—It’s a human we’ve never seen before.

—Looks like the vines have been breached again. Could the magic be fading?

—Does that mean the master will leave this place too? I don’t want to go back to how things were before……

—What if bad people start coming in too?

The rabbits began seriously exchanging opinions among themselves in front of Olivia. Of course, the sound heard outside was the ordinary “peek, pee” crying of rabbits, but in Olivia’s mind, their words formed complete sentences.

“Excuse me, hello?”

“Peeee?”

Olivia carefully addressed the rabbits, as there was something she wanted to confirm in their conversation. Of course, the rabbits, surprised by the strange human’s sudden attempt at conversation, perked up their ears and heads, wondering if she was really talking to them, and took a step back.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I have a few questions. My name is Olivia.”

—The, the human is talking! She’s talking to us!

Hop hop. The rabbits spun around and hopped. Confused, they excitedly ran around and rolled on the ground. Having unintentionally caused confusion among her rabbit friends, Olivia didn’t know what to do and stamped her feet along with the rabbits. Excuse meee?

“I have a question……”

—You can understand us? How? Human, how do you know rabbit language?

“Well…… I can’t explain why our languages are mutually intelligible, but isn’t it a good thing that we can talk to each other?”

—That’s true! Amazing! You must be a special person?

After the rabbits finally calmed down from their commotion, one who seemed to be their leader approached Olivia. Having finally broken the ice, Olivia willingly crouched down to match the rabbit’s eye level as much as possible.

—So what are you curious about? Ask me, I’m a smart rabbit.

“You mentioned earlier that the vines had been breached again, right?”

—Yes! You broke through them to get in. Though compared to our rabbit burrows, your skills seem quite poor.

“Has anyone else entered this forest from outside?”

—I didn’t see it myself, but the foxes said they saw someone…… It must have been over a week ago?

The timing roughly matched when Kale had left for the forest. Since villagers would never go near the dead forest, that person was likely Kale. Seeing a glimmer of hope, Olivia’s face brightened. The rabbit rubbed its eyes with its front paws at her radiant smile.

“I really need to meet that person and take them back. Could you tell me where they went?”

Gently holding the rabbit’s front paw with her finger, Olivia pleaded earnestly. Please. Faced with Olivia’s sparkling, desperate eyes, the rabbit quietly offered its paw and stared at her blankly. Fortunately, this male rabbit was particularly weak to beautiful things. Without even thinking about it, the rabbit nodded as if enchanted.

—I didn’t see it myself, but we rabbits hear even the smallest rumors. Ahem ahem.

“That’s amazing.”

The rabbit, now cradled in her arms, proudly boasted, ahem, showing off its long whiskers. Olivia diligently responded to each of the rabbit’s boasts and strode forward as it directed.

Throughout the journey, she couldn’t help but continually exclaim in admiration at the luxurious natural scenery. The term “dead forest” seemed completely inappropriate. Any beautiful natural landscape on the continent would look withered in comparison to this forest, so calling such a place “dead” was absurd. Olivia inwardly vowed that when she returned to the village, she would take the initiative to change the name of this forest.

—That’s where the Duke lives.

After following the rabbit deep into the forest from the thorny vine wall at the entrance, a dense fence and gate awaited her. Olivia’s mouth slightly opened at the sight of the tall and magnificent fence that could only be seen at wealthy nobles’ mansions. So this is where the Duke lives. Whether inside or outside the forest, all places where nobles lived were this luxurious. The mansion, which wouldn’t look out of place if a prince appeared at any moment, harmonized surprisingly well with the fairy tale-like forest, creating no sense of incongruity.

—From what I’ve heard, that human also went into this mansion. I haven’t heard that they came out, so they’re probably still inside? Oh, but that might be dangerous……

“What?”

—You see, our Duke doesn’t really like humans. And if it’s trespassing, hmm……

Unable to continue what he was about to say, the rabbit evaded the topic and jumped to the ground. The fact she had forgotten while enchanted by the beautiful exterior came back to her. The Duke who had turned into a monster after being cursed. The main reason this place was called the dead forest and the protagonist of the tragedy. Olivia swallowed dryly with renewed tension. So Kale is inside right now? What if he’s already met the Duke……

“Oh, no.”

