Chapter 3 Be Our Guest (Part I)

When I opened my eyes, I seemed to be back in a dark room. The only difference between this one and the first room I woke up in is that this room is much tidier. That pervert guy doesn't seem to care much about anything in the world. Let alone his own personal space. Although, this room has a lot of mirrors placed on one side of it.

Could it be that the owner of this room is much more of a pervert than the last one?

A glimmer of light softly hovered my eyes, and as I searched where it came from, I noticed a small opening of the window. The curtains are neatly tied on the sides, so I can clearly see the outside from how big the windows are. I slowly sat up to peek more, warily checking the door in case someone comes in. That's when I felt a soft lace-like fabric that touched my skin.

My eyes widened as I stood up to look at myself in the mirror. My clothes have changed!

Earlier I was wearing the same outfit that I've worn to the trip, but now I'm wearing a laced long-sleeve white dress that reaches up to my knees. It has ruffles on the front which made me look as if I'm in the old decades.

Who changed my clothes?! Did they do it while I was asleep?

The thought of someone changing my clothes while I was unconscious made my face turn bright red... from embarrassment and anger. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. This house is full of perverts, I see.

But enough of that. The important thing right now is finding a way to escape this place. I turned towards the window again and peeked outside. A huge field met my eyes, followed by a forest and the setting sun from afar.

"We're on top of a hill..." I concluded based on what I'm seeing. The view is breathtaking, but so is the height of this room. There are no knights guarding down below, but it would still be hard for me to get down without getting injured.

"Or dying."

I gasped when someone grabbed me from behind. He immediately blocked the window from my view as he sat on the windowsill. It's one of the guys in the dining hall earlier. He sat like some royalty and looked at me as if I'm someone beneath his level.

"You wouldn't want to get hurt while trying to escape? Then why risk it?" He said with a cunning smirk. Why is he telling me the exact same doubts I had earlier? It's as if he'd been observing me the whole time.

This time, he chuckled amusedly which caused me to look at him in confusion. "What's so funny?"

He leaned in, almost to the point that I could hear his breathing, and introduced himself, "The name's Balthazar. I can hear your thoughts, lady."

He... what?

"Is this a joke? If you think I'm going to fall for any of your lies, then you're wrong-"

"Do you still think this is just a prank?"

He stood up, put both his hands in his pockets, and looked down on me. He tilted his head, "That we're all just perverts here trying to sell your organs or your body for Heaven's know where?"

That... I'm sure I've said something like that, but how did he know?

I could feel a lump in my throat from being intimidated by him. How could everything he says be the exact same thing that's been on my mind?

"We could if we want to, you know..." Balthazar placed a hand on my shoulder and pushed me to the ground. A sharp pain rushed through my spine as my buttocks pummeled to the hard concrete floor.

Fuck! The impact hurt so much that I'm tearing up.

He stepped towards me and crouched down to make me look up at him, "but I won't stoop for something that low. I don't need money from your dead body when I already have a kingdom to rule."

Balthazar harshly let go of his grip on my face and stood up, "Instead of being afraid of what might happen to you, I think you should show gratefulness that you're still alive."

My head remained low as I'm trying to absorb everything that he said.

"Enough of this talk, your savior is here." As he said that, the door swung open. I looked at the person behind it and saw a familiar guy. He's the one who told me he saved me earlier-

"Raven." I looked at Balthazar when I heard his voice, "Can you get rid of this garbage in my room?"

I frowned at his insult and at the same time, Balthazar and I looked at each other in irritation.

"Here, let me help you up."

Raven, as Balthazar called him, offered his hand to me. I looked at it for a while before hesitantly grabbing it. I've got no choice since my hips still hurt from falling on the floor.

"Why were you on the floor?" He asked and looked at Balthazar for a moment before looking back at me. I glimpsed at Balthazar's direction, and he just raised a brow at me. I hate his guts.

I shook my head, "I just tripped."

"Oh... are you still feeling unwell?" Raven asked again, concern written on his face.

"N-no... at least not that much." No thanks to a certain someone who pushed me to the floor.

I heard Balthazar scoff from the side. Oh right... he could hear my thoughts.

Jerk.

"You–"

"Should we get going? Alastor and the others are waiting for us in the conference hall," Raven cut him off before he could even quarrel with me.

I nodded in agreement. I'm still unsure of how I can trust them, but it seems that I should know more about what's happening first before I make a plan.