《Kingdom Come》


 Prologue: Pawn

    ¡­


    Bright.


    That was the first thing I thought while gently opening my eyes.


    Blinking and rubbing my eyes, I slowly get up.


    I took in my surroundings as I looked around a little dazed.


    What I noticed first was the soft bed I lay on top on.


    A big bed with a red mattress lined with yellow embroidery.


    A thick white pillow lay behind me while a soft blanket covered me.


    Looking around once more, I see that the room is very spacious and that the bed I was on is in the center and against the wall.


    To my left is a wooden cabinet while my right side had a small round table with a few chairs around it.


    In front of me is a big space with a beautiful carpet covering the floor.


    A window that was behind me let bright light into the room and directly opposite me is a wooden door.


    But even though I said bright light, the sky outside was pitch black.


    No sun, moon, or even stars.


    Just darkness.


    Either way, the room was pretty fancy nonetheless.


    Getting up from bed, I notice my attire.


    It was formal wear that included a long-sleeved white polo and a black suit on top of it.


    I also had black pants on and on my feet were white socks.


    And to top it off, I had a red necktie.


    How was I able to sleep in this?


    Such is the first thing that came to my mind.


    ¡­


    Wait... How did I get here in the first place? And where IS this place?


    Trying to think back to what happened last night, I found myself unable to do so.


    And what''s more, is that I was unable to remember anything at all.


    Not even my name.


    ¡­


    Strange.


    Even though this situation was supposed to be panic-inducing, I was very calm.


    Surveying the room once again, I spot leather shoes to the side of the bed.


    I went ahead and put them on as I felt it was the right thing to do.


    After that I noticed, that there was a mirror to the immediate right of the cabinet.


    Hmmm... Now that I think about it, I don''t know what I look like as well.


    So I went ahead and stood in front of the mirror.


    What I saw was a boy, 15, maybe 16, years of age.


    I had brown hair with a healthy complexion.


    Other than that, everything about me seemed average.


    Be it my height, build, or features. Very average.


    I wasn''t bothered by it ''cause it felt natural.


    Shrugging, I went to check the cabinet.


    Opening it, I found sets of the same clothes I already have on me.


    Complete with a drawer for underwear.


    Inspecting it if there was anything else, I closed it a bit disappointed.


    I inspected the rest of the room as well and found nothing worth taking note of.


    So I went to do what was left of me.


    To leave the room.


    Opening the door, what I found was a fancy corridor that matched my room.


    My room was situated at the far end of the corridor to the left.


    Opposite my room is a door that was the same as mine.


    And I noticed, that it had a nameplate.


    MAID


    Having noticed that, I checked to see if mine had one as well.


    And it did.


    What was on my door was a silver nameplate bolted into the door.


    And etched into it was the word...


    JESTER.


    I checked the other rooms as well.


    Of course without going in.


    I only checked the nameplates.


    In total, there were eight rooms.


    Including mine and the ¡°MAID¡±''s


    Beside my room had the nameplate saying...


    PRINCE


    And beside that had was a room that had the nameplate...


    KING


    Opposite of ¡°PRINCE¡± was...


    PRINCESS


    Whilst opposite of ¡°KING¡± was...


    QUEEN


    Beside the ¡°KING¡±''s and the ¡°QUEEN¡±''s rooms were two rooms that had no nameplate.


    ¡­


    Are these supposed to be our names?


    Somehow, it did not feel like it.


    But since there are other rooms, are there other people?


    Feeling like I would find out sooner or later I walked down the corridor


    I explored a bit, hoping that there would be a clue as why I was here.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    After making a right turn from the corridor that held what I believed to be our bedrooms, I found a wide hallway with two sets of stairs; one going up and one going down, and three doors. In front of the two stairs, were huge(9 ft.) double-doors that were decorated with a bit of gold here and there.


    I tried pushing it but it doesn''t seem to be budging, so I tried pulling. Same result.


    Strange. It doesn''t have a doorknob, keyhole, or anything for that matter.


    Shrugging, I and inspected the other doors.


    They weren''t as fancy as the double-doors but they were locked as well.


    Since they were all locked, I went to the other end of the hallway and made another right turn.


    After making my turn, I was back into a corridor.


    But instead of eight rooms, there was only three. Two on the left side and one on the right.


    I went to right one first.


    Putting my hand on the handle, I tried to open it.


    Click!


    I pushed the door as it creaked.


    Looking inside, I found a room that was three times longer than the room I woke up in.


    Taking a look at the room, it seemed to be a library.


    In front of me was a counter. To the right were some tables and chairs.


    And further into the room were shelves filled with books.


    And even further, on the opposite side of the room was a door.


    I wouldn''t have noticed it if I didn''t check behind the shelves.


    I tried to open it, but it was also locked.


    Taking a mental note to visit this place again, I exited and went to the other two rooms.


    Just like the six rooms before, these had nameplates.


    But instead of names, they had symbols.


    The one to the left had a symbol depicting a woman and the one to the right depicted a man.


    These must have been the comfort rooms.


    If they were, I went ahead and entered the one to the right.


    Looking inside, it seems my guess was correct.


    What entered my sight first were some urinals and some stalls. To the right was a shower area.


    Quickly exiting, I looked at the end of the corridor.


    A window was there letting light in. Even though outside was pitch-black.


    Walking towards it, I took a look outside.


    ¡­


    Nothing.


    I couldn''t see even the bottom.


    Having done this, I went back to the hallway.


    I went to the stairs and decided to go up.


    Reaching the top of the stairs, I found an enormous room with many round tables covered in sheets and decorated with plates, utensils, and a vase each.


    The room was amazing.


    Hanging on the ceiling in the center of the room, was a beautiful, crystal chandelier that seemed to illuminate the entire room.


    Around the room were series of marble pillars, and on each side of the room were large windows covered with red curtains lined with yellow embroidery. What covered the floor was a red carpet that was just as big as this room, filled with designs of flowers.


    After marveling at the place, I noticed the ceiling.


    Maybe because it was so high up and that the chandelier distracted me that I failed to notice this, but now that I''ve seen it, it just made the entire room even more beautiful.


    On the ceiling were sections each having it''s own painting depicting a scene.


    There were six paintings.


    One had what looked like a princess reaching out for someone, another had someone that looked like a noble fighting fiercely with his enemies, and there was one that had a woman in a bed of roses.


    The fourth had a clown juggling knives, while another had a girl in rags weeping over a grave.


    And finally, the sixth one...


    was a painting of a bloody king.


    After a while of being enamored, I took a quick exploration of the place and it seemed that this one room occupied the entire floor.


    As I had nothing else to do here, I went back to the stairs and since there wasn''t one that went up, I went down.


    Reaching the floor below the one above, I took stairs again and went down.


    What greeted me was a lounge as big as the bedroom and...


    Five people.

 Act One: Knight

    Entering the lounge, five sets of eyes looked my way.


    Seeing me, one of them spoke up.


    ¡°Well look who we have here! Had a good sleep I wonder?¡± A cheerful voice greeted me.


    The owner of the voice was a boy who had blonde hair and wore an attire that was just as formal as mine. Along with his personality, his smile gave him an atmosphere of being carefree.


    Just like me, he seems to be around 16. Maybe even older.


    ¡°Don''t mind him. He''s better off being ignored.¡± A female voice came from the side.


    Looking at her, she seemed to be around 19 years old.


    Donning a slightly-revealing red dress and heels(1 inch) that complemented her blood-red hair made her very eye-catching. On top of that, her above-average proportions worked well with her clothes.


    Although almost everything about her contributed to the color red, her sharp eyes were amber colored.


    ¡°D-don''t say that!¡± The blonde haired boy said to her then turned to me. ¡°Don''t misunderstand okay? I''m a good person! Right, Princess?¡± He asked the girl that was a little bit behind him.


    ¡°E-eh? Oh, um...¡± The girl called Princess stuttered as her voice trailed off.


    Just like the boy, she had blonde hair that went all the way to her back, as well as being around the same age as us. What she wore was a blue dress and shoes that went along with it. It also went along with her innocent eyes that were of the same color.


    ¡°-sigh-... this is why you should be better off ignored.¡± The red haired girl said. ¡°Well anyways, I think it would be appropriate to introduce ourselves. Is that alright? King?¡± She asked the person sitting on the sofa.


    Following her gaze, I saw a black-haired guy that was also around 19 or 20 years old.


    Like us, his attire was formal. Except that, on top of his suit, he wore a brown fur coat that made his presence feel powerful. His sharp gaze was completely different from the red haired girl, as it felt cold and computing.


    Giving the red haired girl only a moment''s glance, he said nothing as he turned his head away slowly and closed his eyes.


    ¡°I''ll take that as a yes. Sooo. My name is Queen. Pleased to meet you.¡± The red haired girl offered her hand as she gave a smile that made me think of her as an older sister.


    ¡°N-nice to meet you too...¡± I took her hand and greeted her as well.


    After shaking hands, she continued and motioned towards the blonde haired girl.


    ¡°That girl over there is Princess.¡±


    Having her name called, she became a bit flustered and quickly bowed.


    ¡°P-pleased to meet you!¡± She said.


    ¡°Yeah... pleased to meet you too.¡± I replied.


    After that, Queen motioned to person sitting on the sofa.


    ¡°This person here, is King.¡± Not even giving us a passing glance, Queen continued not minding it.


    ¡°And finally, the person behind King.¡± Following Queen''s hand as she motioned towards the person behind King, I involuntarily let out a my voice.


    ¡°Ah.¡± Just as Queen has mentioned, there was another person behind King.


    Unlike everyone else here, she was wearing a maid''s uniform. She had short hair which was color black just like King, but had soft caring eyes which contrasts his. Being a little short, she was around the same age as us. And even though she was wearing a maid''s uniform, she was just as beautiful as the other two girls.


    I didn''t react like that not because she was pretty or anything, but when I took a look at her, it felt like...


    I knew her.


    I tried to remember, but when I was sort of close enough, it felt as though it would slip further away and instead gave me a slight headache.


    ¡°Hello?¡±


    A gentle voice snapped me back.


    ¡°Uh... yes?¡± Looking towards the owner of the voice, I was greeted by the black haired girl whom was already in front of me.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Y-yeah... just, a little headache...¡± I replied.


    Ahem.-


    Clearing her throat, Queen continued. ¡°As I was saying, this here is Maid.¡±


    After being introduced, Maid gave me a bow and greeted me.


    ¡°Nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you too.¡± I replied in kind.


    ¡°Alright. Now that that''s done, let''s move on-¡±


    ¡°What about me?!¡± A voice interrupted Queen.


    ¡°Hn? Ohh, my... who are you again?¡± Queen coldly replied.


    ¡°PRINCE!! My name is Prince!!¡±


    ¡°Ah yes. That one insiginifcant person.¡±


    ¡°Oi!¡±


    Seeing this, I made a small smile.


    ¡°Well anyways.¡± Queen turned towards me. ¡°As for your name, it would be Jester.¡±


    ¡°Jester? Why is that?¡±


    ¡°Before you came here, the four of us agreed to use the words on the nameplates as our names.¡±


    I see... but wait.


    ¡°Does that mean you guys can''t remember anything either?¡±


    ¡°Yeah... but, even though it''s like this, it felt almost... natural.¡± Maid answered.


    ¡°Hold on a minute!!¡± Prince once again interrupted.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Queen coldly asked.


    ¡°About what you said earlier!! There''s something I''d like to make sure of!¡± Prince pointed.


    ¡°And what is that?¡±


    ¡°You said... four, right?¡±


    ¡°As I was saying. It seems that none of us here remember anything. And just as we were about to begin disussing, you came along and...¡±


    ¡°Would you listen to me?!!¡±


    Laughing wryly at how Queen treated him, it made me wonder just what happened to warrant such behavior. So I asked Maid.


    ¡°Did... something happen between the two of them?¡±


    ¡°Well, nothing really. When I came with King, Queen and Princess were already there. And when Prince entered, she suddenly became... colder?¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    While Queen and Prince were busy arguing, I took a look at the room.


    Just like the ones upstairs, this room was also fancy. It was also as big as our bedrooms.


    With black and white checkered floor tiles that seemed to be so clean, you could see your reflection and various decorations such as pedestals, vases, plants, and paintings, this place held a feeling of relaxation.


    Opposite the stairs are double-doors that were made of polished wood.


    Unlike the one upstairs, it wasn''t as big nor does it have decorations made of gold.


    Just some simple, wooden doors. But even then it could still be considered beautiful.


    In the center of the room was a wooden coffee table, and on both sides of it were two sofas.


    With the one on the right being occupied by King.


    Looking at the sofas, they were somewhat similar to the bed I woke up in.


    They had a sturdy looking frames and the cushions were red and lined with yellow embroidery.


    As my eyes surveyed the room, another set of eyes met with mine.


    Noticing my gaze, Maid gave me smile.


    Taken aback by this, I tried not to let it show as I smiled wryly.


    Thud!!


    A loud sound silenced us as we looked towards the one who did that.


    ¡°Alright, enough fooling around.¡± It was King.


    It seems that he hammered his foot down on the coffee table.


    Putting his foot down, he motioned with his chin to Queen as if saying to get it over with.


    ¡°R-right. Moving on, does anybody have any ideas as to what to do next?¡± Queen asked us.


    Looking at each other, the four of us remained silent.


    So I reluctantly raised my hand.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°How about we explore the place?¡± I said.


    ¡°Hmm. Alright, let''s do that. But first, does anyone have any other ideas?¡±


    Why does this feel like some sort of business meeting?


    ¡°No? Okay then. We''ll split up into three groups and meet back here after you think you''re done inspecting your assigned places. As for the groups, let''s go with King and I; Prince and Princess; and Jester and Maid. King and I will investigate the second floor; Prince and Princess, the third floor; and Jester and Maid, this floor- ...yes, Jester?¡±


    ¡°Well, you see... I already took a look at the floors above us.¡± I said.


    ¡°Ahh, did you now? So what did you find?¡± Queen asked.


    ¡°Well, the floor above us has our bedrooms, comfort rooms for both genders, a library, and five locked doors. As for the one above that, it''s one room that takes up the entire floor.¡±


    I kept that part about another room in the library to myself, just to be safe.


