novelraw Chapter 521: Opening the Locks (II)
Chapter 521: Opening the Locks (II)
When Aster said it was nothing, she truly meant it. Primrose had no idea what she had done, but since Aster didn’t look nervous at all, it meant she knew exactly what she was doing.
"Done," Aster said as the last lock clicked open. "The locks won’t send any signal to the main key holder. But... It’s only safe for one hour. After that, there might be some trouble."
Primrose turned her face toward Edmund, waiting for his reply. Without hesitation, he said, "It’s fine. One hour is enough."
Aster pushed the gate open, creating a path for them. Just as they were about to step inside, Primrose spoke, "Aster, we don’t know what’s in there. If you feel uncomfortable, you can wait here."
Aster paused, thinking for a moment before shaking her head. "No. I want to see what’s inside too."
She lowered her gaze slightly. "Even if I only helped my father make those locks... I was still part of it. If what I did ended up hurting people, then I deserve to know."
Primrose gently took her hand. "You didn’t know anything back then. This isn’t your fault."
"I know, Rosie," Aster said with a small, bitter smile. "But that doesn’t change the fact that I was still involved... whether I knew it or not."
Primrose wanted to say more, but when she saw how heavy the guilt was in Aster’s eyes, she knew her reassurance words wouldn’t reach her.
In the end, she simply patted Aster’s hand several times and said, "Like I said before, if you feel that sorry, you can make up for it by helping them." She added, "Let’s get going."
Aster didn’t say anything further, but the way she held Primrose’s hand so tightly was enough to show that she was afraid to see what was inside the west wing.
As soon as they stepped in, the atmosphere changed. The corridor was dim, lit only by a few oil lamps on the walls, and most of them weren’t even lit.
More than that, every window facing outside had been covered with thick black cloth, blocking out all sunlight.
"How clever..." Primrose murmured under her breath. Her eyes moved over the sealed windows. "From the outside, the windows are hidden by vines, so no one would ever realize they’re actually covered like this."
Because of that, no one would suspect there was anything strange inside the palace.
"Is it just me, or... does this place feel really suffocating and cold?" Callen asked. He even shivered slightly as he walked deeper into the west wing, something that rarely happened to a beast.
Even when Primrose breathed out, she could see a faint mist leaving her lips.
"This place isn’t any different from a torture dungeon," said Solene.
As they tried to warm themselves, Aster softly began to chant. She slowly raised her hands, and a small blue flame flickered to life in her hands.
It wasn’t an ordinary fire. The flame burned steadily, giving off a warmth and a cool blue light that gently pushed back the darkness around them.
"We can warm ourselves with this," Aster said softly. "It’s one of the basic spells my father taught me."
She raised her hands a little, and the blue flame grew brighter. The cold around them slowly eased, and the warmth made it easier to breathe. The soft light pushed away the darkness, revealing more of the corridor ahead.
Callen let out a sigh of relief. "That’s... a lot better."
Now that the cold was no longer bothering them, they were finally able to focus on more important things. Their eyes moved to the doors along the corridor.
Each door had a strange mechanism, something that allowed people from outside to look inside and pass food into the rooms without opening them, like small sliding doors in the middle of the door.
As they passed those doors, they couldn’t hear a single sound coming from inside the rooms. But Primrose was different.
Even though she couldn’t hear anything with her ears, she could still hear the thoughts of the people behind those doors.
[Who are the people outside? The maids already brought food here earlier.]
It sounded like a young woman’s voice. Even though it was only a thought, it trembled with fear.
A moment later, another voice appeared. [Strange. No one ever comes here after the maids leave, unless...]
[...the King wants to spend the night with us.]
She sighed inwardly. [I thought he wouldn’t come here again after he spent the night with me on his birthday.]
[I hope he accidentally brings something sharp, so I can kill myself.]
Primrose stopped in the middle of the corridor. Her heart tightened painfully as she realized those women would rather kill themselves if they had a weapon, instead of killing their abuser.
"They’re here," Primrose said in a low voice.
She stepped toward one of the doors and reached for the small sliding panel, wanting to see inside. But before she could touch it, she heard someone inside say something in her mind.
[I’ll break his arm the moment he opens it.]
Primrose froze for a second because she didn’t want to get hurt.
"Is something wrong?" Edmund asked at the same time, his eyes already on her.
Primrose nodded. "We came here at a strange time, so... maybe the person behind this door will try to hurt us."
Edmund knew that his wife could hear people’s thoughts, so he was sure that what she said wasn’t just a guess.
"It’s fine. Let me handle it," he said calmly. He gently took her hand and pulled her behind him, shielding her with his body.
He pushed the sliding door to the side, and within seconds, a wooden fork that seemed to have been sharpened over and over again until it became pointed suddenly came from inside, piercing through Edmund’s hand.
But even as blood dripped from his hand, Edmund didn’t flinch or scream in pain. Instead, he spoke calmly, "I’m not a part of Averon’s circle. You can be at ease."