Laila had been staring at the ceiling for an hour, lying on the bed.

The ceiling, shaped like long blue triangles converging towards the center, seemed to flicker with something when she narrowed her eyes. At first, she thought it was an illusion, but it wasn’t.

Lapis lazuli. Laila thought. She had once seen her mother put lapis lazuli powder into an unknown tincture she was making.

What if the residents of Lizikus knew there was lapis lazuli in her house? Would they have left it alone, pretending not to know?

‘No way. They would have taken it all.’

The fingers resting crossed on her flat stomach wiggled slightly.

Laila, who had been absentmindedly tapping the hard sensation at her fingertips, looked at her right hand with a sudden realization, as if she had just noticed it.

A ring with a deep blue sapphire was fitted on her slender white finger.

—Wear that. Then the guards won’t stop you wherever you go. Of course, there are some places that are off-limits… But those places are hard to find intentionally anyway, so it should be fine.

In other words, the ring was a kind of pass that Eustar had given to Laila. It was virtually the only means to protect her, who was neither noble nor royal, in this complex, vast, and strict palace.

When she heard that she had to have an audience with the King of Sierou, Laila experienced firsthand the saying that one’s vision goes white when too surprised. Her mind went blank as if in a dream, and suddenly she got the hiccups.

—I told you why I was looking for you, Laila? That’s probably the only reason my elder brother wants to see you. Although I oversee the Tentinella members, His Majesty the King is above all officials of the kingdom.

It wasn’t an incomprehensible explanation. If what he said was true, the master of this palace was actually King Ord, Eustar’s elder brother, and it would be impolite not to greet him after staying here for several days.

‘I really don’t want to…’

Laila let out a long sigh and abruptly sat up.

She roughly smoothed out her dress that had been wrinkled from lying down carelessly, tidied her disheveled hair, and carefully opened the door to peek outside. In the corridor, there were only guards standing like statues and a few employees.

“Young lady, are you going out?”

Asked Mel, an employee who was decorating flowers on a small marble pillar. It was a relief that there was no hostility or suspicion in her eyes.

“I just want to take a walk. Is that okay?”

“Of course. Would you like me to accompany you?”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll go alone. Um… If I get lost, can I just ask anyone I come across?”

Mel seemed to find Laila’s words amusing and suppressed a chuckle before saying,

“Ask the guards or passing employees where ‘Ambrezone’ is. That’s the name of this room. It means ‘The Room of Golden Amber.'”

“Ambrezone… The pronunciation is a bit difficult. But thank you.”

Mel slightly bent her knees to see Laila off.

As she walked down the long corridor, Laila tried to be careful not to let her footsteps echo too loudly, but every time her shoe heel touched the shiny floor, it made a sound as if glass was breaking.

Laila didn’t know where she was going.

At first, feeling anxious, she kept looking back, trying to remember decorations, tapestries, or the shape of corner pillars that might be worth noting, but soon realized it was futile.

Everywhere was unfamiliar, and lavish decorations could be found in every part of the corridor.

Sink, in the village of Lizikus, was only known as a rumor of a ‘black hole’ until the problem arose, but Sierou had been a country in the midst of prosperity.

Even now, if it weren’t for Sink, Sierou wouldn’t have any major internal or external issues.

Except for the fact that King Ord Hyanmorik was growing weaker day by day due to an unknown illness, and he hadn’t even brought in a queen, let alone an heir…

‘Why hasn’t he brought in a queen?’

Curiosity arose, but Laila quickly dismissed it from her mind. It wasn’t an area she needed to concern herself with anyway.

Wandering aimlessly through various corridors, Laila suddenly looked back at the path she had walked. It occurred to her that despite walking for quite a while, she hadn’t encountered anyone during that time.

When she first left the room —what was that room’s name again? Enblezone?— she could see ladies passing through distant galleries or lines of guards heading towards the garden…

Suddenly, a chilly sensation seemed to brush against her forearm. No, it wasn’t just a feeling. That sensation clearly ‘touched’ Laila’s skin. Despite the fact that the dress she was wearing had sleeves that came down to her wrists.

Laila wanted to think it was the wind, but sadly, that wasn’t much help.

She had witnessed countless souls and directly encountered them numerous times before. The sensation of wind passing through cloth and something ‘passing through oneself’ were absolutely unmistakable.

