The sound of wind came from somewhere.
Cedric, leaning against the window, couldn’t easily fall asleep.
‘I need to get some sleep.’
He firmly pressed his forehead.
His heart felt cold strangely on the day he met the princess. Like the fluttering heart of a human who can’t fall asleep on a day when a very large moon rises.
‘I’m tired when I come to the South.’
He took off his boots and gloves and sat on the long chair by the window. Then his sensitive ears caught a strange sound.
‘The sound of… opening the door?’
Is there anyone coming at this time?
‘I’m sure the last servant opened the door for me when I entered…’
He locked the door. Cedric quickly got up and looked out the window. Someone with a large bundle was walking into the forest.
‘What is it?’
It’s a strange time for workers to be walking around. Cedric rose from his seat.
“Stop there. It’s a prince’s order. Stop!”
It was the moment when Cedric blocked the person who was about to enter the forest.
Flash. A dull pain fell on the back of his head. Cedric collapsed.
* * *
“Well done, we caught two. Very excellent… You did well. I was wondering how we would handle this sacrifice after letting ‘them’ go, but a better product came in.”
Someone was muttering down at me.
I tried to open my eyes. But my eyelids didn’t move at all.
“Hurry up and get ready. Look at this appearance. Both are top products. After tonight’s ritual… many things will change.”
This voice. A voice I’ve heard somewhere before.
‘Who… is it?’
I absolutely couldn’t move my body. Because of the anesthesia. The thing that was put on my lips.
‘Two people?’
I thought with my barely moving head.
‘We’re going down… somewhere.’
My body was being carried by someone and was going down. I could feel the vibration of going down the stairs.
Tak, tak.
A noisy sound hit my ears. The sound of people’s cheers. It was almost a mad voice. I slowly opened my eyes.
Creak. Creak.
Something was shaking every time I moved my body. I looked up.
‘A cage?’
There was a steel bar in front of my eyes.
And it was shaking in the air. I shivered as I felt my body.
What was draped over my body was a transparent pink dress. I felt my head. It smelled of flowers.
‘A flower crown and a dress… It’s the same outfit I wore for the parade.’
The brass outfit I wore out for the main temple parade.
I was locked in a cage in that outfit. Then another creaking sound reached my ears. I abruptly looked to the side.
‘There’s another cage.’
In a similar long tunic outfit. Cedric in that outfit was closing his eyes inside the cage.
‘Prince Cedric? Why is he here… Was he captured with me?’
Woahhhh!
The people were cheering and clapping as they looked at Cedric and me.
‘Eek!’
The people were all dressed in bizarrely colorful costumes like jesters.
There were people with feathers around their necks and people with ruffle decorations. The costumes covered every nook and cranny, even their hands and feet. Even the gloves on their fingers were colorful.
‘Masks?’
And they were all wearing long, bird-shaped masks of various shapes on their faces.
From sparrows, chickens to peacocks. The masks moving gave a creepy, stomach-churning sight.
“Now, now, pay attention!”
Immediately after, a man wearing a crow mask came forward, parting the people. A few men stood side by side next to him.
‘It looks like a high priest.’
The people standing near the altar were all dressed in black robes, covering everything from their necks to their toes.
“Waited for this moment! Here are the sacrifices for tonight.”
“Beautiful!”
“Where did they get such high quality?”
“They are way better than that bum couple last time!”
Creak.
The cage door opened.
A man wearing a parrot mask thrust his hand into the cage and forcibly pulled me out.
‘The parrot mask, the man who kidnapped me.’
I struggled, but I couldn’t beat the strong grip of the man.
‘These people, they’re weird!’
The pupils of the people behind the masks were all looking at me.
‘I don’t like it!’
The eerily hollow pupils. They looked like the eyes of a dead bird. The parrot mask lifted me up in front of the people.
“Don’t be surprised, these are fakes!”
The man in the crow mask spread his arms wide as if he were in a play.
“This girl looks a lot like the genius princess of the rumored ducal house. Besides, the boy resembles the handsome second prince of the royal family. Don’t worry about the aftereffect. They are both commoners!”
No, that’s not it. I wanted to shout that I am the daughter of that Duke’s house.
However, whether my tongue was paralyzed or not, it didn’t move. The man in the crow mask grabbed my head and lifted it.
“We’ve done our best to provide these beautiful sacrifices for tonight’s ‘ritual’.”
I wasn’t able to articulate a response.
“Beautiful green eyes!”
“And the boy, just like a true royal! He has the rumored purple eyes!”
I panted and looked around. A strange smell. The more I inhaled the scent, the more my mind felt prickly.
‘This place is strange.’
This place is…
‘So extravagant.’
So extravagant that it seemed strange that it was in the South, the whole room was covered in gold.
On the walls, countless flowers of various colors were growing, and tens of silk curtains were hanging from the ceiling. On the floor, there were dozens of beds where people were lying slantingly.
“Oh? You’re awake?”
Then the man in the crow mask murmured at me.
It was creepy. It felt as if my heart was shrinking.
“Quickly, bring the incense burner!”
He commanded. A small incense burner was pushed in front of me.
