Someone kept knocking on the door in the darkness.

Fifteen-year-old Ord Hyanmorik, who was looking around unable to tell where the sound was coming from, suddenly realized that the knocking sound was coming from right in front of his body.

Looking down, he saw that his entire body, from his chest down to his stomach, had turned into a door.

The invisible intruder kept knocking on that door. Persistently and desperately demanding to be let in.

‘No, I can’t. I can’t do that.’

Ord stuck his fingers between the hinges and pulled to try to remove the door from his body. The fingertips caught between the tightly interlocked metal pieces became sore and soon started bleeding.

Then the knocking sound grew stronger and faster. The “knock knock” turned into a “bang! bang! bang!” pounding. The sound was so loud that Ord unconsciously covered his ears.

‘Stop it! I said stop! Stop it now!’

There was a cracking sound. Ord looked down again with a shudder. The middle of the door had shattered and broken.

The still invisible intruder crawled into Ord’s body through that hole like a snake.

‘No, get out! This is horrible, I said get out! Get out of my body!’

As Ord frantically stirred his stomach where nothing could be felt, he woke up from the dream feeling as if a heavy stone had fallen on his forehead. His whole body shook with chills and his stomach felt so upset he thought he might vomit.

“Your Highness, are you unwell?”

Hearing the sound of him suddenly sitting up, Baso entered the room. Only then did Ord look around. The boy’s cheeks regained some color only after visually confirming it was his usual bedroom.

“I’ll open the curtains.”

“Thank you, Baso.”

Baso’s loyalty in always being by his side and helping with all personal matters was a great source of support for Ord, who was only a young prince.

As the translucent curtains were drawn, the early sunlight, still carrying the chill of dawn, poured unfiltered onto the bed.

“Your Highness, are you alright? Let me take a look.”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Though that’s how he answered, Ord obediently closed his eyes to allow Baso to check his forehead and nape.

“You don’t have a fever. But you’ve broken out in a cold sweat, should I call for the royal physician?”

“No, it’s alright. I just… had a bad dream so I’m not feeling well.”

Ord smiled faintly and got out of bed still in his nightclothes.

Though pale, the boy’s face was lovely in the soft silk nightgown that reached his ankles.

His eyes, filled with intelligence and curiosity, also held a maturity beyond his years, making it clear that as he grew older he would become a handsome and capable young man.

As he helped Ord change clothes, Baso said with a fond expression like that of a father to his son:

“Your Highness, you’ve grown taller again. We’ll need to call the tailor soon.”

“Really?”

Baso nodded.

“Yes, and your shoulders have broadened too. It brings joy to Sierwoo to see Your Highness growing up so splendidly.”

Ord faced his reflection in the mirror. To his own eyes he still looked like a child, but hearing Baso’s words, somehow his chest and torso seemed broader and firmer than yesterday.

I want to grow up quickly, Ord thought. I want to grow up and become an adult soon.

As he was carefully fastening the shirt buttons, Baso suddenly spoke as if he’d just remembered something:

“Last night, His Highness the Prince cried terribly, causing the wet nurse and attendants much trouble.”

“Eustar?”

Ord’s eyes widened as he asked.

“He’s not ill, is he?”

“The royal physicians came by. They said there’s nothing wrong…”

“…I see, that’s a relief.”

“Babies often do that. And His Highness the Prince has been sensitive since birth.”

“He doesn’t seem to be growing at all, I’m worried. He’ll be turning one soon, but he still seems like a newborn.”

“That’s because Your Highness is a much older brother to His Highness the Prince.”

“I suppose…”

Just then, there was a thudding sound from outside. Suddenly reminded of the dream he had in the night, Ord reacted sensitively.

“What was that sound?”

“I’ll go check.”

Baso immediately went outside. Ord stared at his retreating back for a moment before finishing buttoning up the remaining buttons himself.

He wrapped the string Baso had prepared earlier around the collar that hugged his neck, and fixed the cravat with layers of abundant lace over it once more.

When Baso returned, he reported that it was just a servant bumping into a decorative stand in the hallway while moving it.

However, Ord was not at all reassured. As soon as he finished dressing, anxious thoughts came rushing in one after another. The fact that Eustar had cried terribly last night also kept bothering him.

“I need to go see Mother.”

“I’ll escort you.”

Ord shook his head.

“No, I’ll go alone. You stay here.”

The boy set out alone, trying hard to shake off the chills that threatened to rise again as he recalled his mother’s face.

When he arrived at the Queen’s quarters, a man was just coming out and ran into Ord. He was Marquis Jador, an official in charge of finance.