‘There’s something here…’

But nothing was visible. Even the initial chilly touch had only brushed past her momentarily, not approaching again or growing stronger. It was quiet.

But that quiet and warm air was making Laila even more uneasy.

It felt like the discomfort of watching a mother prepare a snack with a gentle expression, knowing the child had done something wrong.

The child knows that once this snack is finished, the kind mother will disappear, and all that’s left is a beating so severe they’ll wet their pants…

Let’s go back. Laila thought. However, the moment she turned around, a wall appeared where there was nothing just a moment ago.

“Goodness, no.”

Laila muttered like a person out of their mind and touched the wall. It was cold and hard. It was a real wall. Not some clumsy hallucination.

“This can’t be happening. Hello! Is anyone there?”

Laila tried raising her voice while knocking on the wall with her clenched fist, but nothing happened. The wall seemed unbreakable and her voice was blocked by it, scattering feebly like sand.

Laila turned her head and opened her eyes wide, seeing the corridor that seemed even longer than before. From where she stood to the corner, there were five bust ornaments…

Now, she had to pass more than a dozen busts to reach the corner.

Laila, who had closed her eyes tightly and opened them again, bit her trembling lips and unconsciously gripped the ring on her right hand tightly. Anyway, she couldn’t stay in this corridor forever. She had to turn the corner and escape to somewhere else.

I need to stay calm. Laila took a deep breath and took a step forward. And she saw the face of the first bust. It was a woman.

Her hair was elegantly twisted up, delicately expressed, and on the comb, probably her favorite accessory, was set with a lemon-colored diamond.

The next bust, and the one after that… Laila could easily tell that all the busts lined up in the corridor were modeled after one person.

Only the hairstyle and accessories changed slightly, but they were all the same woman. They all had the same expressionless face. There was no name written, but judging from the crown placed on the veil covering half of the face, it seemed to be a member of the royal family.

‘The fifth one… There was definitely a corner here before.’

Laila paused for a moment and felt the wall near the bust. It was still cold and hard. There was no echo when she knocked. It meant the inside wasn’t hollow.

“I guess I have no choice but to go all the way to the end…”

Laila rubbed her face with both hands and started walking down the corridor again, biting her lower lip tightly. Laila’s steps hesitated for a moment as she glanced at the sixth bust.

The bust was smiling.

It was a very subtle change, barely noticeable. But compared to the five she had seen before, it was a clearly discernible fact.

They probably wanted to make a different expression. Laila tried to comfort herself as she started to cross the corridor with faster steps.

The seventh bust was smiling even more, and by the eighth bust, furrowed eyebrows were visible. The lips were stretched even longer, now bearing an unmistakable bright smile.

This is a trap. With this realization, Laila looked at the ninth bust. Now the face of the bust was distorted to a chilling degree.

It was screaming and smiling at the same time. It was a laugh that only Laila could hear clearly. A laugh as sharp as a forged blade and as dangerous as black mold growing in the cracks of walls.

—We should crush that girl’s neck like rotten wood.

Suddenly, a whispering voice passed through Laila’s head. Her whole body broke out in goosebumps. It was the moment when Laila, unable to even scream, jerked her head up.

She saw it. It was the back of a woman. Her hair was twisted up in the same way as the bust. Although her face wasn’t visible, Laila knew she was the one who had set this trap.

“Wait!”

Laila shouted. Her voice bounced off the walls all around and came back. The woman, without turning to look at Laila, slipped out of sight beyond the last corner.

I have to follow her. Laila thought. Even if it led her into a deeper trap, she couldn’t stay here.

If she stood still among these horrible busts, these increasingly ugly busts, listening to the ear-splitting laughter, she would surely go mad.

“Damn it, I said wait!”

Laila, with her fists clenched, started running down the corridor. When she caught a glimpse of the last bust’s face, her heart sank. It was a miserable sight with the woman’s eyes, nose, and mouth all melted.

Something happened. Laila thought. Here, in this palace…

She vaguely saw the woman’s back. The moment she turned the corner, Laila realized it was a corridor exactly the same as the one she had just come from. When she quickly turned her head, it was a wall again.

“No…”

A gasping sound was heard. Laila, catching her breath, slid down and sat against the wall.

At that moment, she felt a slight pain in her right middle finger. It was because the ring had hit the floor and pricked her skin. As Laila frowned and looked at her hand, suddenly Eustar’s voice was heard from somewhere.

“Laila?”