Afterwards, I lost the battle with exhaustion, and when I opened my eyes again, I was still laying on the bed in this terrible cage. And my clothes had been changed.
āā¦ā¦ā
I stared at the white dress I wore before sighing. I knew I vomited towards the end so I needed to change my clothes, butā¦ Why a dress, of all things?
āHaahā¦ā
No matter how much I grumbled, though, an answer wouldnāt materialize out of thin air. First, I checked my body here and there, but I didnāt feel much painānot even in my chest, where I might have expected cracked ribs.
All that lingered was a numbing feelingācharacteristic after drinking a potionāand a menthol-like scent left in my mouth.
āDid he give me a potionā¦?ā
When I looked to the side, I saw a pipette I had never seen before sticking out of the ground between the closet and the bed. The Mage must have fed me the potion with that pipette.
I realized that Seo Dawon must have decided to keep me aliveā¦for now. Of course, I wasnāt sure if that was a good thing just yet.
āHe healed me, butā¦ WaitāWhereās Seo Dawon?ā
I could only hear the ticking sound of the second hand of the clock; there was no one else in the office. Even the lights were offāthe only source of light was the sunlight flooding in through the window.
I sat on the bed and looked around at the office through the transparent walls of the cage.
As I looked carefully at the high-quality furniture, books that had half Chinese āHanjaā characters/ half Korean characters on their spines,Ā 1Ā and a personal plannerā¦My eyes alighted upon a frame near the cage.
āAhhā¦.ā
I thought the frame would contain a picture of him or those close to him, and, as I expected, it contained a picture of the Red Lotus members.
With Seo Dawon placed in the center, everyone was smiling brightly and refreshingly. Of course, Bae Jaemin and Ryu Hyerin were also there, but they didnāt look particularly out of place. They appeared to just be kind and affable.
I smiledāthe picture was taken at the moment Seo Dawon placed his arm around Woo Ragiās shoulders, and there was nothing the Swordsman could do about itā¦but, after a while, a strange emotion filled me.
āThis is the pastā¦ I wonder where in the timeline I am?ā I mumbled and scratched my head.
At that moment.
Clickā
Suddenly, the office door opened, and Seo Dawon strode inside. His eyes were fixed on me from the moment he opened the door.
āThā¦.Thank you,ā I said.
[What?]
āYou fed meā¦ a potion, right?ā
As soon as I made eye contact with him, the first thing that tumbled out of my mouth was my gratitude. However, Seo Dawon smiled a bit crookedly, as if he had heard something absurd.
[It seems like youāve forgotten who hurt you, Lee-kyung-ah.]
āā¦Th-Thatās true, but.ā
[Wellā¦ I suppose thatās still a good attitude. After all, Iām the one holding your life in my hand.]
āā¦ā¦ā I closed my mouth and felt sullen at his cold tone.
Despite his sarcastic expression, the Mage stared at me as if he were looking at something odd. Meanwhile, now that our conversation was cut short, I became lost in my thoughts again.
āIt doesnāt feel like heāll press down on me with his fingers or harass me in another wayā¦ā
If that were his intention, there would be no need to treat me with potions. So, I left the bed and ran towards Seo Dawon.
The Mage paused but soon moved closer to the cage. After a few, ground-thumping vibrations, he quickly stood in front of me.
I looked at his large, beautiful eyes and made great efforts not to tremble in his presence, āExcuse meā¦ I am really not trying to do anything bad to you.ā
[ā¦ā¦]
āOf course, with your personality, youāre not likely to believe anyone that says this, butā¦ T-Take a look at me. What can I do to you with a body like thisā¦?ā
[ā¦ā¦]
I looked up at him and tried to make reasonable arguments, but the vigilance did not disappear from the Mageās eyes. He then muttered, as if he were talking to himselfā
[He must know āmyā personality well.]
āHuh? Ah, th-thatāsā¦ā Come to think of it, this āSeo Dawonā wouldnāt know me, and I may be crossing the boundary by calling out to him affectionately and acting as if I knew him.
Belatedly realizing I made a mistake, I covered my mouth with both hands, but Seo Dawon had already opened the cage lid and was reaching out to me.
