CHAPTER 36 "D-DAY" (1)

Of all the days they could have chosen to conduct their periodic maintenance of the mansion, the maids had picked today to gather en masse and give the place a thorough cleaning.

All of a sudden, today became an awful time for me to try to sneak to the fifth floor. I can't really even blame the maids for picking today to do their grand cleaning, because this is the perfect opportunity to do so. Since Kyle will be away from the mansion, they won't have to be fearful of accidentally disrupting him.

I waited and waited for an opportunity to arise, but the mansion was so unusually crowded and in such a commotion that by the afternoon I had been forced to give up on my plans. For the remainder of the day, I mindlessly filled my time with other tasks. Another several hours passed, and night eventually fell over the mansion. The house staff had finally finished their cleaning and were winding down. Bright moonlight was pouring through the window. Carefully, I opened the door of the bedchamber and peered out into the dark hallway. My ears were greeted by a pleasant stillness, and there was not a soul to be seen.

Nice.

My preparations were already complete, and nothing further needed to be done except to get myself to the fifth floor. Usually, I wore basic pajamas that covered my body fully, but today I opted for a shorter nightgown that ended above my ankles so as to avoid the possibility of my skirt dragging on any obstacles along the way.

After checking one last time that my surroundings were clear, I tiptoed out of my bedchamber and quietly shut the door behind me.

Ah.

Somehow, the gentle yet still audible clicking of the door closing already made me nervous. While trying to calm my anxious heart, I walked as slowly and quietly as possible up to the fourth floor. Luckily, I did not run into any servants patrolling the corridors, so I increased my pace even though my body was still stiff with nervous tension.

I continued to hasten my steps until the fourth floor library came into view. Just beyond there lay the stairway leading up to the fifth floor. As I walked, my breathing sounded too loud in my ears, so I tried to hold my breath, but then, even my footsteps started to seem too loud to me. My apprehensions made me infuriatingly aware of any sound no matter how minute.

Okay, a little more and I will arrive at the stairs to the fifth floor.

Just as the staircase was about to come into view, I froze upon hearing a rustling sound coming from behind me. My body became too stiff to look back to check who, if anyone, was there.

I don't know what to do.

My confusion heightened as I deliberated with myself. The entire time, I was still too afraid to look back. All the while, my heart thumped distractingly loudly, and the silence seemed suffocating.

"… Your Highness?"

My body immediately relaxed upon realizing it was not Kyle. Slowly, my heart rate returned to normal, and I turned my head to identify the owner of the voice. It was Lily, one of the maids.

"What? Oh, it's you, Lily. Why did you suddenly call me from behind? You surprised me."

The girl seemed a bit embarrassed when I jokingly blamed her and lightly slapped her on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness. But, may I ask why aren't you sleeping at this hour?"

Lily's tone was neither doubtful nor suspicious. She seemed purely curious at what I was doing, which was completely understandable since I never wandered the mansion so late at night.

"Ah, I was going to the library because I can't sleep. I want to read some books before bed."

I spoke calmly without losing my composure and didn't forget to end with my usual, friendly smile. In doing so, I conveyed a dual meaning: to show friendliness and to ask her what she was also doing in this part of the mansion at this hour.

"I see," Lily bowed her head in acknowledgement of my words. "I was ordered by the head butler to check this floor again and see if the cleaning went well."

Really? This late at night? It sounds suspicious, but I guess I understand. Kyle will be returning early tomorrow morning, right? So it will be too late if they don't check their work now.

"I see. Well then, I'll get going to the library now. I'm only going to pick out a few books then head back to bed, so you didn't need to report this to Jean."

"Okay, I understand, Your Highness."

Lily bowed and headed back to her post. I breathed a sigh of relief at her retreating figure and continued into the library just in case she turned around to validate my claims. My legs were still shaking, but I steadied myself. There were still many important things I needed to do, so I couldn't afford to slip up here. As soon as the sounds of Lily's footsteps faded away, I silently slipped out of the library and darted toward the staircase leading to the fifth floor.

I need to hurry up.

Though I detected no dishonesty from her, I was still afraid there was a slight chance Lily would report our meeting to Jean anyway. Lily was harmless, but it would be a different story if Jean were to find out. Despite my attempts to reassure myself that everything would be fine as soon as I accomplished my goal, I couldn't shake off my doubts.

Ugh, I couldn't ever be a thief with this kind of attitude.

I tried to think about trivial things to distract myself from my nervousness, but my strategy didn't work so well. Fortunately I didn't have to suffer my thoughts much longer as I arrived at the staircase.

For a moment, I simply stood and stared at the steps. I frequently wondered what would happen if my attempt to return home failed, but I already made up my mind at this point. Until I actually try this method myself, I should stop assuming things, because I don't want this to fail. The only reason Riddel and Kyle suffered in this world was because of his curse, so if I could break it, then the central conflict would be resolved and there would be no need for me to be here anymore.

I have to at least try. I want to go back home.

Bracing myself, I began my ascent to the forbidden floor. Mentally, I recounted what awaited me there.

The icy rose…

Only

Within the mansion, there lay a closely guarded secret pertaining to Kyle's curse. At the end of the fifth floor, a certain room could be found to the west. Inside that room was a solitary rose encased in ice. The frozen flower was the physical manifestation of the curse the blue dragon had placed upon Kyle's heart. If one were to somehow find a way to melt the ice without harming the rose, then the curse would be lifted and Kyle would be freed. Of course, since it was enchanted ice, conventional human methods and even most unconventional tricks were useless.

However, my power is an exception. I can bring the rose back to a point in time before it was frozen.

That was the only way I knew how to break Kyle's curse. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally climbed the rest of the seemingly endless stairs and arrived at the main corridor of the fifth floor. Here, the air temperature felt cooler than in the rest of the mansion. My adrenaline was surging now. With my destination in sight, I made my way directly to the west side. Somehow, my pace quickened almost to the point of running until I arrived in front of a set of giant double doors.

I can go home after this all over. I'm almost there. Let's just quickly open the door and break the curse.

My heartbeat was pounding loudly in my ears as I reached my hand toward doorknob. As my fingers nearly grazed the metal…

Bang!

I jumped in fright as a deafening crash echoed through the previously silent hallway. A low sigh then met my ears. Without having to turn around, I knew…

I'm screwed.