Chapter 135
‘I never thought I’d need this protective bracelet so desperately.’
Ares looked down at the protective bracelet on his wrist with a bitter expression and let out a wry laugh. Back then, he’d wondered why she’d forced such a useless thing on him, but clearly Kirine had been thinking one step—no, ten steps ahead of him.
Just as he was about to speak the activation word, Ares hesitated.
He wasn’t sure exactly where he was, and he might even put Kirine in danger—he wavered, unsure if he should carelessly speak the activation word.
‘Maybe I should assess the situation first…’
Though his surroundings were still dark and gloomy, knowing he had the protective bracelet Kirine had forced on him made him feel somewhat more at ease. After lying listlessly on the bed, Ares took a deep breath and went back to the door. Though it was enchanted and couldn’t be broken, he was determined to try even if it meant dislocating his shoulder.
At that moment, he heard a distinct click from outside.
“…?”
Thinking it couldn’t be, he tried turning the doorknob—and the door that hadn’t budged even when kicked now smoothly opened.
‘This easily?’
His surprise lasted only a moment before he realized someone must have unlocked the door, and he immediately rushed into the hallway. But there wasn’t a single sign of life in the corridor.
‘Is this a trap?’
He’d been about to escape right away, but the sudden thought made him hesitate unconsciously. It reminded him of his childhood experience.
Back when that woman had kidnapped and imprisoned him, he had fallen asleep begging for the door to be opened, and when he woke up and tried the handle again, the previously locked door had opened effortlessly.
Back then, he’d thought only of escaping. But he was caught by the woman watching in the hallway and ended up locked in the room again.
After several repetitions, he realized. She had been testing him.
Testing whether he would try to escape when the door was opened.
‘This is exactly like that situation.’
He shuddered involuntarily, feeling as though someone was watching him from somewhere. Looking around quickly, thankfully he didn’t feel any gazes on him.
Finally free from his imprisonment, Ares walked quietly toward the end of the corridor, passing by the adjacent room. He remained tense and vigilant, worried someone might suddenly appear.
Fortunately, he didn’t encounter anyone before reaching the door at the corridor’s end, and he carefully tried the handle. Contrary to his expectation that it would be locked, the door opened far too easily.
It was much brighter here than where he had been. Squinting at first from the pain in his eyes, Ares tilted his head in confusion as soon as his vision cleared.
‘Glass…?’
Long glass walls stretched out on both sides. Inside them, he could see people imprisoned regardless of gender. If there was one thing in common, it was that they all appeared young.
‘No way…’
Looking closer, not only were they similar in age, but their hair and eye colors were also alike. The only differences were that if one had pure silver hair, their eyes would be a murky blue, or if one had clear blue eyes, their hair would be an ashy silver.
As if searching for someone with pure silver hair and clear blue eyes.
“Haa…”
A heavy sigh escaped him involuntarily.
This was the moment he truly realized this place was that woman’s secret location.
‘How many more innocent people does she need to capture before she’ll stop?’
It made his skin crawl to think that, not satisfied with him alone, she was kidnapping others to try to fill the void left by her dead daughter.
‘I should look around more first…’
Just as he was debating whether to return to the room or try to escape—
He felt a presence right behind him, but before he could turn around, a hand struck the back of his neck hard enough to knock him unconscious, making his vision blur.
“You…”
Before he could finish speaking, his eyes had already closed. The afterimage of golden hair lingered in his mind before quickly fading away.
***
“This is where the Countess lived as a child, the place you were looking for.”
The guild master complained about how difficult it had been to find where that woman had lived as a child. Kirine’s expression immediately hardened as she listened.
“Who said I wanted to know where she lived as a child?”
“Huh? Wasn’t that what you wanted to know?”
“What nonsense. I asked you to take me to the house where she lived with her daughter after getting married.”
Kirine let out a troubled sigh and roughly ran her fingers through her hair. She’d naturally assumed they would go to where that woman had lived with her daughter after marriage, but they’d ended up in a strange place instead.
‘We don’t have time for this…’
As she irritably rubbed her eyes, something suddenly crossed her mind.
“…?”
She remembered giving Ares the protective bracelet.
‘He must still be wearing it.’
Because of a similar incident before, she had forcibly made Ares wear the protective bracelet. If he hadn’t taken it off, it should still be on his wrist.
‘Did he forget about it?’
The thought occurred to her, but she knew he wasn’t that stupid.
‘Or is he too embarrassed to say the activation word?’
After much consideration, she came to one conclusion.
‘Could it be he’s worried about putting me in danger?’
That would be just like Ares, and she let out a long sigh.
‘Is this really the time to worry about such things?’
Knowing his personality, she was certain Ares wouldn’t speak the activation word. But she couldn’t just wait around until he did—she had a strong feeling it would be faster to search for him herself.
“Did you find out where that woman lived with her daughter?”
“Of course I did. But…”
“But?”
The guild master scratched his cheek awkwardly. As Kirine waited for his next words, hoping it wasn’t what she feared, he avoided her gaze.
“It’s quite far from here…”
“…”
It was the last news she wanted to hear.
But she couldn’t keep wasting time here, so Kirine let out a small sigh and jerked her chin at the guild master. A gesture telling him to lead the way quickly.
“You’d better find the fastest route there. Your payment keeps decreasing otherwise.”
“Hey, you never mentioned that!”
Though the guild master protested with an indignant expression, Kirine didn’t bat an eye.
“What are you doing? Your payment is still decreasing, you know?”
“Oh, really!”
Even while complaining that this was too much, the guild master started moving urgently to find the fastest way to the location Kirine had requested.
Just as she was clicking her tongue at his behavior—
“That’s enough. Your payment stops here.”
“What? No, I’m looking for a way to get there right now…”
“That won’t be necessary.”
She had received the signal that Ares had activated the protective bracelet.
