“If you go that way, you’ll find a bar called ‘Sun-rising Forest’. Once there… Please give them your identity and request their assistance.”

“……!”

“Quickly… Cough!”

Yelena forced her frozen body to stand up.

She then ran without looking back.

She kept on staggering and tumbling down every few steps because of her weakening legs, but Yelena gritted her teeth so she wouldn’t let out a scream or groan.

‘West.’

It wasn’t that hard to grasp the direction since there were a few signposts here and there on the way.

The rough signposts looked like they were placed in their spots in a hurry recently rather than them being there from the beginning.

Yelena kept on moving according to the signposts.

As she ran and ran, when her breath started to run out and her lungs felt painful as if they were being squeezed, she switched from running to walking.

She couldn’t stand still.

Not even for a moment.

Because there was a high chance that something might happen to her as well.

‘Urgh…’

Yelena used her sleeve to gag her mouth.

Coming all the way here, she had seen people getting devoured and attacked by monsters two more times.

She had also seen a person’s lower body rolling on one side of the road after being eaten by the monster.

Yelena felt nauseous again when she remembered that, but she bit on her tongue to stop herself from throwing up.

She remembered that the monsters that devour people had advanced smelling.

She was scared she might let out a disgusting smell and made them come out.

“Hu……”

Yelena also suppressed her tears that were threatening to burst out.

She was also scared of the monsters that reacted to sounds.

Yelena kept on walking without rest.

When her lips and throat were getting parched and her legs and feet were starting to feel numb, she finally saw the bar that the maid told her of.

[ Sun-rising Forest ]

When Yelena confirmed the sign, she ran to the door.

“Excuse me! Hello! Please help me! There— There’s a person here!”

As she pounded on the door to the point her fists hurt, she remembered the maid telling her to give them her identity.

When Yelena opened her mouth to say her name, she suddenly heard a voice from inside the door.

“Who may you be?”

“Yelena—Yelena Sorte. Count Sorte’s eldest daughter.”

Yelena said urgently without taking a breath.

“Yelena Sorte?”

The voice behind the door sounded doubtful for a moment, but then his tone changed as if he finally understood.

“Ah, so you’re Madam Millisto. Please come in.”

Yelena wanted to ask who the heck Madam Millisto was, but that wasn’t important now that the door had opened.

Yelena immediately jumped in the moment the door opened.

Clack, she closed the door.

As Yelena sank down to the floor with her back against the closed door, the person assumed to be the owner of the voice earlier said,

“Are you okay?”

Yelena observed the interior of the bar.

‘One man?’

The interior was narrow and the only person around seemed to be just the man speaking to Yelena.

When Yelena started to feel a bit alert, she heard another voice from inside the bar.

“Would you like a cup of water?”

It was a faint and high-pitched voice.

Yelena’s expression relaxed evidently.

“It would be better to get a warm cup of water instead of just water, Honey.”

“Alright.”

It seemed like the two were a married couple.

Yelena felt completely at ease.

A moment later, Yelena moved to one side of the bar and moistened her throat with the water the woman gave her.

As she felt the warm water pouring in, she stopped trembling.

Yelena found out then that she had been trembling all this time.

“Have you calmed down a bit?”

“…Thank you.”

Yelena changed the way she spoke because she was aware that she was in the position of being helped.

“…You two are?”

Yelena fiddled with the empty cup as she carefully asked.

The woman took the empty cup from Yelena’s hand and gave her a blanket.

“My name is Anna. He is…”

“I’m Hans.”

“We’re married.”

The two of them introduced themselves briefly.

Yelena nodded.

She had already declared her name when she came in earlier.

“But it seems you really came here without an attendant.”

Anna’s voice sounded like she was concerned over Yelena’s struggle in coming here.

“My maid is…”

Yelena was about to say that the maid accompanying her died en route in the hands of a monster, but she bit her lips.

Remembering that moment made her guts churn.

At the same time, a question popped up in her head.

‘Just what were they?’

Those monsters?

And another strange thing.

‘Where did all the public order guards go?’

There should’ve been many guards around, but she didn’t see a single one.

