My mind went blank.

If it’s real poison, it means those people had the intention to kill the male lead, and they might have even known that he was the Crown Prince.

Otherwise, there would be no reason for a poison to be in the wine.

I threw aside all assumptions and rushed at him, overpowering him.

I needed to buy time.

Despite my impulsive actions, his red eyes widened, but I pressed close to him and whispered.

“It’s poison.”

Bang!

As the door opened, I quickly lifted my skirt.

Then, I grabbed his hand and swiftly slipped it through my hair.

My disheveled pink hair was dispersing and brushed against his face.

I held my breath and turned to look behind me, my face reddened before I let out a shallow sigh and glanced backward.

I saw the startled face of the attendant.

“Ahhhh!”

I screamed, and the male lead smirked as he quickly rose, covering my exposed legs as if playing along with my act.

“I-I apologize. I will come back later.”

The attendant quickly left the room, and I forced myself to shake my head.

“They might come rushing here soon, Your Highness.”

“How did you know it was poisoned?”

“That is…..”

That’s when it happened.

“Sir, I heard there was a small commotion, so I came to check.”

The voice of the attendant who had been in charge of us and the voice of a middle-aged man came from beyond the door.

A chill ran down my spine.

I rolled my eyes, surveying the room.

Then, my gaze fell on the silent stag.

A bad feeling overwhelmed me.

With each passing moment, the ominous thoughts seemed to surface logically and vividly.

They failed in their attempt to poison us.

They wouldn’t just let it go.

The male lead seemed to have the same thought. He stood up, grabbed the key given to us by the illegal merchant, and swiftly unlocked the stag’s shackles.

Before we could catch our breath, the door swung open. He immediately threw the shackles toward the door.

Three men holding knives and a middle-aged man with a bewildered expression stood there.

The heavy iron shackles hit one hand of the man holding the knife. It made a clanging sound as the knife fell from his hand.

In that momentary instant, the male lead…

Swiftly moved.

Flick-.

He turned his body to avoid the blade that was swinging above his head. He grabbed the fallen knife and aimed it at the leg of another man in front of him.

I turned my head.

The bitter smell of blood gradually became more prominent.

Don’t tremble.

While the male lead might not die due to the protagonist’s buff, I was in a situation where I could easily die.

And then it happened. I widened my eyes and couldn’t make any movement in astonishment at what unfolded before me.

It was because the stag whose shackles had been released began to inflate its body, transforming into the form of a human.

With transparent, pale skin, pointed ears, flowing silver-white hair, and even an otherworldly appearance that was almost divine.

It perfectly matched the appearance of the elves in fantasy novels.

“What the hell, what are you doing? Is it time to admire elves?”

What? Did the male lead already know that the stag was an elf?

I shook my head. The important thing now was not that the deer had transformed into an elf.

We had to find an escape route immediately.

Bang! Bang!

The chaotic sound echoed fiercely.

I quickly ran towards a suspicious spot near the wall and kicked it with my foot.

With a grinding sound, a hidden room was revealed.

“It’s this way!”

“Almost there.”

I decided to go with the flow. Since I was reborn in a world from a novel, the secret room in the world wasn’t worth the wait.

Poof!

With a brutal sound, the room fell silent.

The male lead walked nonchalantly towards me. The elf grabbed something from the table and followed us.

Fearing that he would chase him away, I took the elf’s hand and led him into the secret room.

The male lead didn’t seem to like my behavior and spoke in a fierce tone.

“Why are you bringing this species here?”

“They will probably come after us. It seems like the two of us alone won’t be enough to stop them.”

“Two? Well, to be precise, it’s just me.”

I struggled to close the door, but it wouldn’t shut.

My mind turned pale.

‘Why is this happening?’

Then.

In an instant, the room was filled with green light, and soon several magic circles floated around the elf.

Then the door closed automatically with a smooth sound.

“Unless a mage comes, we’ll hold on for 20 minutes.”

It was slightly mumbled pronunciation, but it was a low and pure voice.

The male lead removed his mask in discomfort, revealing a decadent face that stood in stark contrast to the elf standing beside me.

His slightly sweaty hair stuck to his forehead, and he swept it back with his hand, starting to reproach me with his characteristic expressionless face.

“So, are we trapped now?”

I couldn’t answer his question. Because…

‘I don’t know either!’

The room we entered was distinctly different in atmosphere from the one we were just in.

Bookshelves blocked all sides, and there was a red desk and documents in place.

He sighed as if he had a headache and examined the desk.

“Well… I guess I’ve come to the right place.”

