After everyone left, I moved closer to the bed where Ian was sleeping. Suddenly, I noticed the long sword next to the bed.
I thought it was a bit odd that he would keep it here. But as soon as I saw Ian’s face in faint moonlight, my doubts about the sword were quickly dispelled.
His long eyelashes stood out exceptionally. I’d been so focused on controlling my emotions that I hadn’t had a chance to study his face closely, but seeing him like this, with his eyes closed, I momentarily lost my train of thought.
He didn’t look human in the usual sense of the word. It was a good thing that his eyes were closed. The painful emotions I felt were a little milder.
Unconsciously, I found myself staring at his sleeping face, and in an instant, he tossed and turned. Surely, he hadn’t woken up already.
Unable to control my quickening heartbeat, I nervously watched his movements. He frowned and let out a weak groan.
He must be having a nightmare. In the original story, Ian was said to suffer from night terrors. The trauma of losing his parents had caused him to have nightmares and wake up in terror every night.
“……Siana.”
He pursed his lips, but couldn’t get the words out as his throat closed, and tears steadily filled his eyes. Who is Siana?
As far as I know, the male protagonist didn’t know any particular woman except Letenia and Rosetin.
The sight of him in tears made me feel uncontrollably emotional again.
Seeing him struggle suddenly made my chest tighten and I felt like I was about to burst into tears. Suddenly, I remembered the warm touch that had saved me in my nightmares when I was in the throes of death.
Unconsciously, I reached out and gently placed my hand on his forehead. Strangely, Ian’s pained expression gradually transformed into a calm one. Along with him, I felt that Letenia’s feelings, which had been filled with sadness, were calming down little by little.
*
Now, I had to do what needed to be done. I came here for one purpose alone: to find the secret chamber in the Imperial Palace. I carefully surveyed my surroundings.
I slowly studied the layout of the room, looking for anything suspicious. If the secret chamber was indeed here, it would have been cleverly disguised and hidden.
At first glance, nothing looked suspicious. Common sense dictated that if I needed to create space somewhere, I would have to cut through the floor or wall.
I decided to start with the closest wall. I gingerly touched the wall, carefully checking for anything out of the ordinary, and when I found nothing, I shifted my position ever so slightly.
As I focused all my attention on my toes to make sure I didn’t make a sound, my legs felt like cramps. I continued to hover around the edge of the bedroom.
Some time passed, but I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. I was getting impatient.
I stood in the middle of the bedroom and looked around the room cautiously.
‘Even if it looks normal, there must be something strange somewhere…….’
At that moment, my attention was drawn to a golden candlestick hanging on the wall opposite the bed. The other candlesticks were arranged at regular intervals as if measured, but this one was slightly out of place.
There was no way they could have made such a mistake, especially since the imperial palace was built with an enormous amount of attention to detail, far beyond that of ordinary architecture.
It would have been hard to spot in bright daylight. This is because they used colorful wallpaper similar to candlesticks.
But now it was dark in the room and I couldn’t see the background, so it was only by accident that I noticed it. I went closer and looked at it just in case.
At the bottom was a carved figure of an angel holding a candle.
It looked similar to the one in the Empress’s bedroom, but there was a subtle difference. The hand of the angel that should be supporting the candle was pointing downward instead of upward.
Unless I looked closely like this, I wouldn’t be able to notice the difference. With a hesitant heart, I raised the angel’s hand upward.
“Click”
As I did, a small keyhole opened at the bottom of the candlestick. Boom! My heart pounded loudly, as if there was a massive drum inside me.
I had found the location of the secret chamber. Indeed, the intricate patterns painted on the wall were undoubtedly meant to deceive and hide the entrance to the secret chamber.
But the joy of discovering the secret chamber was short-lived, as now the key had become an obstacle. There was no time for disappointment. I had to hurry as much as I could.
I don’t know when Ian’s gonna wake up. I looked around the room slowly, searching for the key again.
The only places suitable for hiding something were the bedside table and the dresser near the bed. With the determination not to make a sound, I quietly moved to a different spot.
With a long, delicate motion, I opened each drawer one by one. Obviously, there was no way such a key could be in such an ordinary place. But it would be strange if the key was outside the palace when the secret chamber was here.
Could it be in the Emperor’s office? At that moment, I heard Ian moving. With a trembling heart, I observed his movements. As he tossed and turned, he pulled off the blanket that covered him, revealing a thin necklace chain that peeked through his collar.