    ¡°I see. Well no harm in looking again. We might even find some stuff you might have overlooked.¡±


    Nodding to her, I asked another question.


    ¡°How... many floors are there?¡±


    ¡°...? Three, with the one we''re on being the first. I checked and there are doors leading outside. Why?¡±


    ¡°Well, when I was on the second floor, I looked out the window and found that I was unable to see the bottom because it was too dark.¡±


    ¡°Too dark? Well I guess that''s true. When I took a look outside, I couldn''t see anything as well so I dropped the idea of investigating whatever''s out there.¡± Queen contemplated. ¡°Anything else?¡±


    ¡°N-no nothing else.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Queen looked at each of us and said. ¡°If there''s nothing else, let''s split up and come back here after say... one hour? ¡­ Scratch that, does anybody have a clock or a watch or something?¡±


    The four of us shook our heads, so Queen put a hand on her chin.


    After a while, she sighed. ¡°Just be back here when you''re done, then we''ll each report what we found.¡±


    After saying this, everybody moved to their destinations and left me and Maid here in the lounge.


    ¡°Sooo let''s get started then.¡± Maid said happily as she heads for the double-doors.


    I follow closely behind.


    Okay, so first off, what we found was a dining room. Not as big as the one on the third floor, but still big enough to house a few tables.


    Inside, there were three, long rectangular tables parallel to each other, each with ten or eleven chairs paired with a plate and a set of utensils. On the center of the table was a vase holding a beautiful white flower.


    Just like the lounge, it had many plants here and there, as well as some painting hanging off a wall.


    Decoration meant to relax who''s inside.


    Beside the dining room was the kitchen.


    It had many stations for cooking, together with the necessary tools to go along with it.


    There was also a huge refrigerator that housed many ingredients.


    Apparently, there''s also a set of white double-doors that connected the two rooms.


    Other than the double-door, was a door leading to a cooler. Inside, were many meat products as well as some other things one would find in a cooler.


    After that, we found an infirmary.


    Twice as long as our bedrooms, it had six sets of beds divided by some curtains.


    There was also a table with some medical documents and a chair behind it.


    In the back were two cabinets that contained many different medicines, tools, and many other items in relation to this.


    Next we found two comfort rooms for their respective genders.


    Other than these five rooms, the rest were locked.


    In total I''ve counted around ten locked rooms.


    ¡­


    Somehow I feel like the first floor is bigger than the floors above.


    Shrugging, We continued to navigate our way through the many hallways and the occasional corridors.


    While walking around, we had various conversations. Mostly just to pass the time.


    And after a while, we found another door.


    But this one was different.


    It was bigger and it was see-through.


    Looking through, what we saw was darkness.


    And immediately we knew, that it was a door leading outside.


    Exchanging glances with Maid, I asked her a question.


    ¡°So... what do we do now?¡±


    ¡°Dunno. Do you want to check and see what''s outside?¡± She asked back.


    Turning back to the door, I thought of what to do.


    ¡°You stay here and I''ll check outside.¡± I said.


    ¡°But what if it''s too dangerous?¡± She said in a worried tone.


    ¡°It''ll be alright. I''ll just walk a few meters and come back.¡±


    Although still hesitant, Maid just nodded and told me to be careful.


    Nodding back, I opened the door and stepped outside.


    After taking a step outside, I took another.


    Then another. And another.


    I kept going for a bit and still couldn''t see anything.


    Well, except for the dirt floor beneath me.


    Getting a bit scared, I turned around.


    But once I did, I became awestruck.


    In front of me was an enormous mansion.


    Just as Queen has said, it had three floors. Looking at it''s roof, it had a few spires here and there that gave off that certain distinct feeling. It had that natural brown color one would expect from wood, coupled with a complex design that made one think that the ones who made this house spent a lot of time making it. And because of that, it looked as if each and every little detail felt essential and necessary.


    Seeing me like this, Maid became ever more worried and called out to me.


    ¡°Jester? Are you alright?¡±


    I responded with a slight nod.


    ¡°Are you sure you''re alright?¡± She asked again.


    ¡°Y-yeah. It''s just...¡± I trailed off. ¡°...the mansion.¡±


    ¡°Mansion?¡±


    Becoming curious, she cautiously jogged towards me and turned around.


    And just like me, she was taken aback.


    ¡°Wow... to think that we were inside this?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Yeah...¡±


    Maybe it was kind of obvious because of the rooms inside, but still...


    It was beautiful. It was definitely beautiful.


    It''s just that, I can''t shake off this feeling that I''ve... been here before.


    ¡°C-come on. Let''s go back.¡± I suggested.


    She nodded and we made our way back inside.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.Once inside, Maid heaved a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Phew... that was fun.¡± She smiled at me.


    ¡°That was fun? But we just stared at the building right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah but, it was kind of thrilling you know?¡± She said, still smiling.


    Seeing this, I smiled back.


    ¡­ Well I guess it was kind of fun.


    ¡°So do you want to go back?¡± I asked.


    She shook her head.


    ¡°No. There were some places we didn''t explore yet. Queen said there were other exits right? Why don''t we try to find those?¡± She said rather happily.


    Thinking about it, I nodded.


    ¡°I guess we can.¡±


    Becoming even happier by my response, she then led us around to places we haven''t been to yet.


    So far, we''ve only encountered more locked doors, which again made me think that the first floor is bigger than the second. And the third.


    ¡°Hey did you know?¡± Maid asked.


    ¡°...? Know what?¡±


    ¡°That, when you walked outside, it looked as if you were walking on nothing.¡±


    ¡°Really now... that''s interesting.¡±


    Talking a little bit more about some trivial stuff, we finally found another door leading outside.


    But unlike the other one, this one was bigger and it wasn''t see through.


    They were double-doors made of marble with some gold here and there.


    We only found out it led outside when we opened it.


    Maid turned towards me with a mischievous grin.


    ¡°Wanna go?¡±


    Nodding, I followed her outside.


    What we noticed first was that, instead of dirt, we stepped on cement.


    We took note of this as we carefully made our way to a distance we think is suitable.


    Looking at each other first, we both simultaneously turned towards the mansion.


    What we saw was just as magnificent as the other side. Maybe even better.


    I think it might be because this is the front of the building, but it was great either way.


    Nodding satisfied, I turned back to Maid, who in turn looked at me.


    She smiled and said. ¡°Sooo, do you want to go back?¡±


    Raising an eyebrow, I replied in kind.


    ¡°No. There are still a few places we haven''t checked.¡±


    Now beaming from ear to ear, she led us once again to the rest of the first floor.


    And just like before, we found more locked doors until finally, we found the last one.


    It was just like any other door, so I had no expectations.


    But even so, I turned the handle.


    Click-


    Surprised, both Maid and I peeped into the room.


    Inside was a big room that, like others had the same decorations like plants and paintings.


    What made this room different though was the Grand Piano that sat at the very center of the room.


    Along with the piano, was a rectangular chair that had a red cushion on top of it.


    Light filled the room from the windows that looked as if they replaced the walls themselves.


    Covering these windows were light-green, silk curtains that made the room even brighter.


    ¡°Uuuaah. This place keeps getting better and better huh?¡± Maid said as she surveyed the room.


    ¡°Yeah, I guess so.¡±


    ¡°Hey. Did you ever wonder, where the light came from?¡± She suddenly asked.


    ¡°Hm? From outsid-¡± I stopped for a moment. ¡°From the light bulbs?¡± I answered while looking up.


    Searching the ceiling, I became disappointed as well as intrigued.


    ¡°Yeah, where does the light come from?¡± I asked not as a question, but to agree with her.


    ¡°Right? ¡­ Maybe it''s sunlight. ''Cause look, it''s kind of warm see?¡±


    Following her to one of the windows, I let the light bathe me.


    ¡°I guess it is.¡± I said. ¡°Hmm.. maybe it''s because it''s too dark out? Even though there''s light.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Maid put a finger on her lip as she thought about it.


    Shrugging, she skipped towards the piano and asked me another question.


    ¡°Say, do you know how to play the piano?¡±


    ¡°What? Well, no? I think...¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.. I don''t think I''ve touched one before either. How about you? Do you play?¡± I asked back.


    ¡°Well...¡±


    She sat herself down in front of the piano and opened the lid, revealing a set of black and white keys.


    Although she sat herself down, she didn''t play but instead caressed the keys.


    ¡°Guess not?¡± She said as she closed an eye and stuck her tongue out. After which she sighed. ¡°Wish we could explore more.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°You really like exploring huh?¡±


    ¡°Hmhm~ That''s because I''m an adventurous woman!¡± She said as she puffed her chest out. ¡°But sadly, we have to go back now huh..¡±


    Although she said that with a bit of sadness, she quickly reverted back to being cheerful.


    ¡°Well whatever.¡±


    Seeing this, I gave a suggestion. ¡°We could explore the upper floors, if you want. If not... there''s always outside.¡±


    Hearing me say this, she turned towards me a bit surprised and smiled. ¡°Thanks.¡± She then turned towards the window ¡°But still, outside huh...¡± I looked as well. ¡°Alright. You better keep your promise.¡±


    ¡°Wait, promise?¡± I asked as I turned towards her.


    ¡°Yeah. You suggested it, so you better keep it.¡± She said, not looking away from the window.


    I only nodded as a reply.


    After a while, Maid spoke up again.


    ¡°Should we get back?¡±


    ¡°......yeah.¡±


    Silently, we exited the room and walked back to the lounge.


    Once in front of the double-doors, we opened both at the same time as we entered.


    ¡°Well you guys, sure took you''re sweet time.¡± A cheerful voice greeted us.


    ¡°You''re... Prince, right?¡± I asked. Looking around, it seems everybody else is here as well.


    ¡°Ohh! You remembered! Ha! See that Queen?¡± Prince turned to the red-haired person.


    Queen sighed. ¡°Jester.¡± She said as she walked towards me.


    ¡°Y-yes?¡±


    She looked at me with caring eyes. ¡°I know you''re a good boy... so, I''m telling you right now. That you should really stay away from this pathetic excuse of a person.¡± She said solemnly.


    ¡°U-um, what?¡±


    ¡°NOW HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!¡±


    Prince intervened.


    ¡°Don''t listen to her! I''m not a bad person! She''s just sadistic! Princess! Do you think I''m a bad person? We searched the top floor together so you should know best, right?¡±


    ¡°Eh? Oh, well... that''s...¡± Being abruptly questioned, Princess stuttered.


    Seeing this, Queen shot him a cold glare. ¡°Don''t molest her any further, scum.¡±


    ¡°I''M NOT MOLESTING?!¡±


    Laughing wryly at this, I watched as they continued their charade.


    After a while, Queen turned towards me.


    ¡°Well anyways, about your search Jester, what took you so long anyway?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Ah. Well, you see, the first floor was much bigger than we had expected it to be.¡±


    ¡°Bigger?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Maid answered for me. ¡°We found a few open rooms, but the rest we found were all locked.¡±


    ¡°I see... say, how many rooms did you find?¡± Queen asked.


    ¡°Well, there was a kitchen, a dining room, two comfort rooms, an infirmary, and one with a piano.¡± I enumerated.


    After this, Queen thought for a moment and asked another question.


    ¡°And how many locked rooms?¡±


    Exchanging glances with Maid, I tried to give a number approximate to how many we''ve encountered.


    ¡°Fourteen, maybe? Or fifteen. Maid?¡±


    ¡°I think it''s fourteen.¡± She said after counting her fingers.


    ¡°Fourteen?¡± Queen said bemused.


    ¡°Something wrong?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, nothing. Anything else?¡±


    I looked at Maid and she shook her head.


    ¡°No, that''s it.¡±


    Queen nodded. ¡°Okay then.¡±


    ¡°How about you guys?¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    ¡°What did you find?¡±


    ¡°Ah yes, about that...¡±


    While we were talking about what they found, I notice Prince talking to Princess. With Prince doing most of the talking. As for Princess, she just stood there looking a bit... lonely. Or maybe just bored.


    Either way, she wasn''t enjoying ''talking'' with Prince.


    Back on topic. What Queen told me was mostly what I''ve already seen. What''s new was that the number of locked rooms was not five, but eight.


    ¡°What about the third floor?¡±


    ¡°Well, it was just as you said but, there were balconies as well.¡±


    ¡°Balconies?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah. Wide ones at that.¡±


    ¡°Was there anything there?¡±


    ¡°No... just plants and tiles. It was bright, at least. But, at the same time... dark?¡±


    ¡°I-I see.¡±


    So it was kind of the same as when we were outside and could only see the mansion...


    ¡°Sooo, what do we do now?¡± Maid asked.


    Queen thought about it for a while and gave a suggestion.


    ¡°Well, we haven''t eaten breakfast yet right? Why don''t you lead us to the kitchen.¡±


    And with that, Queen gathered the rest as we went to the kitchen.


    While walking, I notice Queen looking around curiously.


    ¡°Queen?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Is... something bothering you?¡±


    ¡°.........No. Just, carry on.¡± She said.


    Shrugging, I decided not to mind it.


    While walking, the only one talking was Prince.


    And the only one he was talking to, was Princess.


    ¡°So how ''bout I help you cook? Wouldn''t that be nice?¡± He said in a cheerful tone.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I know all sorts of dishes we could make! Well, if there are ingredients.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I wonder what the kitchen looks like? I think Queen said something about a cooler as well.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Say, do you thin-¡±


    ¡°Prince.¡± Queen said, with a hint of irritation.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°I thought I told you to stop molesting her already.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?! I''m not molesting! And besides! It''s not like Princess is actually bothered! Right, Princess?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Uuh, Princess?¡±


    ¡°Hmph.¡±


    ¡°Uuaah! Cold!!¡±


    This went on for a while more, until we finally reached our destination.


    ¡°Alright! You boys go to the dining room and leave the cooking to us.¡± Queen said.


    ¡°Eh? Are you sure?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Do you know how to cook?¡±


    Guess were going to the dining room then.


    ¡°What about me? I''d be a good asset!¡± Prince persisted.