Even when monsters that killed people were striding along the open roads.

‘Also, what about Father? And Unnie and Oppa, what happened to them?’

“Are you okay?”

Anna asked as Yelena’s face started to turn pale.

Instead of answering, Yelena asked.

“Those… monsters outside, how did it happen?”

“Monsters?”

Anna asked back before nodding in understanding.

“You were talking about the demons.”

Demons.

The maid said that too.

The problem was, whether it be back then or now, it was the first time Yelena had ever heard of the term demons.

However, Anna stared at Yelena in a curious manner.

“Is this your first time seeing the demons?”

Yelena was surprised.

Wasn’t that a given?

Those monsters came out in the morning and strutted along the streets.

“Has she been hiding in a safe place?”

“Even so, not seeing the demons even once for the past one year is a bit…”

Anna and Hans both tilted their heads.

Listening to the couple’s conversation, Yelena’s face stiffened with shock.

“One year?”

“Yes. Wasn’t it a year ago when the demons invaded and the continent turned out like this?”

“The demons… invaded?”

Anna’s expression turned strange.

She was starting to wonder if Yelena had been confined somewhere instead of hiding.

“Uhm, Ma’am. Did you…”

“Mirror.”

“Yes?”

“Please give me a mirror.”

Yelena belatedly figured out the answers to her questions.

The maid who called her Madam instead of Young Lady.

What the maid said about her Father and older siblings being dead.

How the bar owner couple called her ‘Madam Millisto’.

And the most crucial one, the demons’ invasion that she had never heard of before.

With a trembling hand, Yelena accepted the mirror Anna was handing over to her.

Then the mirror reflecting her face dropped onto the floor and broke into pieces.

“Ma’am, are you okay?”

Hans rushed over to get the cleaning tools at once while Anna asked as she checked on Yelena.

Yelena couldn’t give an answer.

‘I got older.’

The face reflected on the mirror was not her face that she was familiar of.

Her hair color, eye color, and her features overall looked much older than she remembered.

Her heart started beating fast.

“Anna. Right now… What year is it?”

“The year? Let’s see, it should be Year 887 according to the calendar of the kingdom…”

Anna answered clearly without any excessive remark.

It seemed like she was still worried that Yelena might be a victim of abuse.

Yelena knew she was misunderstanding it, but she just let it be.

She didn’t have the leeway to correct her right now.

‘It’s around 20 years in the future.’

No, more precisely, correcting her would be a problem as well.

Who would believe that she was sleeping but suddenly woke up in the world 20 years in the future?

‘Is this a dream?’

Although that was probably the most plausible and comfortable explanation of this situation, Yelena couldn’t be sure of it so hastily.

For being a dream, all her senses felt too vivid.

Especially her sense of pain.

She didn’t know if she got injured because she fell earlier, but she could still feel the numbing pain on her knees and elbows even now.

‘Then is this reality?’

That was even more unbelievable.

It can’t…

Boom!

A dead sound rang out from outside the door.

Yelena jolted and stopped thinking about everything.

“W-What sound was that?”

Hans sweeped the mirror shards into the dustpan and said,

“It’s the demons.”

“The demons?”

“Please don’t worry. That door is not just any door. It’s made of iron instead of wood.”

Yelena remembered when she pounded the door in panic.

It definitely didn’t feel like wood.

“T-That’s a relief.”

Boom! BOOM!

When she just started to relax, the sound outside grew louder.

Yelena flinched and got scared once again.

Anna soothed her by her side and said,

“Don’t be afraid. That door will definitely not break. Also, the bar’s walls are made of bricks. There’s no window either so there’s no way for the demons to enter.”

Even though Anna said that, Yelena still couldn’t feel at ease.

She squeezed on the blanket covering her body to the point her fingers turned white.

It was at that moment.

The sound that was beginning to get rowdier outside suddenly stopped.

‘…Did it leave?’

For a moment, it was calm.

Then, as Yelena let out a breath she was holding in—

CRACK!

“……!”

The sound came from above.

This time, it was not the sound of something getting pounded but the sound of something breaking.