Where is this…?
Eve walked barefoot through a peculiar space, an endless blackness stretched before her eyes.
She tried to look up or turn around, but found she had no control over her body whatsoever.
She could only watch helplessly as her body moved forward on its own.
After walking an endless stretch of road, a door suddenly appeared not far ahead.
The door looked like a mirage, flickering faintly in Eve’s vision, barely there.
But as Eve approached, the door’s ethereal quality gradually vanished, solidifying bit by bit, as if a virtual object was becoming real.
The door’s appearance fully revealed itself before Eve’s eyes.
It was a door covered in strange swirling patterns and odd symbols, countless eyes tightly shut all over its surface.
And just as Eve clearly saw the door, those always-closed eyes suddenly snapped open, all staring directly at her.
The dense eyes and their unblinking gaze caused Eve’s body to shudder slightly, an intense wave of discomfort surging deep within her.
Yet her body still moved forward; she still could not control it.
Eve reached the door as if fulfilling some purpose, and suddenly she felt control over her body return.
She could move freely again.
Driven by either intuition or curiosity, Eve chose to investigate the strange door.
But she didn’t reach out to touch it directly; instead, she tried to walk around it to see what lay behind.
However, Eve quickly realized this idea was impossible.
Because although the area beside the door appeared to be darkness she could pass through,
in reality, an invisible wall within that boundless blackness blocked her progress.
Eve reached out to feel the invisible barrier and slowly moved from the door’s left side to its right.
But the result was the same—she could not advance.
Clearly, going around the door was not an option.
Standing before the door, despite the nauseating feeling caused by the constantly spinning eyeballs,
Eve bravely placed her hand on the door.
She tried pushing it, but it didn’t budge. She could clearly feel the eyes rotating beneath her palm,
along with a strange sticky texture.
Eve withdrew her hand, intending to further probe the door.
But before she could do anything else, the world before her suddenly began to shatter piece by piece.
Eve watched as the bizarre door fragmented and vanished from view.
Immediately after, the dark space collapsed step by step, turning into white dust and disappearing.
Back in reality, Eve frowned slightly and slowly opened her tightly shut eyes, soft light appearing before her.
Squinting, she instinctively shielded her eyes with her hand.
Though the light was gentle, it still made Eve uncomfortable.
She stared at the ceiling, lost in thought.
Though awake, her mind remained on the strange door with its bizarre patterns and those countless eyes staring back.
Eve felt she had seen this strange pattern somewhere before.
But where exactly…
She furrowed her brows, thinking hard.
Dream… whirlpool… eyes…
Suddenly, Eve’s eyes widened slightly as she remembered.
The last time she fainted, she dreamt of that same strange pattern.
The twisted swirl, the countless eyes, the eerie symbols.
Yes, Eve had dreamed of that pattern before.
At first, she thought it was just a feverish hallucination, a nightmare born of high temperature.
But Eve had never taken it seriously, thinking it was just an insignificant bad dream.
Though she always remembered the pattern clearly, unlike other nightmares she quickly forgot.
But a dream was still just a dream.
However, today she had dreamt of it again.
And this time the dream was clearer than ever before, which felt very wrong.
This was clearly not a simple nightmare—it must be connected to something else.
Thinking this, Eve’s desire to investigate faded slowly.
Even if she wanted to dig deeper, it seemed useless.
Because she had no freedom to move about.
For now, lying here probably meant that Flossi was worried she had died and had moved her out of that Black Room.
Her illness seemed much improved now, but she was likely to be locked away again.
Honestly, Eve had a visceral aversion to that room—the excruciating pain from being hung, the fever burning so hot it felt like her brain was about to melt.
It was unbearable.
Even if Eve wanted to fight Flossi to the end, she didn’t want to experience that terrifying sensation ever again.
Eve sighed; it seemed she had no choice.
Slowly, she used her hands to push herself up and sat on the bed.
At that moment, Eve saw someone familiar enter carrying a basin of water—dressed in a maid’s uniform.
It was Lia.
Seeing Eve awake, Lia paused briefly before offering a gentle smile.
“Eve, you’re awake.”
Eve’s lips trembled; she wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words.
She had many things to ask Lia—whether Flossi had been harsh with her, or to apologize to Lia.
But she didn’t say a word.
Because Eve knew she couldn’t do that.
Because she knew she could no longer have anything to do with Lia.
If she continued to be close to Lia,
then the next time Flossi’s suspicion and punishment came, it wouldn’t be simple for Eve alone.
She couldn’t drag Lia down with her anymore.
Even if it meant using the most extreme measures, she had to sever ties with Lia.
Eve gritted her teeth, ignoring Lia’s question, her expression cold as she simply murmured, “Mm.”
Lia was clearly taken aback by Eve’s brief, completely different response.
“Eve, what’s wrong? Are you still feeling unwell?”
Lia sat beside Eve’s bed, wringing out the towel from the basin, then asked with concern.
“No,” Eve said coldly, not even looking at Lia.
There was impatience in her tone.
Though confused, Lia nodded and prepared to wipe Eve’s cheek.
But just as the dry towel was about to touch Eve’s face, a sharp sound rang out in the quiet room.
Eve forcefully slapped Lia’s hand away.
“Can you stay away from me?”
“Stop pretending all the time, acting like you care about me, okay?”
“The way you pretend to care about me is truly disgusting.”
Eve said with revulsion, her eyes devoid of any past emotion—only unfiltered disdain.
Lia was clearly stunned, helpless at Eve’s outburst.
“Can’t you understand? I hate your kind—the Blood Clan—the most. When I was a bit close to you before, how could you take it seriously?”
“I was just using you, only trying to get information from you, don’t you get it?”
“Now you’re useless to me, and I finally don’t have to endure your disgusting face anymore.”
“Get as far away from me as you can!”
Eve’s voice started at a normal volume but grew louder and more violent as she pushed Lia’s hand away.
She knocked over the basin.
The warm water soaked Lia’s maid uniform, and the basin smashed onto Lia’s forehead.
Lia froze on the spot, motionless for a long time.
“Didn’t I tell you to get lost? Can’t you understand?”
Eve shouted furiously, suddenly pushing Lia—who sat by her bed—down to the floor.
Only then did Lia seem to snap out of a nightmare.
After a long moment, Lia lowered her head and slowly said to Eve, “I’m sorry.”
She cleaned up the spilled water briefly, picked up the basin that Eve had knocked over and which had hit her, then slowly walked toward the door.
Before leaving, Lia said to Eve, “The Princess has asked you to see her once you wake up.”
After saying this, Lia looked at Eve, as if wanting to say more.
But after Eve threw a pillow at her angrily and cursed again, Lia left.
Eve remained lying on the bed in the same posture after throwing the pillow, motionless for a long time.
Her nose stung, tears filling her eyes, but she fought hard to hold them back, pursing her lips.
Only after Lia’s footsteps completely faded away did Eve begin frantically wiping the tears streaming down her cheeks.
But no matter how much she wiped, the tears kept coming.
Eve wrapped herself in the blanket, burying her head inside, letting out the sobs she could no longer hold back, releasing her breakdown.
“Lia… I’m sorry.”