Chapter 4

Ding-dong.

Gu Yuhuan was awakened by the virtual clock. When she opened her eyes, she found herself lying on a bed draped in lace sheets. The sheer princess-like decor of the room made her freeze for a moment. Rubbing her temples, she sat up and checked the virtual clock—three hours had passed since she’d fallen into a deep sleep.

Remaining time: 76 hours.

Thankfully, although she had no idea why she’d passed out, she was still wearing last night’s clothes, and her gains from the previous night hadn’t vanished. A complete oil painting and the fragments of another were all still tucked safely in her jacket pocket.

That let Gu Yuhuan finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Today was a fine day. Outside, a brilliant golden sun hung high in the sky, its warm rays bathing her body in comforting heat, dispelling the chill of the night that still clung to her.

There was a knock at the door.

“Beautiful queen, your beloved husband has returned to the castle. Come quickly and open the door for him.”

That hoarse, grating voice—like a sledgehammer smashing down on the listener’s skull—belonged to Bluebeard.

Bluebeard, who had left the castle yesterday, was back.

[Bluebeard’s Law, Rule Two: Bluebeard only kills during the daytime.]

Bluebeard, who left every afternoon, always returned to the castle during the day.

“Come in.”

Gu Yuhuan took a deep breath, only to realize her voice was trembling slightly.

The door was pushed open. Bluebeard, clad in a vermilion robe and looking travel-worn, strode into the room. His greedy gaze fell upon Gu Yuhuan’s pale neck, his undisguised lust making it seem as though he were deciding where best to sink his teeth. This horrifying man instantly plunged the entire room back into a chill.

If she had a choice, Gu Yuhuan would have refused to meet Bluebeard at all.

Bluebeard sensed the queen’s repulsion toward him and let out a strangely distorted laugh. He laughed for quite a while before speaking in a teasing tone, “Ah! I’m back, beautiful queen. Please return the castle keys to me.”

—Bluebeard only kills during the daytime.

But Bluebeard couldn’t possibly kill without conditions. Even if the person playing this game weren’t Gu Yuhuan but a strong, well-built man, it still wouldn’t be possible to contend with Bluebeard head-on. Since the “Judge” could cause death directly, there was no reason to go to such lengths. Whether it was unwilling subjectively or objectively, it proved that “it” operated according to a set of rules.

Bluebeard, therefore, could not kill freely during the day—there had to be prerequisites.

Now, Gu Yuhuan was going to test them.

She took a large ring of keys from her waist and handed it back to Bluebeard.

Bluebeard accepted the keys from her hand with a cold smile and immediately hung them back at his waist.

Gu Yuhuan lowered her head slightly and, while Bluebeard wasn’t paying attention, cast a thoughtful glance at the keys at his belt.

—Bluebeard’s hidden condition: only when the golden key is stained with blood can Bluebeard kill.

Knock, knock.

A servant’s voice came from outside: “Your Majesty, Your Queen, breakfast is ready.”

“As a proper husband, accompanying one’s wife at meals is basic etiquette,” Bluebeard said with a smile to Gu Yuhuan. He took an elaborate dress from the wardrobe and tossed it onto the bed. “My queen, even in private, you should not dress so sloppily. Quickly change into a splendid gown and join me for breakfast. …Remember, do not keep me waiting.”

Gu Yuhuan: “…”

Please, have mercy on my stomach.

Bluebeard’s words were never a request—they were orders. There was no way Gu Yuhuan could put this dress on properly by herself. A maid helped her into it, tightening the corset until her face turned pale.

The maid continued to cinch the shaping bodice, refusing the queen’s plea to “loosen it a little.”

“My queen, His Majesty prefers ladies with slender waists.”

Bluebeard’s love?

Gu Yuhuan: “…Please, spare me.”

Maid: “???”

What was Bluebeard’s love? To love her was to kill her.

Gu Yuhuan hadn’t slept many hours to begin with and still felt groggy. Now the maid’s ministrations had thoroughly woken her up. The maid led her to the dining hall. When they arrived, Bluebeard was nowhere to be seen. Only two plates were left on the table, smeared with fresh blood…

Maid: “It seems His Majesty has already finished his meal.”

