She stared blankly at the burned-down mansion, then slowly turned her head. Her face was coldly composed. For some reason, Erhan was taken aback by her unexpectedly calm demeanor.

“Hey, you.”

Erhan couldn’t believe his ears. His eyes widened at the unfamiliar form of address, as if she were calling out to a stranger.

“Where is my child?”

Erhan froze in place. Her seemingly normal appearance had been an illusion.

“…My child, where is my child!”

She had completely lost her composure. So much so that even Erhan couldn’t recognize her.

“Ah…”

A servant who hurriedly approached her had their collar grabbed. This was unimaginable behavior for the usual Adelheid.

“Where is my Oscar, I’m asking!”

However, the servant whose collar was grabbed couldn’t say anything. As everyone remained silent, she screamed and collapsed to the ground.

“Ah, aah. Ah!!!”

Adelheid screamed, tearing at her own hair.

“Finally! This day has come. That wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t a dream!!”

Erhan tried to calm Adelheid down. But she only wailed like a madwoman.

“Calm down, Mother! Oscar is alive!”

Erhan shouted at her as she convulsed as if having a seizure. At that moment, Adelheid’s body abruptly stopped moving.

“…What?”

Her oddly turned head faced Erhan.

“Listen to me carefully, calmly.”

“…”

“Oscar has been kidnapped by the Imperial Prince.”

Adelheid’s blank eyes slowly widened.

“Zachary Thaddeus…”

She muttered vacantly, then straightened her staggering body on her own. Her face was still wet with tears, but her expression had cooled, as if she had never lost her senses and wailed.

Yet her body was trembling. Though she tried to appear composed, it was clear that this was a situation difficult to accept.

“I will find Oscar and bring him back.”

Even as he spoke, Erhan laughed bitterly to himself.

He had always fought battles he couldn’t lose. Retreating from a fight you can’t win isn’t cowardly, it’s smart. It’s to take one step back and two steps forward.

But now, Erhan chose to confront that monster.

‘The reason?’

He didn’t know. Why did his cool rationality crumble whenever Oscar was involved? He still couldn’t find the answer. But one thing was certain.

“Absolutely.”

Even if it was just to confirm this feeling, he had to bring back his brother, Oscar Serpentine.

***

I am a person who has managed to survive for a long time in the gloomy and eerie Serpentine family. While trying to twist the terrible original story. Of course, the problem is that there’s been an oddly lack of progress…

Still, in a way, I thought I had become quite seasoned, having been through thick and thin. I thought I could handle most situations reasonably well.

‘Where on earth is this place?’

But now, I have no idea what’s going on. In other words, I couldn’t even begin to guess where this place was.

Is it because the original story has been completely twisted?

The task given to me was to safely return Zachary to the embrace of the Empire. However, I hadn’t thought about what would happen after that. I didn’t expect the result of sending Zachary back to the Empire would turn out like this.

“Cough, cough.”

I covered my mouth and coughed.

As if struck by a terrible bout of flu, my limbs felt limp and my head throbbed. My physical condition was extremely poor. I held my aching head and tried hard to recall my memories.

“Oscar.”

Zachary.

Yes, my memory cut off after he appeared before me. Perhaps it was because I had inhaled too much smoke. My throat still hurt badly.

I slowly looked around. No matter how I looked at it, this wasn’t my newlywed home. The air I breathed in was fresh and clean, without any acrid smell.

‘The person who brought me here must be either Zachary or… Erhan.’

Probably Erhan brought me here? The last time I saw Zachary, he hated me so much he tried to kill me.

Judging by the fact that I was still alive, it seemed most logical to assume that Erhan had saved me from such a Zachary, but…

‘Could Erhan have handled the awakened Zachary?’

Honestly, I’m not sure. Or maybe I died and came to the afterlife… As I organized my thoughts and tried to get up, a damp cloth fell from my forehead. Turning my head slowly, I saw a bowl of water, a towel, and some medicine on the table.

‘If I were dead, I wouldn’t be in this much pain.’

First, I needed to figure out where I was. I put my feet on the floor below the bed with a staggering body. When I raised my head, the ceiling was dizzyingly high.

‘These clothes are quite unfamiliar.’

I had been changed into clean clothes, but they were of an unfamiliar style I had never seen in the kingdom. Suddenly, I caught a whiff of some exotic scent. With an unfamiliar feeling, I headed towards the window.

And the moment I approached the window, my head went blank.

‘Iron bars?’

The iron bars were so closely spaced that barely a fist could pass through. I leaned against the window and narrowed my eyes. Beyond the iron bars, I could see a large garden.

I was on a high floor overlooking a vast garden. The trees in the garden looked quite different from the conifers I saw at the Serpentine house or the types that grew in the kingdom. The scenery was beautiful, but because of the iron bars, it felt like being in a prison.

‘Let’s get out of here first.’

Then it would become clear who brought me here.

The room was spacious, and my physical condition was so poor that even just walking towards the door was a struggle.

I walked, almost crawling, grabbed the doorknob and pushed. Fortunately, the door opened easily, but…

Thud.

‘…What was that just now?’

The door closed instantly as if it had never been opened.

I stood there dumbfounded for a while, then tried to open the door again. But this time it didn’t budge at all.

“Excuse me.”

Thump thump, I knocked on the door.

“I know you’re out there. Please open the door.”

In fact, I didn’t even know if anyone was there, but I raised my voice as much as I could.

“…”

“…Hello, is anyone there?”

What the hell?

It couldn’t have closed by itself, it’s not an automatic door. It definitely seemed like someone pushed it closed. But no matter how much I knocked on the door, there was no response. Meanwhile, my body, which had gradually become feverish, started to feel like a ball of fire.

‘It’s hot.’

My eyes even stung from the tremendous heat. The reason for being this sick was obvious. It was a symptom I experienced whenever I was under unbearable stress.

I might feel better if I could get some cool air.

Holding my dizzy head, I approached the window. I arrived at an even slower pace than when I went to the door and opened the window. I couldn’t open it much because of the iron bars blocking it, but the cool breeze that flowed through the gap swept across my sweaty forehead.

“Ugh…”

But the coolness was short-lived. The cold wind pierced my nose and throat like a sharp blade.

The cough that burst out wouldn’t stop easily.

I should close the window quickly. For some reason, my vision was lowering. Only then did I realize that I had fallen to my knees, unable to withstand the dizziness.

‘It hurts so much.’

Since childhood, I had far more sick days than healthy ones. But no matter how often I experienced it, the pain never became familiar. I sat down and leaned my back against the wall.

Desperately craving a warm blanket, I crawled towards the bed. But before I could even climb onto the bed, while I was gasping for breath with a muddled mind, I heard the sound of the door opening. Someone’s footsteps entered the room, continued briefly, then stopped.

‘Is it Erhan…? Or…’

I wanted to check who it was and narrowed my eyes, but I couldn’t see properly.

“Are you planning to play hide and seek in here?”

I heard a voice that was clearly mocking, but with my ears muffled from the fever, it was hard to recognize the voice.

“Cough, cough.”

Then I started coughing.

At that, the figure that had been standing still started to approach me.

My vision was blurred from the high fever. But I could clearly tell who was reaching out to me.

“Don’t tell me this is your idea of hiding? You should take better care of your body.”

Zachary looked down at me with a deeply furrowed brow and smiled coldly.

“It’s not like you have anywhere to go anyway.”