The Maid Hates Childcare - Chapter 64

It was a probing question, but her reaction made it impossible not to notice.

‘I had been thinking about it constantly.’

I had been replaying the times when I visited the hole-in-the-wall store every day.

‘She knew about the possessed ones.’

At the end, she said everyone went where they wanted.

If anything, she had leaked more information to me than Hayang had.

“Can you see this? Open the door quickly.”

I dangled the half-glowing necklace in front of Hayang.

[I can’t see it.]

The teddy bear pretended not to see.

“Really? Then I’ll just throw it away. Such a useless necklace.”

I immediately made a gesture of taking off the necklace and throwing it towards the window.

[Eek, I’ll open it. I’ll open it!]

Only after I said something I didn’t mean did Hayang move.

The small hole where the teddy bear had jumped soon grew into a door large enough for me to enter.

[Come in.]

The interior behind the opened door was still filled with hazy mist.

“You stay here.”

[Where are you taking me!]

I put Hayang in the closet and closed the door.

‘I feel like you’ll cause trouble if I leave you alone.’

I could hear some mumbling from inside the closet, but I cheerfully ignored it.

I was able to enter through the door alone.

‘Something seems a bit different?’

A hazy sun hung in the dim sky.

Below it, an old shop could be seen.

It was open for me.

“Welcome.”

A man with white hair hanging down greeted me.

“I came today because I have something I want to ask.”

He smiled at my words. It was a smile that seemed like it might disappear like mist.

I asked about them without hesitation.

“Please tell me about the possessed ones. Why did they come here, and why did they suddenly disappear?”

I overflowed with questions to ask.

The novel was created in my time period.

But the previous possessed ones were people from before the story was created.

How many people had come here, and what was this man’s true identity?

There were still many things I needed to know.

“You look like you have many questions. Well then. Where should I begin……”

The man who trailed off his words narrowed his eyes.

“I invited the possessed ones.”

As I thought, this man was the culprit behind all the incidents.

The man continued speaking.

“The triggering condition for the invitation is something like ‘wanting to live in another world’ or ‘wanting to move to another place’.”

I was dumbfounded as soon as I heard it.

‘Is it right to call that an invitation?’

I was shopping at the supermarket, and when I opened my eyes, I was in the Cold Palace.

No matter how you look at it, wasn’t it more like being dragged here?

‘……I think I might have had similar thoughts.’

I do remember thinking I wanted to get out of that fight where dialects were flying around, but who would have known it would turn out like this?

‘Who in the world doesn’t have such fantasies at least once?’

According to the man’s words, all the people in my world had received invitations and still remained.

“There’s also timing to consider. The time periods not matching up…… there were circumstances.”

It was an evasive answer, but looking at the man’s face, I didn’t think he would answer even if I pressed further.

Before that, I needed to get the most necessary answer.

“Then what about their sudden disappearance?”

“The previous possessed ones fulfilled their wishes after granting my request. Leaving here was their own will.”

This was the issue I had been most worried about.

‘It wasn’t a sudden disappearance.’

I let out a sigh of relief.

But there were still questions remaining.

“Then did Evelyn also say she wanted to go back?”

“Ah, you mean Ms. Choi Mal Sook.”

Choi Mal Sook……

It was a moment when I realized the age difference between that person and me through the name.

“She suddenly said she wanted to go back. Saying she missed her real family.”

The moment to make a wish was brief.

Depending on what choice you make at that time, your entire future would change completely.

“If you grant my three requests, I will fulfill your wish as well.”

“Three? Did the others also grant that many before they left?”

“No. It was much cheaper. This is also reflecting the inflation rate……”

According to his own words, there was even someone who fulfilled their wish just by bringing a box of apples.

‘He’s talking about a price increase, isn’t he?’

Who would have thought I’d hear something like “jajangmyeon used to cost 800 won in the old days” from this man?

It was absurd that he mentioned inflation for requests, but he explained as if he had his own reasons.

“Instead, the scope of the wishes was smaller. Back then, it was a choice between returning or staying.”

“Then how wide is the scope of my wish?”

“Well, let’s see. Perhaps enough to prevent the end of the world?”

The man grinned.

It was a smile with unreadable intentions that made me quite suspicious.

“……What if I refuse to grant the requests?”

What I was worried about was being forcibly expelled from this world.

I had already accomplished everything I wanted, and I didn’t need a wish to prevent the end of the world that would never happen anyway.

But the world was never that simple.

“Your very existence will be erased from both worlds.”

“Wait, isn’t that too much?”

Being dragged here was already semi-forced, but refusing the request means annihilation.

Despite the customer’s protest, the owner only kept smiling.

In the end, I gave up and decided to at least hear what the requests were.

“What are the requests?”

“You’re already doing one of them. Summoning my minions.”

The man answered as if he had been waiting.

‘Well, it’s not completely impossible.’

The necklace was already half full.

Even if it took some time, if things from my world had influence, I could continue to fill it.

“Then what about the other two?”

“I’ll tell you about those after you’ve completed one.”

There was nothing I could get without giving something in return.

This man was still just as enigmatic.

What could be the true identity of this man who knew this world was inside a book and called the possessed ones, whom Hayang referred to as the owner?

He probably knew my name, so I decided to start with proper introductions.

“What’s your name, boss?”

“Boss……”

As if amused by being called ‘boss’, he chuckled while shaking slightly.

“Tarasque Basiliar Lupen Denoir Airick Scheer Miserion.”

