TMLOH 33

Chapter : 33

“The rules are very simple!”

The merchant’s excited voice echoed far and wide.

“Surely you’ve all heard the classic tale of a hero rescuing a princess trapped in a tower? It’s just like that! Except—!”

When the video recording orb turned toward the wall, it displayed scenes from various parts of the mansion.

“In this version, the guardians here are the ‘princesses,’ and the children are the heroes who uncover the mansion’s secrets to rescue their imprisoned parents! Hahaha!”

The adults laughed as they watched the children, full of determination to rescue their parents.

“It must be scary, but they’re so brave!”

“Look how adorable they are!”

Each parent was enchanted by their child’s unusual behavior. In the best seat of the waiting room, however, Mehen looked deeply displeased.

“Haa…”

On screen, Arelene was shown adventuring all over the mansion, but that wasn’t the issue.

“If I die, don’t bother building a grave.”

After dropping a bomb like that, how could she act so calmly?

To make matters worse, it had been Arelene’s idea to participate in this “unusual game” in the first place.

Mehen was wondering whether he should stop everything right now and sit down for a serious talk with Arelene when—

“…?”

A familiar face appeared beyond a door Arelene had just opened. Mehen narrowed his eyes, his discomfort deepening.

‘Did I really see that?’

Arelene quickly shut the door, leaving him unsure if he’d actually seen correctly. But Mehen trusted his eyes.

‘Why is that person here…?’

Only a moment of doubt passed.

Crackle!

Suddenly, strange sparks and static noises came from the video orb displaying Arelene.

“Huh?!”

“What’s going on?”

Not just Arelene’s — all the video communication orbs in the room began to malfunction simultaneously.

Crash—!

One of them shattered.

“—!”

The game she’d chosen to avoid the awkward atmosphere turned out to be quite fun.

‘Is this like an escape room?’

You solved puzzles and disarmed traps in the mansion to rescue your imprisoned parents.

It was a delightfully creative setup.

“I always wanted to try one of these.”

She’d only ever done solo escape rooms—no friends to join her. Of course, this mansion wasn’t quite the same as a professionally run game.

“Ack!”

“Mister, I can totally see you hiding.”

A man in a monster mask turned sheepish, clearly caught trying to surprise her.

‘Maybe I should’ve pretended to be scared, just a little.’

So, in short, it was a mix of a haunted house and an escape room. The puzzles were super easy, and there were no restrictions on exploring the mansion.

So she had been adventuring around in high spirits when—

Bang.

“…?”

“…?”

What are you doing here?

“Pession?”

No matter how many times she blinked, rubbed her eyes, or double-checked, it was definitely Pession.

That silver hair and red eyes—there was only one person it could be. Just to be sure, she called his name.

Then, as if she’d breathed life into a statue, Pession broke into a brilliant smile like Galatea brought to life.

“Arelene!”

Click.

She immediately slammed the door.

And locked it.

Click.

Q. What do you do when you unexpectedly run into someone you never expected to see, in a place you never expected them to be?

1. Run

2. Run

3. Run

After closing the door and taking a deep breath, her brain finally began to work again.

Her heart was still pounding wildly.

‘Why is Pession here?’

Shouldn’t he be at the palace?

No—wait. That’s not what matters right now.

“Huh? Arelene? Hey, Arelene?”

The problem was that Pession still existed on the other side of the door.

Click, click.
Bang, bang!

The doorknob jiggled and the door shook under pounding fists.

“Why is this locked?! Arel, if you’re there, can you open the door?!”

I locked it—why would I?

They hadn’t parted ways years, months, or even weeks ago. It had only been a few days.

Pession acting like everything was fine left her speechless.

“Arelene—!”

Bang!

“Huh?”

She must’ve assumed the door would hold.

But when it trembled under Pession’s strength, anxiety surged up again.

I have to run.

Even though she couldn’t run properly!

Her body, no longer frozen, finally moved. But not long after she fled, the loud crash of a broken door rang out behind her.

“Arelene! Where did you go?!”

He broke it?!
How?!

“Oh? Found you!”

“Aah!”

An unexpected chase began.

“Arelene? Why are you running? Arelene?!”

Are you seriously asking me that?!

In any other place, he would’ve caught her right away. But the chase was extended for two reasons:

First, the mansion was designed with escape games in mind.

Second, Arelene’s evasion skills had naturally improved over time, thanks to avoiding Pession’s frequent visits to the Halbern estate.

Still, she couldn’t keep it up forever.

‘This wretched body.’

Why had the gods cursed her with such a useless body?

She could only speed-walk so fast. And even using her knowledge of the mansion’s layout had its limits.

“Arelene!”

“Don’t follow me!”

Barely ahead, she dashed into a nearby room and slammed the door.

‘I didn’t want to come in here…’

It was one of the creepier rooms, with strange altars and monster statues—a puzzle room.

Still, the door looked sturdy. If she locked it, even Pession wouldn’t be able to break it down easily.

“Arelene? Are you in there?!”

Click.

“Arelene? Arelene!”

It hadn’t been long since she’d pushed him away, told him not to come back.

Just the other day.

And yet here he was, treating her like nothing had changed.

How could someone be so… thick-skinned?

Was he emotionally bulletproof?

Crash.

“Stop!”

She hadn’t meant to say anything, but when the door started shaking, she yelled instinctively.

“Are you going to break this too? That’s property damage!”

The rattling stopped.

And so did the dangerous clicking sounds.

She exhaled with relief.

Then, Pession’s voice came from the other side of the door.

“It really is you.”

“…How did you get here? You’re supposed to be in the palace right now. Don’t tell me… you followed me?”

“Yeah.”

She had expected denial. The honesty caught her off guard and left her speechless.

“Arelene, how’d you know? Was it obvious?”

“You came chasing after me the moment we made eye contact. I was so dumbfounded I just blurted it out.”

She sighed in disbelief.

“But you told me not to visit the Halbern estate anymore…”

His excuse-like words started to weaken her resolve, and she forced herself to steel it again.

She had no idea how he’d found out where she was going.

“Go back.”

This was for her sake—
But also for his.

“Leave me alone.”

He might not understand now, but someday, he would thank her.

However—

“No.”

“…What?”

“Why are you trying to be alone?”

Her thoughts began to swirl. She forcibly cleared her mind and steadied her voice.

“Because being alone is easier.”

“Easier to be alone?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you sure?”

“…”

A brief silence.

Pession’s next words were unusually sharp—something uncharacteristic of him.

“If you truly want to be alone, I’ll back off. I’ll never come looking for you again. But Arelene…”

In that moment, she was profoundly glad for the door standing between them.

Because if it weren’t there, he would have seen just how broken her expression had become.

“Do you really want to be alone?”

The sting of his words pierced deep. She gritted her teeth.

She could feel him, probing gently from the other side of the door, trying to uncover the truth behind her words.

There was no malice in him.

And that only made it harder to understand.

“…Why are you doing this for me?”