A Monodrama for Carolyn August - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 16.
“Why did it go down?”
Caroline bit her lip in bewilderment.
The moment she impulsively raised her hand and pressed the Heart, a window appeared.
[When all Hearts are depleted, Play ends.]
“Why are you telling me this now!”
At her sharp cry, the child sitting beside her covered his ears and shrank back.
Like losing her sight and having her nose broken all at once—to lose a Heart knowing nothing about it. She was furious, but Caroline forced herself to stay calm.
“I’m sorry. Did I scare you?”
First, she needed to soothe the child in front of her.
Caroline glanced around, searching for a clock.
“What time is it?”
Surely it hadn’t passed noon yet.
Anxiety seized her, and she bolted upright. Her hurried steps led her to a grandfather clock tucked in the corner.
“Oh!”
It was only minutes before noon.
In her urgency, she grabbed the boy’s sleeve without thinking and raced forward.
Click.
Only after the door shut did Caroline catch her breath and collapse onto the floor.
‘What is happening?’
She’d followed the Rules exactly, yet she’d been unconscious for hours and lost a Heart.
‘What does this mean?’
What had she done wrong?
In fact, the more she did what the Rules instructed, the more ominous Aiden’s—no, James’s—demeanor had become.
‘Can I trust these Rules? Could they be fake?’
Lost in confusion, she raked her fingers through her hair.
Then she noticed the boy sitting quietly in a corner of her room.
“Hi. Do you remember me?”
Caroline pointed to herself as she spoke, and the boy nodded.
“I was grateful back then. I was in trouble, after all. But who are you?”
He didn’t answer.
The boy simply stared at her in silence.
‘Can’t he speak, or won’t he?’
“Do you live here?”
When she asked again, he nodded once more.
Given that Aiden had said he had no family living with him, the boy must be a servant’s child.
His worn clothes and soiled skin suggested as much.
“Where are your parents?”
At that, the boy made a gesture that symbolized the Mansion itself.
‘So I was right.’
If he was a servant, it made sense that Aiden wouldn’t know him.
‘Anyway, I’ve brought him here—what do I say? Ah!’
Caroline suddenly sensed that the boy must know the Mansion far better than she did.
“Do you happen to know which rooms in the Mansion are locked?”
…….
Again, the boy simply stared at her without speaking.
‘So he really can’t speak? Although… the child is quite beautiful.’
Without the cap, she could see he was a handsome boy—resembling Aiden somehow.
His eyes, his hair color…
“…The 3rd Floor West Room.”
‘So he can speak after all.’
“Is that all?”
The boy closed his mouth again and nodded.
Aiden had clearly said “locked rooms,” plural, but the boy seemed to know of only one.
“How do you get into that room?”
“Only someone with the Key can enter.”
“Who has the Key?”
“Mother.”
It appeared the boy’s parents were the ones who managed the Mansion.
On impulse, Caroline approached the desk.
And she pulled out the Key she had kept stored away, the one found on the Yacht, and showed it to the child.
“Could this be it?”
The child’s eyes went wide.
“……Is it?”
“……Put it back.”
“Huh?”
“You can’t steal. Put it back right now. Or you’ll be punished.”
The child, who had shown no emotion until then, trembled visibly at the sight of the Key.
His face went pale and his expression crumpled, and Caroline caught him in alarm.
“Are you alright?”
“If they find out I stole the Key, you’ll be punished too.”
“I didn’t steal it. I don’t know who gave it to me, but I received it.”
“Is that so?”
The child’s lips trembled, and then his expression shifted to something oddly reassured.
“But you said you’d be punished? Who else is being punished?”
“……Me.”
The child lowered his head to hide his face and fidgeted with his hands.
“Who punished you? Why were you punished?”
“Mother punished me. Because I stole something from the Mansion.”
“……Ah. Well. That’s punishment you deserve.”
It was a mistake a child could make at his age, but even Caroline couldn’t defend him.
