“Um, Miss Luda, about that…”
Pulling Yulian, who seemed startled, she turned right and crossed the hallway. There was no time to hesitate; the sand was still falling.
Luda’s reason for choosing the right hallway was simple.
The entrance to the central hall was no longer opening, and the end of the left hallway, where the rooms were, was blocked. Moreover, she vaguely remembered that the door to the maze garden was located near the dining room.
She had visited it only once on the first day and, unexpectedly, since then, had classified it as a danger zone and didn’t visit.
“It’s dark around here, so you don’t have to rush.”
Even as Yulian followed her, he spoke with a worried tone.
Indeed, as he said, the surroundings were much darker than before. Pale and faint moonlight was pouring through the hallway’s windows.
Luda checked the small hourglass at the corner of her vision. Despite walking briskly, almost one-fifth of the time had already passed.
Continuing straight down the hallway, they arrived at a small door. Luda recognized it as the one she was looking for.
Now, she just had to open it and go outside without being chased by time.
Luda looked forward to this and grabbed the door handle. But strangely, when she tried to turn it, it didn’t budge. It made an odd sound as she tried to force it open.
‘What’s this? It wasn’t locked before.’
Panic set in. Luda nervously chewed on the inside of her mouth. At this rate, she might fail the quest without even getting outside.
She let go of the door handle and carefully examined it. There was a small keyhole.
‘Or should I try pushing it with my body?’
The door might be weaker than she thought.
“Miss Luda, Miss Luda, wait a moment.”
While Luda stared at the door, a sudden, firm grip on her hand made her flinch. When she looked up, Yulian was silently looking down at her. Above his head, candles cast their light.
“Do you want to open this door?”
“Yes, right now.”
“You seem more impatient than you look.”
Yulian smiled. Luda stared at his radiant face. It might have seemed that way, especially with his golden hair.
It was impossible to say that this was all because of the quest, so Luda chose to keep his mouth shut.
‘Is there another way besides this one?’
However, it was too risky to go back and forth through the corridor with Yulian now. It seemed better to aim for a door that she could definitely get out of.
Luda quickly checked the hourglass again. It seemed like about ten minutes had passed. There was still hope.
“What will I get if I open the door?”
His follow-up question was unexpected and carried a suspicious undertone.
She couldn’t remember ever having this kind of conversation with Yulian. The most he had said so far was something like, “Be careful,” “I’ll help you,” or “Let’s go together.”
“Is there anything you want?”
“I don’t want anything yet. That’s why I’m asking you this, but how about helping me with a request later?”
“A request? It seems a bit difficult.”
“But, Miss Luda, do you really not want to open this door?”
Suddenly, Yulian lowered his head and whispered in her ear. His voice was gentle, but strangely, Luda felt a chill.
Why is that? It’s convenient, and it’s a proposal I should accept. But there was an unsettling feeling in the corner of my heart. It was because of the subtly changed attitude of Yulian.
“All right. I’ll do you a favor later.”
But I couldn’t just stand there watching the sand diminish.
As soon as the answer came, Yulian approached the door. Luda stepped back slightly and watched the man.
‘How is he going to open it?’
Does he have a key? Or is he going to use force?
With mixed feelings, while waiting, Yulian turned the doorknob and pushed the door slightly. I don’t know what he did with his body to cover it, but the door opened easily enough. Through the opening, a faint breeze could be felt.
“You must keep your promise.”
Turning back, Yulian said it as if confirming.
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep it. Well, Yulian, you won’t ask for anything strange, will you? Your face is so angelic.”
Luda spoke her sincere thoughts. She partly wanted to see what Yulian was thinking, even if she said it so openly.
And instead of an answer, the system window appeared.
[Yulian’s affinity has increased.] [Yulian (Capturable)] [Affinity: 3 (2 ▲)]It wasn’t bad that the affinity had increased, but I was curious about which part had moved his heart.
Of course, that was just for a moment. My gaze quickly turned to the hourglass and then back.