“Excuse me?”

“You can call me by any one of those.”

It was a full name even grander than royalty.

I wondered why his name was so long, but thinking about it carefully, it wasn’t that strange.

Evelyn was Choi Mal Sook, and there had been quite a few possessed ones before her.

‘This man must have lived for an extremely long time.’

Just being in a space like this meant he wasn’t an ordinary human to begin with.

I decided to try to understand the owner of the hole-in-the-wall store.

“Then I’ll call you Denoir.”

I chose one that came to mind as the man’s name.

The man’s eyes seemed to widen slightly at my words.

“Denoir…… It’s a good name.”

But soon returning to his original expression, he switched to salesperson mode.

“Are you not buying anything today?”

Denoir pushed a wooden board towards me.

‘Ah, right. This is a store.’

The gap between his appearance and the store atmosphere was so big that I kept forgetting.

“Let me take a look for a moment.”

“Take your time browsing.”

Encouraged by his clothing store employee-like tone, I examined the menu board.

[Key to Open Doors] 1 Card / Stock: 1
[Hide Traces] 1 Card / Stock: 1
[Random Box] 1 Card / Stock: 1

“There’s no unlimited purchase this time?”

“We can’t have too much influence.”

It was an explanation that didn’t make sense, but it was awkward to argue when the seller said so.

“Then…… I’ll take one Hide Traces please.”

Thinking about how Kashar would keep sticking around, it seemed like it would come in handy when I needed to sneak away.

Just in case, I read the description window once more.

[Hide Traces]

Want to hide your traces?
Ignores magic for 30 minutes. Ignores divine power.
Become invisible anywhere!

30 minutes seemed like it would be useful enough for going back and forth to the hole-in-the-wall store.

I handed one card to Denoir.

“Here you go.”

“I’ve received the card.”

The card left my hand.

I looked down at my now empty hand.

‘Only one left now.’

With only one card remaining, it seemed I would have to use it carefully.

A moment later, Denoir bent down below the counter and took out an item.

“Here it is.”

This time it was a cute duck-shaped sticker.

“If you attach this anywhere on your body, you can use it for 30 minutes. Would you like it wrapped?”

“No, thank you.”

“I’ll see you next time.”

It felt like looking at an employee from this world patched with Olive Young.

Just before turning around, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

“Denoir. When did you realize this place was inside a book?”

He was also a character inside the book, just the same.

But I was quite curious about how he came to know this was a created world.

He paused at my words before giving a faint smile.

“From the beginning.”

Denoir’s face looked lonely as he said those words.

As I was looking at him, it happened.

“It’s closing time. Have a good day.”

With those words, a bright light enveloped me and the scenery changed.

“Huh?”

This was my room.

It seemed I hadn’t walked out on my own, but had been forcibly moved.

“What the?”

I felt like I was getting used to being kicked out at this rate.

I shook my head and checked the time.

‘Exactly 30 minutes have passed.’

I should have just said I wanted to rest a bit instead of going to the bathroom.

By now, they would be playing in the empty lot.

It seemed best to quickly go down and check.

Just as I was turning towards the door, it happened.

[Tsk tsk, how leisurely.]

“Hm?”

An unfamiliar voice echoed in the room.

I thought it might be Hayang, but it wasn’t.

That’s when I noticed something like a black cotton ball flickering at my feet.

“A rabbit?”

It was a rabbit with black fur.

Though a rabbit, it had a familiar appearance that I’d seen somewhere before.

“You’re the one I saw before……”

It was the black rabbit that had tried to attack Michael.

The rabbit twitched its whiskers and then sneered at me.

[You’re in big trouble now. You know?]

The rabbit spoke. And in a threatening tone at that.

‘What’s with this one now?’

I looked down in bewilderment, but it was still just a rabbit.

Still, having lived with a talking teddy bear, I wasn’t too surprised as I had developed some immunity.

“What?”

[You shouldn’t have stolen a man who already belongs to someone.]

“Kashar? Where does Kashar have someone he belongs to?”

[Hey, don’t you know you shouldn’t steal someone who’s already in someone’s fish tank?]

It was news to me that my man was in someone’s fish tank.

“Fish tank? What are you talking about now?”

[Yeah. What use is an engagement when the real female lead has arrived? Why don’t you quickly spit him out to Elcious?]

This rabbit knew this place was inside a book.

“You, what are you?”

At my words, the black rabbit chuckled and then turned its body.

[The sub-male lead will end up falling for the female lead as it should be.]

“Wait a moment!”

The rabbit quickly passed through the door and disappeared.

I went out to the hallway belatedly, but not a single black hair could be seen.

Moreover, the outside was unusually noisy.

‘Did something happen?’

As I was looking around the hallway like that, it happened.

Eshtra was running towards me from far away.

“Future Madam!”

“Eshtra, why……”

“We need to evacuate immediately.”

Eshtra’s blue face looked urgent.

My wrist was grabbed.

Just before going outside, I took out the teddy bear from the closet.

‘I almost left it behind.’

Somehow the teddy bear’s face seemed to have turned into a crying expression.

“Hurry!”

I started running together with Eshtra.

“Wait a moment, what’s this about?”

Even while out of breath, I had to ask the reason.

Eshtra, who had stopped for a moment, pointed to the window.

‘Why… is it destroyed?’

Over the collapsed decorations, pavilion, and burned flowers, bright red flames were burning.

Eshtra spoke to me as I stood there dazed.

“The master has gone mad.”