I awoke with a gasp. I had goosebumps and my heart was beating quickly. I had a horrible nightmare. I remember high-pitched laughter, bright shining eyes, and the echo of a voice.

‘Die.’ 

I sat up from my bed, gasping for air. The word filled me with pain, the pain I couldn’t understand. I eventually calmed down, taking large gulps of air. Staring ahead, I looked at my room. 

I’d been locking myself inside and staying here. Whether I was under my blankets, contemplating my grim future, or trying to write strategies on my desk, there was a looming sense of doom the longer I stayed. 

My head throbbed. I vaguely remember Heath forcing me out of my room with a threat. But after that, it was blank. I frowned. My memory wasn’t exceptional, but it wasn’t bad enough to forget what happened as soon as I left my room. Even if I got drunk—god knows how I got my hands on alcohol— I would’ve forgotten the whole day or bits of it.

The way my memory cut off right as I stepped out of my room— was too convenient. My eyes narrowed. Something must’ve happened. But what…? 

I sighed. I hoped it wasn’t my fault, but knowing me… very likely. Perhaps Heath snapped and used a spell to erase my memory?

I got up from bed, looking around my room. It was noon so I must’ve been asleep for a long time. I spot a suspicious pile on my desk. Peri must’ve brought these in as I slept. I walk closer and recognize the pile as— letters. I grumble under my breath as I read the names of the sender.

“Clara, Vale, Henrietta, Roy, Buinter…” I furrowed my eyebrows. Who are these people? They had to be nobles that I spoke one or two words with. Why would they suddenly send letters? I opened up the letter sent by Henrietta and skimmed through it.

‘Hello, Prince Rael,

I’ve heard of the unfortunate news that befell the nation of Tenn and can’t help but tear up as I write this. I wanted to know how you felt? There are rumors of how close you and Ru were, especially since you decided to dance with him. I hope that you recover well.

Sending wishes and good fortune, Henrietta Vanelle.’

My mouth twitched. What. What is this? First Heath thinks I’m in love with Ru and now this?

‘Dear Prince Rael,

Ru Hasselt must be devastated, and in turn, so are you. I hope—‘

What—

‘Good morning, Sixth Prince Rael,

Are you well—?’

Nearly all letters asked if I was okay after what happened to Tenn. I wasn’t, but now I was growing mad. Because they thought that I was in love with Ru and would naturally become saddened by this. They had one part right and it sure as hell wasn't the being-in-love part!

I gritted my teeth. How did this rumor even get so big? I spot a letter at the bottom of the pile and pull it out. I squint my eyes. ‘Al Tyre’.

Oh no.

I nervously open the letter, dreading what I might read.

‘Hello, Prince Rael,

I had planned on going to my summer resort that lay at the edge of Yrd and Urel and wanted to invite you. Only my closest friends will be there so it won’t be too crowded. The trip lasts for a week so be prepared.

Sincerely Al Tyre.‘

I tossed the letter away, seeing it fall to the ground. No. No way would I go to his summer resort with his closest friends. I could piece it together, he wanted me to spend time with him, Weiss, and Claus. After what happened with Ru, I refused to even look at a love interest until the school arc started.

Glancing at the letter on the ground, I tapped at the desk. Would that mean I’d stay in this horrible castle for two whole years? Yes. But it calmed my heart to know I wasn’t messing up the plot anymore.

I smiled. Yes, this is the right choice.

---

 

God, why do you hate me?

Peri had begun forcing me to eat dinner with my family once more, and I was currently trying to finish my plate of steak and salad when the Queen spoke all of a sudden.

“It sure is empty now…” She sounded a bit sad when she said that, looking around the empty table. School had started for the Vandergardens, so they’d already left for the Academy. Even Wei left, but since he was starting school next year, he’d left to travel to Hans, the country farthest from Urel.

It was very empty without them. I place my hand on my cheek as I stare at the empty seats. Roy who usually spent the entire meal fixing his non-existent flaws, Teop who grew so nervous eating in front of people that he just stared at the table the whole time, and Crille who would sneer and look at me with disgust when he knew I was looking. I wiped an invisible tear.

