“Why would anyone waste something this expensive on a child like her? Then again, when you have as much money as a ducal house, I suppose it’s pocket change.”
The maids took turns picking through Riersha’s belongings, selling them off piece by piece to fund their own indulgences.
That was precisely why there wasn’t a single toy left in Riersha’s room.
Paper and colored pencils were especially popular — they vanished within a day.
It was, in no small part, the reason Riersha had reached the age of ten without being able to properly read or write.
The private tutor assigned to her by the household made a habit of idling away the hours before excusing himself early.
He deeply resented having been assigned to teach Riersha — the girl who had fallen out of the Duke’s favor.
“If you cause me any trouble, I’ll report everything to the Duke himself. So I trust you understand what’s expected of you? Now, hold out your hand. Naughty children must be punished.”
Riersha’s fingertips twitched. A bad memory surfaced, and before she could stop herself, she was shaking her head frantically.
She had been walking for what felt like a long time. She exhaled and glanced back over her shoulder.
A flicker of despair crossed her unsteady gaze.
“Wh-why am I s-still not there yet?”
She had barely made it halfway through the castle grounds.
Riersha patted her aching legs with her small hands.
Looking more closely, one could see her neck, fingers, and wrists adorned with a jumble of colorful children’s jewelry.
Right. All of it was meant to be sold.
“Ow, it hurts…”
Her stamina had shrunk along with her body. It was only now hitting her, that realization.
With her tiny stride, she was barely moving — inching along like an ant.
Riersha looked down at the bundle that now felt like a deadweight, tightened her grip, and pressed forward.
The sunlight outside gradually faded as a dense, shadowed forest rose before her.
Just get through this, and I’m out!
But there was one thing Riersha didn’t know.
This forest was known throughout the Empire as one of the most dangerous places in existence — called, by those who knew better, the Forest of Monsters.
⁂
“What is this? Looks like rats got to it.”
A silver-haired boy who looked to be just over ten years old wrinkled his nose as he held up a piece of bread riddled with holes.
He had come looking for Riersha after noticing she hadn’t slipped into the Tower of Truth as she usually did.
Around him, the maids trembled on their knees, foreheads pressed to the floor.
“Where did Riersha go?”
“W-well, that is…”
“And why does her room look so empty?”
The boy narrowed his eyes as he took in Riersha’s room — a place he had never entered before.
There wasn’t a trace of her presence anywhere in the castle.
Don’t tell me…
His expression hardened.
“You’re not about to tell me Riersha has disappeared, are you?”
“…P-please forgive us! Have mercy! Lady Riersha is simply so difficult to manage, so willful and free-spirited, that—!”
The maid assigned to personally attend Riersha had gone pale as a sheet, wringing her hands in desperate supplication.
She was doing everything she could to shift the blame onto Riersha.
Of all the rotten luck — today, of all days, when the second young master had decided to pay a visit, she happened to be the one on duty.
The maid ground her teeth in silent frustration, though she didn’t dare lift her forehead from the floor.
Why is the second young master throwing one of his moods today of all days!
Every member of the Arachrene family had a difficult temperament.
With the eldest — the heir — currently away from the main estate, there was no one left to rein in the second son, Ricador, except the Duke himself.
Which meant the boy’s whims ran absolutely unchecked, needless to say.
Ricador in particular showed no mercy to those beneath him. He was sharp, irritable, and unforgiving.
Today, she had simply had the misfortune of being caught in one of Ricador’s moods.
Why would the second young master even want to see that halfwit?
From what she knew, he had always disliked Riersha — called her a little rat. It struck her as odd.
Wasn’t it Ricador Arachrene himself who had always been the first to chase Riersha out whenever she snuck into the Tower of Truth?
Still, I suppose it’s lucky. Who’s going to make a fuss over one missing girl? She’s nothing but an afterthought in this household.
Surely the child was hiding somewhere again, stirring up trouble to get attention, just as she always did.
