TMBIPYMEN Chapter 19

Layla had been staring at the ceiling for an hour, lying flat on the bed.

The ceiling was designed with elongated blue triangles converging toward the center, and each time she narrowed her eyes, something glimmered faintly. At first she thought she was seeing things. She wasn't.

Lapis lazuli. That's what it was. She remembered once watching her mother grind lapis lazuli powder into some unknowable tincture.

What would the people of Ridgecarse have done if they'd known her house contained lapis lazuli? Would they have left it alone?

'Not likely. They would've stripped everything.'

Her fingers lay crossed over her flat stomach, twitching slightly.

Layla tapped absently at the hard sensation catching against her fingernail, then seemed to realize it belatedly. She raised her right hand with a look of fresh surprise.

A ring with a dark blue sapphire was fitted on her slender, pale finger.

'Keep that on. The guards won't stop you wherever you go if you're wearing it. Of course, there are a few places where entry is forbidden... But those places are hard to find deliberately anyway, so it should be fine.'

In other words, the ring was a kind of pass Yustar had given Layla. In this vast, complicated, and demanding palace, it was the only means that could protect her—neither noble nor royalty.

When she'd been told she would have to meet the King of Sierrow, Layla experienced firsthand what it meant when people said shock made everything go white. Her head went blank as if she were dreaming, then suddenly she got the hiccups.

'I told you why I searched for you, didn't I, Layla? That's the only reason my brother wants to see you. I oversee the Tentinella members, but His Majesty the King stands above all officials in the kingdom.'

It wasn't an incomprehensible explanation. By his logic, the master of this palace was actually Yustar's brother, King Ode, so as someone staying here even briefly, she couldn't avoid paying her respects.

'I really don't want to do this...'

Layla sat up abruptly with a long sigh.

She smoothed out her dress, wrinkled from lying down carelessly, tidied her disheveled hair, then carefully opened the door and stepped outside. In the corridor she saw only guards standing like statues and a few servants.

"Miss, are you going out?"

A servant named Mel, who had been arranging flowers on a small marble column, asked. Layla was relieved not to see hostility or suspicion in her eyes.

"I wanted to walk for a bit. Is that all right?"

"Of course. Shall I accompany you?"

"No, it's fine. I'll go alone. Um... If I get lost, can I just grab anyone and ask?"

Mel suppressed a laugh, apparently finding Layla's words amusing.

"Ask the guards or passing servants where 'Ambrezon' is. That's the name of this room. It means 'room of golden amber.'"

"Ambrezon... The pronunciation's a bit difficult. But thank you."

Mel curtsied slightly as she saw Layla off.

While walking down the long, long corridor, Layla tried to keep her footsteps from echoing too loudly, but each time her shoe heels touched the gleaming floor, they made a sound like shattering glass.

Layla didn't know where she was going.

At first, anxious, she looked back several times and tried to remember decorations, tapestries, and the shapes of pillars at corners worth memorizing, but she soon realized it was pointless.

Everything was unfamiliar territory anyway, and luxurious decorations could be found anywhere in the corridors.

Before the problem with the Sink—which in places like Ridgecarse Village had been known only as rumors of "black holes"—Sierrow had been a country in the full bloom of prosperity.

Even now, if not for the Sink, Sierrow had no major problems internally or externally.

Except for the fact that King Ode Haienmorik was growing weaker daily from an illness of unknown cause, and he had neither taken a queen nor produced an heir...

'Why hasn't he taken a queen?'

Curiosity rose, but Layla quickly brushed it from her mind. It wasn't her concern anyway.

Wandering aimlessly through the corridors, Layla suddenly looked back at the path she'd taken. She realized she'd been walking around for quite some time without encountering anyone.

At least when she'd left her room—what was that room's name again? Ung-bl-zon?—she'd been able to see ladies passing through distant galleries or lines of guards heading toward the gardens...

Suddenly a cool chill seemed to brush her forearm. No, it wasn't just a feeling. The sensation definitely touched Layla's skin. Even though the dress she wore had sleeves that covered her wrists completely.

Layla wanted to think it was wind, but unfortunately that didn't help much.

She had witnessed countless spirits by now and encountered them directly. The sensation of wind passing through cloth and something passing through her were absolutely unmistakable.