The sound of wind came from somewhere.
Cedric, leaning against the window, couldn’t easily fall asleep.
‘I need to get some sleep.’
He firmly pressed his forehead.
His heart felt cold strangely on the day he met the princess. Like the fluttering heart of a human who can’t fall asleep on a day when a very large moon rises.
‘I’m tired when I come to the South.’
He took off his boots and gloves and sat on the long chair by the window. Then his sensitive ears caught a strange sound.
‘The sound of… opening the door?’
Is there anyone coming at this time?
‘I’m sure the last servant opened the door for me when I entered…’
He locked the door. Cedric quickly got up and looked out the window. Someone with a large bundle was walking into the forest.
‘What is it?’
It’s a strange time for workers to be walking around. Cedric rose from his seat.
“Stop there. It’s a prince’s order. Stop!”
It was the moment when Cedric blocked the person who was about to enter the forest.
Flash. A dull pain fell on the back of his head. Cedric collapsed.
* * *
“Well done, we caught two. Very excellent… You did well. I was wondering how we would handle this sacrifice after letting ‘them’ go, but a better product came in.”
Someone was muttering down at me.
I tried to open my eyes. But my eyelids didn’t move at all.
“Hurry up and get ready. Look at this appearance. Both are top products. After tonight’s ritual… many things will change.”
This voice. A voice I’ve heard somewhere before.
‘Who… is it?’
I absolutely couldn’t move my body. Because of the anesthesia. The thing that was put on my lips.
‘Two people?’
I thought with my barely moving head.
‘We’re going down… somewhere.’
My body was being carried by someone and was going down. I could feel the vibration of going down the stairs.
Tak, tak.
A noisy sound hit my ears. The sound of people’s cheers. It was almost a mad voice. I slowly opened my eyes.
Creak. Creak.
Something was shaking every time I moved my body. I looked up.
‘A cage?’
There was a steel bar in front of my eyes.
And it was shaking in the air. I shivered as I felt my body.
What was draped over my body was a transparent pink dress. I felt my head. It smelled of flowers.
‘A flower crown and a dress… It’s the same outfit I wore for the parade.’
The brass outfit I wore out for the main temple parade.
I was locked in a cage in that outfit. Then another creaking sound reached my ears. I abruptly looked to the side.
‘There’s another cage.’
In a similar long tunic outfit. Cedric in that outfit was closing his eyes inside the cage.
‘Prince Cedric? Why is he here… Was he captured with me?’
Woahhhh!
The people were cheering and clapping as they looked at Cedric and me.
‘Eek!’
The people were all dressed in bizarrely colorful costumes like jesters.
There were people with feathers around their necks and people with ruffle decorations. The costumes covered every nook and cranny, even their hands and feet. Even the gloves on their fingers were colorful.
‘Masks?’
And they were all wearing long, bird-shaped masks of various shapes on their faces.
From sparrows, chickens to peacocks. The masks moving gave a creepy, stomach-churning sight.
“Now, now, pay attention!”
Immediately after, a man wearing a crow mask came forward, parting the people. A few men stood side by side next to him.
‘It looks like a high priest.’
The people standing near the altar were all dressed in black robes, covering everything from their necks to their toes.
“Waited for this moment! Here are the sacrifices for tonight.”
“Beautiful!”
“Where did they get such high quality?”
“They are way better than that bum couple last time!”
Creak.
The cage door opened.
A man wearing a parrot mask thrust his hand into the cage and forcibly pulled me out.
‘The parrot mask, the man who kidnapped me.’
I struggled, but I couldn’t beat the strong grip of the man.
‘These people, they’re weird!’
The pupils of the people behind the masks were all looking at me.
‘I don’t like it!’
The eerily hollow pupils. They looked like the eyes of a dead bird. The parrot mask lifted me up in front of the people.
“Don’t be surprised, these are fakes!”
The man in the crow mask spread his arms wide as if he were in a play.
“This girl looks a lot like the genius princess of the rumored ducal house. Besides, the boy resembles the handsome second prince of the royal family. Don’t worry about the aftereffect. They are both commoners!”
No, that’s not it. I wanted to shout that I am the daughter of that Duke’s house.
However, whether my tongue was paralyzed or not, it didn’t move. The man in the crow mask grabbed my head and lifted it.
“We’ve done our best to provide these beautiful sacrifices for tonight’s ‘ritual’.”
I wasn’t able to articulate a response.
“Beautiful green eyes!”
“And the boy, just like a true royal! He has the rumored purple eyes!”
I panted and looked around. A strange smell. The more I inhaled the scent, the more my mind felt prickly.
‘This place is strange.’
This place is…
‘So extravagant.’
So extravagant that it seemed strange that it was in the South, the whole room was covered in gold.
On the walls, countless flowers of various colors were growing, and tens of silk curtains were hanging from the ceiling. On the floor, there were dozens of beds where people were lying slantingly.
“Oh? You’re awake?”
Then the man in the crow mask murmured at me.
It was creepy. It felt as if my heart was shrinking.
“Quickly, bring the incense burner!”
He commanded. A small incense burner was pushed in front of me.
