The chamber was silent, save for the faint ticking of the brass needle.
Jiwon stood in the dim glow of a single candle, her fingers trembling ever so slightly as they hovered over the magical tracker. She had poured hours into this prototype—maybe days. Time had lost meaning somewhere between the rune-etching and soul-threading.
Now, the tracker was complete.
The runic circle embedded in its copper casing pulsed with life, a gentle blue glow dancing within the sigil stones. It wasn't just enchanted—it was tuned. Forged to detect ancient curse signatures. Meant to uncover what was hidden in the shadows of this manor.
She whispered the activation word under her breath.
The stones flared with faint light.
The needle in the center began to turn.
Once… twice…
Then it snapped hard, pointing east.
Toward the main wing.
Her breath caught.
"The Duke's office?" she murmured, puzzled.
Then everything changed.
The tracker began to tremble violently in her grip, a shrill hum rising from its core. The hum deepened—low and guttural—like the growl of something waking after centuries of slumber.
The air in the room shifted. Grew cold. Heavy.
Then the cursed energy came.
Thick. Ancient. Wrong.
Jiwon stepped back, eyes wide as she tried to sever the connection. The tracker glowed—first crimson, then a violent, scorching red.
It twisted in her hands like it wanted to escape. Like it was alive.
BOOM!
The explosion came in a rush of heat and light, flinging her backward.
She hit the wall hard, the impact knocking the air from her lungs. Smoke billowed across the chamber. The tracker lay in a scorched heap, crackling, twitching on the floor like a wounded beast.
"What the hell—?" she gasped, chest heaving.
She didn't know what disturbed her more—its reaction to the Duke's office… or the way the cursed energy recognized her.
---
Moments later...
The heavy oak doors to the Duke's office flew open.
Jiwon stormed in, her gown smudged with soot, fingers clutching the broken remains of the tracker.
Jiwon: "It reacted to your office. Violently. There's something cursed buried there—and it's ancient."
Duke Drake Haint looked up slowly from his desk. His silver eyes narrowed as he examined her soot-covered hands, then the scorched object she dropped onto his papers.
Drake: "You're saying it found something?"
Jiwon: "Something powerful. And dangerous. Is it you?"
Silence stretched between them like a drawn blade.
Drake: (quietly) "Yes... It's me. I was born with this curse. It clings to my soul like a second skin. I wear a divine necklace to seal it, but when I take it off…"
He looked away.
Drake: "People go mad. You saw what happened to the former Lord and Lady of Lorine. The moment I removed the seal, they fell into delirium—whispering madness, clinging to me, begging."
He hesitated, his voice low.
Drake: "You're the only one who's never reacted to it. Even when I released it at full strength."
Jiwon: (coldly) "That's because it's not from birth."
Drake's eyes snapped to hers.
Jiwon: "That curse was cast on you. And whoever did it… meant for you to become a monster."
---
Up above, someone watched.
A shadow moved on the upper floor—a silent maid frozen in place? Or a darker figure hidden behind the pillars?
Jiwon felt it. A gaze on the back of her neck.
She turned sharply—
Nothing.
---
That night, the feeling returned.
Walking alone through the corridors, candle in hand, her footsteps echoed against the marble floor. But there were others. Whispers. Breaths.
Shadows shifted at the corners of her vision.
She turned.
Nothing again.
She wasn't imagining it.
---
A few days later...
In the western wing of the estate, Jiwon wandered the grand library in search of distraction—or perhaps answers. Her hand brushed against a misaligned shelf.
Click.
A hidden door creaked open, revealing a narrow stairwell.
Dust swirled in the air as she descended.
At the bottom was a secret room—sealed from time.
The walls were lined with books bound in cracked leather and stitched runes. Some blinked as she passed. One hissed. Another opened its pages and began muttering in a language older than kingdoms.
Jiwon: "These are... the forbidden books."
Some were alive.
And all of them were dangerous.
She backed away, her fingers trembling.
Who had hidden this place?
And more importantly—who still used it?
---
That night, she slipped into Drake's office again, unseen.
Drake: (without looking up) "You're getting better at sneaking around."
Jiwon: "We're being watched. Constantly. And I believe some of the spies are from the palace. The king doesn't trust you."
Drake: "He never has. But I can't confront them without proof."
Jiwon: "Then let me show you. Gather everyone tomorrow—every knight, every servant. In the main hall. I'll handle the rest."
---
The next morning.
The hall was packed. Knights stood in formation, maids and guards in silent rows. Confusion hung in the air.
Drake stood like a statue, watching them all.
Jiwon entered with a velvet pouch in hand.
Jiwon: "Each of you, take one stone."
Inside: soft-blue enchanted stones, warm to the touch.
Each person held one, unsure.
Jiwon: "Now repeat after me—
'I am a loyal servant of Duke Drake Haint. I will obey every order.'"
They spoke.
The stones pulsed.
And silence followed.
Eyes glazed over. Breathing slowed.
Drake: (alarmed) "What did you do to them?"
Jiwon: (calmly) "Hypnotic runes. Activated by the phrase. They're in a trance now—truth-bound."
Drake: "...Interrogate them."
One by one, secrets spilled.
Lies shattered.
Almost half were spies—loyal not to the Duke, but to the palace, to rival families, to hidden agendas.
Drake: (coldly) "Have them executed. Quietly. Let no one know what we uncovered."
By sundown, only the loyal remained.
---
That evening, a rider from the palace arrived bearing a scroll sealed in red wax.
The crest was unmistakable—the King's Court.
An invitation.
> A debutant ball is to be held at the royal palace.
To Duke Drake Haint of the Order of Dark and his intended, Lady Jiwon—
You are cordially invited to the royal palace for the upcoming debutante ball.
She stared at the parchment, then at the flames in the hearth.
A throne of cinders, waiting to ignite.
And she… was walking straight into the fire.
To Be Continued...