    ¡°No. You''re presence will make the food turn foul.¡±


    ¡°......Tch.¡± Prince marched off.


    Well that was new. I looked at Queen and saw that she wasn''t the least bit troubled by it.


    ¡°He''s kind of mad now.¡± I said.


    ¡°Hn? Oh yeah.¡± She snorted. ¡°Word of advice, Jester. Don''t get close to him.¡±


    She left with the other girls and went straight into the kitchen.


    What was supposed to mean?


    Maybe it''s just her being cold towards him again.


    Being left alone in the corridor, I quickly entered the dining room.


    I sat myself down in one of the tables the others were sitting at.


    ¡°Geez. Can you believe her? Being all condescending and all that... Hey? Are you listening?¡±


    There, Prince was doing a one-sided conversation with King.


    In response, King only gave a yawn.


    ¡°Bastard.. Hm? Oh! Hey Jester! Man, can you believe it? I don''t understand why they have to be all jerks to me like that! Can you? And all I''m trying to do is be friendly you know?¡±


    Laughing dryly, I just nodded in return.


    ¡°Yeah.. especially that Queen.¡± Suddenly, even if for a moment, I noticed a slight change in tone. Or maybe that was just my imagination. ¡°I don''t know why, but I get this feeling that I really won''t get along with her.¡±


    He continued ranting for a while, with me giving vague responses like ''yeah'' or ''maybe'' here and there until he asked me a question.


    ¡°Say, what''s your opinion of her?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh. Well, an older sister? Maybe?¡±


    ¡°I see...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Say, have you ever fallen in love?¡±


    I looked at him for a moment.¡°What do you mea-¡±


    ¡°Boys, thank you for waiting!¡± A voice emerged from the white double-doors that opened with a bang.


    There, Queen lead two other girls holding trays into the dining room.


    Looking at them, I noticed that they were wearing white aprons.


    ¡°Here it is!¡±


    Saying that, Queen motioned with her chin and Princess brought in and placed a silver tray holding two dishes on the table. The first dish were omelettes shaped into half-circles with a few greens decorating the side. The other one was a plate full of what looked like hash browns.


    Pretty fitting for a breakfast I suppose.


    After that, Maid put down her tray which had two dishes as well. One was a really colorful salad and the other was a bowl of soup which had a ladle sticking out of it.


    ¡°As for your plates and stuff, it''s in the kitchen. Now c''mon. You weren''t expecting us girls to carry those now were you?¡±


    With the three of us boys looking at eachother, we shrugged and went for the kitchen.


    Searching around a bit, we found a cabinet full of exotic plates with spoons and forks to match.


    We took a set each along with some bowls for the soup.


    Getting back to the dining room, we took what we wanted and sat ourselves down.


    As for me, I took a bit of everything just like everybody else.


    Having our meals in front of us, we only ate in silence as it seemed only right.


    A little around 20 minutes, we finished and talked about what to do.


    ¡°We could keep searching. If nothing turns up today, we just try again tomorrow.¡± Queen.


    ¡°But what if we really don''t find anything? Do we just continue living here?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Hmmm... If we really can''t find anything, we''ll hold a discussion and piece together what we know.¡±


    Queen paused.


    ¡°... as well as what we don''t know.¡±


    With that, we continued our search.

 Act Two: Bishop

    Our groups were the same as before.


    Maid came over to me and Queen to King. Prince went to Princess and although very hesitant, she silently went along with it, albeit frowning.


    I kind of felt sorry for her though. Not that I have anything against him, it''s just that... this feeling kind of came to me almost naturally. As for Maid, I felt oddly comfortable around her.


    Maybe we were friends? I can''t really say though, with the gap in my memories and everything.


    Actually, make that the entirety of my memories.


    Now, a while back, Prince asked me what I thought about Queen. And yes, she really does feel like an older sister to me. And King... I don''t know, honestly. Just this feeling of tension.


    As for Prince. Well nothing negative really. Nothing positive either. Just this feeling of uneasiness.


    But enough about that. Maid and I went around again.


    We somehow ended up in the infirmary first and searched there.


    When I went through the cabinets, I found a weighing scale, that thing for blood-pressure, more tools I don''t know the use of, and flashlights.


    When you think about it, they weren''t much. But something irked me.


    ¡°Hey, do you think these will work outside?¡± I asked Maid.


    When I turned around I saw her going through the documents found on the desk.


    She turned to me. ¡°What will?¡±


    To her question I showed her a total of six flashlights.


    Seeing this, she looked happy for a moment.


    ¡°But... do they have batteries?¡±


    Hmmm. I opened one of them and found... nothing.


    ¡°Aww.¡±


    I opened each and every one of them and they all turned out the same.


    ¡°Too bad.¡± Maid said a bit sadly as she came over and played around with one of the flashlights.


    Click-


    ¡°¡°Oh.¡±¡± Both of us said at the same time.


    It turned on.


    ¡°That''s... strange.¡± I said. ¡°But somehow I don''t feel surprised. Even though I sort of want to.¡±


    Maid nodded. ¡°Oh. But hey! We could try them out!¡±


    Thinking about it a little, I asked her a question.


    ¡°Should we get the others?¡±


    She frowned a bit and thought. ¡°I guess? I mean if you want them to.¡±


    Shrugging, we just decided to call everyone.


    We navigated our way until we got to the lounge. Going up the stairs, we tried to look for King and Queen. So, we checked their rooms first.


    Facing the room of King, I hesitated before knocking.


    No response.


    I knocked again. Still nothing.


    Exchanging looks with Maid, we went to the opposite room and knocked. Having no response as well, we knocked on the other two rooms and entered ours.


    Well, they aren''t here, so that leaves us with only one place. Which was the library.


    We walked towards the library and passed the three locked doors.


    Making a right turn, we went and opened the door to the right. Making a creaking sound, we entered looked around.


    There, on one of the chairs, Queen was sitted and was reading a rather thick book.


    King on the other hand was looking at the books in one of the shelves.


    Noticing us, Queen greeted us.


    ¡°Hello there, Jester, Maid. What brings you here? Found something?¡±


    Nodding, we both brought out three flashlights each.


    ¡°Oh my. Do they have batteries?¡±


    Maid shook her head and Queen was visibly disappointed.


    ¡°But look.¡± I said as I switched on one of the flashlights.


    Queen raised her eyebrows. ¡°I thought you said they didn''t have any batteries?¡±


    ¡°Well yeah. They don''t. But they turn on anyways sooo...¡± I said as I handed them to her.


    She inspected them as she tried turning them on. She opened the lid and found that there really was no battery and, without closing it, repeatedly switched it on and off.


    ¡°Huh. Interesting.¡± She said. ¡°Hey King, check this out.¡± She threw one of them to him and he nimbly catched it.


    Tilting his head as he inspected it as well, he turned to me.


    ¡°Where''d you find this?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Uhh. The, infirmary. I guess.¡±


    Saying nothing, he continued inspecting the flashlight.


    ¡°Well anyways.¡± Queen grabbed our attention. ¡°What do you plan on doing with these?¡±


    ¡°You see, we thought that maybe we could use this outside, or something.¡± Maid said.


    ¡°Ohh. Didn''t think of that.¡± She said. ¡°Alright. Call the other two and let''s try to explore a little bit.¡±


    Doing as she said, we went up to the third floor.


    ¡°This place is really beautiful huh?¡± A familiar voice reached us. ¡°Say, do you know how to dance? You know, the formal one? No? Well, how about singing?¡± Just like the blonde haired boy we know, he just kept talking and talking.


    ¡°How about hobbie- Oh heeey! Jester! Did you find something?¡±


    ¡°Hey. And yeah, we found this.¡± I gave him two flashlights.


    ¡°.......Um, they''re kind of empty?¡±


    I took a flashlight from Maid and turned it on.


    ¡°Apparently for some reason, they don''t need battery.¡±


    ¡°What? Really? Hey Princess! Come check this out!¡±


    Even without his calling for, Princess was already heading this way and stood beside Maid.


    Maid showed her the flashlight and gave her one. Surprised, she inspected the strange flashlight.


    Seeing that, I just continued talking to Prince.


    ¡°So, what about these flashlights?¡± Prince asked.


    ¡°Well, you know about how it''s really dark outside right? Maybe these''ll work.¡±


    ¡°Ohhh.¡± Understanding, he nodded. ¡°What are we waiting for then? Let''s go!¡± He said as he went towards Princess saying ''C''mon, c''mon. Let''s go!''


    Going back down, we met up with King and Queen and went down one more time.


    Maid and I lead the group and got to one of the doors leading outside. The transparent one.


    ¡°Okay, here goes nothing.¡± Queen said.


    She put a hand on the door knob and turned it. She pushed it open and pointed her flashlight outside.


    When she turned it on...


    It cut through the darkness almost perfectly.


    Phew. ¡°At least it worked.¡± Queen said.


    With that, each of us stepped outside, each with our own flashlight.


    Walking further with Queen in the lead, the order went on with King next, then Princess, Prince, and Maid and me in the back.


    Smiling, we both nodded and I said in a voice just enough for everybody to hear.


    ¡°Hey guys? You might wanna turn around.¡±


    Hearing me, they turned around. And widened their eyes. Well, except for King.


    ¡°Woah!¡± Prince exclaimed.


    Woah was right. Even if this was the second time I saw this, it felt really refreshing.


    A mansion. And everything else is darkness. Because of that, the mansion was even more eye-catching.


    ¡°Oh my.¡± Queen looked at it as if trying to burn it into her memory.


    After a while, we snapped back and got back on track.


    Queen lead us as she pointed her flashlight here and there. Doing this for a while, one thing was for sure. That this place was a garden. There were many flowers, bushes, and a few tiles acting like stepping stones.


    And there, we even found tall walls made of leaves and vines. It started from one corner of the mansion and rounded off towards the other. But in the center of that wall, was an entrance of some sort.


    When we entered, more walls were there. We walked through the corridors the walls made and concluded that this area was a labyrinth of some sort.


    We even tried making Prince going behind one of the walls to see if it would impede our view of each other. Which it did. We tried having one of us go as far as possible but with nothing in between to obstruct our view. We found that no matter how far we go, we could see each other. Unless something is blocking us.


    Queen told us not to go to the maze saying that we may get lost.


    And with that, we got back and ate lunch.


    This time we had fish and rice.


    For breakfast we had an American kind of meal and now we''re having an Asian style meal.


    What next? Spaghetti? I hope so. Or maybe lasagna. That would be good too.


    After our meal. We went to the supposed front door.


    Queen puts her hands on the handles and opens the double-doors.


    Like last time, she lead us around.


    When we walked around enough, this is what the place looked like.


    The cement floor apparently was a road and beside it were grassy lawns. Unlike the garden this place wasn''t surrounded. We circled the mansion and found the leafy walls and circled it as well. We went around until we made full circle.


    This time we tried to go as far from the mansion as possible.


    When we walked about 25 meters, we came to a full stop.


    In front of us, was a steep cliff that shot straight down. Not even the light could reach the bottom.


    We walked along it and found that it was like that all around.


    As if the mansion was isolated from the world.


    ¡°Say, how deep do you think this is?¡± Prince asked.


    ¡°Oh? You want to know? Here, give me your flashlight.¡± Queen said.


    ¡°...?¡±


    Curious, he gave her the flashlight.


    There, Queen walked towards the cliff aaand... dropped the flashlight.


    ¡°Hey!!¡± Prince shouted.


    But what''s done is done.


    We watched the flashlight fall as it disappeared into the void.


    ¡°Well that''s deep.¡±


    ¡°YOU BITCH!!!¡±


    ¡°Well anyways, let''s go back. I think it''s nearing dinner already.¡± Queen said as she turned towards the mansion.


    The rest of us followed leaving Prince loudly complaining and quickly followed soon after.


    When we entered, we immediately noticed that it was visibly darker.


    Unfortunately, there aren''t any light bulbs or lamps. So we made use of our flashlights instead.


    ¡­ I hope these don''t run out soon.


    When we got to the dining room, the girls went and made our food again.


    As expected it was pasta. Yay! For some reason I feel really happy.


    We ate our meal and when we finished, Queen told us to meet up in the lounge again once we wake up.


    Getting darker and darker, as if saying that the sun is going down we went to our rooms.


    ¡°Good night.¡± Maid said to me.


    Smiling, I replied. ¡°Good night.¡±


    The rest of us respectively said that in turn and closed our doors. But as for King and Princess, they quickly got in their rooms without doing so.


    ¡°Geez it''s been a tiring day.¡± I said as I removed my shoes and jumped into bed.


    I may be in formal attire, but strangely enough, it didn''t feel uncomfortable even when I was lying down. Rather, it feels like I''ve gotten used to this.


    Shaking away my thoughts, I just focused on sleeping. And sleep, I did.


    ¡­


    Waking up the next morning, I found myself in the same room as before.


    Well, obviously.


    Getting up, I took in my surroundings. I wore my shoes and left the room.


    When I opened the door, I found that the opposite room did so as well.


    ¡°Oh, good morning.¡± Maid said to me.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± I said back. ¡°Just woke up?¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh. You?¡±


    I nod.


    ¡°Shall we get going?¡±


    She nodded as well and we went down the corridor...


    Which led straight into the hallway.


    ¡°What?¡±


    In front of us, instead of a right turn, was the hallway as well as the other corridor.


    All in a straight line.


    Maid and I looked at each other then hurried to knock on the other doors. Receiving no response, we hurried downstairs.


    ¡°Queen!¡± I called as I entered the lounge.


    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± Queen immediately answered. ¡°Hurry, the others already went outside.¡± She tossed us our flashlights.


    Nodding, Queen then lead us outside.


    While walking around, we noticed that the entire first floor was completely different. The kitchen and dining room were somewhere deeper instead of closer to the lounge, hallways branch off somewhere else, and the path to the exit has changed.


    It felt as if we were in a completely different building than before.


    Arriving at one of the exits, the double-doors, we stepped outside and found three others, each with their own flashlight.


    Well, except for Prince.


