[ Chapter 2 ]
[Emergency detected. Prison officers and all staff, please calm the prisoners and keep stay in your place. An emergency has been detected. The prison officers and all staff calm the prisoners…]
The recorded woman’s calm voice rang through the hall.
As she advised, I should calm the prisoner in front of me and hold my ground. But my legs refused to move like a trapped animal.
My body felt cold as if it was freezing, contrasting with my pounding heart. I couldn’t believe it. I had possessed an extra who was about to die, and now I was standing in front of a man who was supposed to kill me.
“Lemony.”
Suddenly, a large palm was waved before my face as my startled mind froze.
“Hey, officer.”
The man who placed his hand on his waist glanced up and down at me for a moment, as if he was trying to confirm whether I was really crazy or not.
“Open your mouth. Before I forcefully part those lips.”
He growled in my ear, bending down with his face tilted.
“Back off.”
Feeling threatened, I tried to hit him with my hand instinctively, but the man grabbed my wrist as easily as it was natural.
“Yes. Now your temper is coming out, officer Lemony.”
Lemony.
He calls me Lemony.
The eyebrows that had been narrowing between the eyebrows widened slightly at the name being called once again as if to confirm.
If I were Lemony, the man standing in front of me would be.
“…..”
It’s probably Deon.
I slowly exhaled the breath I had been holding and raised my eyes slightly and stared at the man.
Between the slightly wet, jet-black hair, a sinister crimson iris was staring down at me haughtily. His face was not clearly distinguishable due to the backlight of the flickering torch behind him, but the red glow of his eyes was vivid enough to evoke images of a wildcat or a predator.
It’s a black panther.
As I looked at him, I could be sure that the black panther I had seen earlier had transformed into a human.
He was tall, easily over 190 cm, and his muscles were clearly visible through his tunic, which looked old and worn out.
As he tightly grabbed my wrist, I could see blue veins popping out between his thick wrist.
Deon.
A first-class prisoner designated as the male lead of the novel 『The Shackles on My Hands』 and a dangerous man at Dreys Prison.
Murder? Fraud?
Of course, it was also an unforgivable sin, but the first-class prisoner mentioned in this novel was a person who committed a crime that threatened the dignity of the nation, rather than an individual.
Because he was a shinsu.
A mythical creature in the mythology of the Adolf Empire who can bring monsters to their knees with a single cry and easily shake the earth.
The ruler of the Southern Shadow Grassland, where humans were forbidden to enter. Deon’s appearance was welcomed infinitely by the Adolf Empire, which suffered from a headache due to monsters.
It was like that five years ago.
Until Deon, who had been experiencing berserk symptoms for unknown reasons, attacked the Western Empire.
‘…did they say half of the Empire was burned?’
Deon, who suddenly lost his mind, was described in the novel as literally a ‘beast’. He transformed into a black panther, biting off anything the size of an adult man’s elbow with one bite, leaving blood and flames burning where he passed.
The Crystal Castle, the pride of the Western Empire, collapsed, resulting in one hundred thousand casualties in an incident known as ‘The Day of Disaster,’ and Deon went from his dignified position as a divine beast to that of a first-class prisoner.
According to the original story, I, who possessed Lemony, will be killed by this terrible man within one minute.
“…you,”
I managed to open my lead-heavy lips.
“Lemony, didn’t you hate me?”
I had to speak up once. To delay the death, I had no choice but to continue the conversation.
“Lips to a person you dislike, what is it?”
“You hate this kind of thing.”
It was a moment when I was continuing my gibberish. A rough thumb pressed lightly on my lower lip, my shoulder flinched, surprised by the unfamiliar touch. A blind yet compulsive gaze stared at the thick lips. He looked like a cat playing with its toy.
“You hate this too.”
When his thumb, which was poking my lips, went downward, my waist, which was unconsciously backing away, was wrapped in his arm.
He leaned forward, still in that position, and pressed his body against mine. His jet-black hair tickled my shoulders. I didn’t expect him to smell good after spending so long in prison, but surprisingly, I caught a whiff of a refreshing scent from him.
“…You hated this kind of thing too.”
A low growling sound came from his body.
Did he realize that I was frozen in place?
I could feel his back slightly stiffened when he saw the white neck with the hair standing upright. Soon Deon grabbed me by the neck. I couldn’t breathe. His giant hand could instantly snap my neck if he applied even a little force.
I felt like a deer caught by a predator. A weak animal that would fall to the ground with a snap as soon as it touched the fangs.
“It was just a little touch, but really, our noble prison officer, she looks like she’d rather die.”
Misinterpreting my plastered face, he burst out laughing.
“But you know what? You’re the one who made me into a dirty bastard who hasn’t showered in three months, Officer Lemony.”
“….I’m not Lemony.”
It was a slip of the tongue, I didn’t mean to say that.