'There's something here...'

But nothing was visible. The initial cool sensation had only brushed past her briefly, not approaching again or growing stronger. It was quiet.

But that quiet, warm air made Layla even more uneasy.

It felt like the discomfort of watching a mother pack snacks with a gentle expression while knowing the child had done something wrong.

The child knows that once these snacks are finished, the kind mother will disappear, leaving only the beating that will make them wet their pants...

Go back. That's what Layla thought. But the moment she spun around, a wall had appeared where nothing had been just moments before.

"Oh no, no."

Layla muttered like someone in a daze and touched the wall. Cold and hard. A real wall. Not some crude hallucination.

"This can't be happening. Hello! Is anyone there?"

Layla raised her voice while pounding the wall with her clenched fist, but nothing happened. The wall seemed unshakably solid, and her voice was blocked there, scattering weakly like sand.

Turning her head, Layla's eyes widened at the corridor that seemed even longer than before. From where she stood to the corner, there had been five bust sculptures...

Now there were more than a dozen busts to pass before reaching the corner.

Layla squeezed her eyes shut and opened them, biting her trembling lips while unconsciously gripping the ring on her right hand. In any case, she couldn't stay in this corridor forever. She had to turn the corner and escape somewhere else.

Stay calm. Layla took a deep breath and stepped forward. Then she looked at the face of the first bust. A woman.

Her hair was elegantly swept up, delicately rendered, and what must have been her favorite ornament—a hair comb—was set with lemon-colored diamonds.

The next bust, and the next... Layla could easily tell that all the busts lining the corridor were modeled after the same person.

Only the hairstyles and ornaments changed slightly. All the same woman. All equally expressionless. Though no names were written, judging from the crown resting atop a veil covering half the face, she was probably royalty.

'Fifth one... There was definitely a corner here before.'

Layla stopped walking briefly and fumbled at the wall near the bust. Still cold and hard. When she knocked, no sound echoed. Meaning the inside wasn't hollow.

"So I have no choice but to go all the way to the end..."

Layla rubbed her face with both hands, bit her lower lip firmly, and started walking along the corridor again. Her steps hesitated briefly as she glanced at the sixth bust.

The bust was smiling.

An extremely faint change, barely visible. But compared to the previous five, it was a clear fact.

They probably wanted to create different expressions. Layla tried to comfort herself and began crossing the corridor at a faster pace.

The seventh bust was smiling more broadly, and by the eighth bust, distorted eyebrows appeared. The lips were torn longer, now bearing a bright smile that could no longer be mistaken.

This is a trap. The moment she realized it, Layla saw the ninth bust. Now the bust's face was distorted sickeningly.

Screaming and laughing simultaneously. A laugh audible only to Layla's ears. Sharp as a whetted blade and dangerous as black mold growing in wall cracks.

—I should snap that girl's neck like rotten wood.

Suddenly, a murmuring voice passed through Layla's head. Goosebumps rose all over her body. The moment Layla jerked her head up, unable even to scream.

She saw it. A woman's back. Hair swept up in the same style as the busts. Her face wasn't visible, but Layla knew she was the one who'd set this trap.

"Wait!"

Layla shouted. Her voice bounced off the walls on all sides and returned. Without looking back at Layla, the woman smoothly disappeared beyond the last corner.

I have to follow. That's what Layla thought. Even if it meant walking into a deeper trap, she couldn't stay here.

Standing among these terrible busts, increasingly hideous busts, listening to that ear-ripping laughter would surely drive her mad.

"Damn it, I said wait!"

Layla clenched her fists and began running down the corridor. Her heart dropped when she glimpsed the face of the last bust entering her vision. The woman's eyes, nose, and mouth had all melted into a wretched mess.

Something happened. Layla thought. Here, in this palace...

The woman's back came dimly into view. The moment she turned the corner, Layla realized it was a corridor identical to the one she'd just come from. When she hurriedly turned her head, there was a wall again.

"No..."

Huk, she gasped. Breathing hard, Layla slid down while touching the wall until she sat.

Then she felt faint pain from her right middle finger. The ring had struck the floor and pricked her skin. The moment Layla looked down at her hand with furrowed brows, Yustar's voice suddenly came from somewhere.

「Layla?」