As if possessed, I move a little closer to him.
‘When I put my hand on your forehead a moment ago, nothing happened.’
Ian’s breathing became regular. To make such a solid secret room, he would have used one of Asha’s leading experts. If that necklace was the right key, it would have been made in a different way than usual.
It wouldn’t be hard to track down who the keysmith is. I’ve come all the way here, and I think it’d be nice to just see what the key looks like.… A devil’s whisper seemed to come from the depths of my heart.
This kind of opportunity is rare. If I’m lucky enough to unlock the necklace and enter the chamber, I might just find a passage that leads somewhere else.
The internal conflict continued to torment me. But what if Ian woke up in the middle of it? I recalled the past incident where Lethenia had impulsively stormed into the imperial palace in the middle of the night, demanding to share Ian’s bed.
Although I will still be misunderstood as someone obsessed with Ian, they wouldn’t think my purpose was to find the secret chamber.
My heart leapt. If I could visually confirm the amount of treasure in the secret chamber, I would formally request a division of property from Ian. If I managed to prove it to others by finding the other entrance, it would be an electrifying scene just to think about.
It’s a golden opportunity to undo all the plans we’ve made to raise money and speed up my escape. I slowly reached under his collar, praying that he wouldn’t wake up.
As my fingertips touched his collarbone, I felt the warmth of his skin. I moved my fingers carefully and felt a thin gold band.
Whether it was my own emotions or Lethenia’s emotions, I couldn’t tell, but my hand trembled with restlessness.
‘Almost there, just a little more…….’
If I could just reach a little further, I would be able to confirm the identity of the necklace. As soon as I tried to pull the string carefully, Ian gently opened his eyes.
The moonlight filtering through the window was dazzlingly beautiful, but at this moment it was also terrifying.
Startled, I quickly withdrew my hand and took a step back. He swiftly got up and grabbed the sword that was by the bed. He aimed it at my chest.
Without having time to explain anything, the tip of the blade dug into my delicate flesh, sending a sharp pain through me.
“Ah…”
I heard a short groan and the sound of a sword hitting the floor. Did I just get stabbed? My legs gave out and I froze in place.
In one swift motion, Ian scooped me up and laid me down on the bed. For the first time, I could see his face properly.
He seemed not only startled but also distressed. It felt as if I had peeled off his usual expressionless and cold mask, facing his real face.
As I tried to get up, he put his hand on my shoulder and said in a dark voice,
“Don’t move.”
With careful fingers, he pulled my robe halfway off. I could feel the cold air on my skin as he lowered the shoulder straps of my thin linen dress.
In the moment he was about to lower the edge of the dress, I pushed his hand away in bewilderment, momentarily forgetting the pain of the stab and overwhelmed by confusion.
“What are you doing…….”
“Just checking the wound.”
As he spoke, I looked down at my chest and noticed that part of my garment was stained red.
“It’s not too serious… I just need to go and get it treated.”
Ian held my hand, which was trying to keep him from getting closer, and gently pushed it aside, slowly lowering the edge of the dress. This revealed a thin undergarment that covered my chest.
There was a subtle tension in the room, and when he was halfway down, I took a deep breath.
He was back to his usual impassive self, looking down at me with eyes that made it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Then he covered the wound again and took my hand over it, pressing it gently.
“Just do this for a second.”
With those words, Ian quickly walked toward the wall where the entrance to the secret chamber was located. He then took off the necklace around his neck.
As I suspected, a small key was hanging at the end of the long necklace chain. Following the method I used earlier, he pressed the switch located at the base of the candlestick and slid the key into the opening space.
I heard the door open, and as soon as Ian disappeared inside, it slammed shut again. I was momentarily stunned by his unexpected behavior.
“……what?”
To think that he would reveal the existence of the secret chamber he had concealed so securely. I had no way of knowing what Ian was thinking.
After a while, he returned. He stepped closer and held something out in front of me. It was a small, plain stone, with the same markings as Theo’s spellbook carved into one of the corners.
It looked like an ancient magical tool. He grabbed my hand pressing my still bleeding wound downward.
Then he placed the stone on the wounded area. The seemingly ordinary stone emitted a subtle, rainbow-like light and conveyed warm energy.
When I looked up at him in wonder, he replied.
“It’s a healing Stone.”
Strangely, as the dazzling, iridescent light grew stronger, the discomfort and pain I had felt just moments ago gradually faded away. The wound was healing.
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