I Broke Up With The Country

**It’s cold.**

Cold, dark, dim, chilly, damp.

These were sensations that had almost never filled my hazy consciousness since becoming a Queen.

Suddenly, the burning fire in my chest vanished.

I could breathe easily. My lips, eyelids, fingers, and toes all moved properly. The pain in my chest and the tingling in my limbs were gone.

Am I not dead?

I managed to get up and looked around.

To my surprise, I wasn’t on a bed. This wasn’t my bedroom or the ornate audience chamber. In fact, it wasn’t even indoors.

I was in the middle of a dark, unfamiliar forest.

Where is this place?

Confused, I slowly stood up.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp sensation on the soles of my feet. Fallen leaves and stones pricked at them painfully. Only then did I realize that I wasn’t wearing slippers.

It wasn’t just the slippers that were gone. The embroidered robe with golden threads, the goatskin gloves, and the silk pajamas I always slept in—all of it had disappeared. The only thing I was wearing was a single, white sack-like garment.

Had I passed out and been abandoned in the mountains? Or was I dreaming one last dream before I died?

It didn’t matter. I had to find a way out of this forest, and then return to the palace to face those who had betrayed me.

I began walking forward with determined steps.

The ground squelched beneath my feet. The densely grown trees shook their dark, bare branches. Occasionally, the wind howled eerily through them.

I had been walking for some time when something suddenly brushed against my leg.

Startled, I turned around.

At my feet, a creature I’d never seen before was wriggling. It was long like a snake, with dozens of legs, and it snapped its sharp teeth at me while flicking its tongue.

“Ugh, ah!”

I screamed and backed away.

Upon hearing my scream, ‘it’ raised its antenna head abruptly. At the same time, other dark creatures gathered around.

There were ones with multiple heads, some with horns, some resembling humans, and others just a sticky tar-like substance. These grotesque monsters I’d never seen before gathered and tangled together.

I stood frozen, staring at the monsters just a span away. I was too terrified to even scream.

“A human.”

“A human? A real soul?”

“A female.”

“Whoever swallows first gets it.”

The monsters exchanged brief words and began to wriggle toward me. Some of them slithered, while others crouched like beasts ready to pounce.

I turned and ran as fast as I could.

I had no idea where I was going or where I should go. But I didn’t need to look back to know the monsters were chasing me.

Laughter, growls, and fierce roars followed close behind.

Then, in the distance, I saw a faint light.

Desperately clinging to hope, I ran toward the light. Soon, I reached the front gate of a large mansion.

I pounded on the gate frantically.

“Help me! Please open the door!”

There was no response. I banged on the gate and shouted like a madwoman.

“Please save me! Let me in! I’m being chased, please!”

Still, there was no answer.

**I turned around, panting for breath. At some point, the monsters had surrounded me, encircling me tightly.**

There was nowhere left to run. I sobbed, pressing my entire body against the gate.

**Help me, save me, open up, rescue me, I don’t want to be eaten, please…**

There was no one. The gate remained massive and firmly shut.

**Ah, I see. I finally understand.**

**This is hell. I’ve died and fallen into hell.**

Tears streamed down my cheeks. In this cold world, the only warmth was the tears wetting my cheeks and knees.

I slumped down, leaning against the unyielding gate. The last face of my friend, August de Lamian, came to mind.

**I had spent my whole life trying to be a good king, but now those years of effort felt meaningless and regretful.**

**In truth, I never wanted to be Queen. I didn’t want to become a queen only to be abandoned so miserably like this.**

**What I truly wanted was…**

At that moment, my body suddenly lurched forward.

I collapsed onto the damp ground. The giant door, which had remained closed no matter how hard I knocked, had swung open without me noticing.

Dazed, I slowly got up.

Behind me, the gate was now firmly shut again. It was as if I had passed through it like light through a glass pane, entering the area inside the walls.

**What just happened?**

I looked around in bewilderment. The monsters that had been threatening me were nowhere to be seen.

In front of me was a well-paved path, smooth and clean enough to walk on barefoot. At the end of the path stood an enormous mansion.

I began to stagger toward the mansion.

The space inside the walls surrounding the mansion felt completely different from the outside.

The sky outside was a wavering, blood-red color, but within the walls, the sky was filled with twinkling stars. The dazzling night sky formed a boundary with the blood-red sky outside, like a twilight.

When I reached the entrance of the mansion, the door suddenly swung open as if it had been waiting for me.

I stood there, unsure of what to do, when suddenly a strange voice addressed me.

**- Welcome, guest.**

Startled, I shuddered. The voice, noticing my reaction, asked in surprise:

**- Oh dear, did I frighten you?**

The voice wasn’t cold or spine-chilling like a snake’s hiss. So I took a deep breath and gathered the courage to ask:

**”Who are you?”**

**The voice didn’t answer. Instead, it asked another question with a hint of amusement.**

**- Would you like to stay there, or come inside to a warm room?**

Honestly, I wanted to go inside immediately, but fearing I might be turned away, I hesitated and politely asked for permission.

**“Can I come in?”**

**- Of course, absolutely. Just follow my guidance.**

I took a deep breath and slowly entered the mansion.

There was no one in sight to follow, but I turned my head this way and that, trying to locate the direction the voice was coming from.

**- To the right—no, left from there. Yes, that’s it. Now, go up the stairs.**

As I walked in the direction the voice instructed, warmth enveloped my body. Despite the few candles, the interior of the mansion was astonishingly bright.

The mansion was vast and grand. The walls were decorated with smooth wood, and strange paintings hung here and there. Some seemed to be from a hundred years ago, while others were overly abstract.

**- When you turn the corner, there’s a hallway, right? You can choose any room you like there. I’ve lit the fireplaces, so it should be warm.**

As the voice described, a long corridor appeared as I turned the corner. Countless doors were open, welcoming me.

There was no one around. It wasn’t cold or dark.

Inside this mansion, it was safe.

**“Thank you.”**

**- You’re very welcome. Rest well.**

I entered the room closest to the stairs.

It was a cozy and warm bedroom. A soft orange flame flickered in the fireplace.

As if in a trance, I rushed to the bed and collapsed onto it. The ‘voice,’ which had been silent, added two more words of comfort.

**- You’ve been through a lot.**

The moment I heard those words, tears burst forth.

The bed was soft, just as it had been in that moment when I was betrayed—soft and warm. Everything had been so warm until I was betrayed.

The pain in my heart, which had been quiet for a while, started again.

It hurt so much, but I couldn’t understand what this pain was.

Was it the sorrow of being abandoned, the pain of betrayal, the fear of almost being devoured, or the anguish of losing my entire life?

I sobbed and wailed for a long time.