Pretending to Be Human Is Exhausting Again Today - Chapter 93

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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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Pretending to Be Human: Episode 093

Loreil exhaled a short sigh before speaking.

“Just so you know, I’ve been here for more than a day.”

Only then did I notice his appearance had deteriorated. His once-pristine shirt was wrinkled, and his feet were bare—his shoes nowhere to be found.

“Did you take off your shoes because your feet were sweating?”

“I lost them. What do you take me for….”

He moved his lips as if to continue, then shook his head, his hair disheveled in a way unlike him. With his tousled appearance, he looked somewhat younger than usual.

“Never mind. More importantly, how did you come to be here, Princess?”

“I received an invitation. In a letter from House of Adonia….”

“Did it perhaps ask you to save your mother?”

“It seems you received the same letter, Loreil?”

Loreil nodded and pulled a letter from his pocket. The slightly crumpled letter contained a single line, just as mine had.

[Your Highness, please save our mother.]

‘What is this? I’m a Demon, but Loreil is a Prince? Isn’t that discrimination?’

My mood suddenly soured.

“Was the letter you received from the Princess the same?”

“Yes.”

Since we seemed to be in similar predicaments, I showed him the letter I had been carrying. Upon seeing the word “Demon,” Loreil’s eyes narrowed as he spoke.

“The sender has quite a keen eye.”

“Surely not. No matter how unsettling my eyes might be, calling me a Demon seems rather excessive, doesn’t it?”

“That’s… not what I meant.”

Apparently, he hadn’t expected me to take offense at his appearance, and Loreil stumbled over his words in confusion.

Then, upon noticing me smiling, he furrowed his brow.

“You certainly have a talent for jesting in such circumstances.”

“It’s just that I’ve never seen Loreil in such a disheveled state before, so it slipped out.”

“Never mind that. Are you injured anywhere? I experienced a fall when I arrived here.”

Loreil said he had undergone a similar ordeal. The moment the door opened, he plummeted into darkness, lost consciousness briefly, and when he awoke, he found himself here.

And after wandering this endless Corridor all day, he had encountered me.

“I’m fine. But when you fell here, did you happen to see a Child?”

“A Child?”

“A Child wearing a sack over their head. Something that felt like a ghost or spirit.”

“A Child.”

Loreil pondered quietly for a moment, then shook his head.

“I haven’t seen one. However, I do have an idea of where it might be.”

He told me to follow him and guided me toward the opposite end of the Corridor. As I slowly followed him, I examined the Corridor carefully.

Noticing my methodical observation, Loreil asked a question.

“Do you know something about this space?”

“I have a suspicion, though I can’t explain the specifics.”

“Could it be related to the Demon Clan or magic?”

I hesitated for a moment, then immediately denied it.

“No. This isn’t the work of the Demon Clan.”

“…That’s a relief.”

‘So he was suspicious after all.’

The emotion I sensed in his gaze was unmistakable. I spoke with a weary sigh in my voice.

“Which means the misfortune that befell the Countess likely wasn’t the Demon Clan’s doing either.”

“You’re certain of this?”

“About half certain. If the Demon Clan had cast a curse of that magnitude, there would definitely be traces of magical energy left behind.”

Loreil seemed somewhat skeptical, but perhaps because he himself had failed to detect any magical energy, he eventually nodded in agreement.

“Regardless, what became of the Princess’s entourage?”

“We were separated during the fall. They vanished into the darkness.”

“The same as me. Do you think they’re in this space as well?”

“Hmm, I’m not sure. Perhaps only we were invited here.”

“Invited?”

“If my suspicions are correct, this place is…”

Just as I was about to offer a proper explanation, a sound echoed from somewhere.

“Waaaaah—”

It was the cry of a newborn. Startled, I caught my breath, but Loreil spoke calmly, as though he had anticipated this.

“We’ve arrived. This is where I discovered traces of the Child.”

He pointed toward a door along the Corridor.

“Your Majesty, have you examined the Rooms along the Corridor?”

“No, I saw Loreil the moment I opened my eyes.”

“The Rooms inside are largely ordinary. A Kitchen, Reception Room, Bedroom—they’re arranged haphazardly. And this one here….”

He opened the door and revealed what lay within.

A Room without a single window, just like the Corridor. Yet inside, brilliant light flooded every corner.

“…A Nursery?”

The Room’s true nature was a Nursery. A glowing mobile hung from the ceiling, pastel-colored wallpaper, a small crib… the atmosphere was entirely different from the Corridor.

“Wahhhhh—”

And the crying came from the crib inside the Room.

Loreil and I entered the Room and examined the crib.

“There’s no one here.”

But the Baby was nowhere to be found.

“Precisely. We hear the Baby’s cries, yet the Baby doesn’t exist—a peculiar Room indeed. The other Rooms are much the same. There are signs of habitation, but no one is present.”

