… Why was this happening? I just wanted to take a quick look at the Forbidden Forest.
"Kung! Kung! Kung!"
As I climbed up the fence, a fierce cry resonated throughout the forest, and it seemed to be directed only at me. This was too much for me.
My opponent was a huge dog.
Just from seeing it shredding and swallowing an entire encyclopedia, I could already tell the strength of its teeth. Carefully lowering my gaze, I gulped nervously as I saw its claws that were as sharp as knives. It looked as if it would have no problem tearing into my flesh, which would obviously happen sooner or later.
"… At times like this, I wish this could be just a dream."
And I was talking about it all. I hoped that the large dog that I saw now was all because I was hallucinating from some sort of brain damage. How nice would it be if all of this could disappear once I closed my eyes, but I knew that's impossible. Damn it, how did my life turn out like this?
I missed the world I lived in before I reincarnated. When I opened my eyes, all I had to do was to get out of bed, wash my face, and then get ready for work at a boring company.
"Damn it."
But before I could even cross the river to the afterlife, I was dragged back to the banks of the living. This wasn't a dream. All I got was sharp pain whenever I pinched my cheeks.
I could even die.
There wasn't even time for me to panic. If I did, I would just die. But how could I run away? I couldn't think of any way to do so. Why was there never anything good about reincarnating? And why are such evil things always associated with it? My very religious friend once said that reincarnation was a gift from God, but I don't think that's true. If it was a gift from God, what kind of gift is this?
Once I sighed from frustration, the huge dog stood up.
"Roar!"
Surprised, I raised my legs, afraid that they might get crushed. The dog that looked drugged galloped over and began to claw at the fence. As a result, the walls of the fence were chipping. Ugh. Like a cicada, I stuck myself onto the fence.
"G-go away! I said, go away!"
"Keung! Kung! Kung! Kung! Kung!"
With the dog's continuous headbutts, the fence was shaking dangerously.
"Damn it! What the hell did they feed this dog to make it this huge!"
It was probably that asshole. A Maltese, yeah, right. There was no way. This dog, which was on a rampage, was far from being cute or lovely.
This dog, with its threatening size, was a monster, carefully chosen to protect this place. It was posted at the entrance of the forest. It was merciless to intruders and was fierce enough to be nicknamed the 'Warden of the Forbidden Forest.'
So, rather than being an actual dog, it was more like a monster with the characteristics of a dog. But the mere sight of it gave me goosebumps. If I were to just judge based on its appearance, the 'Merciless Butcher' would have suited it more.
"Grrr."
As soon as I felt the fence beginning to tilt, my whole body hardened. This was dangerous. I think it was going to reach me soon. Even the foundation of the fence began shaking, making me feel more and more distressed. I could already see its molars inside its mouth that were barking at me.
'I-I have to run away.'
Instinctively, I looked around for help, but there were no signs of other life. Here, the grass was the only thing moving. Where can I even run to? I thought screaming could help, but while I was running away, I was also screaming. If someone could come help, they would've been here ages ago.
My hands couldn't stop shaking. I turned my head to look at the other side and saw the ground. I could see the forest not far from here. Why don't I just jump down?
'No. I shouldn't.'
No matter how I looked at it, the distance was still too far. If I jumped, a broken leg would be the least of my worries.
"Then what do I do!"
I still have no idea what the Crown Prince looked like and why there was nobody here guarding the palace against these monsters that were roaming about when the palace was so close from here. The palace was just around the corner! The Forbidden Forest is right behind it!
This dog wasn't posted by the palace, and it was just protecting the Forbidden Forest. And the palace which was where I lived but the people there have just left me here like some abandoned doll!
I hadn't the faintest idea on how to get out of this difficult yet inexplainable problem.
'Oh, God.'
This reminded me of that time when the supermarket sale was coming up, but I didn't have time to prepare for it.
To escape, I needed to go over the fence, but it felt as if I was standing on the edge of a cliff. Below me was the abandoned forest, which was famous for its terrifying energy. No matter how reckless I was, I didn't want to break my legs.
"Well… It looks like I have no choice."
The fence continued to shake violently.
"Kung! Kung! Kung! Kung! Kung!"
If I didn't want to become the doll that was bitten by a crazy dog and torn into shreds, I only have but one answer. I would have to jump into the Forbidden Forest.
I got into position.
"Oh-Oh!"
I felt as if I was floating whilst goosebumps spread across my entire body. Oh no. I think I'm falling. Was it because of the dog's headbutts?
In a flash, the sky, the tall grass, and the black dog all tilted. I closed my eyes shut. My back and thighs both hurt. The sound of crunching grass was all I could hear.
'Though it'd be better if I lived, I didn't want to die like this.'
As the weight of my fall hit me, I could only think of 'death' as if it had been coarsely engraved in my mind.
Reminding me that this was not a dream—that this time I was 'really' dying.
I could only let out a shrill scream. If I had known this would happen, I would have used kinder words with my nanny. Soon, her last memory of me would be our quarrel, and it would've inflicted an unhealable scar on her. That would've been too mean of me.
Please. Even if I were to wake up in a different time.
"Keheup."
Something warm fell on my face. I wanted to open my eyes to see what it was. But I was afraid it would be something bad, so I resisted to urge to open them.
"See. I told you she'd be here."
"You're right."
When I opened my eyes, I saw a figure blocking the dog. I could only blink innocently.
"Because our lady will only be in places she shouldn't be in."
When I blinked once more, the dog slowly collapsed. I swiped my hand across my face slowly and looked at my hand. I saw blood but not that of a human. I looked up at the dog and stared at it in a daze. As I stared its direction, the scene I saw was looked more gruesome than any gore movie I've seen.
"… Don't look. There's nothing good to see."
As the man who had easily taken care of that huge dog frowned slightly, I finally noticed the faces of the pair that saved me.
"My Prince. I believe we should cover Miss Ashley's eyes."
"Got it."
Then, my vision went dark. A gentle touch covered my eyes that were looking at the dog's wriggling corpse. The owner of the hands covering my eyes was a familiar face.
"We've been looking for you for a while, Miss Ashley."
"Dane."
"Yup. It's me."
The man who just spoke in that sweet whispery voice was Dane. He was my second brother.
Dane led me slowly. Distracted by his sweet and warm presence that I refused to look at the gory scene beside me. After calming down my trembling body, I looked back at the scene.
"Ah…"
Sir Ray, a knight, looked at the scene languidly before looking my way and winking.
"It's because you were here. That's why it took so long to find you."
He tapped his sword against the ground a few times.
"Are you calm now?"
After saying that, he looked me up and down as if he knew something like this would've happened to me.
"… I thought I was going to die."
"If we were only 10 seconds late, you would've already crossed the Styx."
His groomed face may have still looked calm and in peace, but I could subtly see the irritation in his eyes. Lord Ray then burst into complaints.
"The Forbidden Forest, where many have gone missing in, is not a very good place to be. We cannot stay here much longer."
"Ray."
"I never said anything wrong, my Prince."
Whilst the two continued bickerings, I clasped my cramping hands together before releasing them with a sigh. I really thought that my life would've have ended today, but I guess I managed to survive and held on.
Then after looking at me once more, he looked as if he had changed his mind, but Ray just stuck out his tongue at me.
"Where the heck did you scurry off to my lady? You were so hard to find, and this wasn't the first time. Do you know how hard my Prince and I have been looking for you?"