-BANG!!
A gunshot.
Still smirking, Prince stiffened and...
… fell down.
Quickly, Maid moved away from him and back into my room.
“What happened?” Someone asked.
But in return, it was deathly quiet.
There, the body of Prince lay limp on the ground as blood flooded the floor.
After a while, I tried to stand up but winced as I was reminded of the pain.
Seeing this, both Princess and Maid rushed to me.
“Oh my God... we need to get you to the infirmary. Can you walk?” Maid asked.
I nodded as I tried to take a step forward. But fell to my knee.
Apparently, my wound was really deep.
Princess tried to support me but when she did, Maid gasped.
“Princess... you too?” She asked worried.
“Ah, well... no... this is only light.” Princess then turned to me. “Compared to his.”
Although still worried, Maid nodded then went on to support me to walk to the infirmary.
Before going out the room though, she suddenly stopped.
The body of Prince.
She didn't stop because of that though. But because of the question...
Where did the gunshot come from?
Even looking from here, one could tell he was shot on the head from the left side.
When Maid went to check, she carefully and slowly peeked out the left.
“...............Eh?” Maid.
“...? What is it?” I asked.
“No, but...” She turned back to us. “It's a wall.”
“What?” Princess asked.
Maid went back to support me and we walked out the room.
Taking a look, to the right side was the rest of the corridor and to the left is... a wall.
Even the window looked perfectly untouched. And for added info, the window can't be opened.
“...”
“...”
“...”
Not really in the mood to speak, we just quietly and slowly went to the infirmary.
When we got there, Maid treated our wounds starting with me. We cleaned up the blood and then Maid did some stuff to the bandage and wrapped it around me.
It was really painful.
I know I'm not that strong, nor do I have a particularly strong build. But even this could make a grown man cry.
...Well, not literally but, you get the point.
After finishing mine, Maid tended to Princess. Although still hesitant, Princess let her treat her.
When we were done, we walked back. I know I should've stayed in one of the beds in the infirmary, but I insisted that I go to my room.
They were really against it but agreed in the end only if they come along and that I won't push myself too hard.
While we were walking towards the lounge, the room in question had it's doors burst open.
Man, many doors are being abused today.
Anyways, the one who came out was red haired person that seemed to be in a rush. Following her was a black haired person.
When she saw us, she straight up bolted towards us.
“Jester! Maid, Princess. Thank God... Where's Prince? There was blood everywhere and we couldn't find you...” Queen said really worried. “What happened?”
Looking at each other, Maid stepped up to answer her.
“Well, Prince sort of attacked us... or them at least.” Maid explained. “And when I came in, he took me as a hostage and then... wait, you said Prince wasn't there?” Maid asked.
“Yeah, why?” Queen asked confused.
“He's supposed to be dead... In the corridor.” She said.
“What? Dead? What happened?”
“He was shot. But we, don't know where it came from. He was just shot and, he fell and... and then we, went to the infirmary...” Maid trailed off.
“I-I see.” Queen said. “Why don't we just start from the top again, okay?”
Maid nodded.
There, Princess and I joined in and explained what happened.
About how Princess was attacked in her room, how she ran out of her room but got cut as a result, then she entered my room and Prince shortly after, about when he attacked, when he held up Maid, and when he was killed.
King and Queen narrowed their eyes when we mentioned the gunshot.
“A... gun?” Queen looked at King.
King put a hand on his chin. “So there's somebody else...”
Both of them thought for a while.
“Now what...” Queen said.
“We continue living.” King declared. “But first, let's investigate the rooms.”
With that, Queen nodded and led the group to our bedrooms.
When we got there, something was different. Just like Queen has said, Prince wasn't there.
But so was the blood.
The red carpet on the floor wasn't as dark as before when the blood soaked it.
Seeing this, we hurried to my room. And just like we feared, it was as if nothing has happened.
No blood, the furniture was neatly placed there, and not a single sign of what happened a while ago.
“What...” Princess.
“This is getting really annoying...” King.
“What do we do now?” I asked.
A moment of silence.
“Um, hey guys? Mind taking a look at this?” Maid said worried.
When we looked back into the corridor, we saw Maid in front of Prince's room.
We came closer to look at what she was looking at.
The nameplate.
It was empty. The silver plate that was bolted onto the door was empty.
It was impossible to remove the bolts because we found no tools in the entire house to do so.
“Tch.” King clicked his tongue. “Someone's playing us.”
