“Do you think parenting is easy? Ah, here comes the princess. Remember, you must never ‘throw the ball,’ but also don’t be sloppy enough for her to notice!”

Meiana swiftly returned to her seat before Ariante arrived. Fortunately, Ariante had no idea what they’d discussed and remained innocent.

“Father! May I throw it?”

When Sedilroy nodded, Ariante hurled the ball, and it flew straight through the air, making a “thwack” sound.

“Ugh…”

Watching the ball hit Sedilroy square on and then fall to the ground, Meiana bit her lip to hold back her laughter.

Meanwhile, Grete entered the third alley of No. 744 and repeatedly counted the houses. One, two, three… one, two, three, four. She stood before the fifth house. But something was off.

The fifth house existed. It had a door, walls, and even a roof. But it was unclear how to enter. A jagged wooden fence surrounded it, with the door visible beyond it.

Anxious, Grete tapped here and there on the fence and even tried pushing it, conscious of the gazes of others. But it didn’t budge. How was she supposed to get in? How…

Then, it happened. While circling around, Grete felt something repeatedly snagging on the heel of her left shoe. She looked down.

‘Why are there so many stones…?’

It was only then that Grete realized the ground was strewn with numerous small stones.
At first glance, they were just ordinary stones, but no such pieces could be found elsewhere in the alley. Only around this house, the fifth one, were there dozens of such stone pieces.

He looked over the fence again. Next to the weathered door, a window frame could be seen. The glass was so smudged with dust it was nearly opaque.

Grete picked up one of the alley’s stones and hurled it toward the window. It struck the frame without making a sound… Cursing under his breath, Grete picked up several more stones and threw them all at once.

Crack! A sound was made. A few stones in succession struck the dusty glass. Given its decrepit appearance, Grete held his breath, fearing it might shatter.

Silence… Other than the indistinguishable noises coming from beyond the alley, nothing could be heard. It felt as if he had dropped into a completely separate, abruptly cut-off world. Had Housekeeper Joslyn given him incorrect information? Or had she set him up? Surely not…

That was the moment. The old door silently opened. However, no one appeared from outside. The moment Grete shrugged in confusion, a part of the once immovable fence lifted from inside to outside.

Grete nearly let out an “Ah!” He bit his tongue to stop himself, but couldn’t hide his flustered expression.

“Come in quickly. What are you dawdling for?”

The man who opened the gate was short, like a child—thus invisible to Grete… His face was uneven, like a potato, covered in black warts, and his swollen nose was grotesque.

Startled by the man’s appearance, Grete hesitated, but as soon as he heard someone approaching, he bolted into the yard like a rat avoiding a cat. The man left Grete outside and walked into the house with slow steps.

“Wait a moment!”

Terrified, Grete let out a short scream. The sound of fabric tearing came from his clothes getting caught on a thistle. And it wasn’t just thistles.

Plants he had never seen before filled the small yard densely. They all looked as if they were hiding some dark, ominous secret in their blossoms.

The man chuckled as if laughing at Grete’s fluster.

The man said,

“Don’t act so stupid, come in quickly. Otherwise, I’ll kick you over into the thistles and poisonous herbs. You want your whole body covered in boils?”

Grete’s face turned as white as a sheet.