After realizing my mistake, I quickly bit my lip, but it was too late to take back what I said. There was a moment of silence. When I regained my senses, the cold breath that had been threatening to tear apart my neck was gone.
“Keep going.”
At that moment, a low and leisurely voice echoed from above the forehead.
“It seems like you’re trying to make a joke to save yourself.”
His hard, muscular arms wrapped around me and pinned me against the wall. He lowered his upper body to meet my gaze, his back arching lazily like that of a bear.
“Keep going.”
It was a glaring filled with clear mockery.
I’m screwed. I’m really screwed up.
I felt like I was running out of oxygen as the man got closer and closer to my face. In the original novel, the protagonist usually has some time to change the course of the story after possessing the body, right? It was unfair to fall into the novel out of nowhere and the sudden situation made it even more irrational.
“I—I’m Lemony…”
It was scary.
It wasn’t because he was the male lead, but because the situation of a sturdy man intimidating me was just scary.
“That’s not it. It’s just…”
As I continued trying to speak, he tilted his head in the opposite direction and firmly clenched his jaw as if chewing on something. It gave me the feeling that he wouldn’t stop until I said everything I had to say.
“I feel like my soul has entered Lemony’s body. My real name is Kim Eun-ji. I’m 20 years old and a student majoring in animal care and welfare major at Daeji University. I originally lived in Gangbuk, Seoul, a democratic country…”
“Lemony.”
I was trying to explain in detail that I was not from this world, but my words were abruptly cut off.
“Yes?”
“…Look, you’re Lemony.”
I’m so stupid! I have no sense at all! I’ve never felt so resentful towards myself before.
As Deon lifted me up with a grunt as if he knew roughly what state I was in from our last conversation, his crimson pupils disappeared from my sight, sending shivers up my spine and making my brain ring.
I could only let out an internal scream without any time to do anything as my vision suddenly shot up like a mountain.
I was out of my mind. Deon’s sudden action of carrying me on his shoulder like a sack and moving his steps caused my folded phone-like vision to sway toward the back of his neck.
This felt like a kidnapping.
“….Wait, wait, wait. I think there’s a misunderstanding, wait a minute. I’m not the real Lemony!”
I’ve been kidnapped.
I clenched my fists and hit his back as hard as I could, but his solid body didn’t even flinch like a mountain.
“If you’re going to kill me, kill the real Lemony!”
My voice was watery. If 『The Shackles on My Hands』 was really going according to the original story, Deon would kill me. Suddenly, an inexplicable sense of terror took over my body. My heart was pounding wildly and tears streamed down my face.
Then, as if warning me, his shoulder roughly jutted out. As a result, my lower abdomen was crushed against his solid shoulder, and my breath was cut off.
“Hey, officer.”
Suddenly, a firm touch was felt on my thigh and back. He harshly grumbled, whether he was annoyed or not as he tried to force me to look at him.
“Your expression makes you look like you’re going to be eaten by a prisoner.”
I tried to glare at him with bloodshot eyes, but I involuntarily lowered my head as soon as I met his eerie blood-red pupils.
“That’s right.”
It was a chillingly calm, low tone. He stared at me silently for a while. I tried to avoid provoking him as much as possible by avoiding eye contact, but it seemed to pique his interest even more.
“I change my mind. I’m going to kill you first if I escape from here.”
What the hell?
“The way you are right now. It’s such a waste of time to just kill you.”
To the 7th floor.
I got goosebumps for a moment. After seeing my face filled with tears, he said my expression was too precious to kill. Deon, described in 『The Shackles on My Hands』, was the male lead which, despite killing Lemony in the early part of the novel, still felt regretful that he couldn’t kill her more.
“Ah.”
As Deon carried me like a piece of luggage over his shoulder and went up to the upper floor, my head felt dizzy as I tilted more toward the ground. However, the reason I exclaimed in amazement was not because of that.
Something was off. The beginning of 『The Shackles on My Hands』 starts with Lemony going up to the 7th floor where Deon is and being killed by him.
But now the male lead went up to kill me?
No way.
‘…If the original is different…’
As I hastily fumbled through the collar, just as I had expected, something cold and metallic started to touch my hand from the clavicle area.
Jingle-
It was a whistle.
If the original had changed, then I could survive. But what if the only thing that changed was where Deon would kill me?
If I blew this whistle, Deon, who was already angry with me, might kill me more cruelly. Many thoughts crossed my mind, but whether I died this way or that way was all the same. I had no choice but to make a decision.
Ppiiii-
“Deon. Stop.”
As I blew the whistle hanging around my neck as hard as I could and ordered him, Deon, who had been leisurely walking, came to a halt, his broad back stiffened and froze like a statue right where he stood.
Like a real prisoner who obeys my orders.
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Thank you for reading!