“W-well, why don't we get something to eat first? It may be a little early but I think we can talk things over while eating some food.” Queen suggested.
“I guess, we can do that.” Maid. “But what about Jester? He's injured.”
“No, no. It's okay. I can manage.” I said.
With Maid frowning we moved to the dining room. The three girls then went to the kitchen.
“...”
“...”
It was kind of awkward though. With King and I not saying anything.
“Tell me..” I tensed up when King started. “Have you been feeling strange things lately?”
“What?” I asked. Strange things? As in... that? “You too?”
“Answer my question.”
“A-ah, I mean yes. Yes I have..”
“I see.”
After that, silence again.
Good Lord, this is awkward. And the slight pain when I move is not helping either.
After a while more, the girls finally came back with trays.
Maid came and put down a pot of soup. It had a some meat pieces here and there as well as some tiny boiled eggs. It had some greens mixed in as well.
Princess came in with a tray of mugs. The aroma coming from them filled the air.
It was tea.
And finally, Queen came in with five smaller bowls and matching table ware.
“Alright let's start.” King said as everybody seated themselves.
King sat opposite of me and Queen sat beside him.
Maid sat to my right and Princess to my left.
“Someone killed Prince. But we don't know who. Any ideas?”
“Well...”
None of us spoke.
“I see, well let's change the question.” King said. “Is the culprit one of us?”
All of us stiffened and looked at each other.
“-sigh- Look, when Prince was killed, the three of you were inside the room correct?” King asked.
The three of us nodded.
“So it's not you three.”
The three of us looked at Queen.
“And no. It's not Queen.” King added. “She was with me the entire time in the library.”
“O-oh. Sorry..” I said.
“Don't worry about it.” Queen shrugged. “In a situation like this, it's understandable why you would act like this.”
“So,” King said. “Since it's not one of us, there should be another person here. Or maybe more.”
I pondered. Is there another person? Entirely possible. I mean, we don't know what was behind the locked doors anyway. The number of rooms keep changing but the building didn't change.
We even tried looking into the rooms from the windows. Of course on the first floor. But when we did, the curtain blocked our view and the windows felt like they were indestructible.
Which was strange because, when we tried breaking the window of a room that we can enter, it broke as easily as when a normal window would.
What we also found out was that, certain rooms are always together.
On the first floor, the kitchen and the dining room are always together, no matter where they go.
The comfort rooms as well. The only individual rooms are the infirmary and the piano room.
On the second floor, our bedrooms are always in the same order, as well as the other two unlabeled bedrooms. Well, I assume their bedrooms.
The comfort rooms though are always in front of the library, and the big, white double-doors are always in front of the stairs with the two locked rooms beside it.
Sometimes, the corridors would become longer, and more doors would appear. That goes for the first floor as well.
As for the third floor, the room didn't change. But what did change was the number of tables and chairs.
Which was creepy.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that King and Queen found the room hidden in the library and it was the same as any other locked room. I was kind of disappointed.
Well whatever, I sort of forgot about it anyway.
“Well, since we're going nowhere, why don't we just discuss what we found no?” Queen.
“But, we don't have anything else.” Maid.
“Okay then, King.” She turned to him.
“Alright, well, you guys do know that we were at the library most of the time right?” King asked us.
We nodded.
“Yes, well all the books were about kings and queens, kingdoms, politics, those kind of stuff.” King.
“Okay..”
“But there was one book in particular that was different.”
King brought out a small notebook and continued.
“Most of the first dozen pages were ripped off and only half are left.” He flipped through the notebook and showed it to us. “The rest of the pages are blank but the next page where the ripped off pages ended...” He put the notebook down on the table. “A single page... with our 'positions' in it.”
When I looked, he was right. The words “KING”, “QUEEN”, “PRINCE”, “PRINCESS”, “JESTER”, and “MAID” were written in order, from the first line to the sixth.
Beside the names, were colours. Like this:
KING – Black
QUEEN – Brunette
PRINCESS – Blonde
PRINCE – Black
JESTER – White
MAID – Black
If you look at it, it doesn't seem strange. Just some random colours.
“But, what do the colours mean?” I asked.
“If I were to guess,” Queen answered. “It would be our hair colours.”
“Hair colours? What do you mean? These are obviously different.”
Queen shook her head.
“No, they're not. But do they have to be us?” Queen said.
I widen my eyes. “Wait, so you mean there were others like us?”
“I don't know. This is just a guess so don't think of it as a fact.”