I’ll miss them… not! This was perfect! Amazing in fact! Even with Wei and Heath gone, I now knew peace. Sure, I’d be lonely here and there but in a fantasy world, I’m sure to find some way to entertain myself. I smiled as I took another bite of the steak. Ah, is this the taste of victory? So delicious! I can get used to this.

“It sure is.” The King agreed after a short pause. I watched the two exchange a glance. I had a bad feeling about this…

“Rael.” The Queen flashed a bright smile. “It seems that you’ve gotten well with other nobles! I’m so proud of you. You’re becoming just like your mother.” I had to suppress the urge to audibly gasp. I didn’t quite understand how that was an insult but every word out of her lips was an insult!

“But I’m quite worried that you’re staying inside your room for too long. You should go out more.” I smiled.

“I take plenty of walks in the garden.” That wasn’t a lie. Isn’t that good enough? I saw her eye twitch and knew she was growing angry.

“Nevertheless, it isn’t enough for a healthy growing boy like you.” She looked like she was swallowing a pile of shit as she praised me. “So I and the King decided to help you!”

“With what…?”

“With going out more, silly.” There was a lot of venom on that last word… “So you’ll be kicked out of the palace until…” She looked at her clock. “A week from now.”

“But where am I supposed to go…?” The Queen frowned like I was asking an obvious question. 

“You could sightsee! Or perhaps visit one of your new friends and stay over?” Like a freeloader? I couldn’t take her seriously. Why did she want me to leave desperately if it was only temporary?

“Rael. Clara and I want to spend time alone for a while. Of course, you can stay if you want but—“ The King began but I cut him off.

“Alright, I’ll be packing my bags and leaving now, bye!”

I tried not to gag at the thought of the King and Queen spending time alone. It was obvious, that I might be in the body of a thirteen-year-old but I sure as hell wasn’t in the mind of one! I shot the two dirty looks as I left the table. Neither of them blushed.

Damn you, adults! You should be more ashamed of yourselves!

Cursing them, I headed back to my room. As I slammed my door shut from the rage and disgust, I stepped on something. I looked down to see a letter. I sighed loudly. I picked the letter up and glared at it.

“I guess you win this time, Al.”

---

 

Al scratched the back of his head.

“You seem quite upset for some reason, Rael.”

“Yeah, I wonder why,” I remarked sarcastically. I was currently sitting in a carriage with Al. Weiss and Claus were in the second carriage, thankfully. 

I finally asked. “Why a trip all of a sudden? And isn’t it a bit far.” Al avoided my watchful eye.

“I just felt like it. It’ll be nice with just the four of us.” He smiled but the smile was a bit forced. I stared at him and then looked away.

“Okay.” I wouldn’t push him for an answer. Even Al had personal issues that he wouldn’t disclose. Perhaps Weiss and Claus knew, but I didn’t. Because I wasn’t his closest friend, nor was I planning to be.

As soon as this trip was over, I was going to… block his letters! Maybe create a magic circle that causes letters sent by “Al Tyre '' to burn when they enter Urel? I snickered to myself. It was a good plan, how do I execute it?

I spent the entire carriage ride thinking about magical ways to block a letter from entering my room. Al was deep in thought too, and we were familiar with one another to be comfortable with a bit of silence. 

The carriage stopped and I raised my head. I gasped. The entirety of Yrd was a landscape of snow and ice, but this summer estate had not a trace of white on it. You could see the green grass and it even looked warm. An attendant opened the door and I stepped out. I was surprised. 

Al slapped me on my shoulder. “So? What do you think?” 

“This looks just like Urel.” Al rolled his eyes. 

“Oh right, you’re not from here.” The attendants began loading our bags and entering the estate. Weiss and Claus were talking as they approached us. I couldn’t help but tense up. 

Out of all of the love interests, I knew the least about Weiss. That made him more of a pain to deal with. 

Weiss was an annoying love interest who found amusement in toying with people. If he found a way to ruin something pleasant, he’d do it in a heartbeat. That twisted mindset of his had to be some psychological reason, but I wasn’t sure what. 

I’d read about his route on the DKQ wiki. All I knew was that you were supposed to catch his attention and avoid all of his antics. Once he knew that he couldn’t do anything to you, you had him. And from there on, you reformed his twisted personality. Weiss wasn’t that bad of a guy originally, but he wasn’t a good guest at social events either.