I trembled and squeezed my eyes shut, uncertain as to what would happen. Soon, I felt an irresistible force holding on to me; then, my body rose into the air.
However, the pain I had been expecting and preparing for never came, no matter how long I waited. I stealthily opened my eyes. When that happened, the Mage opened his mouth, as if he had been waiting for my attention.
[I searched the database of Users in the Hub for the name āChoi Lee-kyung,ā butā¦ Nothing appeared. It was very clean.]
āā¦ā¦ā
[Thereās no human being like you there.]
As I listened to the Mage, I gently grabbed his thumb with both my hands. He said he was holding me tight, but I felt anxious; my legs felt hollow, as if I couldnāt gain a proper foothold.
Seo Dawon furrowed his brows but did not shake off my hold. He urged me to answer, again, with a look that stated his patience was being tried.
[Did you give me your real name?]
āYeahā¦ā
[But, why isnāt your information in the database?]
āI-Itās not something I didā¦ā
Seo Dawonās gaze became even colder; I shrugged and avoided his eyes.
Since the original āmeā does not exist in this timeline, it was natural for him to be unable to find my information. However, there was no good way to explain that.
And, after my suspicious answer, Seo Dawonās hand tensed and contracted momentarily before relaxing again. Startled, I looked at him.
Of course, our current atmosphere wasnāt reassuring. The Mage looked annoyed, but soon questioned me again in a cold voice.
[Then, how do you explain why youāre acting as if you know me well?]
āā¦Youā¦ Youā¦.ā
Of course, I had no decent answer to this question either. The betrayal that Seo Dawon would soon experience and his subsequent revival had yet to occur.
So, I lowered my head and muttered in a barely-audible voice, āā¦B-Because youāre famousā¦ā
[ā¦ā¦]
āAnd Iāmā¦ Your fan. I-I did some researchā¦ā
[ā¦ā¦]
āItās nothing badā¦ Iām justā¦ a stanā¦ā I didnāt say all this with the expectation that the Mage would believe me. It was just a crude excuse for my inexplicable circumstance.
My fear surged again when I felt his cool gaze rest on my head; he raised my head again.
If Seo Dawon loosened his hold and sent me crashing to the floor, I would be lucky to survive; my legs would certainly be smashed, though. Frightened, I clasped his thumb tightly with both arms again.
Butā¦
āā¦ā¦ā
Grrumbleā
A loud noise suddenly rumbled from my stomach.
In fact, a few more grumbles happened; from then on, an extreme, desperate hunger crawled its way into my stomach. How tactless of my stomach; I hid a bright red face in the crease of his finger.
āā¦Did he hear that?ā
Maybe he didnāt hear; I had hope for just a moment.
However, Seo Dawon used the tip of his thumb to raise my chin.
[You must be hungryā¦]
āā¦ā¦ā
[You said you disliked sunflower seeds, right?]
I felt that Seo Dawonās expression had now softened. Rather, he had an amused smile on his face, as if he were staring at something funny.
I was disgusted at that face. My Servant, āSeo Dawonā often mischievously teased me with that expression.
In a fit of temper, I curtly said, āI want milkā¦and cereal.ā
[ā¦ā¦]
āIf youāre going to give me something to eat, you should give me something I likeā¦ā
Of course, I was scared by the Mageās expression in the middle of my tirade, so I hurriedly glanced elsewhere and avoided his gaze.
Seo Dawon didnāt threaten me anymore and placed me back in the cage. He laid me atop the bed and stared blatantly at me for a few more beats. However, soon, he turned around and left the office.
Clickā
It wasnāt until I heard the door close that my body released its tension. At that moment, my hunger grew more intense. My stomach no longer produced the occasional rumbling and instead incessantly grumbled.
āDid he decide to ignore meā¦?ā
As I recalled the silent, answer-less Mage, I looked at the sunflower seeds piled up at one end of the cage. If Iām in a pinch, I suppose Iāll be forced to eat those seeds, butā¦
āIām not a hamsterā¦ā I muttered sullenly.
It was then.
Clickā
The door opened again. I turned to the origin of the noise; there stood Seo Dawon, carrying 200 mLĀ 2Ā of white milk and a small amount of mini-cereal in both hands.