Urgently, Olivia pushed the closed gate. Despite its massive size, the pointed iron gate opened smoothly at her slight touch, as if it had been waiting for her, guiding her inside. Olivia ran at full speed into the fence. The rabbit, holding onto the fence, gazed wistfully at Olivia’s retreating figure heading toward the mansion across the garden.

—I wonder if it’s okay to send her in so recklessly.

The rabbit sighed, watching Olivia disappear into a tiny dot in the distance with regretful eyes. I hope she comes back alive. It had been so long since they’d had an outsider they could communicate with, and he still had so many questions to ask. The rabbit briefly prayed for her safe return with a hint of regret.

“Huff, huff, why is this garden so huge?”

Although she prided herself on her stamina from herb gathering, Olivia leaned against the entrance pillar, catching her breath after running across the garden in one go. She wiped the sweat beading on her forehead with the back of her hand and glanced sideways at the half-open front door. Like the fence gate, the front door was also open, suggesting that the mansion’s owner didn’t pay much attention to security.

‘Well, I guess there’s no one who would do anything bad here……?’

It was natural that no ordinary person would think of entering a duke’s mansion even if the door was open. After all, their opponent was a duke who had turned into a monster. What brave human would willingly walk into such a dangerous pit? Of course, Olivia had no other choice.

“Excuse me?”

Politely announcing her entrance in a small voice, she slipped her foot through the door crack. After putting one foot inside and observing the situation for a moment, she cautiously pushed her body through. There was no response to Olivia’s greeting. Only a slightly chilly silence filled the mansion lobby, as if the house were completely empty.

On both sides of the wide hall stretched staircases leading to the second floor, and soft carpets were laid out in rows on the marble floor that sparkled. Each pillar supporting the high ceiling was carved with a different sculpture, and at the ends of the ceiling and floor, brilliant jewels were densely embedded, displaying an interior as splendid as the exterior.

Olivia, who had frozen in place captivated by the majestic intimidation she felt upon entering, shook her head to gather her wits. This isn’t the time to be admiring such things. Though it was a very apologetic thought toward the Duke, it was fortunate that no one was in the mansion right now. Wouldn’t it be better for the Duke if she quickly found Kale and quietly left the mansion? Although she felt quite guilty about trespassing, Olivia hurriedly searched for Kale while constantly mumbling apologies to the air, “I’m so sorryyyy!”

Starting from the lower floor, she checked each room one by one, gradually moving upward. There were so many rooms with unknown purposes that it seemed more like a palace than a mansion. The only fortunate thing was that the structure narrowed as it went up, so there were at least slightly fewer rooms to check.

“Where on earth is Kale? I hope nothing’s wrong……”

But no matter how desperately she searched for Kale, there was no trace of him. By now, she felt she had searched every room in the mansion. Night was approaching even in this mysterious forest, as the red sunset flowed through the corridor windows that had been filled with sunlight, coloring her feet. This is taking too long. Not knowing when the Duke might return, Olivia grew increasingly anxious.

“Where does that lead?”

Having reached the top floor and examined the rooms, Olivia discovered a hidden stone staircase at the end of the corridor. Unlike the lavish interior of the mansion, the simple stone staircase without any decoration seemed to connect the mansion to the tower that stood prominently behind it.

When she placed her palm against the wall, a cold chill rushed out. A space completely incongruous with the mansion. Instinctively, she felt a sense of caution that this place might truly be dangerous, but since she couldn’t find Kale anywhere in the mansion, she couldn’t ignore these suspicious stairs.

‘I’ve been prepared for some level of danger since entering this forest anyway, right?’

The sun hadn’t yet crossed the horizon, though it was close. If she wanted to return before nightfall, before the Duke returned, even this moment of hesitation was a luxury. Olivia carefully but without hesitation stepped onto the stairs and headed upward. Tap, tap, tap. Only her footsteps echoed lonely on the spiraling staircase.

And…

The massive shadow lying on the floor slowly opened its eyes at the presence approaching from afar.

“Another annoying visitor has arrived.”

Icy blue eyes gleamed sharply. Grrrr, a threatening growl flowed through sharp teeth. As the shadow completely stretched and rose, the sunset entering the top of the tower lost its light, blocked by the beast’s deep navy blue fur.

In the top of the tower filled with darkness, the enormous beast waited for the new intruder, who fearlessly roamed its home, to arrive before it on her own feet. Sharp claws protruding between its large front paws scratched the stone floor with a grinding sound.