Chapter 29

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This is the first episode of today. I will post the second episode at 9 PM.

The spacious hall where the children were gathered was filled with picture books and toys.

There were also drinks and snacks.

Everything was of high quality, looked fun, and delicious, and there was more than enough.

Lucian, thinking it would be nice if there were fewer things so he could run around, regretfully slipped into the "secret base" with Yusei.

The secret base was made of large wooden boxes connected together, covered with soft fabric.

Soon, Yusei dragged a toy carriage into the secret base.

Lucian picked up a horse figurine and attacked the carriage with a ball. The soft, cotton ball hit the carriage driver.

"Lucian, knights don't attack carriages, they're not bandits," Yusei complained.

"They're enemy soldiers."

"Enemy soldiers first fight the border guards."

"Right. Then, this is the border lord's carriage."

"No, it's not!"

"Stop fighting, children!"

Odine, attaching a small hair accessory to a doll's hair, smiled slyly and said, "You're so silly."

"We're not fighting! We're the same age!"

"It's about mental age."

Lucian, defeated, fell silent.

Heine, standing close to the three children, slightly frowned, thinking, "Something is off."

First, the security was too lax.

Earlier, a man who seemed to be in charge of the venue and a man who appeared to be the head butler had checked the hall.

At that time, the security personnel were stationed outside the terrace windows and in the corridor just outside the entrance.

There were over a dozen children in the hall.

Besides Lucian and the three princes, there were nine other children. The older children were in the garden.

In contrast, there were only three maids.

Considering that the children were from noble and royal families, this was abnormally few.

Moreover, the selection of maids was poor. They were all young, inexperienced maids, with no veteran maids present.

As a result, part of the hall had become a lawless zone.

Three boys were playing with cardboard swords, knocking over cups on the table.

The inexperienced maid, who was unaccustomed to dealing with such situations, only cleared the table, leaving the boys to their own devices.

On the other hand, three young ladies were happily playing with a pile of stuffed animals. This area was peaceful, but they had pushed away and chased off the younger children who tried to join them.

The maids should have protected the younger children.

The remaining young ladies and young lords had started reading picture books.

Two maids began chatting in a corner, and the maid who had cleared the table joined them. The three maids, engrossed in their conversation, paid no attention to the children.

If Heine were the head maid, she would have retrained them.

—If the children start a dangerous game, I'll have to deal with it...

Still, where have the maids and attendants of the princes and Princess Odine gone?

They had been there just a moment ago. Heine knew they had been escorted together.

There were several guides who had led the children. Heine remembered that the guides had spoken to the princes' attendants and Princess Odine's maids. They were supposed to come here.

However, when Heine looked around the room, they were nowhere to be found.

—They shouldn't leave unless there's an emergency. Isn't it an emergency that the princes' attendants have left?

Heine wanted to check, but she couldn't leave the children. She was stuck.

Fortunately, the children were playing happily.

Lucian lifted the skirt of a doll that looked just like Odine, and Odine scolded him fiercely.

"What are you doing to a lady! You pervert!"

"What's a pervert? I just lifted the doll's skirt to see what's under it. I wouldn't do that to a real person."

"Of course not!"

The doll was well-made. It even had underwear under the skirt.

Lucian returned to the secret base.

The secret base was large enough for Lucian to enter by slightly bending his head. The connected boxes were linked inside, forming a tunnel. The soft fabric covering prevented any injuries.

Lucian and Yusei played hide-and-seek inside, and Odine, who had grown tired of changing the dolls' clothes, joined in.

Suddenly, the room felt colder.

A shiver ran down his spine.

—What's going on?

There was a strange sound, "Gagon."

Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw where a potted plant was placed.

Lucian liked plants, but this large pot did not catch his eye.

It looked artificial and lacked vitality.

It seemed dead.

It was different from cut flowers. It looked like a dead plant that had been discarded and withered.

It was moving.

It extended vines as if reaching out, writhing.

The leaves were bluish-green with black veins, and the stems were unusually thick.

Earlier, it had bloomed with large, beautiful hibiscus-like flowers, but now those flowers had withered and fallen to the floor.

Before he knew it, it had grown into a gigantic monster.

It was about two heads taller than the tall Jace.

It swayed and seemed to grow even larger, extending its branch-like arms.

In addition to the arms, tentacles swayed. These might also be arms.

The stem of the body grew thicker. The bluish-green body with black and white spots was bizarre and chilling.

It had a face. A face that looked like a pig's with a wolf's mouth. This face had not been there earlier. Perhaps it had been hidden behind the flowers and leaves.

The large eyes were murky and bluish-black. They bulged out without whites, making it impossible to tell where they were looking.

Dried, weed-like hair grew messily on its head.

Could anything so hideous exist in this world?

The hall was filled with screams.

"What is that?"

"What is it?"

"Help!"

"Mother!"

"Monster!"

"It's a demon!"

The maids, who were supposed to be with the children, frantically tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge.

"It won't open!"

The maids' cries revealed that they were trapped.

"Over here!"

Heine quickly realized and guided the three children and the others to the back.

Lucian was holding Yusei and Odine's hands.

The strange creature by the window seemed to grow larger by the second.

But soon, everyone realized.

"There's a hole in the floor!"

It had been prepared in advance.

This hall was designed to attack the children.

—What is happening?

Heine, shielding the children, looked around.

The maids, in a panic, were desperately trying to open the door, but it wouldn't budge.

The terrace windows were also locked.

The terrace side was dangerous because the monster was close.

"Please calm down.

Come this way.

Help will be here soon."

As the vine-like hands extended, Heine used a purification spell.

The vine hands immediately retreated when touched by Heine's purification spell.

Such ominous creatures were weak against purification spells. While it couldn't deal a fatal blow, it was effective in repelling the tentacles.

However, Heine's magic power was limited.

It would soon run out.

Heine positioned herself as far from the monster as possible, using overturned tables as a shield. She also placed several sturdy chairs.

The children were calmer than the maids and quickly moved to a safer position.

Meanwhile, the initially slow-moving monster began to show more agility.

Heine deduced that it had been dormant and was now becoming more active.

It must have been sealed when the room was prepared. The fact that it wasn't noticed earlier was because it had been sealed.

Now, the seal had just been broken.

It might be possible to defeat it while it was still sluggish, but there were only women and children here.

Heine dragged more tables to create a barrier before the monster became fully active.

—This is strange. Why hasn't help arrived?

Even with the prince here.

The monster dragged root-like legs out of the hole, arched its back, and stretched its branch-like arms toward the ceiling.

A ominous magical power emanated from the monster.

The foul magical power was so intense that it seemed to create a black mist.

The monster emitted a creepy, high-pitched laugh, "Heeheeheehee."

The children and maids screamed in terror and quickly fell silent.

When Heine turned around, everyone had fainted.

The young maids, with their eyes wide open, had collapsed in an undignified manner, which was somewhat unsightly but unavoidable.

Heine, years ago, had seen many terrible scenes when King Sirius was away on a study abroad.

A monster had attacked the Vione family's estate in the west of the capital.

She had seen the pitiful sight of horses and cattle being attacked by a group of monsters.

She wouldn't faint at something like this.

Moreover, she was right next to Yusei and Lucian.

The children and maids seemed to have been affected by the monster's miasma and pressure, but the area around the princes felt less intense.

Lucian and Yusei stood resolutely, glaring at the enemy. Odine, though hiding behind Heine, remained composed, which impressed Heine, "As expected of a princess."