    ¡°Alright so...¡± Queen said as our group merged with theirs and turned around. ¡°...¡± Once she did, she fell silent and narrowed her eyes as if thinking.


    Seeing her like that, I turned around as well.


    There, a mansion stood with all it''s glory. A building so beautiful, it looked as if it needed each and every detail to complete it. Because of that, it looked frail but extremely sturdy at the same time. It looked powerful as it proudly stood there. It was like this, but still...


    It''s still the same building. Nothing has changed.


    ¡°More questions but no answers...¡± Queen muttered. ¡°I wonder if we should explore again.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I think we should. Just to know where everything is again.¡± Maid.


    ¡°True. But what if it changes again tomorrow? And the next day?¡±


    ¡°Then we continue searching.¡±


    ¡°...¡± Queen sighed as if saying it couldn''t be helped. ¡°I don''t know why but, it feels like you''ve always been like this.¡±


    ¡°Ehehe.¡± Maid.


    ¡°Well it''s not like we can do anything about it. If it happens again tomorrow, then it happens again. But if it doesn''t...¡± Queen paused. ¡°Then the better.¡±


    Looking around I saw Prince looking as if he wasn''t interested. Same for King and Princess.


    Especially King.


    Princess looked as if she just wanted to go back to sleep.


    ¡°Meh.¡± Prince. ¡°Well anyways, hey Princess! I found a chess set! Wanna play?¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    King just quickly walked back and Princess followed suite.


    ¡°H-Hey! Don''t leave me!¡± Prince said running after them.


    After the three entered the building, Queen sighed yet again.


    ¡°Geez, they don''t have a sense of danger. Can''t they be a bit more worried about this? Well I understand how they feel but...¡± Queen complained softly as she walked back as well.


    Smiling wryly at this, I felt someone tugging my sleeve.


    ¡°Looks like we can explore more?¡± Maid said beaming.


    With this, we spent our day exploring the first floor. Our meals that day were assorted as well. I was surprised to see Queen coming in with a dish holding a lobster. We had other foods I was surprised to see as well. Well, surprised not because of the food but because they knew how to cook them.


    After lunch, we continued searching and found the initial rooms, which were the kitchen, dining room, infirmary, comfort rooms, and the one with the piano.


    What we found different, other than the corridors and stuff, was that there were only 5 locked rooms.


    Which was , obviously, much fewer than yesterday.


    When we finished and ate dinner, just like yesterday, the place became darker and darker signalling night time. We turned in and agreed to meet in the lounge again.


    After saying good night to the others, I entered my room and once again jumped into bed.


    I thought about today. And of course, the following days.


    Will we continue living like this? I wonder if we''ll be able to find a clue, a clue to get out of here... but, I feel like we can''t leave this place. Well, it''s just a feeling. I hope it''s just a feeling.


    ''Cause I sort of want to leave but, at the same time... I don''t.


    Guh. I feel like I''m not getting anywhere. And I feel even more confused than before.


    Piles and piles of questions raided my head and I thought about each and every one of them.


    Where are we?


    Why are we here?


    In the first place, who are we?


    These were the root of all the other questions bombarding me.


    It was painful thinking about it. Literally. Every time I feel like I am close enough to answer one of these, a phantom pain will assault me. But I did so anyway. Just to get even the smallest hint as why we''re here.


    Getting tired, I my eyelids became heavy. And before I knew it, I was asleep.


    ¡­


    Waking up again, I repeated the same routine as yesterday.


    Oh and if you''re wondering, we do take baths. In the comfort rooms, there are shower areas.


    We sort of agreed that the girls go first in the morning and the boys in the afternoon.


    When I opened the door, I looked towards the other end of the corridor.


    Just like yesterday, it changed. Instead of either right or straight ahead, it went left.


    What was completely different though, was that to my left, was the hallway.


    Normally it would just be a windowed wall with red curtains.


    I went left and went downstairs to enter the lounge. It felt strange though you know? Since I kind of became used to going right to go to the hallway.


    When I was walking down the stairs, a voice already reached me.


    ¡°Come on! It''ll be fun!! Just the two of us you know?¡±


    Entering the lounge I found two people.


    ¡°Don''t you think so too? Princess? ¡­ Hn? Oh! Jester! Didn''t see you there!¡± Prince greeted.


    ¡°Morning to you too. The others?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Now why do you want to know where they are. I can understand Maid, but King and Queen...¡± Prince trailed off. ¡°Well anyways, the place seems to have changed again huh?¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°I wonder why it happens? Say, do you?¡± He asked.


    ¡°No. I want to know too.¡± I said.


    ¡°How about you Princess?¡± Prince asked.


    Princess just shrugged.


    ¡°Oookay. How about exploring again? Since the place has changed, we can go for another round?¡±


    Prince said.


    ¡°...¡±


    No response.


    ¡°C''mon~ maybe this''ll help us become closer no?¡± Prince insisted.


    Remaining quiet, she frowned a bit.


    Becoming a little impatient, Prince kept pushing.


    ¡°I''m trying to be nice here see? If we go, you might think it''s fun?¡±


    ¡°I don''t want to...¡± Princess finally replied, albeit in a soft voice.


    ¡°You won''t know until you try right?¡±


    ¡°I said I don''t want to...¡±


    Prince suddenly grabs her wrist.


    ¡°...?!¡±


    ¡°Come ooooonn~! I''m telling you it''ll be fun.¡±


    Frightened, she tried to pull away. But Prince was persistent.


    Not liking where this is going I tried to intervene.


    ¡°Um, Prince?¡± I called.


    ¡°Hm? Oh! I forgot about you... Say, we''ll continue this later.¡± Prince smiled and walked off looking a bit irritated.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°So tell me... has Prince been doing this to you recently? If so, we could I don''t know? Tell Queen?¡±


    ¡°...¡± She turned to me. And gave a light smile. ¡°...Thanks.¡±


    After saying this, she walked away as well. But unlike Prince, she was sort of happier.


    ¡°...What?¡± Not really knowing what she thanked me for, I pondered about it for a while whilst walking away myself.


    The days went on with us exploring, eating, and sleeping. And each day had a different floor layouts but still the same building. We even tried mixing the groups up a bit with me teaming up with Princess.


    Prince seemed to be dissatisfied but hesitantly went along with it. Princess though, seemed to be happy about it.


    As for the others, King teamed with Prince, and Queen with Maid.


    We tried many thing as well, like assigning different search areas, searching on the same floor, forcing open the locked doors and fail, and more stuff even if trivial.


    As long as we can find something.


    This continued for about a week. And with us not really coming up with anything, slight changes were beginning to show in everyone.


    King frequently yawns now and mostly goes to the library to either read or sleep.


    Queen seems to be getting tired of having no results and she''s starting to accompany King almost all the time.


    Princess is a bit more positive though. She interacts with us more now and could make sort of decent conversations with me. But still, she''s really quiet and still speaks softly.


    Maid didn''t really change, she enjoys exploring and keeps asking me to come along with her.


    And as for Prince, it''s starting to show that he doesn''t really care about our situation.


    The days kept going and we began to kind of settle in and quietly make our own routines.


    But I noticed. That as the days go by, Prince keeps getting pushier and pushier with Princess.


    ¡°Hey Princess, wanna go to the garden?¡±


    ¡°Hey Princess, let me accompany you...¡±


    ¡°Hey Princess, are you going somewhere?¡±


    ¡°Hey Princess, I can show you how to do this...¡±


    ¡°Hey Princess, what do you think? Kind of romantic huh?¡±


    ¡°Hey Princess, do you think there''s a reason why I''m Prince? And you''re Princess?¡±


    ¡°Hey Princess.¡±


    ¡°Hey Princess.¡±


    ¡°Hey Princess.¡±


    ¡°Hey Princess.¡±


    ¡°Hey Princess.¡±


    ¡°Hey Princess.¡±


    ¡°Hey Princess.¡±


    ¡°Hey Princess.¡±


    ¡°Hey Princess.¡±


    ¡°Hey Princess.¡±


    ¡°Hey Princess.¡±


    ¡°HEY PRINCESS.¡±


    ¡°WOULD YOU JUST STOP ALREADY?!¡±


    One day, Princess finally snapped.


    ¡°Why are you persisting me?! Why me?! Can''t you talk to the others instead?! And also, I don''t care WHY were ¡°Prince¡± or ¡°Princess¡±. And NO, were not soulmates or whatever you''re saying okay?! Just... just leave me alone.¡± After her short rant, she stormed off to her room and slammed her door shut.


    ¡°...¡±


    Worrying that Prince might be devastated, I called out to him.


    ¡°Hey um-¡±


    ¡°Heh.¡± Prince snorted.


    Immediately he turned around and quickly walked away.


    Seeing this, I had a gut feeling. As if I knew something was going to happen.


    I went to inform Queen just because.


    Maybe I felt that it would help ease me a bit but... this feeling of anxiousness wouldn''t leave me and continued to grow stronger.


    It felt unnatural.


    It felt like a huge swarm of butterflies assaulted my chest until I really couldn''t sleep.


    I didn''t tell anybody though. I know it''s stupid, but to me it felt wrong doing so. So I just kept it to my self.


    On my third almost sleepless night, I pondered. Why am I feeling like this? Why am I having these strange feelings in the first place? I''ve been feeling so many things, and now and...


    -Thud!


    A loud sound rang out.


    -Thud! -Thud!


    And two more.


    Then more followed by fast footsteps.


    Getting up from bed, I tried to make sense of the sequence of sounds until...


    -Bang!


    The door of my room burst open and a blonde haired girl came running in.


    She was wearing a beautiful blue dress but her hair was a mess.


    What I processed next was the colour red.


    Blood.


    ¡°Jester!¡± Princess frantically called my name.


    But before I could ask what happened, another voice filled the room.


    ¡°Well lookie here~ Running to your knight in shining armour I suppose? Hmmm... So you ran to Jester...¡± Prince mused as he brandished a knife. ¡°Well, I did notice you two becoming closer these past few days and... you know?¡± Prince waked closer.


    Princess stumbled away from him and I tried to move in between them. Even though it was around midnight and I was sort of sleep-deprived, I could still understand what was happening.


    Prince attacked Princess.


    I know how he was being forceful with Princess but... to jump straight to assaulting her? I know Princess blew him off but this is too much.


    ¡°I''ve been... nice, you know? Tried to become friends, you know? I did a lot of things. But... why?¡±


    Prince continued talking. ¡°Why Jester? What did he ever do to you to get you two to become all buddy-buddy? I mean, you could''ve gone to Queen ''cause you know, she''s reliable. Or King, he seems strong. But Jester? You barely talked to him and he, to you.¡±


    Prince paused.


    ¡°But.. I did notice. That you actually speak to him more than the others. I''ve been watching. When it comes to the others, you''re all really quiet and on the receiving end of the conversations. But if it''s with Jester, noooo. He''s special. And that''s, what I don''t understand. Do you know? Jester?¡±


    He pointed the knife that I now see as a kitchen knife.


    ¡°Say, did you ever wonder if were the last people on Earth? I mean, if this is still Earth. Or that, if this place will ever run out of food? What will happen to us?¡±


    Remaining silent, I tried to think of a way out. It may just be a knife, but a knife weilded with the intention to kill is dangerous. My eyes darted around the room, while not leaving Prince out of my sight. Looking at my room now, this was the first time I thought it was extremely empty.


    Feeling a bead of sweat slide down the side of my face, I could feel tension fill the room.


    Prince frowned. Then smiled.


    ¡°No? You don''t know? Well, there is something I do know... that something will happen to you.¡±


    He leaped at me. Shooting the knife at me, I tried to move away but I got hit on the shoulder.


    ¡°Gah!¡± The pain screamed at me.


    ¡°Jester!!¡± Princess shouted.


    Making a wicked grin, he launched the knife again.


    Dodging this time, I moved diagonally behind him and tackled him from behind, causing him to stumble into the set of table and chairs. In the background I think I heard Princess scream.


    With a loud crash, the furniture flew everywhere. Quickly getting up, his eyes burned with rage.


    Gripping my shoulder, I waited for his next attack. But I immediately regretted when he ran straight for Princess.


    ¡°Tch.¡± I clicked my tongue as I ran and tried to tackle him again.


    This time though he dodged. He brought the knife down at me but was stopped when a blue shoe went flying to his face. Taking this chance, I tried to take the knife from him. I held on to the knife causing my hand to bleed. Wincing from the pain, I wrestled him for the knife further making my hands bloodier.


    Kneeing me in the stomach, I fell down and brought him down with me.


    The one who got up first was Prince. But at the same time, my door blasted open again.


    ¡°Jester?!¡± Maid called out as she entered the room. ¡°...!!¡± She fell shocked when she saw me.


    I tried to warn her but Prince was fast.


    He went for Maid and held her up, pointing the knife to her throat.


    ¡°Don''t move.¡± Prince said with heavy breathing. Not saying anything more, he took a step back. And started walking ever so slowly to the door.


    I got up with one knee on the floor and one arm gripping my shoulder that was searing with pain.


    I glared at him.


    ¡°Bastard...¡± I said.


    As a response, he smirked and continued to move backwards towards the door.


    And when he finally stepped out, he poised his knife and...


    -BANG!!

 Act Three: Rook

    -BANG!!


    A gunshot.


    Still smirking, Prince stiffened and...


    ¡­ fell down.


    Quickly, Maid moved away from him and back into my room.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Someone asked.


    But in return, it was deathly quiet.


    There, the body of Prince lay limp on the ground as blood flooded the floor.


    After a while, I tried to stand up but winced as I was reminded of the pain.


    Seeing this, both Princess and Maid rushed to me.


    ¡°Oh my God... we need to get you to the infirmary. Can you walk?¡± Maid asked.


    I nodded as I tried to take a step forward. But fell to my knee.


    Apparently, my wound was really deep.


    Princess tried to support me but when she did, Maid gasped.


    ¡°Princess... you too?¡± She asked worried.


    ¡°Ah, well... no... this is only light.¡± Princess then turned to me. ¡°Compared to his.¡±


    Although still worried, Maid nodded then went on to support me to walk to the infirmary.


    Before going out the room though, she suddenly stopped.


    The body of Prince.


