matter how you looked at it, these weren’t the footprints of a human or any ordinary animal.
‘Don’t tell me… a monster?’
Monsters. The other culprits behind the downfall in the original story of the infamous, tragic reverse harem novel ‘Ileana’s Cage’.
They were incomprehensible creatures that slipped through dimensional rifts and descended upon the continent to attack humans at the end of every lunar month.
There was still some time left before the next new moon, and I had heard that monsters rarely appeared in Lusein. I had let my guard down.
As if to mock my carelessness, another faint scream echoed from the direction of the mountain behind the mansion.
‘I’ll protect Isabel.’
Thank God I had secretly procured a shotgun through back channels, just in case.
Sweeping the lantern around in all directions, I finally spotted the shotgun propped up in the corner of the storage shed.
Without hesitation, I grabbed it and dashed outside.
‘The security patrol is stationed in the town square. It would take an hour by carriage to get there.’
By then, Isabel would almost certainly already be a monster’s meal.
I steeled my resolve. At daybreak, the first thing I would do is fortify the mansion’s security.
I hurried toward the path that led into the back mountain.
The moment I stepped through the half-broken gate, the darkness rushed in as if it meant to swallow me whole.
‘Please. Just stay alive, Isabel.’
I tightened my grip on the shotgun, which kept slipping from my sweaty palms.
It was eerily silent now, as if the screams from earlier had never happened.
The headless, nameless statue at the entrance to the back mountain loomed closer with every step.
I forced myself to ignore the deafening thud of my heartbeat in my ears and raised the portable lantern high.
‘What is this…?’
Faint footprints appeared, scattered intermittently along the path.
At that exact moment, a low growl tore through the silence, making every hair on my body stand on end.
“Rrrrrrr…”
Just beyond the reach of the lantern’s light, behind the statue.
Two pairs of crimson flames hovering in midair made me stop right away.
It didn’t take long to realize those eerie flames were eyes.
Two monsters, shaped like enormous hunting dogs and looking like they hadn’t eaten in days, stared at me.
Their thin, black bodies blended perfectly into the darkness as their jaws opened wide, saliva dripping down with a sharp, sizzling sound.
As the monsters lowered their bodies, I knew they had seen me as prey.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
I didn’t even have time to think as my hands moved on their own, pulling the trigger three times in quick succession.
One of the monsters leapt straight at me but was hit in the leg by a wild, haphazard shot and was sent flying.
“Graaaagh!”
The scream alone made the crash course I took on handling shotguns before leaving the capital feel completely worth it.
Now, only one monster was likely left.
It came charging from the direction of the ditch where the first one had fallen, jaws wide open, aiming straight for my head.
Just as it lunged, I managed to wedge the shotgun’s barrel between its gaping jaws, barely blocking its sharp fangs in time.
“…!”
A sudden wave of dizziness hit me, and my vision spun. At the same time, a strange, indecipherable language—like the whisper of the wind—brushed past my ears.
“- – – -.”
For a moment, it felt like all sound had vanished from the world, as if I’d been cut off from reality itself.
“Miss!”
“…Isabelle?”
I blinked in shock as her familiar voice suddenly rushed into my ears, loud and clear, like my eardrums had just burst open.