‘Everything in the Mansion looked so expensive, after all.’
At her words, the child asked sadly.
“Is it?”
“Yes. Stealing things is wrong.”
“What about lying?”
“Hmm?”
Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Caroline blinked.
“Well, it’s wrong too, but… it’s not quite as bad as stealing things, is it? Though that doesn’t mean you should steal and lie. Understand?”
“Yes. I won’t steal anymore. I couldn’t even eat…….”
My goodness.
‘She’s quite strict with her discipline.’
It appeared the child had been punished by withholding food, despite still being so young.
“Is that so? Then shall I give you something to eat?”
Caroline stood and began rummaging through the desk and her bag.
It took a while because her memory was hazy, but she eventually found some edible sweets.
“Here—”
As she turned around saying so, Caroline blinked in confusion.
The child had vanished.
* * *
She had meant to visit the 3rd Floor West Room the child had mentioned, but Caroline did not leave her room that night.
‘If two more Hearts disappear, I’m done for!’
The Heart seemed to be something like a lifeline.
The day she learned this world was a Game, the woman who vanished from Friedman’s grasp must have lost all her Hearts.
‘If I leave after midnight and encounter a servant, I’ll likely lose a Heart.’
Anxiety and frustration about the merciless Game.
Turning over these worries, Caroline finally fell asleep just before dawn.
And when she woke—
‘What time is it? My goodness!’
Tea Time was about to begin.
Caroline followed the servant with dragging footsteps.
‘And I wasted precious questions by sleeping…….’
What kind of player burns through three valuable questions just by sleeping?
This half-way position—neither fully a resident of this world nor a true player—was infuriatingly frustrating.
‘Today it’s the Lakeside.’
Once the servant finished guiding her and withdrew, she could see the long mat spread near the Lakeside and the man with his back turned to her.
In a thin shirt and comfortable linen trousers, the man was beautiful even as the wind buffeted him freely. With her heart pounding, Caroline gripped the hem of her skirt tightly and approached him.
“Ah, you’ve arrived. Miss Caroline.”
He smiled languidly and gestured for her to sit.
“The weather was so lovely today that I wanted to have a picnic.”
Lakeside and wind, grass, a picnic.
‘Could today be the one she left behind?’
And her prediction proved right.
“When I sit in a field like this, feeling the wind, I’m reminded of the days I played Ifros. What she left behind, I mean.”
Caroline noticed the paper and pen that had appeared beside her at that very moment. Despite the wind blowing this way, they remained perfectly still.
“Is it because of that scene where Isaha and Ifros, exhausted after their battle with the enemy, watched the sunset?”
Caroline, who had already memorized the play, asked casually, and Aiden turned toward her with wonder.
A gleam flickered in his green eyes.
“Exactly. How did you know?”
“As I said before, I’m a fan of yours.”
Caroline spoke with confidence and poured lemonade into his glass.
“When the Ifros offer came in, I actually considered turning it down.”
“Why?”
“Because Ifros is such a unique role. The appearance is indistinguishable from a human in every way—form, texture, everything—but inside, he’s a perfect machine, isn’t he?”
Caroline nodded.
“And the content itself had a dystopian quality, with the wealthy few separated from the impoverished many, and the world turned desolate. It was a critical moment in my acting career, so I was genuinely torn.”
“That was right after you’d built a solid foundation with those other successes, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Aiden glanced at Caroline as if fascinated, then continued.
“I thought it was time to step away from ordinary roles, but a character who isn’t human, with twisted love… I felt lost.”
What She Left Behind was a story in which the protagonist Isaha, together with Ifros—a humanoid machine left behind by her mother—sought vengeance for their parents’ deaths and restored the devastated natural world.
“Moreover, it was my first adult production.”
‘Ah, that’s right.’
Caroline’s cheeks flushed.
What She Left Behind was the only adult-rated work among all of Aiden’s productions.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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