    She didn''t stop because of that though. But because of the question...


    Where did the gunshot come from?


    Even looking from here, one could tell he was shot on the head from the left side.


    When Maid went to check, she carefully and slowly peeked out the left.


    ¡°...............Eh?¡± Maid.


    ¡°...? What is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, but...¡± She turned back to us. ¡°It''s a wall.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Princess asked.


    Maid went back to support me and we walked out the room.


    Taking a look, to the right side was the rest of the corridor and to the left is... a wall.


    Even the window looked perfectly untouched. And for added info, the window can''t be opened.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Not really in the mood to speak, we just quietly and slowly went to the infirmary.


    When we got there, Maid treated our wounds starting with me. We cleaned up the blood and then Maid did some stuff to the bandage and wrapped it around me.


    It was really painful.


    I know I''m not that strong, nor do I have a particularly strong build. But even this could make a grown man cry.


    ...Well, not literally but, you get the point.


    After finishing mine, Maid tended to Princess. Although still hesitant, Princess let her treat her.


    When we were done, we walked back. I know I should''ve stayed in one of the beds in the infirmary, but I insisted that I go to my room.


    They were really against it but agreed in the end only if they come along and that I won''t push myself too hard.


    While we were walking towards the lounge, the room in question had it''s doors burst open.


    Man, many doors are being abused today.


    Anyways, the one who came out was red haired person that seemed to be in a rush. Following her was a black haired person.


    When she saw us, she straight up bolted towards us.


    ¡°Jester! Maid, Princess. Thank God... Where''s Prince? There was blood everywhere and we couldn''t find you...¡± Queen said really worried. ¡°What happened?¡±


    Looking at each other, Maid stepped up to answer her.


    ¡°Well, Prince sort of attacked us... or them at least.¡± Maid explained. ¡°And when I came in, he took me as a hostage and then... wait, you said Prince wasn''t there?¡± Maid asked.


    ¡°Yeah, why?¡± Queen asked confused.


    ¡°He''s supposed to be dead... In the corridor.¡± She said.


    ¡°What? Dead? What happened?¡±


    ¡°He was shot. But we, don''t know where it came from. He was just shot and, he fell and... and then we, went to the infirmary...¡± Maid trailed off.


    ¡°I-I see.¡± Queen said. ¡°Why don''t we just start from the top again, okay?¡±


    Maid nodded.


    There, Princess and I joined in and explained what happened.


    About how Princess was attacked in her room, how she ran out of her room but got cut as a result, then she entered my room and Prince shortly after, about when he attacked, when he held up Maid, and when he was killed.


    King and Queen narrowed their eyes when we mentioned the gunshot.


    ¡°A... gun?¡± Queen looked at King.


    King put a hand on his chin. ¡°So there''s somebody else...¡±


    Both of them thought for a while.


    ¡°Now what...¡± Queen said.


    ¡°We continue living.¡± King declared. ¡°But first, let''s investigate the rooms.¡±


    With that, Queen nodded and led the group to our bedrooms.


    When we got there, something was different. Just like Queen has said, Prince wasn''t there.


    But so was the blood.


    The red carpet on the floor wasn''t as dark as before when the blood soaked it.


    Seeing this, we hurried to my room. And just like we feared, it was as if nothing has happened.


    No blood, the furniture was neatly placed there, and not a single sign of what happened a while ago.


    ¡°What...¡± Princess.


    ¡°This is getting really annoying...¡± King.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± I asked.


    A moment of silence.


    ¡°Um, hey guys? Mind taking a look at this?¡± Maid said worried.


    When we looked back into the corridor, we saw Maid in front of Prince''s room.


    We came closer to look at what she was looking at.


    The nameplate.


    It was empty. The silver plate that was bolted onto the door was empty.


    It was impossible to remove the bolts because we found no tools in the entire house to do so.


    ¡°Tch.¡± King clicked his tongue. ¡°Someone''s playing us.¡±


    ¡°W-well, why don''t we get something to eat first? It may be a little early but I think we can talk things over while eating some food.¡± Queen suggested.


    ¡°I guess, we can do that.¡± Maid. ¡°But what about Jester? He''s injured.¡±


    ¡°No, no. It''s okay. I can manage.¡± I said.


    With Maid frowning we moved to the dining room. The three girls then went to the kitchen.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    It was kind of awkward though. With King and I not saying anything.


    ¡°Tell me..¡± I tensed up when King started. ¡°Have you been feeling strange things lately?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I asked. Strange things? As in... that? ¡°You too?¡±


    ¡°Answer my question.¡±


    ¡°A-ah, I mean yes. Yes I have..¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    After that, silence again.


    Good Lord, this is awkward. And the slight pain when I move is not helping either.


    After a while more, the girls finally came back with trays.


    Maid came and put down a pot of soup. It had a some meat pieces here and there as well as some tiny boiled eggs. It had some greens mixed in as well.


    Princess came in with a tray of mugs. The aroma coming from them filled the air.


    It was tea.


    And finally, Queen came in with five smaller bowls and matching table ware.


    ¡°Alright let''s start.¡± King said as everybody seated themselves.


    King sat opposite of me and Queen sat beside him.


    Maid sat to my right and Princess to my left.


    ¡°Someone killed Prince. But we don''t know who. Any ideas?¡±


    ¡°Well...¡±


    None of us spoke.


    ¡°I see, well let''s change the question.¡± King said. ¡°Is the culprit one of us?¡±


    All of us stiffened and looked at each other.


    ¡°-sigh- Look, when Prince was killed, the three of you were inside the room correct?¡± King asked.


    The three of us nodded.


    ¡°So it''s not you three.¡±


    The three of us looked at Queen.


    ¡°And no. It''s not Queen.¡± King added. ¡°She was with me the entire time in the library.¡±


    ¡°O-oh. Sorry..¡± I said.


    ¡°Don''t worry about it.¡± Queen shrugged. ¡°In a situation like this, it''s understandable why you would act like this.¡±


    ¡°So,¡± King said. ¡°Since it''s not one of us, there should be another person here. Or maybe more.¡±


    I pondered. Is there another person? Entirely possible. I mean, we don''t know what was behind the locked doors anyway. The number of rooms keep changing but the building didn''t change.


    We even tried looking into the rooms from the windows. Of course on the first floor. But when we did, the curtain blocked our view and the windows felt like they were indestructible.


    Which was strange because, when we tried breaking the window of a room that we can enter, it broke as easily as when a normal window would.


    What we also found out was that, certain rooms are always together.


    On the first floor, the kitchen and the dining room are always together, no matter where they go.


    The comfort rooms as well. The only individual rooms are the infirmary and the piano room.


    On the second floor, our bedrooms are always in the same order, as well as the other two unlabeled bedrooms. Well, I assume their bedrooms.


    The comfort rooms though are always in front of the library, and the big, white double-doors are always in front of the stairs with the two locked rooms beside it.


    Sometimes, the corridors would become longer, and more doors would appear. That goes for the first floor as well.


    As for the third floor, the room didn''t change. But what did change was the number of tables and chairs.


    Which was creepy.


    Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that King and Queen found the room hidden in the library and it was the same as any other locked room. I was kind of disappointed.


    Well whatever, I sort of forgot about it anyway.


    ¡°Well, since we''re going nowhere, why don''t we just discuss what we found no?¡± Queen.


    ¡°But, we don''t have anything else.¡± Maid.


    ¡°Okay then, King.¡± She turned to him.


    ¡°Alright, well, you guys do know that we were at the library most of the time right?¡± King asked us.


    We nodded.


    ¡°Yes, well all the books were about kings and queens, kingdoms, politics, those kind of stuff.¡± King.


    ¡°Okay..¡±


    ¡°But there was one book in particular that was different.¡±


    King brought out a small notebook and continued.


    ¡°Most of the first dozen pages were ripped off and only half are left.¡± He flipped through the notebook and showed it to us. ¡°The rest of the pages are blank but the next page where the ripped off pages ended...¡± He put the notebook down on the table. ¡°A single page... with our ''positions'' in it.¡±


    When I looked, he was right. The words ¡°KING¡±, ¡°QUEEN¡±, ¡°PRINCE¡±, ¡°PRINCESS¡±, ¡°JESTER¡±, and ¡°MAID¡± were written in order, from the first line to the sixth.


    Beside the names, were colours. Like this:


    KING ¨C Black


    QUEEN ¨C Brunette


    PRINCESS ¨C Blonde


    PRINCE ¨C Black


    JESTER ¨C White


    MAID ¨C Black


    If you look at it, it doesn''t seem strange. Just some random colours.


    ¡°But, what do the colours mean?¡± I asked.


    ¡°If I were to guess,¡± Queen answered. ¡°It would be our hair colours.¡±


    ¡°Hair colours? What do you mean? These are obviously different.¡±


    Queen shook her head.


    ¡°No, they''re not. But do they have to be us?¡± Queen said.


    I widen my eyes. ¡°Wait, so you mean there were others like us?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know. This is just a guess so don''t think of it as a fact.¡±


    ¡°Any other guesses as to what they mean?¡± King asked.


    Again, we weren''t able to answer.


    ¡°-sigh- This is getting troublesome. Well at least we found something.¡± King. ¡°Now, the next problem is... about that seventh person.¡±


    We nodded.


    ¡°I''m not sure if we should split up anymore. What are your opinions?¡± King.


    ¡°I''m okay with that.¡± I said.


    ¡°But private matters will remain private.¡± Queen added.


    ¡°Yeah. But a big group could be a problem as well though.¡± King.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Maid asked.


    ¡°What if someone was held up?¡± Queen answered. ¡°From your story a while ago, the two of you, Princess and Jester, weren''t able to do anything when Prince took Maid hostage correct?¡±


    Princess and I nodded.


    ¡°Maid only got out of that alive because of a third party.¡± Queen pointed out. ¡°So what King is trying to say is that if something like that happens, we need another group to help from behind.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± I said.


    ¡°So how do we group?¡± Princess asked.


    ¡°We split into two. Queen and I will remain on the same team. You three on the other. Is that alright.¡±


    Not really sure, the three of us just nodded. Queen just sat there but we knew she agreed as well.


    ¡°Anything else?¡± King asked. ¡°No? Then let''s dismiss for now.¡±


    After finishing our meeting as well as our food, I went straight for my room.


    Maid and Princess accompanied me as well.


    For a few days, I focused on recovering. Maid and Princess would take turns helping me.


    Princess was becoming more talkative now. Well, at least to me. When Maid would talk to her, she''s a bit more quiet. Even more so with King and Queen.


    I guess she''s feeling a little better with Prince gone.


    A few more days passed and I was getting better. There is still some pain but this is miniscule compared to a few days back. With this, Maid suggested something.


    ¡°Wanna explore?¡± She asked innocently.


    ¡°What?¡± Princess intervened. ¡°He''s still recovering. Why would you want to explore?¡±


    Seeing this, I tried to calm her down.


    ¡°N-no, it''s alright. We can explore. I was feeling a little bored anyway.¡±


    Princess looked like she wanted to say something but decided not to.


    ¡°...Fine.¡±


    Along with Princess, the three of us explored the mansion once again.


    Although Princess was against it at first, she was clearly enjoying it. We traveled the corridors and hallways that made the first floor a maze. We counted the locked rooms and found around 17 this time.


    ¡°Hey. We''ve been exploring the first floor a lot now.¡± Maid said. ¡°Wanna go outside?¡±


    And with that, the three of us looked for the door going to the garden in particular.


    When we found it, we opened the see-through door and entered the garden. Of course, we had our flashlights with us.


    ¡°Are you sure we should be going out like this?¡± Princess asked worried.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.¡°Don''t worry, King and Queen won''t mind.¡± Maid reassured her.


    ¡°But what about the seventh person guy?¡± Princess.


    ¡°It''s been a few days already and nothing has happened yet. King and Queen became a bit lax too and are still staying in the library.¡± Maid said. ¡°So you should just relax. Right Jester?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Worrying too much is bad for your health, I think.¡± I said.


    ¡°...If you say so.¡± Princess said.


    We walked around the wide garden. The flower beds were arranged really nicely and the flowers themselves were of many different colours.


    Too bad we couldn''t see the entire thing and could only see what our lights can point at.


    For a while, I can kind of think of the flower beds making a maze as well. With many branching points and dead-ends. It was kind of fun.


    Apparently though, there was a straight line from the door of the mansion towards the entrance of the hedge maze. On either side of the straight path were the flower beds which made up mini-mazes.


    Wow. This place would''ve been really beautiful if it weren''t this dark.


    When we finished scouring the flower beds, Maid led us to the wall of vines and leaves.


    She then led us to the entrance of the hedge maze.


    ¡°Wanna enter~?¡± She said playfully.


    ¡°But...¡± Princess said. ¡°This place...¡±


    I could understand Princess''s concerns because this place was the only place we didn''t explore to the full.


    ¡­Huh. I wonder why? This place might have a clue or something inside.


    ¡°Why don''t we go? Even just for a little.¡± I said.


    ¡°Uuuh but...¡± Princess.


    Thinking of something, I gave a suggestion.


    ¡°Why don''t we map it? Maybe the maze doesn''t change like inside the mansion.¡±


    ¡°But what if it does?¡±


    ¡°Then I''ll tell King and Queen. ''Cause if it does, then this place might have a clue to getting us out of here. If not then maybe a way to regain our memories.¡± I said.


    Very hesitant, she agreed.


    We went back inside and got some paper and a pen from the infirmary. We then got back to the garden and entered the hedge maze. We walked slowly so that Maid can map the place.


    Her map wasn''t really impressive but at least it was understandable. She just mad a single line according to where we were walking. And when there was a turn, she would make another line to branch off into the other direction.


    After a while, we decided to go back.


    The map we made wasn''t so big but, it wasn''t small either. But I doubt it was even close to the actual size of the maze. I can say this because, when we went out the front door and circled around, the area the maze occupied was large. But at the same time smaller than large as well.


    If you know what I mean.


    Once we were back, we reported to Queen.