Loreil continued, resting his chin in his hand.

“At first, I thought the cries were a trap to lure us in….”

‘Well, this space doesn’t feel like a trap to me.’

I tilted my head and surveyed the Room. As he said, nothing seemed particularly unusual.

A Room where only the Baby’s cries echoed faintly, and other Rooms where traces remained but no presence lingered.

‘If my suspicion is correct, then this place must be….’

That’s when a mirror in the corner of the room caught my eye.

I moved toward it. The moment I peered into the mirror’s surface, I knew my suspicion was right.

‘Just as I thought.’

I pointed inside the mirror and spoke to Loreil.

“Look at this.”

“It’s just a mirror, isn’t it?”

“Inside it.”

Loreil examined the mirror’s interior, his eyes widening at the sight before him.

“That’s….”

Unlike reality, beyond the mirror’s surface stood a woman and a baby. She stood before a bed, soothing the crying infant in her arms.

Only her back was visible, but the tenderness in her touch as she cared for the child was unmistakable.

“That platinum blonde hair… she’s the Countess of Adonia!”

‘So that’s the Countess. Then the master of this place must be her as well.’

Loreil alternated his gaze between the actual room and the mirror before asking.

“How is this possible? Why is the Countess inside there?”

“This space is projecting what it desires through the mirror. We’re merely observers.”

“What do you mean by….”

Loreil frowned, clearly struggling to comprehend.

“Follow me. If my suspicion is correct, we should see similar phenomena in the other rooms.”

I led him toward a different room.

The other rooms presented a similar situation.

In the mirror of the Dining Hall, the Countess dined with her three daughters, while the mirror in the Study showed her instructing her children.

Within the world of the mirrors, a blissful daily life repeated itself eternally.

Loreil furrowed his brow in incomprehension.

“How is this possible? I’ve never heard of such magic.”

“This space wasn’t created by magic. You didn’t sense any magical energy here, did you?”

“If it’s not magic, then how do you explain this unrealistic situation? Surely you’re not suggesting we’re dreaming?”

I let out a short exclamation of admiration.

“Precisely. We’ve entered someone’s dream.”

“…What?”

“All of this is a dream. We were invited into someone’s dream and came to this place.”

I tapped the corridor wall as if knocking, then walked forward. Loreil hurried after me in alarm.

“You said you lost consciousness and then woke up, didn’t you? That’s probably when you entered this dream.”

“How can you be certain it’s a dream?”

“There are several clues. Let me explain them one by one from the beginning.”

I pointed to Loreil’s bare feet.

“Your shoes—you said you lost them when you fell, didn’t you? Haven’t you noticed that in dreams, scenes without shoes appear quite frequently?”

He paused in thought, then nodded with a reluctant expression.

“That’s… true.”

Dreams without shoes were fairly common.

That wasn’t all. Buildings without windows, endless doorways, encountering the people you wished to see—these too were characteristics of dreams.

I chuckled softly and continued my explanation.

“And as you said, creating such infinite space without using magical power is impossible even for a Deity. It’s only possible in dreams, as the phrase goes. Memory works the same way.”

“Memory?”

“It’s a characteristic of dreams. They show you happy or unhappy memories over and over again.”

Only after hearing those words did Loreil’s expression shift to one of realization and surprise.

There was actually a reason I hadn’t explained this earlier.

‘I can’t let him know I figured it out so quickly because I’m a Demon.’

Demons can sense not just magical power, but the very echoes of a soul. That’s why we’re so sensitive to resentment.

The moment I fell into this space, I felt as though I’d entered the depths of a human soul.

It seemed Loreil’s senses hadn’t yet reached that level.

Loreil furrowed his brow, finding something odd.

“But I’ve been here for more than a day. Shouldn’t one wake from a dream before that?”

“That’s true. The owner of this dream is probably experiencing a dream that lasts for tens or hundreds of days.”

“Is that even possible?”

It was possible.

‘If they’re watching their life flash before their eyes at death’s threshold.’

The phenomenon where time flows differently between reality and the mental realm typically appeared just before death.

Knock, knock—

‘Here it is.’

I walked along the wall, tapping it with my palm, until I found the spot where the sound shifted subtly. I stopped there.

“The spiritual barrier is weakest around here. Loreil, step back for a moment.”

“What are you planning to do?”

“Create a shortcut.”

I slowly drew my right arm back.

A touch of demonic energy, combined with every ounce of physical strength I could muster….

“Haaah!”

I struck the wall with all my might.

“…!”

In that instant, the dream itself seemed to scream as a deafening roar erupted, and the wall shattered into fragments.

Loreil, witnessing the destruction, muttered in disbelief.

“…I never imagined you would resort to brute force even within a dream.”

“When words fail, the fist speaks first. That’s how it goes.”

“That sounds like something a thug would say….”

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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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