Chapter 13

The restaurant was extremely quiet, considering there were only about seventy people there.

Only the sound of dishes clattering was heard, and there was not a single person who was making a fuss.

‘I’ll pretend that I am enjoying myself.’

There was no time to evaluate how the food tasted.

All I could do was watch dozens of people who looked like factory-made dolls chew their food in silence.

At that time, a small girl sat across from me.

Naturally, my gaze moved into that direction.

‘That child…?’

I gently closed my eyes and opened them. I thought that my tired eyes might have mistaken it as if I was playing a hidden object game.

I looked again at the girl sitting across from me.

‘It’s definitely her, after all I found her.’

It was clearly the youngest member of the herbalist who had previously gone missing.

She had been missing for a long time, but not long enough for her appearance to change completely because of the puberty.

‘What was her name again?’

In fact, no matter how hard I racked my brain, there was no way I could recall her real name.

They often called her the youngest herbalist as she was the youngest member of the herbalists, but she had never heard her real name.

I cleared my throat, hoping she would look my way.

I was brushing my hair for no reason and also glanced at her several times.

But she didn’t show any interest, her eyes was completely fixed on her food.

Eventually, I decided to ask Karen about her name.

“Could you introduce me to that maid?”

I clearly didn’t make any kind of loud noise.

I spoke more carefully than usual, almost like a whisper.

But it seems like my small whispers was enough to break the silence of the restaurant.

Hundreds of green eyes looked back at me, all at once.

It was as if my voice had cracked and split the air in the restaurant.

I unconsciously lost the fork I was holding.

As if that was some kind of signal, their eyes quickly looked away.

Goosebumps appeared all over my arms.

“Her name is Tara. She is working in the laundry room.”

Karen answered calmly as if nothing had happened.

“…Oh okay.”

I answered a beat later. I couldn’t just be overwhelmed by the atmosphere around me forever.

I said hello, hoping that Tara might recognize me.

“Hi Tara. I’m Selinia, a new researcher.”

Fortunately, no one looked at us this time. It was almost as if there was an order from Aeon about, not to pay any attention towards me.

“Hello, hello. Researcher.”

She answered softly, sounding as loud as that of a mosquito. She didn’t seem to remember me.

“When did Tara get here?”

I asked as sweetly as I could. Instead of answering, Tara looked around her.

Her eyes looked like they were looking for help and it also seemed like she was on guard.

With no one paying any attention to her, Tara finally set her sights on me.

I smiled softly and signaled that I was waiting for an answer.

“I think it’s been about six months now.”

It was a period that coincided perfectly with the time Tara went missing.

“Where were you before?”

“Well, well, I….”

Tara was feeling more anxious than before. I could almost see her body shaking.

‘I didn’t even ask a difficult question. Or are you perhaps being tortured right now?’

She originally had an affable personality. So much so that she often came out to the store and helped her parents with their work. She was obviously friendly and kind, so all my guests liked her. The child who was so decoil like that, has changed into a scared rabbit.

‘Bad guy, crazy guy….’

I recited some meaningless curse in my heart which was directed towards Aeon.

Still, I couldn’t hear Tara’s answer, so I ended up answering on my own.

“Didn’t your parents work as herbalists at Bainan Third Street Market?”

What I was expecting from Tara was that, she will show a very surprised reaction to my answer. And as such she looked at me with a stunned expression on her face.

She was looking at me as if asking how I knew all these things about her.

Then I once again put on a friendly face and planned to reply her, that I was a regular customer and that I had seen her before in that store.

‘It will be all smooth sailing from next time.’

I just need to update her on how long they’ve been searching for Tara and what her family was doing currently without her.

If I call Tara into my room, she can hear what has happened after she went missing.

Maybe we could discuss an escape plan together.

I was full of such dreams, but it was Marilyn who spoke to me, not Tara.

“You must not break the rules.”

Marylin’s green eyes were shining with a strange light, as if they belonged to an animal hiding in the dark.

She said, “You shouldn’t break the rules.”

A hoarse voice pressed against me as if it was trying to drag me into the abyss of darkness.

“Yes? What do you mean?”

It seemed like it was some kind of signal that was shared amongst them.

The employees stopped eating and started shouting in unison.

“You must not break the rules.”

“The rules of the Magic Tower are strict.”

For a moment, my heart stopped. Their voices were the same as the singing that had followed me persistently in my dream.

The voice soon took shape and began to swirl around my head.

“You must not break that rule.”

“Anyone who breaks the rules will be kicked out.”

I began to break out into a cold sweat and become short of breath.

“You must not break the rules.”

“You must not break the rules.”

“Ahhh…”

I pushed the chair back, holding my head.