I placed a hand under my chin, pondering. I should never put my guard down around him. Who knows what he’ll do. We entered the state. I followed Al who headed upstairs. Weiss and Claus were walking behind me so I walked quicker. Al paused as he opened a few doors.

“Oh right…”

“What?” Claus asked.

“I forgot that this summer estate needs to be renovated.” Curiously, I looked at the rooms. Claus frowned.

“Why, the rooms look perfectly fine.” Al groaned.

“Yeah but there are only two rooms. The rest are rooms for the attendants or storage” I paused. Oh. Al shrugged his shoulders.

“Oh well, it seems that we’ll have to share rooms with somebody.” Al grinned and walked up to me. “I’ll be sharing a room with—“ I felt someone grab my shoulder and looked to my left.

“Me,” Weiss said with a grin. Al was stunned. My mouth was agape. Al tried protesting.

“But… you can just share a room with Claus.” Weiss shook his head.

“What if Rael feels left out? We haven’t had time to spend with him, so this is the perfect opportunity.” His grin sent shivers down my spine. Is this what meeting the devil feels like?

Claus looked at me with pity and Al seemed disappointed. They picked the room next to us, while Weiss dragged me inside the room. I was terrified to be left alone with him. What if he pulled a wand and turned me into a frog!?

Weiss let go of me and chose the bed closest to the window. He threw himself on the bed and smiled at me. 

“Hello, Rael.” Another shiver down my spine. He was terrifying.

“H-hello.” I couldn’t help but stutter. 

“I can’t help but think it’s great that Al has gotten himself another friend. I wasn’t expecting it to be you, though.” Why not, I wanted to ask but my whole face was stiff. Weiss stood up and held out his hand. I stared at it.

“I hope we’ll get along well.” I looked at him and then back to his hand. I placed my hand on his shoulder, smiling. That hand was probably a trap or something. 

“Me too.” Weiss looked surprised but he lowered his hand. I saw a faint smile forming on his face but I ignored him and left. Even if I shared a room with this devil, I’d ignore him as much as possible.

It’s only a week, it can’t be that hard?

---

 

Avoiding Weiss was a near-impossible task. While enjoying a nice cup of tea, Weiss sat right next to me. He would try to strike up conversations while I tried shutting them down. Eventually, he gave up and returned to stirring his cup of tea with a sad expression. I wasn’t falling for it.

Al began making complaints about the sweets.

“This one tastes so bland. Did they forget to add sugar?” I tasted the same biscuit and felt that it tasted fine. Claus rolled his eyes.

“It’s because you’re so damn picky about your treats.” Al crossed his arms.

“I’m not! Is it picky to want the right measurement of sugar?!”

“Yes.” Claus and Weiss spoke. Al was rendered speechless. He was quiet for a while before he spoke up.

“Baking isn’t that hard. I honestly think I could do it better.” I stared at Al. He smiled mischievously.

“Since we have nothing better to do, how about we have a baking competition? We’ll taste test everyone’s dishes at the end and the winner wins… a secret tour to the underground dungeon!” I perked up. A dungeon? Weiss and Claus exchanged glances before shrugging.

“Sure,” Weiss remarked.

“Alright,” Claus replied.

“I’m in!” I said, a bit too enthusiastically. Al chuckled to himself and then stood up.

“Then follow me!” 

He began leading the way to the kitchen while telling the attendants of the plan. I saw the worry on their faces as they prepared the ingredients that we would be using. Why were they so worried? I’m sure that this would go well.

I looked at my opponents. Al looked like he didn’t know how to boil water, so it’d be an easy win against him. Claus seemed pretty knowledgeable about everything so he could be a tough opponent. The last one, Weiss, was a wild card. I had no idea what to expect. He could be the world’s greatest pâtissière or burn every ingredient by just touching them. 

I sighed. Oh well, I was aiming to win. I can still remember a few simple recipes from my past life. I rolled up my sleeves. 

“Let’s do this.”

---

 

The baking competition began strong. Claus was quick to run to the eggs and grab a bag of flour. He ran back to his station, staring intensely at the bowls. He didn’t know which bowl to use. He grabbed the smallest bowl and began cracking the eggs. I saw Claus grab one egg, slam it at the bottom of the bowl and then grab another. 