What was in the male lead´s hand was none other than a document with the name of the Third Prince, Ash Posman, written on it. It was the prince’s seal.

“There’s one more room.”

The elf said.

I quickly scanned the surroundings.

I wanted to ask something to the elf beside me, but because of that merciless male lead, I couldn’t bring myself to ask anything.

“Let’s see if You can find a way out.”

The male lead sighed heavily and motioned for me to leave it to me.

With a shiver of nervousness, I began to rummage around.

I crouched down and looked under the desk, thinking.

Is that elf a mage?

‘If he’s a mage, maybe he knows a way to go back home?’

I shook my head from side to side at the overly hopeful thought.

‘Get a grip. ‘

First and foremost, it was important to safely escape from here.

I thought in a one-dimensional manner.

This is a world inside a book.

Then what is the most obvious thing to happen in a secret room like this?

I turned my gaze to the bookshelves surrounding us without saying a word.

It was almost like a movie, in 4K ultra-high definition.

“Can mana be detected in this room by any chance?”

I asked the elf based solely on my speculation, and the elf nodded with a stoic expression.

I leaned closer to him, staring directly into his silver eyes, and asked.

“Then, could the locking mechanism of the door be operated by magic?”

The elf nodded his head once again in response to my question.

Now I was almost certain of my opinion.

Did my head become smarter suddenly after falling into this world, or was it purely due to luck?

“Do you see any particular place where mana is concentrated on the bookshelves?”

The elf slowly raised his finger and pointed to a specific spot.

In response, the male lead crossed his arms and glared at me.

I swallowed my saliva and cautiously pulled out the book that the elf pointed to.

Then, the bookshelf started vibrating and rotating.

Reflexively, I looked at the male lead’s expression.

It didn’t look good.

It was a wait-and-see look, and I couldn’t help but wonder how I was going to explain everything that had just happened.

“Your Highness, a passage has appeared.”

“What?”

He openly mocked me, and in response to his contemptuous attitude, I calmly replied.

“I apologize, Your Highness. Would it be alright to discuss the details when we return to the palace?”

“Didn’t I explicitly instruct you to get rid of that ridiculous mannerism I’ve never seen or heard before?”

He spoke to me and immediately grabbed my hand, pulling me along as I staggered.

I had to follow the male lead, swaying like a balloon in the wind.

“There’s no way there isn’t a mage at the top of this illegal underground trading. We won’t last for even 5 minutes, so let´s just go.”

As his words ended, the maddening sound of a closed door trying to open with a vibrating, stubborn force echoed. I ran with all the strength left in me, following his lead.

If it were my original body, which had poor stamina, I would have already collapsed heroically with a white flag raised, but Rose, as a maid in this era who worked physically without the help of machines, had an abundance of stamina.

It was fortunate in this situation.

As I ran, I quickly saw the exit.

The problem was that the rear had already been breached, and ultimately, the connected area was the back door.

“Damn it, they’re right behind us.”

As soon as we exited the exit, a cool breeze brushed against our faces, and men with raised swords rushed towards us.

The male lead started fending off the attackers with a shabby knife he had taken from the underground traders, and the elf began chanting spells towards the enemies coming from behind.

But no matter how skilled the male lead was, there were too many enemies.

It was already obvious that we were at a disadvantage.

I rolled my feet anxiously, my head spinning as if it would explode from the overload.

“Where the hell are you going!”

The male lead became irritated and kicked the abdomen of a man rushing at me. As the man doubled over in pain, the male lead stepped on his head and, from the other side, thrust his knife into the abdomen of another man attacking from behind.

In the midst of this brutal scene, I trembled and looked around. I felt like I should be holding onto something.

“Get them!”

It was then.

I don’t actually know why I did it.

With a loud command from someone.

Swoosh-!

I heard the sound of something flying, and my body moved on its own towards the male lead. And soon, pain followed.

It was an arrow.

What, why am I like this?

I chased him all the way here to save my life, but why did I get hit by an arrow instead of him?

‘Have I finally gone mad?’

Time began to slow down.

My mind became hazy, and something flickered in front of me.

It was a woman with brown hair.

‘I couldn’t help it.’

Her face was blurry and not clearly visible.

‘In the end, you were just like me.’

What?

In the vision, I shouted something angrily at the woman, and I couldn’t tell what she said in response.

“You’re crazy!”

The dazzling face of the male lead appeared to overlap with the woman with brown hair.

Who are you?

“Your Highness!”

“Damn it, snap out of it!”

And then darkness enveloped me.