Surviving in the Cursed Mansion

Chapter 7: The Guard Dog of the Mansion (1)

It felt as if time itself had stopped.

My vision refused to focus.

When my eyes lingered on Asche, who was bleeding profusely from her torn side, a grotesque wailing from the monster yanked my attention back.

Its ears had been ripped off, its eyes gouged out, and its skin peeled away to reveal raw, exposed wounds. Yet, it was impossible to fully grasp the essence of it.

Perhaps I wouldn’t have even attempted to understand it, had it not been for the text floating before my eyes.

It endlessly chases the echoes of two individuals.

The one who gave it something precious.

The one who stole something precious.

Retracing their footsteps, it recalls the happiest moments of its life.

Return it.

Return it!

Return the happiness you stole from me!

Reward: Gift Box

Special Reward: The Hunting Dog’s Memory

“A hunting dog… Is that what this is?”

Slowly, I approached the grotesque creature labeled as a hunting dog in the system.

Its saliva dripped like raindrops, soaking my hand as I cautiously brought it closer to the beast’s maw.

“Grrraah…!”

Its reaction was instantaneous.

“KAARRRGH!!!”

The creature lunged forward, its massive jaws wide enough to swallow a person whole.

It bit down, driven by nothing but its primal instinct to hunt and kill.

However, its ferocity was rendered futile in the face of a single line of text.

[Indestructible Object.]

The outcome was the same, no matter how many times it tried.

The hunting dog paused, tilting its head in confusion at the inexplicable phenomenon. Eventually, with ponderous, heavy footsteps, it withdrew from the scene.

“… So it’s no use.”

Once again, I hadn’t died.

It reaffirmed that my only means of release from this curse lay in Asche uncovering the mansion’s secrets.

And that realization filled me with even greater despair.

Asche, now nothing more than a lifeless corpse, could no longer fulfill my wish.

“…”

I slowly sank into the pool of blood she had left behind. Sitting beside her, I gently closed Asche’s eyes, which hadn’t shut even in death.

That’s when the unexpected occurred.

─Twitch!

“… Just now?”

My thoughts froze.

If this wasn’t a hallucination born of despair…

If my eyes hadn’t been deceived…

I was certain her finger had moved.

Moments later, text appeared in the air, glowing faintly as if to rekindle hope.

[The conditions for resurrection have been met.]

[Item: Coin will be consumed.]

“What… is this mansion, really?”

Time rewound itself. That was the only way to describe the surreal sight before me.

The pool of blood floated upward, flowing back into Asche’s body. Torn flesh knit itself together haphazardly, patching the gaping wound in her side.

Now, the only evidence of her death was the tattered remnants of her clothing.

“Gasp—!”

With a start, Asche’s eyes flew open, and she let out a violent cough.

The sight was so astonishing, so otherworldly, that I could only stare at her in silence.

“Hah… hah…!”

Seemingly oblivious to my presence, Asche hyperventilated, caught in a state of panic. 

When her gaze finally regained focus, her eyes filled with life once more. She silently screamed, her lips trembling.

“Ugh… hic…!”

“Asche!”

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Without looking back, Asche bolted. Her leather pouch fell to the floor unnoticed as she sprinted blindly down the corridor.

Her destination was Maid A’s room.

It must have been the only place in this mansion she could think of as a safe haven.

***

Inside Maid A’s Room

Asche sat curled up on the bed, completely forgetting any pretense of decorum or etiquette. She had wrapped herself tightly in blankets, trembling despite the stifling heat.

“Ah… hic… it hurts, it hurts, it hurts…!”

The sensation was still vivid.

The excruciating pain of having her torso devoured by a monstrous creature seemed burned into her soul, gnawing at her sanity.

The image of its fangs tearing into her insides played repeatedly in her mind’s eye, as if branded into her memory.

“This… this can’t be real. It’s impossible… How could I have avoided that? How could I have won…?”

She had never encountered a creature like that before.

Wolves, lions, tigers—none of them could grow to that size.

Even as a princess of the Empire, who had seen countless exotic and bizarre creatures, she had never witnessed anything as overwhelming as that monstrosity.

“Sniff… hic… Father, Papa… I’m scared… If only this were a dream… If only I could wake up and find myself back in the Imperial Palace, how wonderful that would be…”

She remembered the gentle sunlight filtering through the curtains in the mornings, rousing her from sleep.

On occasion, the Emperor would take leisurely walks around the palace and dote on her.

Even on her thirteenth birthday, it had been the same.

The Emperor had told her to choose a gift to celebrate, and without hesitation, she had pointed at a map. The furthest land she could find from the domain of her hostile older siblings.

At the time, she never imagined it would endanger her life. It had been nothing more than a petty, mischievous decision. If she had known it would tighten around her neck like this, she would have settled for a priceless jewel instead—something that could sustain her for a lifetime.

Something like that…

“No… no, no, no…!”

Who would have thought that the land she had chosen would house a mansion like this?

For a moment, she remembered her father’s troubled expression when she requested the land. Perhaps he had known the mansion was haunted. 

While he couldn’t have predicted the true horrors, he might have suspected something was amiss.

If someone mocked her, calling this her just desserts, she thought she might break down entirely.

As she sat there, huddled and crying for what felt like an eternity, a polite knock echoed through the room.

Knock knock.

“Hic…!”