‘I can’t let my guard down yet.’
I held Yulian’s hand, which was smiling softly.
When we completely opened the door and went outside, a pleasantly cool breeze touched our faces. Due to the lack of lighting, the surroundings became even darker. The only light to rely on was the moonlight, mostly obscured by clouds.
“Let’s go quickly.”
The maze garden was in the mansion’s backyard. Luda walked without hesitation. Yulian also followed Luda’s steps.
Gradually, as they approached the back of the enormous mansion, trees towering above the mansion began to come into view. They looked more like tall walls than trees.
Luda managed to find the entrance to the maze garden without much difficulty. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she glanced sideways to find Yulian standing there with an unreadable expression.
[Subquest ‘Arriving at the Maze Garden with Yulian’ completed.] [As a reward, Yulian’s affinity has increased slightly.] [Yulian (Capturable)] [Affinity: 4 (1 ▲)]“That’s really just a slight increase.”
Looking at the system window that had only gone up by 1, Luda felt a bit disheartened. She had rushed to complete the quest, but now that they were at the dim entrance of the maze garden, she had no idea what to do next.
“Miss Luda, maybe we’ve come too far? Even though Miss Luda, you seem to enjoy danger, there’s a pretty bad vibe here.”
Upon hearing Yulian’s voice, Luda finally released the hand she had been holding. She had forgotten that she was still holding onto him, concentrating on finding the maze garden.
“Yes, you’re right. We ended up coming this far looking for a place where we could be alone.”
“Then, what you wanted to say…”
Yulian was about to bring up the main topic when:
[Special Quest Triggered! (Importance: ★★★)] [A Stroll in the Maze Garden with Yulian] [Reward: Slight increase in Yulian’s affinity, Increase in Esteban’s danger level, Increase in Kyren’s danger level] [Warning! If not accepted or failed, your mental strength will permanently decrease by 50%.] [Accept?] [Yes / No]‘No, this can’t be serious.’
As Luda looked at the system window, she realized that this quest was incredibly unreasonable. It increased the danger levels of the other two characters in exchange for a slight increase in affinity.
‘A stroll, really?’
In an atmosphere that felt like something could jump out at any moment, it didn’t seem like the right time for such an activity. However, losing half of her mental strength like this would be a significant loss.
In ‘Love in Horror,’ there was a system where encountering real ghosts or dangerous situations would automatically decrease your mental strength. Additionally, if it dropped to a certain point, your health would also decrease as a penalty.
Whether it was health or mental strength, if it couldn’t be restored, it would result in a game over.
So far, she hadn’t encountered ghosts or monsters, but there was no guarantee it wouldn’t happen eventually.
‘Okay. Let’s take a walk and become a weird person, then.’
Having accepted the special quest, Luda stood beside Yulian.
“Let’s go a bit further inside to talk. Someone might overhear us.”
Luda felt the urge to speak up even though she held back. Her dissatisfaction was not with Yulian but with the irrational system.
“We’ve already moved far enough away from the mansion, Luda.”
“Well, since we’ve had dinner, I thought we could take a walk too. I want to walk with you.”
This time, she didn’t impulsively reach out like before. She simply stared at Yulian.
“Sure.”
Even after hearing such an unreasonable request, there was no one else but Yulian who would accept it willingly.
No, now that she thought about it, there was someone else besides Yulian. Another character who listened well, albeit a bit annoying.
He was a hidden character, joining only under certain conditions.
‘Why was I forgetting about that?’
She wondered if the reason she had felt that there were few people gathered in the reception room was because of that character.
‘While we’re in the garden, I should look for hidden marks.’
In this vast space, she wasn’t sure if it was possible, but as Luda slowly stepped beyond the entrance of the maze garden, the system window appeared.
[Auto-Save Function Activated.] [Currently saving progress…] [Save complete.]The system window, flickering faintly, disappeared slowly.
I don’t know for sure yet but I do wonder if Esteban is the male lead.