“Any other guesses as to what they mean?” King asked.
Again, we weren't able to answer.
“-sigh- This is getting troublesome. Well at least we found something.” King. “Now, the next problem is... about that seventh person.”
We nodded.
“I'm not sure if we should split up anymore. What are your opinions?” King.
“I'm okay with that.” I said.
“But private matters will remain private.” Queen added.
“Yeah. But a big group could be a problem as well though.” King.
“What do you mean?” Maid asked.
“What if someone was held up?” Queen answered. “From your story a while ago, the two of you, Princess and Jester, weren't able to do anything when Prince took Maid hostage correct?”
Princess and I nodded.
“Maid only got out of that alive because of a third party.” Queen pointed out. “So what King is trying to say is that if something like that happens, we need another group to help from behind.”
“I see.” I said.
“So how do we group?” Princess asked.
“We split into two. Queen and I will remain on the same team. You three on the other. Is that alright.”
Not really sure, the three of us just nodded. Queen just sat there but we knew she agreed as well.
“Anything else?” King asked. “No? Then let's dismiss for now.”
After finishing our meeting as well as our food, I went straight for my room.
Maid and Princess accompanied me as well.
For a few days, I focused on recovering. Maid and Princess would take turns helping me.
Princess was becoming more talkative now. Well, at least to me. When Maid would talk to her, she's a bit more quiet. Even more so with King and Queen.
I guess she's feeling a little better with Prince gone.
A few more days passed and I was getting better. There is still some pain but this is miniscule compared to a few days back. With this, Maid suggested something.
“Wanna explore?” She asked innocently.
“What?” Princess intervened. “He's still recovering. Why would you want to explore?”
Seeing this, I tried to calm her down.
“N-no, it's alright. We can explore. I was feeling a little bored anyway.”
Princess looked like she wanted to say something but decided not to.
“...Fine.”
Along with Princess, the three of us explored the mansion once again.
Although Princess was against it at first, she was clearly enjoying it. We traveled the corridors and hallways that made the first floor a maze. We counted the locked rooms and found around 17 this time.
“Hey. We've been exploring the first floor a lot now.” Maid said. “Wanna go outside?”
And with that, the three of us looked for the door going to the garden in particular.
When we found it, we opened the see-through door and entered the garden. Of course, we had our flashlights with us.
“Are you sure we should be going out like this?” Princess asked worried.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
“Don't worry, King and Queen won't mind.” Maid reassured her.
“But what about the seventh person guy?” Princess.
“It's been a few days already and nothing has happened yet. King and Queen became a bit lax too and are still staying in the library.” Maid said. “So you should just relax. Right Jester?”
“Yeah. Worrying too much is bad for your health, I think.” I said.
“...If you say so.” Princess said.
We walked around the wide garden. The flower beds were arranged really nicely and the flowers themselves were of many different colours.
Too bad we couldn't see the entire thing and could only see what our lights can point at.
For a while, I can kind of think of the flower beds making a maze as well. With many branching points and dead-ends. It was kind of fun.
Apparently though, there was a straight line from the door of the mansion towards the entrance of the hedge maze. On either side of the straight path were the flower beds which made up mini-mazes.
Wow. This place would've been really beautiful if it weren't this dark.
When we finished scouring the flower beds, Maid led us to the wall of vines and leaves.
She then led us to the entrance of the hedge maze.
“Wanna enter~?” She said playfully.
“But...” Princess said. “This place...”
I could understand Princess's concerns because this place was the only place we didn't explore to the full.
…Huh. I wonder why? This place might have a clue or something inside.
“Why don't we go? Even just for a little.” I said.
“Uuuh but...” Princess.
Thinking of something, I gave a suggestion.
“Why don't we map it? Maybe the maze doesn't change like inside the mansion.”
“But what if it does?”
“Then I'll tell King and Queen. 'Cause if it does, then this place might have a clue to getting us out of here. If not then maybe a way to regain our memories.” I said.
Very hesitant, she agreed.
We went back inside and got some paper and a pen from the infirmary. We then got back to the garden and entered the hedge maze. We walked slowly so that Maid can map the place.
Her map wasn't really impressive but at least it was understandable. She just mad a single line according to where we were walking. And when there was a turn, she would make another line to branch off into the other direction.
After a while, we decided to go back.
The map we made wasn't so big but, it wasn't small either. But I doubt it was even close to the actual size of the maze. I can say this because, when we went out the front door and circled around, the area the maze occupied was large. But at the same time smaller than large as well.
