24. Pandora’s Box (1)
[Episode 24] – Pandora’s Box (1)
I heard the sound of something breaking inside me. And I knew right away that this was the sound of my patience running out. Did I ask too much of a non-human beast?
No, not even an animal abandons its young. So, what the hell is the guy in here supposed to say? It was clear that he was not even a beast.
I didn’t care what the king was like now, or whether the first queen was alive. It was just that I couldn’t stand it any longer watching that snarl sitting in the corner of the room and causing harm to others.
“…Take the princess to her room. And, don’t let even a single ant come near here. Until I get out of here.”
“Yeah, but…”
One of the knights taking care of the princess looked at me with a worried expression. He seemed to anticipate what would happen if he left the place. However, I also had no intention of leaving.
As I glared at the knight, another knight said he was sorry, bent his waist 90 degrees, and took the princess out of here. I thought Vivian’s notoriety was useful at a time like this.
It was difficult to endure the tyranny of unemployed people in the corner of the room any longer. Now, I felt like I had to grab the hair of the guy who was worse than the beast in the room and drag him out of the room.
Despite the knight’s anxious dissuades, I approached the room where the king lived in confinement and strongly turned the doorknob. However, the tightly locked door seemed to have no intention of opening it.
Clap! Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap!
I didn’t even think about opening the lock from the inside. Click, click, every time the handle that came into my palm went down, only my wrists hurt.
Quang!
Every time I turned the doorknob, I kicked the locked door with my foot, feeling like I was going crazy with the annoyance that filled my head. I kicked the door with the thought of destroying it, but only my toe hurt.
“Oh, my toes.”
Perhaps the pain in my toe cooled my head a bit, so I let out a long sigh and looked up at the closed door. The door wasn’t even scratched, even after being kicked so hard.
As I was catching my rough breath, I heard Ainsel’s trembling voice in my ear. As if shocked by the sight of the princess, he burst into tears while talking gibberish.
-Ah, uh… I, I’m sorry… If I hadn’t been under the ‘contract’… At least, if I had talked to the other side first… This wouldn’t have happened….
“……”
-This is a drawing that the princess worked hard on… It’s the first time… It’s a picture she drew of me…
I felt like my stomach was burning with frustration, but I couldn’t blame Ainsel. Because Ainsel was a victim who was forced to keep silent. Because he had a reason not to speak.
Ainsel burst into tears as he looked at the fragments of paintings scattered on the floor. When the princess drew Ainsel yesterday, I remembered the voice of Ainsel who was really happy.
I took out her earring and placed the ainsel on her palm. Ainsel, reflected in her mirror, cursed herself as she wiped her tears with her hands. She said she was so stupid, so stupid, she cursed herself.
I let out a small sigh in frustration and pretended to stroke Ainsel’s hair with my fingers. Ainsel slowly began to stop crying, as if it still worked.
“…It’s not your fault.”
-…No, it’s my fault. If I, had I talked to ‘the other side’ first, at least… This wouldn’t have happened. So… So…
Ainsel stopped her crying and looked up at me with a determined expression on her face. Ainsel clenched his fists, saying he would no longer run away, no longer avoid it.
-I have to take responsibility.
“…How?”
Ainsel looked up at me at my question. Then, she told me to listen to her, saying she could only speak once. I got a little closer to Ainsel and started listening to Ainsel’s story.
-…The ‘contract’ on me is a contract to ‘not harm’ the first queen. Of course, the contract also includes keeping the first queen secret.
“That’s why you didn’t say anything about the first queen.”
-…Yes, that’s right. I was forced into this contract. Because my ‘body’ was stolen by someone.
“Body?”
When asked about the main body, Ainsel nodded her head slightly.
-Yes, actually, I can use all the mirrors in the castle as ‘alone’ if it’s as big as this castle. The mirror that I use as an alter ego becomes a ‘road’ that allows me to freely come and go. Using that ‘road’, Vivian gathered all the information in the castle to herself. That was one of the reasons Vivian was able to take me and become the second queen.
So, Ain Cell with her body meant that her mirror could be made into a CCTV camera. Even with a hidden camera that others can’t see. Does this mean that Vivian used it to uncover the filthy secrets of the aristocrats?
-…However, my main body was taken away, and there are only two ‘alter egos’ left. The earrings you have now and the ‘replica’ in your room are the last alter egos left of me.
“…Then, where is the body now?”
Ainsel let out a small sigh and glanced at the firmly closed door in front of me. As I looked at the door, Ainsel continued her words as if the answer was correct.
