Grace followed Sally, who took the lead while Leon pulled her hand and went to the entrance of the secret garden. Grace admired the harmony of beautiful gates made of white birch and snow-covered vines descending through the surrounding walls.
“Oh, my. It snowed so much. How can the leaves be so vibrant? It’s so fascinating.”
“It’s too early to be confounded! The inside is even more riveting!”
“Really?”
Leon’s eyes sparkled with delight at Grace’s reaction.
“Yes! Sally! Sally! Hurry up and open the door!”
“Yes, Prince.”
He took a key out of his pocket and held it out to Sally.
Sally briskly took the key, walked in front of the gate and pushed it into the tightly locked door. Then, with a clicking sound, the huge door creaked open from both sides.
“Hurry up and come!”
“Oh? Yes, okay. Let’s go slowly. Leon! You’ll fall if you do that!”
Leon pulled Grace and stepped into the garden. Grace quickly took a quick step and caught up with the child.
Upon entering the garden, Grace said, glancing at Leon, who grabbed and pulled her.
“….Leon, you… No matter how exciting it is, I almost fell.”
“I’m sorry. I just wanted to show you as soon as possible.”
“What did you want to show?”
“Look over there!”
Leon smiled and apologized at her grievance, then pointed forward with his little finger at her ensuing question. Grace turned her gaze along the direction that his little finger pointed at and was soon dazed at the scenery that caught her eyes.
“Oh my gosh”.
What caught Grace’s eye was a small yet colorful ice palace. The first thing she saw was a fountain made of mysterious stones that were white and light pink like pearls. On top of it, pieces of glass in the shape of a rose vine were decorated with intricate entanglement, and clear water constantly poured down between them.
And on both sides of the fountain, fences made of ice and white flowers with their heads humbly bowed beyond made the surroundings more exquisite.
In the center where you can see everything at a glance, there was a small gazebo, table, and chair covered with a white roof.
[T/N: Gazebo – a small building, especially one in the garden of a house, that gives a wide view of the surrounding area.]
Grace admired the beautiful scenery over and over again.
“It’s so ravishing. This is the only garden that looks so beautiful even in the cold winter when flowers don’t even bloom.”
“Right, right!”
“Yeah, that’s really cool. Thank you for showing me this, Leon.”
Grace stroked Leon’s head affectionately and said.
Sally soon caught up with them, smiled gently and said.
“This Felix region has the longest winter of the four seasons. So the secret garden was embellished like this.”
“I see.”
“You’re both cold, aren’t you? Now, hurry up and go to the gazebo. I’ll pour you some warm tea.”
Grace looked around and admired, while Sally urged, pointing towards the gazebo. Then she quickly headed with Leon towards the table under a small gazebo. Sally approached the two, pulled out the chairs side by side, and began to take things out of the basket.
A small tea party was held on the table, with a kettle and teacup that was likely to exceed two spines, cookies and chocolate full of dried fruits.
Grace appreciated the decorated table, then looked at Sally, who offered her a tea cup of hot black tea.
“Thank you, Sally.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Me too! Me too!”
“Yes. Prince, please wait a moment.”
Grace wrapped the warm tea cup with her hands, and Sally poured the tea for Leon.
Then Sally took a step back from Leon’s tea, and Grace took the cup to her mouth to drink tea.
[—No!]
It was then. Out of the blue, she heard a man scream in her ear. A scream full of sadness and despair. Grace got surprised and the teacup slipped from her hand.
“Oh my!”
“Sister-in-law?”
Clang!
The tea cup slipped from Grace’s hand, fell on the floor of the secret garden and broke into pieces with a loud noise.
Sally, in surprise, and Leon, terrified, called Grace, but Grace’s ears could no longer hear their voices.
‘A while ago…What was that? Who was it?’
Grace felt as if her eyes were losing their vision and everything was turning black. However, that wasn’t the only strange thing. Even though she felt she was gradually becoming deaf and wanted to scream, her voice did not leak out.
It was a time when Grace was in extreme fear because she felt as if her whole body was paralyzed and submerged in a huge ocean.
[——Please! Open your eyes!]
[——I don’t think I can do it, ——. That noble man is calling me.]
[No! Wake up! I-I can’t let you go like this!]
Suddenly, her eyes brightened up. She saw a woman in white dress dying with blood all over her mouth and a man screaming while hugging her.
The man held the woman in his hands, cried, and struggled to save her somehow, but the blood that flowed from that woman’s body did not stop.
Soon the woman’s body, which had been vomiting blood, stopped moving, and the man wailed and shouted.
[No ——-!]
The man cried and screamed while hugging the woman’s body, whose soul had already left.
[Ha, ha… Hahahaha!]
The man, who was bawling like a crazy person and tearing her heart apart, suddenly began to laugh like a crazy person after a while. The mad laughter was like a devil’s. Grace felt afraid of the appearance and felt as if her whole body had frozen. She wanted to run away, but she couldn’t move her body at all. At this moment, Grace seemed to have become an object, not a person.
Grace had no choice but to watch the man with a completely crazy face kiss the bloody lips of a woman who was already cooling down.
[…I can’t let you go like this]
Then the man muttered like that with a crazy look on his face and took his hand to the dead woman’s belly.
Then he grabbed her round, swollen stomach tightly with his tough hands and suddenly turned his head toward the direction Grace was standing.
“….!”
At that moment, Grace faced the man’s bloody eyes. Grace thought that the crazy man’s eyes staring at her looked very similar to someone.
Who is it? Where did she see it?
A face came to Grace’s mind, who was agonizing over the man who she was staring at, surrounded by instinctive fear.
“….Is it Arthur?”
The moment she thought so, her eyes turned black again. She felt like her body was losing its strength and was barely supporting. As if someone forced her soul out of her body. Eventually, Grace couldn’t hold out more and fell on the floor with a thumping sound.
“Lady! Lady! Wake up!”
Grace saw Sally rushing towards her shaking her arms, and Leon burst into tears in shock. However, she didn’t have the energy to respond at all even if she wanted to.
‘….It’s okay. I need to tell you that I’m fine…’
With that, Grace’s consciousness was completely cut off.
***
Grace’s vision slowly brightened.
‘Where is this place?’
Grace blinked and looked around.
However, there was nothing around her. Grace walked recklessly to get out of the white place which seemed like the whole place was wrapped with a white cloth. Then, someone’s voice came through her ears.
[I can’t let you go like this.]
It was the voice of the man Grace heard before she lost consciousness. Grace hardened on the spot and shouted towards the direction from which the sound came from.
‘Who? Who are you saying you can’t let go?’
[I will save you at all costs.]
However, as if Grace’s voice could not be heard, the “man” again lined up with a monologue mixed with despair. Grace was frustrated and shouted again.
‘Who are you trying to save? And what’s the price?’
[….There’s a good offering right there!]
At that moment, she felt a dignified murderous tone in the man’s voice. Then, a large, tough hand that stretched out of the air began to strangle Grace. Grace scratched and struggled with the hand that held her neck strongly, but she couldn’t escape the murderous hand.
Is it ending in vain like this?
Gradually, she lost her power to resist the pressure of the strong force that strangled her neck.
“Gasp!”
Grace gasped and sat up.
ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ
[T/N: This chapter was sooo good. I have no idea what just happened but it was sooo good. I loved it.♡]