    ¡°Maze? Ohh. I forgot about that... Good job, as a reward I''ll make something extra good for dinner.¡±


    Queen said. ¡°Oh and, King and I will be staying here in the library a while. So guys can keep exploring that place. But if it seems that it does change it''s layout, King and I will help.


    Is what she said.


    That night we had a big roasted chicken with a bowl of rice.


    I never ate rice before and well, I think I didn''t but, when I tried it out it was actually really good.


    It didn''t have any particular taste but added with the chicken, it was very filling.


    The next day, we found that the maze doesn''t change.


    Thank God.


    So that day and the following days, we continued mapping the area.


    And when we got to a certain point, I kind of understood why it was big in the first place.


    When we made a fateful turn, we found a really big area. It was a square-ish area. And in that area was a large tree.


    In the center was a strong and sturdy tree that had a huge umbrella of leaves.


    Among those leaves bloomed flowers of many colours.


    It was a tree unlike any I''ve seen before. A tree that didn''t looked like it wasn''t supposed to exist.


    The colours made it look like a friendlier and brighter version of fireworks.


    I say fireworks because with the colours that denied the darkness, it looked like a scene to truly behold.


    At the foot of the tree were three wooden benches that surrounded it.


    Along the sides of the walls, were flower beds containing flowers of assorted colours.


    And on each of the walls of the area were other pathways.


    We took note of the one we came from and investigated.


    Maid even climbed the tree which made me worried.


    When she came back down, she said she could see the mansion.


    We continued our exploring and during the following few days, the two girls were becoming friendlier and friendlier. But there would be times where the two would not agree with eachother.


    And on most of those times, I really couldn''t understand why.


    On one occasion, Maid just led me by the hand and Princess didn''t really like it.


    Maid even made me some dessert one night, so the next day Princess did so too.


    Of course, there were times they get along too.


    When we went to the library with King and Queen one day, Maid and Princess were somewhere in the room reading a strange novel. When I took a look a it, it was just a book about how a gladiator came to be the fiance'' of a certain princess. It was good. The story just made you feel like they would focus on the romance genre more.


    I think I understood why they like that novel very much. Where the gladiator had some good friends and where he met another princess that was kind of his cousin. The girls seem to really like the girl with white hair. She was a character that knew the gladiator for around 2 years and sort of helped him out around when he was still in the arena.


    When they reached the thrid volume and finished one third of the book, they complained how it abruptly ended. The rest of the pages were blank and there seems to be around 10 or 11 volumes left.


    And those were empty too.


    And after complaining, they argued about who the gladiator would end up with.


    Princess went for the princess the gladiator was supposed to marry. And as for Maid, she chose the girl with white hair.


    For me personally, I would side with the white haired girl.


    But enough about that.


    After the time Maid me dessert, the two of them continued doing so. And made it like a competition where they would ask me what I think of it. As if I were the judge.


    So I gave them what they wanted.


    When Princess brought what looked like leche flan, I said that it was too sweet and needs to be a bit softer to become better. Princess took a blow and Maid smirked.


    Next, Maid brought in some chocolate covered vanilla icecream. This time, it needed a bit more sweetness and it was too soft. Not the good kind of soft. Maid took the blow tis time and Princess recovered because of it.


    They continued and continued but not to the point where it''s too much.


    They know where to stop.


    But after some time, Queen teasingly made a comment she whispered to King.


    ¡°Ah, I remember when I did that to you~...¡± Queen said. Then paused.


    ¡°Hm?¡± King turned to Queen. ¡°Queen?¡±


    ¡°Wait... I, remember? Guh...¡± She held her temple.


    King furrowed his eyebrows. ¡°...You alright?¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah.¡± Queen massaged her head. ¡°My head hurts very much but... I remember something.¡±


    ¡°You sure you''re alright though?¡± King asked.


    ¡°Yes, I''m sure.¡± Queen then chuckled. ¡°Thanks for worrying about me dear~¡±


    ¡°Right... so? What did you remember?¡± King asked.


    ¡°Well, I remember buying you icecream?¡±


    ¡°............is that it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± She stuck her tongue out cutely. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°No. It''s alright. You did enough.¡±


    Although the three of us were worried, we just remained silent.


    The following days continued and Maid and Princess continued making desserts until one point they started working together. We even finished mapping the maze which we needed to get another paper for the other half.


    It seems that the only place worth taking note of is the area with the tree.


    We reported everything to Queen and they went to investigate themselves.


    When they finished, they shook their heads and said they found nothing.


    Although disappointed, Maid, Princess, and I continued exploring anyway.


    ¡°Hey, we already explored this area. Can''t we just rest for a while?¡± Princess said, as she lightly kicked a pebble.


    ¡°Hm? Well if you don''t want too come you don''t have to you know? Maid.


    Princess frowned. ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°If it''s about the ''seventh person'', you don''t need to worry. Nothing happened for a really long time now.¡±


    ¡°............Nevermind.¡± Princess walked off.


    Seeing this, I turned to Maid.


    ¡°Hey, um... don''t you think that was a bit much?¡±


    ¡°What was?¡± Maid said. ¡°Well anyways, can you... come with me for a moment?¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    Although I was worried about Princess, I followed Maid.


    Bringing me to the area with the big tree she turned around and faced me.


    ¡°Um...¡± Maid shakily said. ¡°I''ve been... well, you know? Ehehe...¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Well. It''s just, kind of............nevermind...haha...¡±


    ¡°What? I asked again.


    ¡°I-It''s, it''s nothing! Haha. Well, why don''t we go back? You''re worried about Princess right? Why don''t we go check on her...¡±


    She was acting strange but we went back anyways.


    When we got back with Princess, we walked back to the lounge.


    While walking, Princess hesitantly asked me something.


    ¡°Say... did, something happen? When you went with Maid?¡±


    ¡°What? Well, no actually. Why?¡±


    ¡°Nothing.¡±


    I sighed. Now here''s another mystery I can''t understand.


    We spent the rest of the day playing the chessboard Prince supposedly found.


    When I played with King, he was terrifyingly good. He was so good that Queen even banned him from playing. Which King didn''t really mind and just shrugged it off.


    At the end of the day, we ate went back to our rooms.


    When I was finally in bed, I thought about today.


    What I mostly thought of is that King is very scary when it comes to chess and how I could possibly beat him. I thought about other things but it''s mostly that.


    After a while, a knock came from my door.


    ¡°Who?¡± I asked to no one in particular as I got up from bed and walked to my door.


    When I opened it, a girl with black hair and I wearing a maid uniform was in front of me.


    ¡°Maid?¡±


    ¡°Ahaha... hello.¡±


    ¡°Something the matter?¡±


    ¡°Well, no... I mean yes. Yes there is...¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°It''s, well... just, come with me.¡±


    She grabbed my hand and led me to the first floor. We then went to the garden and into the hedge maze. Navigating through, we then entered the tree area.


    ¡°Phew...¡± Maid then let go of my hand and sat on one of the benches. ¡°This time...¡±


    ¡°Um, Maid?¡±


    ¡°Come, sit down.¡± She said as she patted the seat beside her.


    Confused, I sat down.


    ¡°Does this have something to do with a while ago?¡±


    ¡°Well... sort of, yeah.¡±


    With her words trailing, her hand slowly found it''s way to mine.


    ¡°Maid?¡±


    Leaning closer, Maid then looked me in the eyes.


    ¡°I don''t know why but...¡± Maid said. ¡°But I have this feeling I wasn''t sure of...¡± She looked away. ¡°And well, a while ago, when I brought you here... I was just making sure. And when I did, ¡°She looked me in the eyes again. ¡°I was cleared of my suspicions. But back then, I was kind of not ready and...¡±


    She closed her eyes.


    Then kissed me.


    ¡°...!¡±


    She locked her tongue with mine, and after the few seconds that felt like more than it was supposed to, she slowly seperated.


    ¡°................What?¡± I asked not really expecting the correct answer.


    ¡°I told you right?¡± She smiled. ¡°...That I''m an adventurous woman~¡±


    Maid chuckled.


    ¡°Hey Jester I-¡±


    ¡°YOU BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTCCCHHH!!!¡±


    A shout assaulted us.


    -Bang!


    Then a gunshot.


    Surprised, we looked towards the where it came from.


    There, Princess stood while shakily weilding a small gun.


    ¡°Princess?¡± I asked shocked. ¡°That gun...¡±


    -Bang!


    She shot again but missed.


    ¡°Princess!¡± I shouted. ¡°What are you doing?!¡±


    -Bang!


    ¡°Kyaaaah!¡±


    ¡°Maid! Princess stop this!¡± I said as I ran towards her.


    Surprised, she unsteadily pointed the gun.


    At Maid.


    Jumping, I grabbed the gun in her hand and wrestled for it just like when I did with Prince.


    ¡°No! Let go!¡± Princess struggled as she tried to shake me off of the gun.


    -Bang!


    A gunshot was fired.


    And it shot me.


    Gasping, Princess quickly let go of the gun.


    Luckily, I wasn''t shot in the vitals. Taking this chance, I grabbed the gun.


    Seeing this, Princess hurriedly tried to take the gun from me.


    -Bang!


    But I shot her.


    ...


    ¡°...Eh?¡±


    Falling limp on the ground, Princess''s blood began to flood the ground.


    ¡°Haa.. haa...¡± Breathing heavily, I dropped the gun.


    And realized what I just did.


    ¡°I... shot her?¡± ¡­.......................................................................What have I done?


    ¡°Jester! ...Jester-?¡±


    Slowly, my vision darkened and I felt myself becoming heavier. And then, I fainted.


    ¡°Jester!! JESTER!!¡± Maid ran to me.


    Closing my eyes, that was the last thing I heard until I lost consciousness.

 Act Four: Queen

    ------------------------------------------------------ Maid POV ------------------------------------------------------


    Since that day, Jester has been unconscious for a long time.


    But even so, I stayed by his side.


    It made me sad.


    Queen was worried as well and King... well, I don''t know what that guy is thinking.


    But still, I was sad.


    I was sad because, just when I sort of confessed to him, this had to happen.


    I knew Princess was beginning to like him, but not to this extent. I thought that if I made my move first, Jester would lean closer to me.


    Because I was scared.


    What if Jester chose Princess instead of me? If that did happen I can only blame myself.


    Blame myself for being too slow.


    But now, I was already thinking that I was too hasty. And because of that, Princess...


    Becoming angry with myself, I tried to calm down.


    Sighing, looked at Jester who was sleeping on his bed.


    He looked peaceful. Peaceful but still breathing. I felt relieved.


    I looked at him again and my eyes brought me to his face.


    Blushing, I looked away.


    What... but I just looked at his face...


    Frowning, I thought back.


    The first time I woke up here, I was really scared. But for some reason, I felt as if I was going to be alright. Getting up from bed, I noticed I was wearing a maid uniform. Oddly though, it felt really comfortable. I then got to the mirror and took a good look at myself. Nd quickly enough, I grew kind of fond of this uniform.


    I then went out the room. I checked the other rooms but felt it disrespectful if they were still sleeping. Deciding not to bother anymore, I walked down the corridor, but was stopped when a door opened. There, a black haired person in a suit and fur coat came out. But instead of feeling scared, I felt more relieved. His eyes may have seemed cold but I felt they were kind. And after a brief talk, we walked together and decided to walk down the stairs. Entering a lounge, we found two people.


    One of them was red haired and I felt comfortable with her. The other one was blonde haired and she looked really shy. But what I felt though, is that she was like a stranger to me. Like someone I don''t know.


    Later on, another person came in. A blonde haired boy who was all smiles.


    Unlike the others, I felt that I didn''t like him. At all. Even Queen immediately became hostile.


    But then, he came.


    A brown haired boy entered the lobby and what I felt from him was very different from the others.


    I became flustered all of a sudden and more self-conscious. But it seems he hasn''t noticed me yet. Frowning, I waited for my turn to be introduced by Queen. And when she did, I tensed up. When she introduced me, the boy, Jester, reacted. I tensed even further. What is it? Is there something on my face? Uuuuu... What do I do...


    Then, I saw Jester hold his temple. I became worried and approached him thoughtlessly.


    H-hey! What are you doing?! Approaching him so casually like that... but what''s done is done.


    I called out to him which surprised him, but replied that he was fine and smiled.


    A while later, we were divided into groups to explore the place. And luckily, I was grouped with Jester. Which made me really happy. I tried not to let it show but when we started exploring I started many conversations with him. I wanted to scold myself but it was sort of going well.


    And when we got to the point where there was a door leading outside, I felt excited. But when Jester suggested to go alone, I became awfully worried.


    But when he showed that he was alright, I went too. And was amazed at the mansion.


    I even thought that since we were standing side by side like this and gazing at the beautiful view, I went ahead and thought of it as kind of romantic. Ehehe...


    We explored the rest of the place and found another that led outside. I suggested to go out again ''cause, you know, romantic scenery? Lols...


    We then went to a room that contained a piano. When I asked him if he played the piano he said he didn''t and asked me the same question. I wanted to show off but felt that I couldn''t play the piano, so I tried to act cute instead.


    We then went back, which saddened me, but hey. At least I had fun.


    I spent time with him as well and hoped that I would continue doing so.


    I don''t know why, but I felt like I really, really want to be with him. And it felt genuine.


    But even so, I wanted to make sure. And I had to do so fast.


    ''Cause for a while now, Princess has been talking more with Jester. And when I tried to talk with her, there was a clear difference in treatment. Which irked me to think she likes Jester too, very much so. And I didn''t know what to do.


    But one night, when I couldn''t sleep because of that, I heard a lot of banging and some footsteps. I got up from bed, and slowly walked to my door. When all the noise stopped, I became worried and opened my door. Then, after a while I heard more banging. Then crashing. It scared me. But what prevailed was worry. Because it all came from Jester''s room.


    I opened the door and saw Jester with a bloody arm and became heartbroken. I turned to face the culprit but was instead held up. Jester became angry, which kind of made me happy but now was not the time for that. When we stepped out of the room, there was a gunshot. It scared me a lot. Prince then fell down and I ran away.


    Apparently he was killed.


    A lot more things happened, but what''s important was that I tended to Jester. As well as Princess.


