YPDM 17

Chapter 17

In this world where all sorts of settings had been turned upside down, there was still one thing that had not changed from the original story.

‘Olavia’s destined death.’

The buildup leading to my death was proceeding flawlessly.

Just as it always had, my premonition would not be wrong.

There must be traps being laid everywhere even now, tightening around my throat.

Perhaps even more meticulously than in the original story.

I knew nothing about my enemy, their objective, or their plans for the future.

That didn’t mean I had any intention of simply letting myself be defeated.

—Ash.

—Hmm?

I pushed open the library door with all my strength.

—It’s time to get to work.

[Olavia, I can’t find it anywhere, no matter how much I look.]

“How can there not be a single book?”

Coming to the library full of enthusiasm had been a good idea, but the problem was that I couldn’t find a single book related to voodoo.

There was one book with the words Lutolu Forest in its title, but it turned out to be a horror novel set in Lutolu Forest.

‘Of course things wouldn’t go smoothly.’

[Think carefully. Wasn’t there another clue in what the duke said?]

“There wasn’t anything particularly special. He said he found records from the Holy War stating that the leaves of the Qualum were used in voodoo… Wait, the Holy War?”

A thought flashed through my mind like lightning, and I hurried back to the bookshelf.

“I think I saw it around here earlier… Holy War, Holy War… Found it!”

It was an incredibly thick book, one that was intimidating just to look at.

After struggling to place it on the desk, Ash fluttered over and settled on the edge of the book.

It felt strangely peculiar to see a bird reading words, but by now, I had more or less given up on judging the rules of this world according to my existing common sense.

[Do you think you’ll find what you’re looking for?]

“I hope so.”

Just as I opened the book with a hopeful heart, a breeze stirred inside the closed room, and several pages fluttered rapidly.

“Huh?”

I was about to turn back to the first page without giving it much thought when I suddenly stopped.

[Olavia, look at this!]

“Yeah. I saw it too.”

[The voodooists who worshipped demons started a war and plunged the continent into darkness.

It was inevitable that Valkan’s armies would set foot upon the lands of the fallen Shahar in the name of God.]

“Shahar…”

Why was that?

Although it was the first time I had ever heard the name, it didn’t feel unfamiliar.

[The great war exterminated the sorcerers, severed the lineage of their wicked magic, and all records were discarded without a trace.]

The moment I read the following passage, my eyes widened so much they nearly popped out of my head.

[However, regrettably, traces of evil remained upon this land, and that is where the land protected by the Guardian lies.]

“If it says Guardian, does that mean Lennox?”

I brought my face so close to the book that my nose nearly touched the page.

A simple map was drawn below.

Ash fluttered his wings with an intrigued expression.

[This is the Kravant territory. They said it was nearly as large as a kingdom, and they weren’t kidding.]

But the size of the territory was not what caught my attention.

Lutolu Forest, situated in the very center of the vast Kravant territory.

‘This isn’t really a territory…’

It felt as though the entire territory itself was one enormous barrier, a kind of buffer zone.

The front line that prevented the evil beings of Lutolu Forest from spreading into the empire.

[The forest has been completely corrupted, and no human other than the Guardian can enter and survive.]

I frowned as I thought of .

‘The more I think about it, the stranger it is. Why was such an important character nothing more than an extra?’

Everything about his setting and background practically screamed protagonist.

If not the protagonist, then at the very least, he should have been a hidden villain or something.

Yet in the original story, Lennox was merely a character who appeared in passing to explain the worldbuilding.

‘Well.’

Considering the author’s profound state of mind, which had produced such a ridiculous story where the protagonist was changed at the very end, perhaps it wasn’t that surprising.

‘Giving this kind of excessive backstory to an extra who barely even appears properly in the story is nothing.’

Was the author a frustrating villain, or perhaps a frustrating terrorist?

Whatever the case, I was in the middle of cursing the author, whose pen name had been anything but ordinary, when—

[That’s kind of sad.]

“Hm?”

I turned my head at the muttered words and saw Ash pointing at a section of the book.

[The Guardian. He’s protecting Lutolu Forest all alone in a land where no one lives.]

[For safety reasons, only elite personnel equipped with military force reside in the ducal castle, while the residents of the territory live only in designated areas in the northern part of the duchy. Immigration into the territory is particularly difficult.]

Only then did I notice the ducal castle marked right next to Lutolu Forest.

I could also see the residential area for the people of the territory, located far away from the forest, bordering the other territories.