After Bluebeard returned, the entire castle seemed to come alive again. At the very least, the servants now felt like “real people.”

The maid smiled at Gu Yuhuan, “My queen, would you still like to dine?”

Though the maid was speaking to Gu Yuhuan, her gaze never left the bloodstained tableware. The upward curve of her lips looked oddly unsettling.

Gu Yuhuan: “Of course I’ll eat.”

The maid’s smile froze.

By her reckoning, Gu Yuhuan hadn’t eaten properly for an entire day and night. Her nerves had been stretched tight the whole time, and with only three hours of sleep, her stomach had long been growling with hunger. The bloodied plates were indeed disgusting… but what if His Majesty had simply been eating raw blood pudding?

…No. Better not think about it.

Under the maid’s stiff, unchanging smile, Gu Yuhuan polished off a lavish breakfast and even asked for an extra cup of warm milk.

After finishing, she turned to the maid and said, “…You underestimate the Chinese palate.”

Maid: “???”

Not even a corset could hold back the onrushing appetite—what did a little blood on a plate matter?

Warm milk helped with sleep. Normally, after eating, Gu Yuhuan would stand for an hour to help digestion and wouldn’t lie down right away. But now she couldn’t spare the effort. Lack of sleep brought fogginess, and at the moment, mental clarity mattered more than anything. She drew the curtains, locked the door, and forced herself to sleep.

She had no idea how much time passed before she finally drifted off.

She woke again to the sound of knocking.

“My queen, His Majesty is about to leave the castle. Quickly change into ceremonial dress and see him off.”

After getting out of bed, Gu Yuhuan didn’t put on a gown. Instead, she found a riding outfit in the wardrobe. All the clothes inside were tailored to her figure and fit perfectly. After changing, she didn’t go downstairs immediately. After yesterday, she already knew that even if she did, all she would see was King Bluebeard packing his luggage for over an hour.

Gu Yuhuan sat at the desk, took out paper and pen, and reviewed all the clues she had so far. With so few clues, there wasn’t much to analyze. After fruitless pondering, she could only paste the fragments back together. Just as she had carefully put both paintings away, a servant came again to urge her on.

The weather was turning bad again—it looked like it was going to rain.

Everything was exactly the same as yesterday. Before leaving, Bluebeard handed his wife who came to see him off a string of keys.

“Why aren’t you wearing the gown I chose for you?” King Bluebeard looked at his queen coldly.

Gu Yuhuan: “This is more convenient.”

King Bluebeard gave a half-smile that wasn’t quite a smile, “Would wearing attire befitting your status make you break your neck while walking downstairs?”

Gu Yuhuan: “…”

King Bluebeard was clearly displeased, and the atmosphere instantly grew cold and tense. But very quickly, he adjusted his mood. His tone turned warm and affable again, just like that of a husband who truly doted on his wife.

“Beautiful queen, I’ll say this one more time: of all the rooms, the little chamber governed by this golden key is the one you must never open. If you do, I will go mad. Do you remember?”

Gu Yuhuan nodded, earning herself a terrifying smile from King Bluebeard.

The servants began singing again:
“One day has passed, another day has passed—
has the king discovered the queen’s secret yet?”

Gu Yuhuan: “……”

She shivered.

I can’t control myself.JPG

When Gu Yuhuan returned to the castle again, just like yesterday, the entire place had “died.” After eating her second meal of the day—a strange combination of lunch and dinner—she went back to her room and added a line of small notes under the section labeled Personality Analysis of King Bluebeard:

—Extremely strong need for control.

So strong that even what his wife wore had to be decided by him.

It started raining again.

Most people loved the daytime and feared the night. Gu Yuhuan was no exception.

[Bluebeard’s Law, Rule One: Keys can only be used to open doors after nightfall.]

The problem was that Gu Yuhuan could only search for clues at night.

The last room on the third floor was an art studio. Both times Gu Yuhuan had found clues she thought useful, they had been “paintings.” That made her spend a great deal of time in the studio, but she still failed to find anything helpful.

There was not a single portrait painting in the entire studio.