    A few days went by and Princess seemed to be happier than before. But I also noticed she was trying to get closer to Jester as well.


    So I took action.


    I tried to do many things, but most of them Jester didn''t think much of it. I tried leading him by the hand, which took me a lot of effort to do. So I decided to do something simpler.


    Like cooking something for him.


    Since, Queen is the one who decides the dish, I went for making a dessert. When I did this, Princess followed suite. And now, I''m really sure she likes Jester too.


    But we kind of became friends at some point. When I was reading this really nice novel, Princess joined me. But when we found that the novel series was cut short, we ranted a little and talked about who the gladiator was going to end up with. I mean, there are like 10 volumes left.


    And it did not end there. We started working on Jester''s dessert together now. Which made me happy.


    This went on for a while now and we explored that maze as well. Exploring is fun. Especially if it''s with Jester. We even found this really pretty place with a big tree and everything. And it kind of struck me as a place that people make confessions at.


    And because of that, we went to explore that place time and time again even if we already did. And one day, Princess said she grew tired of exploring this place. So I took this chance. I tried to send her away, which hurt me. But I did so anyway. Then I led Jester back to the tree area.


    I thought I''d try confessing just to make sure if what I''m feeling is real or not. And it is. And when I tried saying that I like him, I became really nervous all of a sudden and really anxious. Absolutely and definitely anxious. So I sort of called it off. I became sad because I lost a chance. So, I willed myself again, and called Jester again that night.


    This time, it went well. I even went and did something super daring. My God... I even said that I was adventurous in a naughty meaning. Which I internally scolded myself over and over for.


    But then,


    A familiar voice screamed. And a bunch of gunshots. I was really confused but when I saw Princess, I understood. She saw what happened and became angry. She tried shooting me but her hands were unsteady and was shaking. Jester tried to stop her but then he was shot. Alarms were ringing everywhere in my head and thought that I should help. But then at some point, Jester got hold of the gun and shot her.


    My mind went blank.


    What happened? Why did he shoot? More importantly, is he okay? ...is he okay?


    Wait! He was shot! I need to help him!


    But when I ran to him he suddenly fell. I called out to him but to no avail.


    After that, the situation is as it is today. With me watching over him until he wakes up.


    I also plan on apologizing once he wakes up. Because it was my fault all of this happened in the first place.


    I felt awful. I was angry at myself. Angry for being just a teensy bit happy that Princess was gone. I was really angry at myself for that. I mean, why was I happy? I just lost a friend. A friend that I don''t think I''ll find in this accursed place.


    Sighing, I thought about what happened.


    After frantically carrying Jester, I called out to Queen and told her what happened.


    King and Queen then went to check the area, but just like Prince''s case, her body wasn''t there and it was as if nothing happened. Her room''s nameplate was wiped clean as well.


    As for the gun, it was a revolver. It had only five bullets and all were shot. But even so, Queen threw it into the void anyway.


    I was really devastated then, so Queen gently comforted me. Like a big sister would.


    King just gave me a sympathetic look and patted me. Which, for some reason felt really familiar. As if it was done many times before.


    And when around few days have passed I have been taking care of Jester.


    I was patiently waiting until he wakes up. And I hope he''s alright when he does. Because when killing a person for the first time, it takes huge blow to your mentality. Especially when you''re not used to it and have been living a rather peaceful life.


    But when he wakes up and he''s not alright, I''ll be there. I''ll stay by his side and support him.


    No matter what.


    ¡­


    A few more days passed and Jester, finally woke up.


    ¡°Uuh...¡± Jester slowly blinked his eyes open.


    ¡°Jester?¡± I called out. ¡°Jester!¡± I rushed to him. And stopped. No, don''t be hasty. He just woke up. Give him some time to get his bearings...


    I waited for him to sit up. When he did, he rubbed his eyes and I sat on the side of his bed.


    ¡°Jester?¡± I called out again.


    ¡°......Maid? Mm.. what, what happened?¡± He said groggily.


    ¡°Well...¡± Should I tell him? I wonder if it''s alright... maybe it''s better if I don''t tell him.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    We were silent for a while, which worried me.


    ¡°.........Oh yeah.¡± Jester said.


    I tensed up.


    ¡°...I... I killed...¡± Jester slowly said.


    Noticeably, the atmosphere around him became heavy. So, immediately I tried to apologize.


    ¡°Jester look, I-¡±


    ¡°Heh.¡± He gave a small sarcastic laugh. Maybe at himself. ¡°What have I done?¡±


    Next thing I knew, tears were streaming down his face.


    I felt horrible. I wondered if it was alright for me to comfort him.


    No. I must comfort him.


    I moved in closer and put my arms around him, pulling him into a hug and whispered.


    ¡°...I''m sorry.¡±


    I quickly told Queen about Jester so she went and made a meal for him.


    I helped out as well.


    We brought him some food, but he ate quite a little.


    We decided that he should rest a while more just in case.


    The days passed by quickly but for Jester it seemed slow. I kept him company and brought books from time to time. Although still depressed, he thanked me for it. I was really happy because of that.


    So, I kept taking care of him. Day after day. He didn''t do much and when I asked if he wanted to explore, he''d kindly decline.


    -sigh-


    ¡­ I wonder if he remembers my confession?


    W-wait a minute! Geez! What are you thinking right now?! Jester''s in bad shape. I should just focus on supporting him for now... ''Cause see, if I just help him out even if trivial, he''d give a small smile and thank me... yes...


    Even his wound from when he received the gunshot from Princess seems to have gotten better now.


    And if you''re wondering, he was shot in the shoulder. The same one that Prince landed a hit with his knife.


    Ever since then, I''ve been with Jester.


    I was happy. I was happy but... I feel sad as well. He wasn''t as active as before and he''d talk less too. He eats very little and I''m getting really worried.


    I don''t know how many days it took, but I decided to take action. If what I was doing wasn''t enough, then I have to work harder.


    I decided to bring Jester to the tree area once more. Whether he wants to, or not.


    ¡°Hey Jester.¡± I called out. ¡°Wanna go explore?¡± I asked for the nth time.


    ¡°...Nah.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Wordlessly, I stood up and walked towards him. Getting close enough, I grabbed his wrist and pulled him out of bed.


    ¡°Wha- H-hey!¡± Jester lightly protested.


    But I didn''t stop and made him wear shoes.


    ¡°G-geez, fine already...¡±


    It kind of hurt me, but this needs to be done.


    I led him by the hand and brought him to the first floor. We went through the unfamiliar layout and finally got to the door which led to the garden. Jester frowned. But he still let me lead him to the tree area.


    ¡°So. What are we doing here?¡± Jester asked unamused.


    ¡°Do you... remember what happened here?¡± I asked.


    He frowned.


    ¡°That I killed Princess?¡± He said heavily.


    Now it was my turn to frown. I was hurt. Hurt because he thinks I did this to hurt him and because he forgot. Forgot my confession.


    ¡°So you forgot...¡±


    ¡°Forgot what? That I killed Princess?¡± He said becoming impatient.


    ¡°That I confessed to you.¡±


    ¡°...¡± He tried to say something, but then widened his eyes. ¡°Oh, um... that...¡±


    I shook my head.


    ¡°No... you don''t need to apologize. I... just want your answer.¡±


    ¡°... Sorry but, I... don''t think I can properly answer you now.¡±


    ¡°No. You don''t have to give one now. Just please. Please understand...


    ...That I''m here for you.¡±


    ¡°...¡± He remained quiet.


    With every passing second, I could feel myself getting sadder and sadder.


    Thinking that maybe his had the opposite effect of what I wanted, I looked down disappointed.


    What do I do now? I don''t know what to do anymore if he pushes me away here now. What, living here in this isolated place devoid of light. And the only people I can rely on are them. When I think of what might happen next, I feel like I would just explode. Was I too hasty again? Will this turn out to be just like last time? Where everything will go wrong just because I was impatient?


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    This feeling inside of me keeps getting bigger and bigger as if trying to take over me. It was like a swarm of locusts eating me from the inside.


    And because of that, I also feel like... I want to kill myself.


    But why? Why do I want to kill myself? I don''t want to kill myself.


    ¡°...Sorry.¡± Jester said.


    I definitely don''t want to kill myself. But why do I feel like I want to?


    I feel as if two different feelings are gnawing at each other inside of me. And before I knew it, tears were streaming down my face.


    ¡°Maid?¡±


    I fell down to my knees. I clutched my head feeling that if I let go, it might blow up.


    A twister of feeling were swirling inside of me and it feels like it would take me with it.


    ¡°...Maid? Maid!!¡±


    Jester was grabbed hold of me, and another feeling was added to the mix.


    It felt like I couldn''t control my feelings.


    ¡­...I wonder, if the others felt like this too?


    Was Princess really that quick to bring out a gun just because I kissed Jester? Maybe.


    But what if her feelings were like this? And how about Prince? Maybe he felt like this too.


    And not just them, maybe King and Queen could feel this too.


    And maybe even Jester.


    Trying to calm myself down, I breathed in and out. Tears still falling, I tried as hard as I can hold down these feelings. And slowly, ever so slowly, the only feelings left were that of sadness and relief.


    Both of these feelings because of the experience that I don''t ever want to have again.


    ¡°Maid! Are you alright?!¡±


    I didn''t answer. And continued to cry in his arms.


    My God. I don''t ever want to feel like that again. I just want to continue crying in his arms forever. Just, don''t bring me back to that place again. Don''t let me feel like that again. Just... please...


    That was the most confusing thing that I have ever experienced...


    I kept crying and crying.


    After a while, I finally calmed down. Realizing what happened, I became a bit embarrassed. Actually, really embarrassed. I mean, what did I just show to Jester?! This is enough to make me want to roll around on the floor.


    ¡°...Maid?¡± He asked again.


    ¡°-sniff- Yeah?¡±


    ¡°You okay now?¡±


    ¡°I, I guess so...¡±


    ¡°What happened anyway? You became... like that all of a sudden?¡±


    Aaah! I really want to roll on the floor now!!


    ¡°N-no! It''s, i''ts just... something happened to me, I think.¡±


    ¡°You think?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well. It felt awful...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Ah! It''s not what you said to me or anything! I just, felt some things and...¡±


    He raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°You felt something?¡±


    Confused by his reaction, I replied. ¡°Yeah, why?¡±


    ¡°Did you feel anything like, like it wasn''t your own feelings or something?¡±


    I blinked my eyes.


    Not my feelings? That could possibly be it but, I''m quite sure they were my own.


    ¡°I guess, maybe? I''m not sure.¡±


    ¡°...¡± He became quiet and thought about it.


    Hmmm.. was I right? That Jester and the others feel like this too? I mean, what I thought of a while ago was just the spur of the moment and for the purpose of somewhat comforting me because I thought that if somebody else felt like this, I would feel better.


    Just to make sure, I asked him.


    ¡°Did you perhaps, feel something similar?¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah, well when Prince was rejected by Princess. I felt like something wrong was about to happen.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. It became really strong and I wasn''t able to sleep at night or... something like that.¡± He scratched his cheek.


    Haha. That was cute.


    Well anyways.


    Thinking about it, I thought of something, so I asked him if there were other situations like that.


    ¡°Something similar? Hmm... not, really I guess...¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah.¡±


    ¡°How about now?¡±


    ¡°Now? What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I mean what your feeling righ now.¡± I said to him. ¡°Depression.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    He paused and put a hand on his chest.


    ¡°...Depression?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    He then turned to me.


    ¡°But what do I do? You said you felt the same way a while ago only much more serious for some reason. But you managed to calm down a little after?¡±


    ¡°Ah you see...¡± I thought about how I did it. Well, I can think of one solid solution. ¡°...Maybe, it''s because... I had you.¡± I said sheepishly.


    Blinking, he blushed a little as he looked away.


    That was so cute! And he blushed?! Does this mean I just set a flag?! Yay!


    Ahem.


    ¡°W-well anyways, why don''t we go back?¡± I said.


    Wait, what are you doing?! This was a moment! A MOMENT!! Aah... oh well...


    ¡°Y-yeah, let''s.¡±


    Scolding myself along the way, we walked back to the mansion.


    We talked a little too, which was a good sign that Jester is feeling better, I think.


    So does that mean I sort of succeeded? Haha, I really hope so.


    ¡°...Oh and Maid?¡± I turned to him. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    I definitely succeeded.


    When we got back and into the lounge, Queen greeted us.


    ¡°Welcome back.¡± Queen said then became curious. ¡°Did something happen? You look... happier.¡± She said with a smile. She then clapped her hands. ¡°Ah! Is it that?!¡± She asked me excitedly.


    ¡°W-what?! NO! No, it wasn''t that!!¡± I shouted.


    ¡°My, my. Our little girl has become a woman~¡±


    ¡°It''s not what you think!!¡±


    Meanwhile in the background.


    ¡°What''s ''that'' their talking about?¡± Jester.


    ¡°You''re too young. And since you''re asking that then it must not have happened.¡± King.


    For some reason, I think all of us became closer all of a sudden. And I''m really happy about that.


    After playing around a little, we then reported what happened.


    ¡°So your feelings went out of control?¡± Queen asked.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°And you think Prince and Princess were the same?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Well, that could explain their actions... Actually, I felt some extreme emotions too sometimes.¡±


    ¡°Really? When?¡± Jester asked.


    ¡°In King''s room.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Queen then cleared her throat.


    ¡°Well anyways, the only major problem left is the supposed ''seventh person''.¡± Queen. ¡°But since he hasn''t moved for quite a while now, I''ll assume he isn''t real.¡± She then raised a finger. ¡°But it''s still best to be wary.¡±


    Maid and I nodded.


    Seeing us nod, she smiled.


    ¡°Okay then! Why don''t we get something to eat shall we?¡±


    Feeling my stomach grumble, I became a bit embarrassed thinking whether or not Jester heard that.


    The rest of the day felt brighter. It felt better than when everything felt dull.


    And I wish it would stay that way.


    The following days, Jester was noticably happier. We went back to exploring again and he talks more now. He eats more, which I am thank ful for, so I went and made him desserts again.


    Of course, I thought it was okay to be a bit more aggressive. But not aggressive-aggressive, I just upped it a few levels.