I looked away. I sure as hell wasn’t going to eat his meal, the boy didn’t even know how to crack an egg properly. He’d probably confuse salt for sugar later on too...

I looked at Al’s station and saw--fire. He had put too much heat and now the water had evaporated while his station was on fire. He stared at this scene in surprise as the attendants ran around in place to put out the fire. 

I guess he’s disqualified too.

I glanced at Weiss. He was calmly stirring his lager bowl, making sure to add a bit of milk. He looked up and caught me staring. He smiled and I looked away. I guess he was a decent baker then.

But that wasn’t enough to win against me. I started with my ingredients. I cracked a few eggs, measured the flour, prepared the salt, cacao, and sugar, and kept a check on everything. By the time I put it in the oven, I felt like a victor. I watched the others again.

Claus was… baking his cookies (?) on the stove. He had put an insane amount of oil so it was more like he was frying them. He looked at the cookies (?) with concentration and then took them out. The appearance of the cookies (they don’t look like cookies anymore) was horrifying. You could see the eggshells spilling out of it, he hadn’t mixed the flour well so bits of hard flour were visible as well. He had put the wrong seasonings and turned the sweets into a red mess. All in all, I wasn’t eating it. 

Al was rolling his dough that didn’t look too bad. He might’ve had a bad start but it was going well for him. I could feel a nice aroma from the sauce he was boiling in the pot. Let’s hope that won’t catch fire too.

I finally looked at Weiss’ station. He had a high temperature on and I saw him add massive amounts of oil. I watched as he plopped one of his dough pieces and gently fry it. I was intrigued by how that would taste. It looked a bit bland but perhaps I’d be pleasantly surprised?

It took twenty minutes for everyone to finish. I plated the desert to the best of my abilities. I prepared four plates (I wanted to eat my dessert too, y’know) and placed three of them on a table. The other three soon came with their plates. We were silent as we silently judged each other’s meals.

“Should I start first?” Claus stepped up. I exchanged a glance with Weiss and Al. 

“No.” Weiss was blunt.

“There’s no need!” Al tried being nice.

“Let’s save it for last.” I lied. Hopefully, we could make excuses about being full by then. I lifted my plate.

“Let me start.” Prepare to be amazed! They watched their slice of brownie with curiosity. 

“What is this?”

“Why is it so… gooey?” Al wrinkled his nose.

“It looks like something else I know.” Weiss laughed at his immature joke.

I rolled my eyes. Children. 

“Just taste it! Go on!” Al lifted a small bite to his mouth. His eyes lit up as he ate it. He took a bigger bite and continued until he’d eaten every crumb of it. 

“Hm. That was mediocre.” I slapped him on his back which he laughed at. Claus seemed to like it as well and Weiss wanted seconds guessing from how he was eyeing my station. I smirked. This was an easy win. 

“I’m next then!” Al was right beside me so he distributed his sweet. “It’s a classic Yrd sweet.” It looked like a bun that’d been stuffed with something. The bun was stretchy and soft. I took a bite of it and was surprised. The sauce inside of it was sweet and flavorful if a bit spicy. The crunchiness of peanuts and the aroma of cinnamon made it a nice dish. I finished the bun in seconds and smiled in satisfaction. It was a good dish. The other two enjoyed their meal in silence and then we turned to Weiss. He laughed.

“This is a dessert that my mom likes to make.” I stared at him curiously. Considering he was black, was it similar to black cuisine on Earth? I studied the fried dough on my plate. It’d gotten a bronze brown while fried. It smelled fantastic, and I chomped on it. It was chewy, with not a lot of sugar, and didn't have a lot of flavors. But it was surprisingly delicious and addicting to eat.

Al sighed in happiness as he ate. “I love it when your mom makes these. I still can’t remember the name but I think it starts with a t?”

Claus nodded as he chewed his. “They’re addicting.” Weiss smiled but he looked a bit embarrassed about the praise. I smiled at him.

“They taste fantastic. I’m jealous that Claus and Al get to have them so often.” I wouldn’t mind having some too every once in a while. Weiss blinked at me. And then he grinned.