From his disheveled appearance that he hadn’t fully fixed and his oily-looking face, but more so from the scent of perfume emanating from his entire body, Ord knew he had spent the night in the Queen’s chambers.

It was the perfume his mother, the Queen, liked to use.

“If it isn’t His Highness the Crown Prince.”

Jador wasn’t even flustered upon seeing Ord. His attitude was defiant, as if to say “So what if I’m your mother’s lover, what are you going to do about it?” It was unpleasant how he pretended to be polite with his words while maintaining such an arrogant demeanor.

“Coming to see the Queen Mother so early?”

“Is there a set time for a son to visit his mother, Marquis?”

“Of course not. However, Her Majesty the Queen was in quite a foul mood last night.”

Jador grinned. His face was manly and had its own charm, but to Ord it only seemed repulsive. The mere fact that he was his mother’s man made Ord want to smash him to pieces.

“Step aside, Marquis.”

Ord looked straight at Jador’s face, which showed no sign of backing down. Jador, who had been looking at the young boy’s burning gaze with mocking eyes, finally stepped aside.

“It was a pleasure chatting with you, Your Highness.”

Ord felt his blood boil at Jador’s sarcastic words, but he ignored it and entered the Queen’s chambers. The busy low-ranking employees bowed hurriedly upon seeing him suddenly appear.

The Queen was still in her bedroom. When Ord entered the room, she was just finishing her hair ornaments with the help of her closest lady-in-waiting.

“Crown Prince!”

The Queen, spotting her eldest son in the mirror, jumped to her feet.

Then, gathering up her luxurious dress with abundant ruffles and lace, she walked towards Ord with a bright smile. Unlike Jador’s words that she had been in a foul mood last night, her expression looked good.

“Mother, did you sleep well?”

While Ord greeted her politely, he sharply scanned the few men and women surrounding the Queen.

They were dressed strangely, neither employees nor attendants, all wearing long necklaces that came down to their navels and several layers of bracelets. An ominous smell wafted from the dark metal.

“Of course, Mother slept very comfortably. And you?”

“I… had a bit of a bad dream.”

“Oh dear.”

A slight worry clouded the Queen’s face that had looked so bright. Ridiculously, it was only then that Ord thought his mother finally looked motherly.

It was a bitter thing, but true. When he saw his smiling mother, he thought that some unknown person was wearing his mother’s skin and acting. Always, constantly.

The Queen gestured to a middle-aged woman standing beside her.

“Wisert, please take a look at the Crown Prince.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Ord took a step back.

“That won’t be necessary.”

At that, not only the Queen, but the men and women standing beside her all looked at Ord at once. Though their gazes were not hostile, Ord disliked seeing those eyes.

Ord knew that these people, who had started appearing all over the palace at some point, never leaving the sides of his mother and father in groups of three or four, were not to be trusted.

They were always either grinning or expressionless as if lost in thought, and when you looked into their eyes, they seemed like people without anything that could be called their own will.

It felt as if there was no vitality, as if delicate glass beads had been placed where their eyes should be.

The Queen said:

“Crown Prince, don’t worry. Wisert is a renowned physician who has studied medicine for a very long time.”

“We have royal physicians. Besides, I’m not sick, Mother.”

Though he firmly expressed his refusal, the Queen shook her head with a bright smile. That appearance was also very strange and confused Ord. It seemed as if his mother didn’t understand his words and intentions at all.

Or was deliberately not understanding.

“Crown Prince… Royal physicians only treat illnesses of the body. Wisert is not that kind of physician. You’re still young so you may not understand well, but dreams show the state of the mind as it is. So having a bad dream means that your mind is sick or tired somewhere. Wisert is a physician who treats the mind. Isn’t that right, Wisert?”

The woman said:

“It is humbling that Your Majesty praises and cherishes my humble skills so. Your Highness, I too was originally a physician who treated bodily illnesses. However, twenty some years ago, I fell into questioning where on earth incurable illnesses originate from. When one has indigestion, they get an upset stomach or difficulty breathing, and when one has a fever, blood flows from the eyes or chills set in – these are facts any physician would know. But those who see things that aren’t there, hear phantom sounds, or sometimes show signs of madness… Why are such people sick and where should we look for the reason? I began to ponder this.”

Ord was so dumbfounded that he just stared blankly at the woman called Wisert without even responding. However, the Queen and the others around her were all nodding their heads and listening intently to Wisert’s words.

Wisert continued:

“So I ate and slept with those suffering from madness and cared for them. And I tried to find out where exactly such illnesses originate from… Were they mad from birth? Your Highness, that was certainly not the case.”