Fear welled up within her.

What if it wasn’t a person, but another human-shaped monster? What if it was trying to lure her out with the sound of a knock, only to kill her again?

As panic surged in her mind, a familiar, low voice called out.

“Asche. It’s me.”

“… Butler?”

“Yes.”

“You’re… you’re not lying, are you?”

She couldn’t trust anything anymore.

She had once heard a ghost story about spirits that mimicked loved ones to lure people to their doom.

Under normal circumstances, she would have laughed it off.

But in this surreal mansion, where she had already experienced death and resurrection, it didn’t seem impossible anymore.

Pressing herself against the door, she tried her best to respond calmly.

“Prove it… Prove you’re really the butler.”

“I am the butler.”

“Then how can you prove it?”

“…”

“…”

Silence stretched between them.

The longer the stillness dragged on, the more Asche felt as though she were suffocating under its weight.

After what felt like an eternity, a voice, trembling with an odd undertone, emerged from beyond the door.

“This is… awkward.”

“You—you really are the butler…!”

Just as she was about to recoil in fear, the voice from outside continued with disarming fluidity.

“The sequence of my assistance during your bath started with washing your hair, followed by your underarms. Then I demonstrated how to scrub your back with a towel and moved downward, toward your—”

“…It’s you…!!!”

Crash!

Without a second thought, Asche flung the door open. Standing before her was indeed the butler, just as she had hoped.

“Butler!”

“Asche.”

“Why did you hesitate? And why did your voice tremble like that…?”

“I had a lot to consider.”

“Consider?”

“Proving that I am me, as you requested, left me with limited options. What’s more, even I felt some hesitation with the method I chose.”

“Ugh…!”

Asche’s face flushed from her jawline to her cheeks, a deep crimson spreading rapidly. At a loss for words, she began to smack the butler’s back repeatedly with her palms.

“If you knew, you should’ve thought of another way!”

But, of course, her strikes met the indifferent barrier of the mansion’s peculiar message:

[Indestructible Object.]

Even venting her frustration was futile. Feeling powerless, Asche took a deep breath to calm herself.

“So, you’re one of this mansion’s residents, after all—‘Indestructible Object.’”

With her emotions settling, she began to see the butler in a different light.

His pitch-black eyes, devoid of passion, resembled those of someone detached from the world. Combined with his foreign features, he exuded an unsettling sense of otherness.

‘Is the butler really on my side?’

Why was he helping her?

The butler had been right there near the monster yet returned unscathed. This meant even that creature couldn’t harm him.

‘He’s either aligned with the monster… or the mansion itself is overtly favoring him…’

It had to be one or the other. Yet, if he were truly aligned with the monster, his purpose was unclear. On the other hand, she couldn’t fully trust that he was truly her ally either.

After all, why had he brought her to this place? If he had intended to harm her, why hadn’t he done so already? On the contrary, hadn’t he helped her adjust to this mansion with utmost sincerity?

“…”

“…”

Silence settled again.

The butler could roughly guess what Asche was agonizing over with her small, troubled expression.

It was only natural. She had just experienced death.

Her cognitive abilities had likely been dulled by panic, and her heightened anxiety only served to fuel her doubts.

The butler’s response to this was simple.

“Rest. For as long as you need.”

He decided to give her time.

Time for her thoughts and resolve to realign properly. Time was something he had in infinite supply, after all.

Just as he turned to leave and began closing the door behind him—

Thunk!

Asche grabbed the doorknob and stopped him.

“… You.”

“Yes, Asche?”

“Stay here.”

“Are you inviting me inside?”

The butler’s question gave her pause. After some hesitation, she spoke again.

“No, stay right there.”

“…”

“Just… leave the door open a little and stay outside.”

Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, a fragile, forlorn look on her face.

It was too hard to completely trust the butler now, but she didn’t distrust him enough to reject his presence entirely.

More than anything else…

“…I’m scared to be alone…”

If she were left by herself, she’d spend the entire night trembling in fear.

Thus, Asche wanted the reassurance of his presence—just close enough for comfort.

“As you wish.”

The butler accepted her request without question. He sat cross-legged beside the slightly ajar door, leaning against the wall.

From within the room, the sound of Asche moving about her bed reached his ears.

As the rustling noises subsided, Asche’s slightly timid voice called out.

“Butler.”

“Yes, Asche.”

“How did you survive?”

“The method you’re already familiar with.”

“That’s impressive… Can’t you give it to me?”

“If it were possible, I’d gladly do so.”

“You’re lying… You’re weaker than me, so that wouldn’t be right.”

Asche found herself experiencing a strange sensation.

Just talking to the butler through the door seemed to ease her anxiety bit by bit.

Then, a pitiful realization dawned on her.

No matter what she did, she would ultimately have to rely on the butler.

In this mansion, she was nothing more than a helpless, ineffectual princess.

“… Butler.”

“Yes?”

“You remember our promise, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“Good… Alright.”

In a voice heavy with drowsiness, Asche reaffirmed the promise they had made between themselves.

“Don’t betray me. Got it, butler?”

“Yes.”

With that, Asche finally surrendered to her exhaustion.

Her steady, rhythmic breathing quietly filled the desolate hallway.

Meanwhile, the butler remained silently stationed outside, steadfast in his vigil.

“As long as I fulfill my duty, for as long as it takes.”

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