NOVEL NEXT Chapter 58
Chapter 58
Click.
As I stepped out from the locked door, a glaringly white corridor greeted me.
[This place gives me the creeps.]
“Yeah, right? Looks like cleaning this would be a pain.”
Having lived as a housewife for a while, my thoughts naturally drifted to cleaning. I instinctively looked up at the ceiling.
“Oh, but it seems well-maintained. The ceiling’s spotless.”
[Must be magic, huh.]
“Is that so?”
Saying that, I took a step into the corridor. Suddenly, I heard a whoosh from the wall. The Demon Sword in my hand swiftly morphed into a spear and deflected something spinning towards me.
“Whoa?! What was that?!”
[Looks like a poisoned arrow. Tsk, what a bother.]
The arrow that got knocked down by the Demon Sword rolled onto the ground. Just as Gargandoa said, it had a black liquid smeared on the tip. Definitely poison.
[Seems like this corridor is loaded with traps… You’re really gonna pass through here?]
“But there’s no other way! If we don’t hurry, we’ll miss dinner!”
[That absolutely cannot happen! But… I don’t want my partner to die either…]
I waved my hand dismissively.
“Come on, that won’t happen. Let’s just go!”
With that, Gargandoa and I started making our way down the trap-infested corridor. Lightning struck, fireballs shot through the air, spikes jutted up from the floor, and thorny plants reached for us like they wanted to give hugs or something.
“Phew, this place is seriously terrifying.”
[…Honestly, I’m more scared of my partner than the traps…]
“Huh?”
[Oh, it’s nothing!]
By the time we rolled our way through the corridor, we looked like a total mess but somehow made it to the entrance. I pushed a painting aside, and thankfully it swung open easily.
As I stepped outside, I found myself back in the corridor I had seen earlier. I headed towards the living room.
‘That old man must have gone to the hospital or something.’
The house was empty. I was about to head out directly when I noticed I was covered in way too much blood, so I wiped myself down with a cloth draped over the sofa. Not wanting to just leave the cloth lying around, I tossed it into what looked like a laundry basket and headed to the entrance.
‘I should change my clothes before I go.’
Covered in blood, I thought of asking the slave I relied on last time for help. I left the room and made my way to the elevator. I didn’t run into anyone on the way.
The elevator zipped down quickly and arrived at my floor. Instead of heading straight to my room, I went to the slave’s quarters where I had gotten help before.
Knock, knock, bang!
“Eek!”
As I walked in, I made eye contact with a topless slave who must have just been changing. When I stepped closer, Gargandoa seemed like it was ready to flip out.
Realizing this wouldn’t be the best set-up for a conversation, I flipped Gargandoa back to the back of my hand and said,
“Uh, sorry about that.”
“Why, why, whyyy—”
“I just came to borrow the shower…”
Before I finished my sentence, the slave nodded wildly and pointed towards the shower room. I dashed straight into the shower and scrubbed myself down.
“Ahh, this feels great!”
After cleaning up, I stepped out and found some clothes laid out for me. The slave was nowhere to be seen. I quickly got dressed and left the room.
‘Next time I should really thank them.’
No matter how many times they said it was fine, it still felt a bit bad for always borrowing their clothes.
‘I might find myself needing this service pretty often.’
Thinking I should probably leave some cash in case I had to borrow again, I headed to my room.
Lately, my joints had been aching, and I felt like I might have grown a bit taller. With my longer legs, I stomped towards my room.
Click.
Just as I opened the door, I heard something rush toward me. Ah, so this is what it feels like to be a dad coming home from work?!
A goofy grin spread across my face as I swung the door wide open.
“Iris, I’m back! Sorry for taking longer than I thought!”
I had wasted way too much time in that trap-filled corridor, and now it was evening. I felt bad for leaving her alone for so long, so I stepped inside and closed the door.
‘Huh…?’
But something felt off about Iris’s vibe. She was staring at me with a face that looked like she’d just seen a ghost.