    I held his hand more often and when we visit the tree area, we would just sit and sleep there on the benches beside eachother. Jester was opening up to me as well.


    He asked if he could help me in the kitchen sometimes. We even read books together.


    Our days continued and we grew closer and closer. And hopefully continue to grow closer.


    This time though, I''ll just be a wee bit more patient.


    Yes. Slow is alright. It just means I spend more time with him.


    Yup. Just slowly... but surely.


    ------------------------------------------------------ King POV ------------------------------------------------------


    Several days since that incident happened, I noticed Maid and Jester becoming closer.


    But what was on my mind was not them, but what they reported that day.


    Their report about their feelings amplifying.


    That time when we first met in the lounge. Or our supposed first meeting, since our memories were erased, I went and became impatient and stomped my foot on the table. To me, that felt like something that I wouldn''t usually do.


    There were other times too. Like extreme laziness or sleepiness.


    ¡­ or maybe that''s just me.


    Well anyways, I read almost every book in the library and some novel series were left half blank.


    Some other classic books were there too. Like Romeo and Juliet.


    There were some children''s books as well. Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. Not really a fan though so I skipped them. Queen read them though.


    And survived.


    Moving on, most of them were related to kings, queens, princes, and princesses... and what a lot of them had in common was that they were romance.


    At least there were other genres too. That gave me some solace.


    There was action, mystery, tragedy... and each story was interesting.


    I admit, I spent most of my time just reading. But, I was seriously trying to find some clues too.


    I found a certain note book which had a lot of torn pages.


    Looking inside, there were two pages that had writing on them.


    The fiirst one had this.


    KING ¨C Black


    QUEEN ¨C Red


    PRINCE ¨C Blonde


    PRINCESS ¨C Blonde


    JESTER ¨C Brown


    MAID ¨C Black


    And the second, this.


    KING ¨C Black


    QUEEN ¨C Brunette


    PRINCE ¨C Black


    PRINCESS ¨C Blonde


    JESTER ¨C White


    MAID ¨C Black


    When I showed Queen, the first page suddenly went up in flames. And what was left was a a torn page just like the others. Strangely enough, it didn''t look like it was burned.


    Surprised, Queen asked me what was on that page. I said it was a set of positions as well as colours paired with them. I told her what the colours were and got to a conclusion.


    That was us.


    As for the second page, we can''t say.


    Maybe there were others like us? We weren''t sure but went to tell the others anyway.


    I don''t know why but Queen did not tell them about the burnt page. But meh.


    Ah, and also. That time when Prince died, I felt more suspicious, more wary. I even went ahead and took lead of a certain meeting that happened after. Which felt odd to me because I feel like I don''t usually do that either. It was as if these feelings were forcing me to do these things.


    I didn''t mind it though since nothing serious happened but when those two came back with that report...


    I felt like I needed to do something. Something fast. Before anything else happens.


    But to do that...


    Tch. Clicking my tongue, I decided not to think about it.


    I thought about the others instead.


    Prince. The first one who died. I didn''t like him.


    Princess. The second. It felt like I didn''t know her, so I was wary.


    Jester. I like him, but at the same time, don''t. Don''t know why though.


    Maid. To me she felt like she was one of my top priorities.


    And Queen.


    Honestly, I don''t know what to think of her. It felt natural to be around her and that I was kind of used to it. When we''re alone, she would become more mischievous. More daring and naughty.


    I frowned but I felt like I was used to that too.


    But when the others are around, she would revert back to her older sister mode.


    I didn''t really mind her behaviour, and I didn''t really let her go too far with her attacks. I just felt like...


    I don''t know. I don''t know what to think right now.


    Right now, I''m in my room sitting on my bed. It was kind of dark already, meaning it was around after sunset. I removed my coat and hanged it on one of the chairs. I just sat there and thought. Putting my elbows on my knees, I put a hand on my forehead. Everytime I would think about why we were here or what this place is, I would receive a headache. To me, that just means I''m getting closer to the answer. So I didn''t stop thinking. Even though it hurt very much, I still did so.


    -creak~


    Hearing my door open, a familiar face came in.


    A person with red hair and a matching red dress.


    Queen.


    ¡°King~¡± She greeted in a seductive voice.


    ¡°Queen.¡±


    ¡°You alright? Still trying to think of a way out? I''m worried about you, you know~?¡± She walked closer and sat beside me. She looked at me with narrowed eyes and leaned closer to me. ¡°I could... help you, you know~?¡±


    ¡°...¡± I didn''t reply and continued thinking. I pinched my nose bridge as the headache kicked in.


    Queen removed her shoes and climbed on my bed. She then put her arms around me and whispered into my ear.


    ¡°Just let me take care of you, and everything will be alright~¡±


    She pulled me into bed.


    With me on top and her below. Her clothes hang loosely making her all the more tempting.


    ¡°Trust me...¡± She whispered as she put a hand on my chest.


    And slowly, she removed our clothes.


    Giving in, I sighed.


    We spent a few hours there until Queen spoke.


    ¡°Well?¡±


    ¡°Well what?¡±


    ¡°I could tell you know?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°That you''re stressed.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    We paused.


    ¡°... I don''t know what you mean.¡±


    ¡°Don''t lie to me, darling~¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I told you to trust me right?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    She leaned in closer.


    ¡°So trust me.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Sighing I asked her.


    ¡°......Is it really alright?¡±


    ¡°Of course~¡± Maid said happily.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes~¡±


    ¡°How will I know?¡±


    She put a finger on my lips.


    ¡°Because...


    ...you''re my one...


    ...and only...


    ...Beloved~¡±


    Closing my eyes, I searched for something in the sheets and said to her.


    ¡°Do... do you think she''ll forgive me?¡±


    Not answering, she only smiled...


    as I pointed the gun at her.


    Hugging me once more, she gave me a light kiss on the cheek.


    Putting weight on the trigger, I made my decision.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­.............................................................................................................................-Bang!!

 Epilogue: King

    ------------------------------------------------------ Maid POV ------------------------------------------------------


    I was really happy.


    Super happy.


    The direction where our relationship was going was really good.


    Walking with Jester in the corridor towards the lounge, I began to skip.


    I even began humming a tune that just popped into my head.


    ¡°Hmmhmhmm~ Hmmhm~¡± I hummed joyfully.


    ¡°You look like you''re having fun.¡± Jester said then yawned.


    ¡°Of course~!¡±


    The reason we were out late was because we were outside.


    Particularly in the tree area. We played in the tree and slept on the bench after.


    When we woke up, the mansion was invisible.


    Shocked, we shone our flashlights at the supposed direction.


    Relieved, we found that the mansion did not disappear.


    Well, at least we learned something.


    That the day-night cycle works for the outside as well.


    And since we couldn''t see it, we judged it to be night time.


    When we tried to walk back, we were kind of slow, since were jolted awake by what we saw.


    Or actually, what we haven''t seen.


    Recovering from the intitial shock, we were too tired to deal with it even though we just slept.


    So our steps were heavy and we were yawning a lot too.


    At least I was able to walk arm in arm with Jester~.


    When we got out of the maze, we made our way to the transparent door.


    Opening it, we entered and noticed it getting just a little bit brighter.


    Feeling a bit more awake, we separated (aww...) and walked side by side.


    We walked around the new layout of the first floor and couldn''t find the lounge. We even found the other door that led outside. Tracing our steps, we went to the corridors we haven''t explore yet.


    Finally finding the wooden double-doors, we walked towards it.


    Halfway through, I even skipped.


    ¡°Hmm~ Hmhmm~ Hmhmhmmmm~¡± I continued humming.


    ¡°Say, that sounds familiar.¡±


    ¡°Does it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. A little.¡±


    ¡°Ooh, interesting~.¡±


    When we got to the double-doors, we each held one door and opened it together.


    Inside, was the familiar lounge that everything sort of started in.


    I know we started in our bedrooms but hey, this is where we all met.


    I walked really slowly and looked around.


    In the center of the room was a coffee table. I remember when King used it to get our attentions.


    On either side of the table were two sofas. They had a beautiful frame and had red cushions lined with yellow. Aorund the room were other decorations like paintings, pedestals, plants, plants on pedestals...


    It felt relaxing.


    Turning my head to peek at Jester, I saw he was inspecting the room as well.


    ¡°It''s... been a long time huh.¡±


    Nodding, I replied.


    ¡°Yeah, it sure has...¡±


    Appreciating the room, we remained quiet.


    A moment later, I said.


    ¡°I''m getting hungry~ let''s wake those two up and cook something. Today, I think I''ve got something in mind.¡±


    ¡°Alright then.¡±


    And with that, we walked up the stairs.


    Our footsteps echoed on the wooden steps. But then a third one as well.


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    Looking, we saw a black haired person in a suit and is wearing a fur coat on top.


    King.


    ¡°Ah King. Good morning.¡± I said.


    King frowned a little. It was slight but I noticed it.


    ¡°...Morning.¡± He then turned to Jester. ¡°You. Come with me.¡± King continued walking down the stairs.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Just come.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes.¡±


    Seeing Jester follow him, I asked King.


    ¡°What about me?¡±


    King paused.


    ¡°Don''t come.¡±


    With that, he continued walking down.


    Feeling something wrong I looked at jester.


    He had a worried expression as well. But he nodded.


    And followed King.


    But because I was worried, I went down a little just enough to get within earshot.


    ¡°Sit.¡± King said.


    ¡°O-okay...¡±


    It was quiet.


    Really quiet.


    Much more quiet than usual.


    ¡°-sigh-, Jester.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    King paused.


    ¡°Tell me... what do you think of this place?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You may not have noticed but food is apparently not infinite.¡±


    ¡°What are you-¡±


    ¡°I don''t know where the water comes from but I don''t think that''ll last as well.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°There are some other issues as well but tell me, what do you think of this place?¡±


    ¡°I don''t-¡±


    ¡°Answer the question.¡± King said sharply.


    Gulping, Jester answered.


    ¡°It''s, its beautiful...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°But, also unreasonable.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°This place doesn''t make sense and with our memories erased, it just made it even harder.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°So I think, this place is unreasonable.¡±


    ¡°...... I see.¡±


    King stood up.


    ¡°King?¡±


    ¡°Believe it or not, I found a way to get out of here.¡±


    ¡°What? Really?!¡± Jester said shocked.


    Even I was surprised.


    King found a way to get out of here?


    That''s great!


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Then we have to get Queen! I''ll call her right now- ¡­um, ...King?¡±


    Jester''s excited voice died down.


    ¡°...King?¡±


    Worried, I walked down a few more steps.


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    -Bang!


    Realizing what happened, I inhaled sharply.


    ¡°JESTER!!¡±


    I ran down the stairs as fast as I could.


    Stopping in my tracks, I found Jester standing.


    With a growing dark red stain on his white polo.


    ¡°Jester!!!¡±


    I quickly ran to him. Catching him before he fell, I kind of fell as well since I couldn''t support his body.


    ¡°Jester! Jester!!¡± Seeing him not answering, he only moved his eyes and met with mine.


    And smiled. ¡°KING!! WHY?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS?!!¡± I shouted at him with tears flowing from my eyes from who-knows-when. ¡°TELL WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS??!!¡±


    As a response, King only looked at me. And smiled gently.


    Feeling anger welling up inside of me, I shouted once more.


    ¡°BROTHER!!¡±


    ¡­..................................................................................................................................................................................................


    ......................................................................................................................................................................................................


    ...............................................................................................Eh?


    Brother? Did I just call him brother?


    King seems to be surprised as well as he widened his eyes a little.


    But his fueled my anger even further.


    Why would he do this?


    That was the only question I could ask.


    Was this supposed to be the ''way out''?


    That''s crazy! And just when everything was going so well too...


    This just had to happen!


    I glared at King.


    ¡°What? You gonna kill me too?¡±


    Not answering, he lifted his gun.


    I became angrier with him.


    But was instantly washed with cold water.


    As he lifted the gun... to his own head.


    Smiling gently one more time, he kindly said to me.


    ¡°...Sorry.¡±


    ¡°King-!!¡±


    -BANG!!


    Looking in disbelief, I watched as King''s body fell to the floor.


    Why? Why is this happening?


    I looked at the gun that was now a few meters away from me.


    Then at Jester.


    I closed his eyes and laid him gently on the floor.


    And walked towards the gun.


    But before I could reach it, an earthquake assaulted the house.


    And everything became much brighter.


    The place then started to crumble, and immediately the place broke.


    The once beautiful, lounge started breaking. The ceiling and the walls broke apart, and in between those cracks, I coukd see the other rooms breaking as well.


    Beside me, a piece of the ceiling fell.


    ¡°Kyaaah!¡± I screamed.


    I automatically ran towards the body of Jester. Fortunately, the piece of flooring he was on was still intact. I ran and hugged his now cold body as if saying that I didn''t want to part with him. Not long before the entire place fell down. Oddly enough, the flooring I was on was not touched.


    I watched as the mansion broke and fell into the void.


    I even saw the other various rooms. The bedrooms, the library, and even the third floor''s ballroom.


    Along with the ballroom, the balconies fell along with it.


    And outside, I saw something which surprised me.


    The earthquake continued, and the mansion fell. But outside I saw the garden as well as the front portion of the mansion. Not much can be seen in the front portion but the garden was simply beautiful.


    Looking further, I saw a familiar tree.


    A tree that had leaves that looked like fireworks surrounded by walls and walls of ivy.


    It was as if the entire place has become visible like the mansion.


    But those too, were falling apart.


    I watched as the tremors left the tiny area I was on, and as everything else fell into the darkness.


    I couldn''t believe my eyes and took time to process it.


    But then realized, that the small platform I was on, was the only thing left.


    I looked at Jester.


    He was still sleeping soundly.


    But this moment of peace was shattered too.


    Slowly, the platform I was on was breaking too. It broke apart and fell into the void as well.


    Along with it, both Jester and I fell as well.


    It was quiet.


    Very quiet.


    When I tried to scream, it was as if sound didn''t exist in the first place.


    And in the end, darkness enveloped us...


    -WINNER: MAID-