“Then I guess I’ll have to give you more next time.” Next time…? Uh oh. I stopped chewing and accidentally choked on a big piece. I coughed loudly to get it out, hitting my chest. When the piece finally went the right way, I started lamenting my choice of words.

Shit, he must have misunderstood. There won’t be a next time! This is the last time! 

Finally, it was Claus’s turn. He gave us a shy smile as he pushed the plate to us.

“I tasted it and it’s pretty decent. I hope you like it.” The three of us had stiff expressions.

“You know Claus, I’m starting to feel quite full.” Weiss rubbed at his stomach while Al and I furiously nodded. Claus frowned.

“Then you can just have one bite.” He was insistent and so we all forked a small piece of Claus’s meal. I dreaded having to eat it but I had a cup of water to wash it down with. I carefully tasted the dish and my eyes grew wide.

It was… actually decent! I couldn’t for the life of me explain what was going on with the flavor department but it was good. I took another piece and ate it. The eggshells… tasted as bad as I expected and the pieces of flour were bad surprises but Claus wasn’t a hopeless chef.

“Not bad!” I praised which caused Claus to smile. 

“I think I ate too many of the eggshells.” Al’s face was turning green as he’d nearly finished the plate of cookies (is it cookies??). 

Weiss shook his head as he put down his fork. “I can still taste the flour,” He took my glass of water and chugged it down. I stared at all of the dishes.

“Well, who won?” We all turned to look at Al who’d suggested the competition. Right as we did, he remarked; “I think I’m about to be sick,” and ran out of the room. 

Silence.

“I guess Claus lost then.” Weiss started wheezing from laughter.

“Yeah…” Claus looked disappointed.

I chuckled as well. Surprisingly, the baking competition ended with a tie between Al, Weiss, and me. The only loser was Claus. My cheeks hurt from all the smiling and I rubbed at them as I watched Weiss tease Claus. I was having a bit too much fun right now. 

Remember, keep a distance from them! Don’t let them get close!

---

 

A few days had passed. Those days had been eventful, to say the least. My guard had been down since I noticed that Weiss hadn’t pulled any mean pranks. I was walking with Al when I heard Weiss shout my name. He waved at me to come inside the room. I began walking to him but paused briefly. Something felt… off. 

I watched Al walk ahead with a smile. He opened the door wider and when he walked in— a bucket full of white powder fell on him. My mouth was agape and Al paused. Weiss was silent too before he snorted and burst into giggles. 

“Gee, where did this bucket of flour appear from?” Weiss asked in a monotone voice. Al removed the bucket and his face was blank. Before he threw the bucket at Weiss, who dodged it. Al stomped out of the room, muttering curses I didn’t think a 13-year-old should know, and closing the door shut behind him. I looked at Weiss who grinned at me.

“Well? Won’t you sit down? We haven’t had a proper conversation.” Because I’ve been ignoring you.

Weiss had tried to talk to me. Several times. He sat next to me whenever we sat together, when we played magical card games, he’d help me. He’d also try to talk to me right before bed.

“Are you awake?” Weiss would ask and I wouldn’t respond. Eventually, he too grew quiet and fell asleep.

Should I feel guilty for ignoring him? Maybe… but it’s for my safety! Weiss was a tricky person, seeing as he’d nearly made me take a flour bath just a few seconds ago. He clasped his hands together as I took a seat.

“So,” He began. “Do you like Al?” I furrowed my eyebrows.

“I don’t hate him.” Weiss shook his head.

“No, no not like that. Do you like like Al?” I blinked slowly. And then I sighed loudly. I gave Weiss a disapproving glance.

“Why would you think that?” Weiss shrugged.

“You’re always sticking to him. And you’re more open with him. So I just assumed…” Keep your assumption to yourself then. I shook my head.

“I cling to him as much as you cling to Claus, that’s what a close friend is.” Weiss seemed to understand as he nodded.

“Alright, with that out of the way, is it true that you’re engaged to Ru Hasselt?” I had to take a deep breath to calm myself. I glared at him.

“Do you believe every rumor you hear?” He smiled, not affected.

“There’s always some truth in every rumor. Well then?”

“Does the answer ‘hell no’ suffice?” Weiss rubbed his chin.

