Chapter 68
“…Well, I guess if you’re throwing money around, you’d be happy.”
Still, she couldn’t exactly say that kind of thing to young Yulia, could she?
“If you throw money around, does that make you happy?”
“Who knows? Try living like that when you grow up and tell me.”
“Okay.”
“Now go to sleep.”
Nod.
Ceres patted the girl who closed her eyes tight, then turned to look out the window.
The moonlight felt especially bright tonight.
After confirming that Yulia was fast asleep, breathing evenly with no fuss, Ceres slowly stood and left the room.
She gently opened another door nearby—Antonion was sound asleep.
His training must have been tough again today; he was out cold, dead to the world.
‘Time to head out.’
Once she confirmed her siblings were asleep, Ceres left the mansion. There was something she wanted to check while the streets were quiet.
‘Here it is.’
A long rope was stretched across the entrance of a dark alleyway. It marked the location where the corpse had been found—barring others from entry.
After checking her surroundings, Ceres stepped past the rope and went inside.
“A monster, huh…”
The body she had seen earlier that day.
No matter how she looked at it from a different angle, all evidence still pointed to it being the work of the monster Shakera.
But now, standing at the scene of the crime, Ceres found it even stranger.
Monsters always leave a trace.
At the very least, there should have been a few scratches on the nearby buildings.
“So strange.”
There was nothing.
She’d already been told that, but seeing it herself confirmed it—there really was no trace of a monster at all.
Only the dried blood scattered across the ground hinted that someone had died here.
“What could it be?”
How did he die? Where did the monster come from?
Why didn’t the alarm go off?
Why had no one seen it? Even a small monster would’ve caused a huge commotion in the area.
This is why Ceres came—to figure out those unanswered questions.
“……”
She slowly looked around the area again, then placed her hand on the blood-stained ground.
Fwoosh—
As her hand touched the ground, the flow of air around her began to shift.
The dried blood began to vanish, and other remnants on the ground scattered like dust.
Flash!
“…!”
Suddenly, something shot up all around her—dense, towering objects surrounding her completely.
Ceres’s eyes widened as she saw what it was.
“This is…”
Soaring high and completely blocking the bright moonlight above—it was a black tree.
“The Black Forest…”
Standing within a space where no light could penetrate, Ceres could only gaze silently at the overwhelming sight.
***
“I have a question.”
Ceres, who had been deep in thought all day, suddenly spoke, making Kainel pause from reading his documents.
“Can Black Forests ever appear in really small sizes? Like, no bigger than this room?”
“What?”
“I mean, not covering a whole village or town, but just enough to trap one person. Do they show up like that nowadays?”
“Nowadays? What are you, an old woman?”
“That’s not the point.”
“…”
…It is to me.
Suppressing a sigh, Kainel set his documents down.
“Explain more clearly. What do you mean by a small Black Forest?”
“That corpse we found. It all makes sense if you think about it that way.”
“You mean the one killed by Shakera?”
“Yeah. If a really small Black Forest formed—just big enough to trap one person—then that kind of death is possible.”
A Black Forest disappears when either all monsters inside are killed or the boss is defeated.
There’s one more condition.
‘If all the people inside die…’
When no living beings other than monsters are left inside, the forest disappears.
The one she saw last night was small—barely big enough for one person.
‘If that man was trapped inside…’
And if he died there, the forest would vanish.
That would explain everything.
The problem was, in all her life as Grace, she had never seen such a tiny Black Forest.
Had they evolved over the past 300 years into different forms?
“That’s an interesting theory.”
“So it’s not something you’ve heard of?”
“Not to my knowledge.”
“Didn’t you say you were practically buried alive in the duchy for hundreds of years? Maybe you just missed it.”
“Can’t you put that more nicely?”
“You were buried like a corpse in the duchy for centuries, weren’t you? Maybe that’s why you don’t know.”
“There were plenty of people bringing me external information.”
“……”
So basically, what I saw yesterday isn’t a normal occurrence?
‘Then what was it?’
What exactly did I see?
How did something like that appear? Was it a mutation?
Should I… tell others about this?
‘If I do?’
Will anyone even believe me?
‘Even I wouldn’t believe it.’
A young noble lady suddenly showing up and spouting that kind of nonsense?
“I’m the problem. Me.”
This damn curiosity of mine is the issue.
What would’ve been so bad about just living with a bit of mystery? Why did I have to go and investigate it?
“Not knowing really is bliss.”
Thud.
Ceres abruptly stood up from the windowsill where she had been leaning.
“I’m clocking out.”
“Clocking out?”
“Yeah.”
Waving toward Kainel, Ceres headed straight for the door.
“Dinner’s already prepared, so don’t forget to eat.”
“What’s going on?”
“Got somewhere I need to be.”
“Where?”
“To see Chaian.”
“…Chaian?”
Kainel’s brow twitched.
He even took off his glasses, now throwing a disapproving glare.
“It’s not quitting time yet.”
“I told you—dinner’s done.”
“It’s not quitting time.”
“So?”
There’s nothing left for me to do anyway.
Didn’t you see me lazing around by the window for ages?
Why waste time here doing nothing?
Let’s live a little more efficiently, shall we?
But Kainel was firm.
“Don’t go.”
“What?”
“Stay here.”
“Stay and do what? I told you, I’ve got nothing left to do.”
“Being by my side is your job.”
“…Hey.”
As Kainel picked up his papers again, clearly done with the conversation, Ceres could only look at him with disbelief.
***
“Who’s here?”
“Lady Ceres is requesting to see—”
Thump!
Chaian jumped up from his seat before the sentence could even finish and ran toward the door.
“I was going to escort her in—”
Luka tried to continue, but Chaian flung the door open faster than he could explain.
Bang!
“…Ceres.”
It was Ceres. She was really standing there.
Seeing him, she gave a small wave.
It had been what, about two weeks?
“Long time no see.”
Nod.
“Busy?”
Shake shake.
Ceres tilted her head. Had the guy forgotten how to speak while she was gone?
“Can I come in?”
“Yeah…”
Finally a soft reply from Chaian.
“It’s been a while.”
His belated greeting made Ceres chuckle.
Why’s he acting like they’re long-lost family reunited after a decade?
“Do we have a guest?”
A voice unfamiliar to her spoke from behind Chaian.
Ceres’s eyes widened slightly as she looked toward the voice.
“Oh?”
The man’s eyes also widened as his mouth opened in surprise.
“It’s you, right? From the restaurant.”
He smiled brightly and approached with a greeting.
It was the same man who had come to Ceres’s place near midnight a few days ago.
“What? You two know each other?”
“Yes.”
Chaian was just as surprised.
“How?”
“When I arrived in the capital, I was so hungry I couldn’t go straight to the palace. So I stopped by a restaurant nearby and…”
“No way.”
“Yes. It turned out to be her shop. It was too late, so I didn’t get to eat, but she gave me some very special tea. I was very grateful.”
Chaian looked back and forth between the two, astonished. Then he suddenly remembered to introduce the man.
“This is my younger brother, Alex.”
“Brother?”
Younger brother meant—a prince?
Ceres’s eyes grew even wider.
Why was a prince wandering the streets looking like he was about to drop dead?
Ceres gave him a baffled look.
‘So my concern was unnecessary.’
She would’ve been mortified if she had told him to visit the Ellsia Count’s Estate that night.
If he’s a prince, he’s probably already seen the best healers the empire has.
“And this is my friend, Ceres.”
“You two are friends?”
Prince Alex was equally amazed by the coincidence.
“I’m Alex. Nice to see you again.”
“Nice to see you too. Alive, this time.”
—
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