If you know what I mean.
Once we were back, we reported to Queen.
“Maze? Ohh. I forgot about that... Good job, as a reward I'll make something extra good for dinner.”
Queen said. “Oh and, King and I will be staying here in the library a while. So guys can keep exploring that place. But if it seems that it does change it's layout, King and I will help.
Is what she said.
That night we had a big roasted chicken with a bowl of rice.
I never ate rice before and well, I think I didn't but, when I tried it out it was actually really good.
It didn't have any particular taste but added with the chicken, it was very filling.
The next day, we found that the maze doesn't change.
Thank God.
So that day and the following days, we continued mapping the area.
And when we got to a certain point, I kind of understood why it was big in the first place.
When we made a fateful turn, we found a really big area. It was a square-ish area. And in that area was a large tree.
In the center was a strong and sturdy tree that had a huge umbrella of leaves.
Among those leaves bloomed flowers of many colours.
It was a tree unlike any I've seen before. A tree that didn't looked like it wasn't supposed to exist.
The colours made it look like a friendlier and brighter version of fireworks.
I say fireworks because with the colours that denied the darkness, it looked like a scene to truly behold.
At the foot of the tree were three wooden benches that surrounded it.
Along the sides of the walls, were flower beds containing flowers of assorted colours.
And on each of the walls of the area were other pathways.
We took note of the one we came from and investigated.
Maid even climbed the tree which made me worried.
When she came back down, she said she could see the mansion.
We continued our exploring and during the following few days, the two girls were becoming friendlier and friendlier. But there would be times where the two would not agree with eachother.
And on most of those times, I really couldn't understand why.
On one occasion, Maid just led me by the hand and Princess didn't really like it.
Maid even made me some dessert one night, so the next day Princess did so too.
Of course, there were times they get along too.
When we went to the library with King and Queen one day, Maid and Princess were somewhere in the room reading a strange novel. When I took a look a it, it was just a book about how a gladiator came to be the fiance' of a certain princess. It was good. The story just made you feel like they would focus on the romance genre more.
I think I understood why they like that novel very much. Where the gladiator had some good friends and where he met another princess that was kind of his cousin. The girls seem to really like the girl with white hair. She was a character that knew the gladiator for around 2 years and sort of helped him out around when he was still in the arena.
When they reached the thrid volume and finished one third of the book, they complained how it abruptly ended. The rest of the pages were blank and there seems to be around 10 or 11 volumes left.
And those were empty too.
And after complaining, they argued about who the gladiator would end up with.
Princess went for the princess the gladiator was supposed to marry. And as for Maid, she chose the girl with white hair.
For me personally, I would side with the white haired girl.
But enough about that.
After the time Maid me dessert, the two of them continued doing so. And made it like a competition where they would ask me what I think of it. As if I were the judge.
So I gave them what they wanted.
When Princess brought what looked like leche flan, I said that it was too sweet and needs to be a bit softer to become better. Princess took a blow and Maid smirked.
Next, Maid brought in some chocolate covered vanilla icecream. This time, it needed a bit more sweetness and it was too soft. Not the good kind of soft. Maid took the blow tis time and Princess recovered because of it.
They continued and continued but not to the point where it's too much.
They know where to stop.
But after some time, Queen teasingly made a comment she whispered to King.
“Ah, I remember when I did that to you~...” Queen said. Then paused.
“Hm?” King turned to Queen. “Queen?”
“Wait... I, remember? Guh...” She held her temple.
King furrowed his eyebrows. “...You alright?”
“Y-yeah.” Queen massaged her head. “My head hurts very much but... I remember something.”
“You sure you're alright though?” King asked.
“Yes, I'm sure.” Queen then chuckled. “Thanks for worrying about me dear~”
“Right... so? What did you remember?” King asked.
“Well, I remember buying you icecream?”
“............is that it?”
“Yeah.” She stuck her tongue out cutely. “Sorry.”
“No. It's alright. You did enough.”
Although the three of us were worried, we just remained silent.
The following days continued and Maid and Princess continued making desserts until one point they started working together. We even finished mapping the maze which we needed to get another paper for the other half.
It seems that the only place worth taking note of is the area with the tree.
We reported everything to Queen and they went to investigate themselves.
When they finished, they shook their heads and said they found nothing.
Although disappointed, Maid, Princess, and I continued exploring anyway.
“Hey, we already explored this area. Can't we just rest for a while?” Princess said, as she lightly kicked a pebble.