The moment Ricador left, the maid intended to track Riersha down and make absolutely certain she never pulled a stunt like this again.
The maid watched Ricador’s expression carefully and allowed herself a small breath of relief. He didn’t seem particularly furious.
Just then, a knight who had been sent to search the castle grounds returned.
“We found traces of Lady Riersha, Young Master Ricador.”
“What’s that?”
The knight held something in his hand — a small, colorful bracelet. The kind of cheap trinket a young child might play with.
Ricador, who had gone his entire life without laying eyes on something so childish, gave the knight a pointed look as if to ask what on earth it was.
“It appears to belong to Lady Riersha. It was found… near the Forest of Monsters.”
“…What did you just say?”
In that instant, the color drained completely from the maid’s face.
The Forest of Monsters.
Ricador turned to look at her, and his gaze turned razor sharp.
⁂
“I’m n-not scared. I’m not scared one b-bit.”
Riersha’s eyes were brimming with tears that threatened to spill at any moment, and she forced them wide open in stubborn defiance.
Her lips pressed tight with tension as she darted anxious glances in every direction.
Something felt ready to leap out at her from any side.
Even Riersha, who possessed no special powers and was as ordinary as any person could be, understood by now that this was no ordinary forest.
There was no birdsong. Not a single sound that should have been there.
She didn’t know what that meant, exactly — but every instinct in her small body was screaming in alarm.
When I came here with Brother Ricador, it didn’t feel like this.
So why does this place feel so terrifyingly wrong?
She had grown up in the castle all her life and never once seen any wild creature wander out of this forest to disturb the gardens. That vague, unthinking reassurance had been her mistake.
And because it was a forest within the estate’s grounds, it simply hadn’t occurred to her that it could be dangerous.
So, without fully realizing it, she had filed this place away in her mind as somewhere safe.
But…
Drip. Drip. Something thick and viscous fell from the top of her head and slid down her cheek.
“Wh-what is… what is this?”
Riersha froze mid-wipe, her hand at her chin.
She looked up slowly.
A monster loomed over her — dozens of times larger than her small body — staring down at her with unmistakably famished eyes.
“H-huh—!”
Thud.
The shock hit her like a physical blow. The bundle slipped from her fingers and fell to the ground.
Before she had even fully processed what was happening, Riersha bolted forward.
“G-go away! Go AWAY! I’m not scared, you horrible monster!! Waaaaah, somebody help me, I don’t want this!”
What had she been thinking, marching into a forest alone like that?
Even as she ran, the terror of being caught — of being overtaken — wrung hot tears from her eyes.
“Hic—!”
She hated pain. She hated it so much.
She did not want to feel that horrible, crawling sensation of death closing in on her ever again.
All I wanted was to protect my family…!
The truth was, she hadn’t wanted to leave the ducal estate at all.
Why was it that she could never simply be happy with her family?
Was that really too much to ask for?
Riersha didn’t see the gnarled tree root jutting up from the ground until it was too late.
“Ow—!”
Her body slammed hard into the dirt, and tender skin scraped raw against the earth.
Every inch of her body hurt.
But it would be nothing compared to what was coming.
If it was going to end like this, why did I even come back?
She had clawed her way back to the past, only to be devoured alive by a monster. What a way to go.
Riersha braced for the end and squeezed her eyes shut.
And then it happened. A cool surge of energy washed over her — followed by an explosive burst of magical power erupting from all around her body.
Pop—! Pop—!
A strange sound filled the air.
“…Huh?”
When the pain she had been bracing for never came, Riersha cautiously opened her eyes.
Soap bubbles. Dozens of them, floating and drifting, filling the air in every direction.
“…Soap… bubbles?”
She turned around. The monster was trapped inside one of the bubbles, completely immobilized.
She was still staring at the bizarre scene, blinking in disbelief, when—
“Who gave you permission to enter this forest?”
Ricador appeared, as impossibly as if he had stepped out of thin air.
