Chapter 17 : Chapter 17
Volume 1
Chapter 17 : Sudden Incident!
“Knock, knock.”
A sudden knock sounded from outside the room.
Selicia did not even get to finish her farewell.
Her gradually tightening hand froze mid-motion as she turned toward the door, a trace of displeasure clearly flashing in her eyes.
“Tell whoever is outside to leave,” Selicia said coldly to Muen.
“That is not possible.”
Muen shook his head vigorously.
“This room is soundproof. Apart from the knocking, nothing can get in—and nothing from inside can get out either.”
“…”
Selicia frowned slightly, staring at Muen as if considering something.
But in the end, she withdrew the hands that could have ended his life at any moment and slowly stood up.
“I will spare you for now.”
“Th-thank you?”
“Get dressed and open the door.”
“O-okay.”
Having narrowly escaped death multiple times, Muen felt as though he had been granted a pardon.
He hurriedly got up, grabbed his clothes from the side, and began putting them on.
That specially tailored formal outfit, weighing a full twenty kilograms, was extremely difficult to wear.
If he had not watched the maids dress him from start to finish earlier, he would likely have been completely lost.
Even so, in his panic and haste, he nearly put the inner lining on backward several times.
It wasted quite a bit of time.
As he dressed, he heard the soft rustling of fabric behind him.
It inevitably made him recall what had just happened…
“If you dare to turn around, I will kill you on the spot—even if there are others present.”
Selicia’s cold voice rang out from behind him.
“…”
Muen shuddered and immediately lowered his head, focusing all his attention on wrestling with his clothes.
…
After finally getting dressed, the sounds behind him completely ceased.
Unable to resist, Muen turned back for a glance.
Selicia was now sitting gracefully on the sofa, using a casually conjured ice mirror in her hand to tidy her silver-white hair.
That simple yet noble white dress clung perfectly to her slender figure, revealing a breathtaking elegance.
There was not a single sign of disarray.
If not for the lingering weakness in his legs, Muen might have believed everything that had just happened was nothing more than a beautiful dream.
“Wait.”
Just as Muen was about to open the door, Selicia suddenly called out to him.
She casually took out a delicate bottle of perfume and sprayed it several times into the air.
She sniffed lightly, confirming that the strange scent had completely disappeared, then nodded.
“Go.”
…
Muen walked to the door.
After everything that had just happened—and after facing death more than once—his heart had only just begun to calm slightly.
But there was no relief from surviving a disaster.
Because the story had already completely deviated from its original path, sprinting recklessly toward disaster.
The only futures left for him now were: being killed by Selicia herself, being hanged by the enraged king, or being sliced to pieces by some unknown figure, just like in the prophetic dream.
Every path led to a dead end.
“So, protagonist… even if you arrive now, what difference would it make?”
Muen opened the door.
He had expected the one outside to be the protagonist, Ariel, who had finally arrived.
But it was not.
Standing outside was a maid, carrying pastries and black tea.
However, her face was partially obscured by the shadow cast by the door, making it difficult to see clearly.
“Young Master Muen, the Madam noticed that you and Her Highness the Princess have been talking for quite a while. She thought you might be hungry, so she asked me to bring some pastries.”
“Oh, I see.”
So it was Mother.
She must have seen me inviting Selicia to be alone with me.
As expected of her—her timing is perfect.
Muen did not think too much of it and stepped aside.
“Set it on the table over there.”
“Yes.”
The maid nodded respectfully, carrying the tray into the room.
As she passed by Muen, her face was illuminated by the soft light inside the room.
“Wait.”
Muen suddenly sensed something was wrong.
“Why have I never seen you before?”
The maids of the Duke’s residence were all strictly selected and trained, most of them raised from a young age within the estate specifically to prevent suspicious individuals from infiltrating.
So even though Muen had only transmigrated yesterday, the original owner’s memories should at least leave him familiar with every maid’s face—even if he could not recall their names.
But when he looked at this maid, the only impression in his mind was one word—
Stranger.
“Of course you would not recognize me, Young Master Muen.”
The maid did not stop walking.
“I was only selected into the Duke’s residence last night.”
“Last night…”
Muen reacted. “One of the helpers for the banquet?”
“That is correct. I am here to assist.”
The maid walked to the center of the room and placed the tray with the cakes and teacups onto the table.
“But I also have another task.”
“Another… task?”
Muen was still processing her words when he suddenly saw her pull a dagger from beneath the tray.
The motion was so natural that he froze for a split second before reacting.
His heart and pupils contracted at the same time.
Blood rushed to his head, and in that instant, his thoughts accelerated rapidly.
—Her target is not me. She had the perfect opportunity when she entered earlier.
Which means…
“Selicia!”
Muen shouted in warning.
The maid’s figure suddenly vanished—
like a fragile illusion under sunlight.
When she appeared again, she was already right in front of Selicia.
“So fast!”
Muen could not help but exclaim.
Rooms in the Duke’s residence were never small.
Since the tea table had just been knocked over and set back upright, there was several meters of distance between it and the sofa.
But that distance seemed meaningless to the maid.
In the blink of an eye, the sharp dagger in her hand was already slicing toward Selicia’s pale, fragile neck.
Death had raised its scythe.
…
Clang.
The scene Muen had imagined—blood splattering everywhere—did not occur.
Selicia remained expressionless.
Facing the sudden attack, there was not a trace of panic in her icy gaze.
At some point, she had already raised her hand.
The ice mirror in her grasp had condensed into a slender, ice-blue sword, perfectly intercepting the dagger.
From the point where the blade and dagger clashed, invisible ripples spread outward, shattering the tea table and sofa, and leaving sharp cut marks across the surrounding walls.
“Let me guess.”
Selicia stared at the maid and asked coldly,
“Did my foolish dear brother send you?”
“My apologies, Your Highness, but information about my employer is strictly confidential.”
The maid abruptly withdrew, though there was no intent to retreat in her eyes.
She merely sought to create distance for another attack.
But how could Selicia possibly give her that chance?
With a light tap of her toe, a thin layer of frost rapidly spread toward the maid.
Using the moisture on the ground, it advanced even faster.
As the maid dodged, she could not help but frown.
“Where did all this water come from?”
“…”
For the first time, a trace of embarrassment flashed through Selicia’s usually icy expression, her cheeks faintly flushing red. She stomped her foot—
And the frost suddenly erupted into countless sharp ice spikes, violently shooting upward at the maid, who was suspended midair with no way to evade.