“Not sure, elaborate?” I sighed as Weiss chuckled. I stood up. 

“Well if you’ll excuse me—“

“Why do you keep avoiding me?” I froze. I looked back at Weiss. He was no longer smiling.

“I’m not avoiding—“

“That trap had been meant for Al so that I could finally talk to you but you already want to leave. You’re running away right now. You pretend to fall asleep when I want to talk at night, you ignore me when I’m next to you or you keep the conversation short.” My cheeks flushed. He’s sharp. Weiss eyed me as he crossed his arms.

“Why do you keep avoiding me? Did my antics at Mary’s party scare you away? No, you’re just uninterested in me. Why is that?” I hesitated. I could walk away right now. If I walked away, I wouldn’t have to explain a thing and he’d stop trying. 

But the look in his eye made me stop. If I walked away right now, our potential friendship ended here, permanently. He’d probably change rooms, start ignoring me and we’d go back to being strangers. But something about that bothered me. Even though Weiss was quite annoying… he was fun to be around. Was it worth trying to befriend him at risk of ruining the game?

I wanted to sigh again. I looked at Weiss. And apologized.

“I’m sorry.” He looked upset. But the apology wasn’t meant for him. It was meant for the game’s future. This game has already gone off the rails, who cares if it ends up on a different track?

I walked up to Weiss and held my hand up. “I’ve been pretty horrible to you this whole time without realizing it,” I smoothly lied. “But I want to start over. And genuinely become friends.” Weiss stared at my hand. 

I remember that I never did shake his hand that one time. I was so weary of him that I patted him on his shoulder. Weiss grabbed my hand and shook it. And with his other hand, he patted my shoulder, as though to tease my previous action.

“Sure.” He smiled and I returned it.

Screw being cautious, I deserve a bit of happiness too.

---

 

Al held the lantern high as he squinted. “I hate how dark it is here.” 

We were currently in the underground dungeon, the one that Al had promised to give a tour to whoever won. But since it was a tie, he asked us all to just go. Weiss and Claus declined, saying they weren’t interested. They’d already been there several times before. So it was only Al and me.

“Hey watch out for rocks. Even though there’s nothing left here, the rocks can have remnants of curses. Nothing too dangerous but you might find yourself tripping on air suddenly or stubbing your toe multiple times.” I looked at the ground. There were rocks everywhere… How was I supposed to avoid them? I shot Al a dirty look and he burst into laughter.

“There’s nothing left here, the dungeon was cleared two centuries ago. Since it’s under our summer estate, I’ve made it a tradition to go here whenever we visit.” The tunnel we were currently walking through was dark and gloomy. The ground consisted of small rocks and the dirt walls and ceiling looked unstable. 

“Won’t it collapse?” Al shook his head.

“It might look fragile but this dungeon is sustained by magic. The magic still hasn’t disappeared even after two centuries. Originally, people thought that there was another monster hiding there, but they found nothing. This dungeon can stay afloat all by itself. I don’t think it’ll ever collapse.” He touched the walls as he walked. I walked right next to him, wishing my lantern could burn stronger. I didn’t like walking in dark, tight spaces. 

After a few minutes, the tunnel opened up to a large cavern. 

“There used to be a nest of silver spiders. They’re a sort of spider that thrive in Yrd and create pit traps by putting soft snow or thin ice on top and waiting for someone to fall in.” He pointed at a large hole. I almost couldn’t see the bottom of it. He pointed at another hole. 

“There’s where the horned goblins resided. They sustained themselves by picking regular fights with silver spiders, poisonous fanged larvae, and the Cursed.” 

He gave me a history lesson as we walked around. It was interesting to listen while walking. Hearing him explain the monsters sent a shiver down my spine. Thank god the dungeon has long since been abandoned. 

“The Cursed was the biggest pain to kill. They’ll rather die and bring you down with them than let you go unscathed.” The Cursed were creatures, monsters, or species that turn their backs on the Gods. They gain the ability to curse, poison, and hallucinate their opponents. They were a menace to everyone. It was still unexplainable how they became a Cursed. They become insane when they turn, not capable of communication or rational thoughts, and vanish into smoke once dead, so no speculation could be made. 