“That’s true. All alone…”

Lennox, guarding the barrier.

For a moment, I felt something I couldn’t quite put into words.

[Living as a Guardian might be a kind of shackle.]

I had never considered that aspect.

Perhaps I should say I had never even imagined it.

The lives of those who carried the mission of protecting something for their entire lives had always felt so distant from me that perhaps I had simply thought of them as being different from ordinary people like me.

Naturally taking their sacrifices for granted.

Suddenly, I remembered something Lennox had said.

‘The duty of the Kravant family is neither honorable nor noble.’

I thought I understood a little better why he had said that.

By the time I left the library to return to my bedroom, the dusky twilight had settled over the land.

Just as I turned the corner of the hallway, Ash whispered softly.

[Olavia, isn’t that the room we saw earlier?]

“You’re right.”

It was the room where the servants had been busily coming and going as they moved luggage.

Carinne’s bedroom.

[The door is open.]

Just as he said, I could see that the edge of the door was slightly ajar.

“It really is.”

I quickly turned my head from side to side, checking my surroundings.

There was no one.

The hallway and even the area beneath the stairs were completely empty, without a single person in sight.

My feet moved before I could even think.

Ash, horrified, sent me a telepathic message.

—Olavia?! You’re not seriously thinking of sneaking in, are you?

—Carinne hasn’t returned to the viscount’s residence yet.

If Carinne really had been ill, she would have spent most of her time in her bedroom.

—If we’re lucky, we might find a clue about the scheme she’s plotting.

—It could be a trap. It’s too dangerous.

I hesitated for a moment.

As Ash had said, there was something far too perfect about the situation.

—Besides, that room always had even its windows shut tightly.

It was a room that had been so thoroughly sealed off that even Ash had never been able to peek inside.

The fact that this very bedroom was now lying wide open and defenseless was suspicious, to say the least.

Still…

—We have no other choice.

I wrapped my fingers around the bracelet on my wrist.

The bracelet Lennox had given me was essentially my only protection.

—It’s dangerous, but it’s worth trying. We don’t know when we’ll get another opportunity.

It didn’t take me long to make up my mind.

I turned to Ash.

—Keep watch for me.

If you want to catch a tiger, you have to enter its den.

Although I had steeled myself and infiltrated the room, my excitement quickly deflated.

“There’s nothing here.”

It was an ordinary room.

I opened every drawer, cabinet, and other place where something might have been hidden, but there wasn’t a single suspicious object or dangerous-looking tool.

I could have understood if there had at least been some locked space, but there wasn’t even that.

‘There’s nothing particularly noticeable, either.’

It was simply the ordinary bedroom of a noble lady.

If I had to find anything unusual, it was the fishbowl by the window.

“I wasted all that effort for nothing.”

I let out a hollow laugh.

‘It would’ve been better to ask Ash to follow the carriage.’

Regretting my poor judgment earlier, I turned around to leave the room.

Then, suddenly, the fishbowl caught my eye.

‘There’s water, but no fish.’

As if possessed, I found myself drawn toward it.

The round fishbowl was about half-filled with clear water.

The white stones scattered across the bottom were clearly visible.

‘Who fills a fishbowl with water when there aren’t even any fish?’

The only thing in this ordinary room that wasn’t ordinary at all was the fishbowl, and it felt completely out of place.

I reached my hand into the fishbowl.

The water was somewhat cold.

The moment I lightly ran my fingertips over the stones beneath the water—

One stone caught my eye.

A stone that was unusually white, smooth, and glittering.

It was when I quietly picked it up and held it in my hand that—

—Olavia! Someone’s coming!

Ash’s urgent telepathic voice echoed inside my head.

Without even having time to dry my hand, I shoved the stone into the pouch at my waist and hurried out of the room.

—This way. Hurry!

Following Ash’s directions, I ran down the straight hallway without stopping to catch my breath.

Those few seconds felt unbearably long.

Only after I safely reached the central staircase could I finally release the breath I had been holding.

“I thought my heart was going to stop.”

But there was no answer.

Instead, a shadow fell over me.

“Lady Olavia.”

The moment I heard the deep, heavy voice instead of the familiar one, a chill ran down my spine.

I slowly raised my head.

A man stood there with silver hair and blue-gray eyes that seemed empty at first glance.

With his broad shoulders and sturdy build, he certainly didn’t look like an ordinary servant.

“You were here.”