“Hm? Well if you don't want too come you don't have to you know? Maid.
Princess frowned. “But...”
“If it's about the 'seventh person', you don't need to worry. Nothing happened for a really long time now.”
“............Nevermind.” Princess walked off.
Seeing this, I turned to Maid.
“Hey, um... don't you think that was a bit much?”
“What was?” Maid said. “Well anyways, can you... come with me for a moment?”
“Hm?”
Although I was worried about Princess, I followed Maid.
Bringing me to the area with the big tree she turned around and faced me.
“Um...” Maid shakily said. “I've been... well, you know? Ehehe...”
“What?”
“Well. It's just, kind of............nevermind...haha...”
“What? I asked again.
“I-It's, it's nothing! Haha. Well, why don't we go back? You're worried about Princess right? Why don't we go check on her...”
She was acting strange but we went back anyways.
When we got back with Princess, we walked back to the lounge.
While walking, Princess hesitantly asked me something.
“Say... did, something happen? When you went with Maid?”
“What? Well, no actually. Why?”
“Nothing.”
I sighed. Now here's another mystery I can't understand.
We spent the rest of the day playing the chessboard Prince supposedly found.
When I played with King, he was terrifyingly good. He was so good that Queen even banned him from playing. Which King didn't really mind and just shrugged it off.
At the end of the day, we ate went back to our rooms.
When I was finally in bed, I thought about today.
What I mostly thought of is that King is very scary when it comes to chess and how I could possibly beat him. I thought about other things but it's mostly that.
After a while, a knock came from my door.
“Who?” I asked to no one in particular as I got up from bed and walked to my door.
When I opened it, a girl with black hair and I wearing a maid uniform was in front of me.
“Maid?”
“Ahaha... hello.”
“Something the matter?”
“Well, no... I mean yes. Yes there is...”
“What is it?”
“It's, well... just, come with me.”
She grabbed my hand and led me to the first floor. We then went to the garden and into the hedge maze. Navigating through, we then entered the tree area.
“Phew...” Maid then let go of my hand and sat on one of the benches. “This time...”
“Um, Maid?”
“Come, sit down.” She said as she patted the seat beside her.
Confused, I sat down.
“Does this have something to do with a while ago?”
“Well... sort of, yeah.”
With her words trailing, her hand slowly found it's way to mine.
“Maid?”
Leaning closer, Maid then looked me in the eyes.
“I don't know why but...” Maid said. “But I have this feeling I wasn't sure of...” She looked away. “And well, a while ago, when I brought you here... I was just making sure. And when I did, “She looked me in the eyes again. “I was cleared of my suspicions. But back then, I was kind of not ready and...”
She closed her eyes.
Then kissed me.
“...!”
She locked her tongue with mine, and after the few seconds that felt like more than it was supposed to, she slowly seperated.
“................What?” I asked not really expecting the correct answer.
“I told you right?” She smiled. “...That I'm an adventurous woman~”
Maid chuckled.
“Hey Jester I-”
“YOU BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTCCCHHH!!!”
A shout assaulted us.
-Bang!
Then a gunshot.
Surprised, we looked towards the where it came from.
There, Princess stood while shakily weilding a small gun.
“Princess?” I asked shocked. “That gun...”
-Bang!
She shot again but missed.
“Princess!” I shouted. “What are you doing?!”
-Bang!
“Kyaaaah!”
“Maid! Princess stop this!” I said as I ran towards her.
Surprised, she unsteadily pointed the gun.
At Maid.
Jumping, I grabbed the gun in her hand and wrestled for it just like when I did with Prince.
“No! Let go!” Princess struggled as she tried to shake me off of the gun.
-Bang!
A gunshot was fired.
And it shot me.
Gasping, Princess quickly let go of the gun.
Luckily, I wasn't shot in the vitals. Taking this chance, I grabbed the gun.
Seeing this, Princess hurriedly tried to take the gun from me.
-Bang!
But I shot her.
...
“...Eh?”
Falling limp on the ground, Princess's blood began to flood the ground.
“Haa.. haa...” Breathing heavily, I dropped the gun.
And realized what I just did.
“I... shot her?” ….......................................................................What have I done?
“Jester! ...Jester-?”
Slowly, my vision darkened and I felt myself becoming heavier. And then, I fainted.
“Jester!! JESTER!!” Maid ran to me.
Closing my eyes, that was the last thing I heard until I lost consciousness.