‘What’s going on? Did I mess up? Did I get something on my face or what?’
I patted my face, but nothing was there. But then I noticed something else.
“Gasp…”
My once-clean clothes were now completely soaked in blood. I panicked and tugged at my collar to check underneath.
‘Oh no…’
Looks like the traps in that white corridor had hit harder than I thought, and my wounds hadn’t fully healed. They weren’t serious, just tiny cuts.
The issue was my body didn’t form scabs; instead, blood just continued to flow until the skin decided to seal itself.
I looked like I had just committed a gruesome crime.
“Um… Iris, about that…”
Thinking back to how she freaked out at the sight of blood before, I hesitated and took a step back.
Thud.
I felt the closed door against my back. ‘I should’ve known better than to close it…’ I regretted it, but now it was too late.
“…It smells like blood.”
“Ah! Uh, yeah, sorry! I should’ve cleaned up first.”
“That’s not…!”
Iris’s expression twisted as she walked towards me. Her eyes swirled with a mix of emotions, and before I could even guess what those emotions were, she dropped her head.
“That’s not… that’s not what’s important, is it…”
I could hardly hear her mumble, so I leaned in closer. Suddenly, she completely clamped her mouth shut.
“I’m sorry, Iris! I totally forgot to take care of it thinking you were waiting for me.”
I stalled, glancing at the inside of my clothes where the wounds were slowly healing.
“Hey, were you worried because of the blood? If that’s the case, you really don’t have to.”
At my words, Iris cautiously lifted her head to look at me.
“This isn’t my blood. Look, this isn’t even my outfit, right?”
I couldn’t explain how the blood on my clothes had anything to do with the clothes I was wearing now. I just blurted out whatever came to mind to calm Iris, who looked like she was about to burst into tears.
“…Really?”
“Yeah, no wounds, see?”
She stepped forward and grabbed the hem of my shirt. I quickly took her hand and said,
“Why? You think I’m lying?”
Iris hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
“Well, that’s a little disappointing to hear… But since you’re worried and all, I’ll show you a tiny bit, okay?”
Once I was sure my wounds had closed up, I lifted my shirt slightly to reveal my abdomen. There was just a faint scar; no bleeding at all.
“See?”
“…”
Iris silently stared at my belly before finally nodding. It looked like she had finally accepted it. I beamed and adjusted my shirt back into place.
“It’s already dinner time! I’ll change clothes real quick and be right back! Just hang tight, okay?”
Iris was silent for a moment longer before she nodded again.
‘Note to self: Be more careful next time.’
Feeling a bit relieved, I headed towards the wardrobe.
“Huh? Why are my clothes all…?”
I frowned at the sight of all my neatly hung clothes sprawled out on the bed and quickly picked something to change into.
‘Did Iris play a prank while I was out?’
The thought made me chuckle lightly. Seeing that she was getting playful made me feel a swell of pride and warmth.
*
While Lian was changing clothes, Iris was swallowing the hot words stuck at the back of her throat.
‘…He had injuries.’
Iris had always kept a close watch on Lian. She noticed when he smelled of blood, when he got hurt, and when he healed. That’s how she knew.
The faint scar on his belly was a fresh wound.
Iris couldn’t get mad or complain at Lian, who smiled despite bleeding so much, all to reassure her.
‘The liar…’
A flood of emotions and thoughts swept through her mind.
It’s all your fault.
Would Lian have suffered so much if you’d been a decent person?
As her heart weakened, the voice she didn’t want to hear invaded her thoughts. Iris squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head vigorously.
Tears that had gathered in her eyes spilled over, and her mind turned blank. She cut off all thoughts in a desperate attempt to escape the painful ones.
“Let’s go eat dinner, Iris!”
“Yeah…”
Iris, looking spaced out as if she had never felt emotional, grasped Lian’s hand as they left the room.
Unaware of what awaited her at the end of the path she had taken to escape her pain.