Chapter 5: The Watch

LOTTE had spent almost five years studying medicine before becoming a fully licensed nurse three years ago. From elementary school through college, science had been one of her core subjects. Because of this, she had never believed in myths or supernatural creatures. To her, science had always made more sense than superstition.

But now, as she walked through the dungeon hallway surrounded by creatures she had only ever heard about in stories, everything she had studied and believed in seemed to vanish into thin air.

Her heart was beating so fast that it felt as though it might burst right out of her rib cage. Her eyes darted between the cells lining both sides of the hallway, unable to comprehend what she was seeing.

She had just witnessed someone transform into a massive brown wolf right before her eyes, and she wasn’t stupid enough not to recognize what that was.

It was a werewolf!

In another cell, she spotted someone with unusually long fangs glaring menacingly at her. Its eyes were crimson red, and its skin was deathly pale—even paler than hers, which was already unusually white due to her mild anemia. The condition meant her hemoglobin levels were slightly below normal, reducing her blood’s ability to carry oxygen throughout her body.

Shit! At this rate, she might end up becoming their next meal before they even made it out of the dungeon.

What the hell is this place? And why are there all sorts of creatures standing right in front of me?!

“Don’t be afraid. They won’t hurt you,” Kelmor assured her, apparently noticing her trembling and stunned reaction despite walking ahead of her with his back turned.

“W-Where are we? What is this place? This is definitely not Earth, right?” she asked, mustering up the courage to speak.

Kelmor stopped so abruptly that she nearly bumped into his broad back. Fortunately, they had already reached the entrance to the dungeon, so there were no more cells on either side of them.

“What did you say? Did you just say Earth? The world of humans—the mortals?” he asked, sounding utterly bewildered.

She quickly nodded. “Yes! Do you know how I can get back? Do you know the way home? I really need to get back to my family. I can’t stay in whatever place this is much longer.”

Kelmor shook his head. “I think you really need to speak with His Majesty,” he replied seriously before turning around and continuing down the hallway, prompting her to follow. “To answer your question, this world—our world—is called Satheli Kalone, where creatures like us, werewolves, live—”

“You’re a werewolf? Like a giant dog?!” Lotte blurted out in disbelief, interrupting whatever he had been about to say.

“You could say that, but we’re not dogs, you know,” he retorted, sounding slightly offended. “As I was saying, Kalone is home to werewolves, vampires, dwarves, foxes, and many other creatures.”

“How about werecats?” she asked experimentally.

“Yeah, we have those, too.”

“Mermaids?” she asked again.

“Yes,” Kelmor answered.

“How about dragons?”

Surely, they don’t have those in this wor—

“Yes, but they live deep in the mountains and have been sleeping for thousands of years.”

“How abo—”

“Name any creature you know, and you’ll find it here in Kalone. No more questions. We’re here,” he interrupted.

Lotte hadn’t even realized they had reached their destination until she found herself standing before an enormous wooden door. An inexplicably ominous aura seemed to emanate from it, yet for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to feel even the slightest bit of fear.

“This is His Majesty’s private study,” Kelmor said, then knocked five times.

“Come in,” came Krytos’s voice from inside.

Lotte and Kelmor exchanged glances before Kelmor entered the room first. She quickly followed him inside.

The moment she stepped into the private study, Lotte’s eyes wandered around the room, and her jaw nearly dropped at the sight of its breathtaking interior.

The ceiling was incredibly high, with a chandelier hanging overhead. However, the light illuminating the entire room came from neither modern light fixtures nor flames. In fact, she couldn’t even figure out what was producing it. All she knew was that it definitely wasn’t fire, even though it emitted the same warm glow.

Built into the walls was a massive bookshelf filled with countless books, all bearing identical black covers adorned with gold accents. She noticed that there was no sitting area or space for visitors, which she would have expected to find.

At the far end, standing in front of an enormous glass wall, was the so-called king of this place—King Krytos Montgomery. He was currently sipping what appeared to be wine from a goblet, looking as though he had all the time in the world.

“I apologize for keeping you waiting, Your Majesty. She’s here,” Kelmor announced and bowed respectfully.

“Leave us,” Krytos ordered coldly, never once breaking eye contact with Lotte, who held his gaze just as steadily.

The moment Kelmor finally left the room, Lotte mustered up the courage to speak first. “Please, help me get home. You’re the king of this place, aren’t you? Surely, you can do something to help me,” she pleaded desperately.

“Where are you from?” he asked.

“I’m from Earth—I mean, the world of humans. I don’t know how I ended up here, but please, help me get home,” she begged.

The man slowly approached her, yet Lotte refused to take a step back, even though his stare made her feel as though he might pounce on her at any moment.

“The dwarf who saw you claimed that you suddenly came flying out of nowhere in Orrukai, where my men found you. You see, Kuravorn Keep, my territory, is only a few meters away from Orrukai. I’ve caught plenty of creatures pretending to be something they’re not just to infiltrate my territory and assassinate me.” His gaze remained fixed on hers, cold and unyielding. “Now, tell me, how am I supposed to believe you weren’t sent here to do the same?” he asked.

Lotte suddenly found herself at a loss for words.

How could she possibly prove that she wasn’t from their world? She couldn’t exactly list every single thing that existed only on Earth because, for all she knew, he might think she was simply making up stories to deceive him.

Then, quite suddenly, her gaze fell upon the broken watch her father had handed her before she left him behind to fight for his life.

A sharp ache pierced her chest once more, but she forced herself to hold back her tears. She had to stay strong for her own sake. She needed to find a way out of this place!

“This!” She raised her hand, showing him the silver watch. “We call this a watch in our world. We use it to tell the time of day,” she explained.

Krytos narrowed his eyes as he examined the watch on her wrist. Blood was still smeared across its surface, but Lotte didn’t care. It was the only thing she had left from her family—a reminder of their blood, their love, and the last piece of home she could still hold on to.

“It’s moving,” Krytos remarked, his gaze never leaving the watch.

Lotte immediately furrowed her brows. “What do you mean? It’s been broken for—”

She never got to finish her sentence because she noticed the hands of the long-broken watch on her wrist is now moving.

“H-How…”

She couldn’t understand how it had suddenly started working again. Ever since she was a child, she had watched her father try everything he could to repair the broken watch, which had apparently been passed down from her great-grandmother. He had replaced its batteries countless times and tried all sorts of other methods, but nothing had ever worked.

Not once.

And now, after all these years, it was ticking again—as if it had never been broken in the first place.

“Why?” Krytos asked, looking puzzled.

Lotte glanced at him before turning her attention back to the watch. She tapped it repeatedly, as though doing so would somehow explain what was happening.

“This thing is broken! It came from my dying father. How the hell did it start working again?” she exclaimed in a panic.

She wasn’t panicking because the watch had started working again. She was panicking because she couldn’t explain how such an impossible thing had happened.

Krytos let out a deep sigh. “Fine.”

Lotte stopped what she was doing and looked up at him. “Fine?”

“I’ll help you get home, but I can’t promise it’ll happen anytime soon. I know nothing about your world. In the meantime, you’ll stay here and never leave this fortress without my permission,” he said before turning away. “If you really are a mortal, your life isn’t safe in Kalone.”

Her heartbeat immediately began to race. “W-What do you mean?”

Krytos turned to face her again.

“Humans don’t survive for more than a year in this world, woman,” he stated coldly. “Whether it’s because their bodies can’t withstand the conditions of Kalone or because they eventually become prey to the creatures that inhabit it.”