-My ‘body’ is inside me right now. So I can know ‘who’ is in me right now. Until now, I couldn’t do anything because I was afraid of the ‘contract’…
Ainsel grinned, and she looked at me.
-I told you? I will take responsibility.
At that moment, the small earring started cracking with a clicking sound. As if it wouldn’t tolerate any more talking, the mirror was breaking with a sharp sound.
“…Are you really okay?”
-…Yes, it’s okay. And, I have you, right?
The corners of the mirror gradually began to turn into sand-like powder. When I looked at Ainsel, confused, she looked at me even as Ainsel turned to sand, and she smiled brightly.
-I’ll open the door with magic from the inside. By sacrificing this much of your alter ego, you can avoid the ‘contract’ to the main body.
Jjeok, jjeook.
Shards of small mirrors began to fall apart as fragments. The pieces that fell on the palm of my hand became sand in an instant and scattered as if they were being turned into powder.
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Ainsel looked at me and said one last time.
-I’ll wait inside. Vivian.
Clap!
At the same time as the mirror in my palm turned to sand, I heard the sound of unlocking the locked door. Then, with a squeaking sound, the door to the room began to open very slowly.
The door opened so narrow that only the wind could pass through it, as if whispering to come in quickly. At that whisper, I slowly turned the doorknob and pushed myself in.
*
The moment I opened the door and entered, I had no choice but to hold my breath at the terribly disgusting smell. The smell of something rotting mixed with the repulsive smell of paint vibrated in the room.
The floor was filled with so many paintings that there was no space to even step on. The sound of stepping on paper resonated throughout the room with each step. I frowned and looked up.
The room was completely dark, so it was hard to see, but in the corner of the room, I could see someone drawing something on a canvas. Surely, that person must be ‘Your Majesty’, an unemployed person in the corner of the room.
“Your Majesty.”
I spoke to something in the shape of a human in a low voice. However, the man said nothing. I was just silently looking at something and drawing.
I lowered my head again and looked at the paintings piled on the floor. All of them were pictures of a woman with black hair and red eyes, laughing, crying, angry, and expressing various emotions.
The floor, the walls, and even the ceiling were full of paintings. I realized that the paintings in the detached palace and the main palace were nothing compared to the paintings here.
“Your Majesty.”
As soon as I saw it, I took my gaze away from the mind-boggling painting, then turned my head and spoke again to the person who was expected to be His Majesty. However, still no answer.
It was so dark that it was difficult to see the inside of the room with only the light leaking through the window. As time passed, the eyes, which had begun to adjust to the darkness, were convinced that the figure was human.
So slowly, I slowly approached the figure.
Longer hair from not tidying up for two years, bony hands and feet, skin on the back, and bony thighs. I couldn’t see the face properly, but it was like looking at a mummy.
The moment I saw it, I felt a sense of sadness.
I wonder if even the slightest bit of that heart that thought of the first queen couldn’t be turned to the princess. Did he hate the princess so much that he tore her drawings to pieces?
“Your Majesty..!”
I reached out to the person who was painting on the canvas. I got goosebumps as his frizzy black hair brushed the back of my hand, but I didn’t stop and grabbed his shoulder.
“Please! Stop…!”
I grabbed the clothes and lifted him up from the chair, and I couldn’t help but open my eyes wide in surprise. Even if a person is light, it was too light. It was so light that I wondered if it really weighed a person.
I grabbed him by the collar with both arms and forcibly lifted him up. I tried to force myself up, but it seemed like I couldn’t even stand up with my chopstick-thin legs.
When I removed the blackout curtains that darkened the room, sunlight came in and I could finally see his face properly. I looked down at him, making sure he was alive.
Untidy black hair that reaches to the waist.
Red eyes that have lost their light.
And… A bulge in the chest that only women have.
“…What are you?”
I know this person’s face.
At the detached palace and the main palace, there were dozens or even hundreds of portraits with this face. I grabbed him by the collar, shook him, and shouted. He told me to quickly explain this situation that I can’t understand.
“What the hell are you doing!!”
At my cry, he rolled his eyes and looked at me. As he grips my wrist with his bony hand, the chill in his hand gives me goosebumps. Isn’t this just a simple corpse?
“Who is Jim…?”
A severely cracked voice.
“Second Queen, have you forgotten your luggage already?”
“What..?”
Caught by me, he introduced himself with a big smile.
“Jim is Edric Snow White.”
The ‘woman’ who called herself Jim smiled maniacally.
“Isn’t that your husband?”