Gu Yuhuan went to the second floor. In the rooms on the second and third floors, aside from the masters’ living quarters, most were filled with gold and jewels. During the daytime, she had already noticed that all the inner rooms on the second floor belonged to the castle’s servants. At night, the people were gone, so naturally there was no one in the rooms.

After spending several hours, Gu Yuhuan finally found a room that stood out.

Most servants’ quarters were dormitory-style, with seven or eight people sleeping in a single room. This room, however, not only had a single bed but also a small bookshelf. From that shelf, Gu Yuhuan found a diary.

The diary’s owner was signed as Jackson.

[Year X, Month X, Day X]

The twelfth princess of the neighboring kingdom truly is extraordinarily beautiful. Her skin is as white as snow, her hair gleams like gold, and even the most precious sapphire cannot compare to the clarity of her beautiful eyes. Her lips are like roses blooming at dawn. Her radiance is unmatched in this world, and language itself feels woefully inadequate to describe her. The prince fell in love with her at first sight and swore he would marry this noble princess. I will accompany the prince to the neighboring kingdom to seek the twelfth princess’s hand in marriage.

[Year X, Month X, Day X]

That king actually demanded the heart of a dragon as the bride price! Heavens! Killing a dragon brings a curse…

[Year X, Month X, Day X]

The prince was gravely injured and nearly died. I have tried to dissuade him countless times, begging him to abandon the idea of slaying the dragon, but his love for the twelfth princess is like a fire that, once ignited, will never go out. I suspect that not even death could erode his love for her. As long as he lives, he will surely go again.

The handwriting in the diary became extremely messy here. It was clear that the writer was under immense torment. From this point on, the diary abruptly stopped for nearly half a year before resuming.

[Year X, Month X, Day X]

My God—he went again. And he really did bring back the dragon’s heart, along with all of the dragon’s treasure. He presented the dragon’s heart to the neighboring king. Legend says that consuming a dragon’s heart grants eternal youth and exquisite beauty. Tempted by such a treasure, along with half of the dragon’s wealth, the king finally agreed to marry the twelfth princess to the prince.

This is truly joyous news.

I will record each of these treasures here in detail: eighty-six chests of gold coins, two chests of sapphires, one hundred and sixty-eight strings of pearls…

Recording these treasures alone took nearly ten sheets of paper, which was enough to show just how generous the prince was in order to marry the twelfth princess. Gu Yuhuan had once heard a saying: a man who is willing to spend money on you doesn’t necessarily love you, but a man who isn’t willing to spend money on you definitely doesn’t. That saying depends on context, of course, but from the diary owner’s account, it was clear that the prince was willing to risk his life and give up an enormous fortune just to marry the princess. If that wasn’t love, then what was?

[Year X, Month X, Day X]

Very unfortunately, when we returned to the castle, the prince’s father had already passed away. He quelled the unrest in the kingdom, successfully ascended the throne, and chose an auspicious date to marry the twelfth princess as his queen.

[Year X, Month X, Day X]

I can hardly believe it. At the wedding… His Majesty the King’s face…

This must be a curse!

…

After that, the diary went a long time without any further entries. Though it was called a diary, it was more like a collection of scattered notes, with no clear beginning or end—just whatever came to mind at the time.

[Year X, Month X, Day X]

The king is clearly already in great pain, yet I committed such a monstrous sin. Even death cannot erase my wrongdoing. My lovebird—my beautiful lovebird—it was never anything but a vulture that brings death.

The diary ended abruptly there.

“Beautiful queen!”

Gu Yuhuan put down the diary and opened the door. The queen’s lover came trotting down from the third floor and swept the petite woman into his arms, murmuring, “My precious…”

Gu Yuhuan: “…”

Her boyfriend was a textbook STEM guy. When it came to flirting, he had already lost.

Out of the corner of her eye, Gu Yuhuan noticed the peach-blossom mole at the corner of the lover’s eye. Her gaze softened unconsciously, “Do you know Jackson?”

Lover: “There is no one in the castle who doesn’t know Jackson. When he was alive, he was the servant most trusted by His Majesty the King.”

Gu Yuhuan: “When he was alive?”

The lover looked at his beloved queen with an unusually complex expression and said softly, “Yes, he’s dead. He was executed on His Majesty’s orders for having an affair with His Majesty’s fifteenth queen.”