I wanted to run away from here.

“Miss.”

Karen’s hand grabbed my arm.

“Let go of me!”

I tried to shake her off, but my strength was no match against her.

I tried pushing her away with my whole body, but Karen wouldn’t budge. No, she moved her face towards me.

“Miss, look at me.”

She was smiling brightly, perhaps trying to reassure me.

However, just like before, the smile that only pulled in the corners of her mouth on a stiff face had an opposite effect on me

“Are you uncomfortable?”

‘Are you uncomfortable?’

There was a certain degree of teasing in her voice.

“Can’t you hear them? Everyone is yelling at me!”

“You’re yelling. Marilyn just wanted to let you know her rules.”

Karen forcibly removed my hands that were covering my ears.

“It’s the rules of the Magic Tower. You’re breaking the rules.”

The singing voice that was targeting me was suddenly no longer heard.

‘Was it my mistake?’

I thought that if I continued doing this, I might be considered crazy like I was in the Count’s family.

“Marilyn, please continue with what you were saying. But you better speak softly. You heard the magic tower lord telling you to change your attitude because you’re scaring her right?”

So, it seemed like Aeon was watching this situation from somewhere unseen.

Manipulating people without lifting a finger. But I didn’t have time to think about him further.

“You know. miss.”

A high-pitched, charming voice came out of Marylin’s mouth instead of a hoarse, cracked sound.

Soon, as if her mind had been changed completely, her cheekbones rose upwards and the eyes began to get bigger.

“There are some rules to follow in this magic tower.”

Marylin, who seemed to have transformed herself, was looking at me with her cheeks sticking out as if she had put eggs in her mouth and her eyes began to widen twice as big then before

Then she moved her mouth once again as if stretching it infinitely.

“If you don’t follow it, you will be kicked out of the magic tower. So, you have to be careful, right?”

She nodded, extending her index finger towards me as if she was my kindergarten teacher.

Perhaps because I was forcing my eyes to open wide, my eyelids were constantly blinking.

I wanted to turn my head away at the strange sight, but couldn’t.

It was because the moment I turned away from Marylin, it felt like the fork in front of me would be pointed at my throat instead.

“Rule no. 1. You are not allowed and must never talk about what happened with you before you came to the Magic Tower.”

Marylin said, pointing her fingers.

“You can’t tell me where you came from, what you did, or what happened. You asked Tara a little while ago and hence broke that rule.”

“That’s the rule?”

“The Mage Tower Lord is a generous employer who does not care about the past of the people gathered here. No matter what mistakes I made in the past, I can live here as a new person.”

Karen added an explanation.

“In order to keep that will of others, we also do not ask them about their past.”

This was more like an interpretation than a dream.

There is a person who was involved in a crime, but covering up the past was just an action to avoid being exposed about their crime.

“Welcome to the magic tower!”

She shouted towards me again which surprised me.

[Miss Selinia. Are you having a good time eating?]

It was Aeon. He continued speaking in a relaxed voice, as if this situation had nothing to do with him.

[I thought you might need some advice. Please think carefully about whether those around you will follow you or me before you act.]

At his words, I looked at Marylin and Karen, who were feigning affection.

She was definitely the most loyal maid here.

This time, I broadened my view and looked at the people who were engrossed in their meal without paying any attention towards me.

The forks and knives they held in their hands seemed to sparkle particularly brightly.

“Miss, what are you talking about? What do you think about the Magic Tower Lord?”

Marilynn asked, sticking out her head. A strange light flashed in her green eyes once again.

“The magic tower lord…I think he is too idealistic.”

In the end, I ended up saying something that wasn’t even funny. Karen chimed in, as if that was the answer she wanted.

“That’s right. That’s why we have to follow the rules even more carefully.”

It was a strange conclusion, but I guess it’s okay now.

“It’s about the rules that must be followed at the Magic Tower. Now that I’ve told you this, I’d like to tell you a few more things.”

“The second rule is that you must return to the Magic Tower before five o’clock.”

“You can’t be late even for a minute.”

Karen added.

“Does that mean you can go out?”

Rather than the rule that I had to return before five o’clock, I heard that I could go out anyway.

“Sure.”

“Of course.”

“How?”

“Please ask another researcher about that. It will be different from us, who are maids.”

Even without having heard of it, I had a feeling that it would be very difficult to get permission to go out.

He worked hard to get me into the magic tower, but there was no way he would let me out that easily.

So, when I was in a situation where I had to follow the second rule, I thought I should be thankful.

“Anyway, even researchers must follow these rules. The researcher who came last time also broke this rule and was kicked out.”

She was kicked out.

It was a very mysterious word that could have several interpretations.

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