I looked at the hole where the Cursed once resided. It had taken them a long battle to get rid of them all. But the battle had been worth it. 

“There were all sorts of treasures. Several teleportation scrolls that could teleport you to the other side of the world, protection charms that could last for half a century, and even a potion of Aptitude.” Al’s eyes shined as he spoke. “Imagine having all of that… It’s a pity that all of it is gone now.” He entered another tunnel and I quickly joined him. “These are the other entrances. They stretch to other cities in Yrd, except for one entrance that begins in Urel.” I follow him and listen in silence. 

This was comforting. Al, having run out of things to say, grew silent. I glanced at him and asked the question that had been nagging me for a while.

“Why do you go to the summer estate?” Of course, if he didn’t want to answer, I’d back away. Al was quiet.

“I… don’t want to talk about it.” I expected that answer.

“Okay.” Al stopped.

“Let’s go back?”

“Sure.”

We began walking back. When we returned to the large cavern, I still wanted to explore more. 

“Hey Al, you can wait at the entrance, I just want to look around a bit more.” Al frowned at me.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’ll be careful.” He hesitated but soon left. I walked in the dark with my lantern. I was curious about something Al said. That this dungeon sustained itself with magic. Even if that was the case, shouldn’t there be a core or something similar? How come they hadn’t found it?

I edged away from the old nests of the monsters and touched the walls. The walls in this cavern were smooth and there were no rocks on the ground, only dirt. 

I squinted to see the dark cavern a bit better. There was a big difference between the tunnels and this cavern. The tunnels were rough and quickly made. They seemed man-made. While this cavern looked to have been carefully built, lacking the claustrophobia. 

But this cavern also made my danger sense tingle. Something told me that it wasn’t all too safe here.

I carefully walk around the cavern, using my hand to feel the smooth walls. They sure are nice. You could probably lean against them and fall asleep easily. I continued to feel the walls when I stopped. The wall was smooth here but unlike other parts, it didn’t feel as hard. As though the earth was thinner here. I knocked on the wall and noticed that it was hollow. I frowned. There was no reason for it to be hollow behind this wall. 

Nearly blind, I began looking for clues or hints on the wall with my lantern. Finding little to nothing, I stared at the ground. Nearly at knee length, I saw a small crack. I lowered myself. Should I peek inside? I’m sure there’s nothing there, after all this dungeon was two centuries old.

Whatever lived here before had to be dead by now. 

I leaned closer into the crack. The crack was sort of round, almost perfect for me to peek into. At first, all I saw was black. I sighed in relief. See, there wasn’t anything here—

And then there was purple. The black color had turned into purple. I was confused. Why had it suddenly become purple? For a fraction of a second, the purple turned to black before reverting to purple. The longer I stared, the more I noticed that the purple was darker in some parts. And when the purple flashed to black once more, it dawned on me.

Something was watching me. I dropped the lantern and pushed myself away from the wall. My heart was beating loudly as my breathing had quickened. Shit. What had I just discovered? 

I was still for a minute. If that thing was after me, even if I ran, I wouldn’t be able to escape. 

But sensing nothing, I calmed myself. It must’ve been a fluke. Or maybe it wasn't interested in me? Whatever it was, I had to leave as soon as possible. My lantern had been extinguished when I dropped it. I had to shout for Al to save me.

“Hey, Al! My lantern is—!“ I felt the air brush against my back. I froze. There was nothing here besides me. The fear made me petrified. I saw a flash of purple. I was foolish. I thought that it had left me alone. But it had never left, it had merely gone closer to me. 

My scream was cut off short as I was dragged into the hollow wall that suddenly had an entrance. The entrance vanished a second after.

---

 

It took Al three minutes to reach the spot where Rael was last seen. 

“Rael?” He looked around but couldn’t see him anywhere. He looked at the ground and saw Rael’s lantern. It was burning faintly. Al picked it up and stared at it with worry. “Where could he have gone?”

Had Al leaned against the wall, he would’ve heard the muffled screams of Rael. And the silence that followed it.

Rael had been naive to think that there were no monsters that could live for over two centuries. In a fantasy world, there existed monsters that lived for far longer than that. 

And he had stumbled upon one of the oldest beings left in this world. 

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