Zeldryn then turned his attention to the sheet of paper lying directly beneath the head.
“...”
His eyes narrowed as he looked at the unfamiliar writing covering it.
‘Ah, damn...’
‘This writing again.’
Zeldryn scratched his head in annoyance.
‘Who the hell put this here?’
It wasn't that he didn't appreciate someone going through the trouble of leaving him a message.
The problem was...
He couldn't read it.
‘If you're gonna leave someone a message or something, at least check whether they can actually read it first...’
‘How the hell am I supposed to understand this, damn it?’
Zeldryn looked at the paper again.
Then at the human head sitting on top of it.
Paper.
Head.
Paper.
Head.
“...”
‘And what the hell is this supposed to be?’
‘A head and some writing?’
!!??
A strange possibility suddenly appeared in his mind.
‘IS THIS SOME KIND OF CURSE?!’
Zeldryn immediately stared at the letter with a little more caution.
A human head.
A message he couldn't read.
And both of them had suddenly appeared inside his room while he was asleep.
Now that he thought about it...
The combination really did seem like something you'd use for a curse.
“...”
However, even after observing it for a while, nothing happened.
No strange light appeared.
No mana suddenly attacked him.
The head remained completely still as well.
Zeldryn finally let out a slow breath.
Now the problem wasn't just who had put all of this here.
He also had no idea what he was supposed to do with it.
Based on what he had planned yesterday...
He should already be exercising by now.
His body had recovered considerably compared to a few days ago.
The bruises and wounds that had previously covered his body had almost completely disappeared after Kera healed him.
So rather than continuing to sit around inside his room, Zeldryn really did intend to start improving his physical condition.
At least by starting with running.
But...
Zeldryn looked back at the table.
“...”
There was one small problem.
Where the hell was he supposed to put this human head?
Zeldryn thought for a moment.
‘What am I supposed to do with this head?’
‘Should I throw it away after telling one of the servants?’
But only a few seconds after considering it...
Zeldryn immediately shook his head.
‘No.’
‘Telling someone there's a human head inside my room would be absurd and suspicious as hell...’
Just imagine it.
Zeldryn called a servant.
The servant came inside.
Then Zeldryn casually told them that there was a human head in his room and asked them to throw it away.
“...”
‘That'll just create another problem.’
Who was this person?
Why was his head inside Zeldryn's room?
Who brought it here?
How did that person get inside without anyone noticing?
And worst of all...
Stolen from NovelPhoenix, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
What if the servants ended up thinking that Zeldryn himself had killed this person?
“Hmmm...”
Zeldryn rubbed his chin.
After thinking about it for quite a while...
For now, he finally decided to hide it.
At least until he figured out what the hell was actually going on.
Zeldryn approached the table again.
His hand slowly reached toward the head.
But just before touching it...
His hand stopped.
“...”
Zeldryn stared at the face.
‘Seriously...’
‘This is fucking terrifying.’
Watching thriller movies was still much easier.
After all, whatever he saw was only happening behind a screen.
Blood.
Corpses.
Severed body parts.
All of it was fake.
But now...
This was right in front of his face.
Not a picture.
Not a movie.
Not a special effect.
An actual human head.
Every hair on Zeldryn's body immediately stood on end.
“...”
For some reason, the situation made Zeldryn remember all the transmigration and reincarnation novels he had read before.
In those stories, something like this always seemed to be treated as completely normal.
The main character would see a corpse.
Watch someone get killed.
Sometimes they would even see a human head get cut off right in front of them.
And then, only a few seconds later, they would still be standing there with a completely calm expression as if they had just watched someone butcher a chicken at the market.
‘Why the hell are people in transmigration or reincarnation novels always so damn calm when they see severed heads and shit like this?’
Zeldryn looked at the head in front of him again.
His entire body was still covered in goosebumps.
Even his hand was still hesitant to touch the damn thing.
‘Use some damn logic when you write a novel.’
‘What normal person sees something like this for the first time and immediately acts calm, damn it?’
Now that he was actually experiencing it himself...
Zeldryn genuinely felt that those protagonists made no fucking sense.
Even so, he finally gathered his courage.
His hand grabbed the head by its hair.
“Ugh...”
Zeldryn immediately pulled it as far away from his body as he could.
His expression instinctively twisted as though he were holding something incredibly disgusting.
‘Damn it...’
‘This really is a human head.’
But as he lifted it...
Something felt strange.
Zeldryn frowned.
‘Even if this is a corpse...’
‘Why doesn't it smell like a corpse or anything, damn it?’
There should have been something.
The smell of blood.
The smell of decay.
Or at least something that would make him even more certain that this really was a severed part of a dead human body.
But there was nothing.
!!??
‘Wait.’
Zeldryn suddenly stopped.
His eyes narrowed.
There was something.
Not on the skin.
Not around the severed part of the neck.
But...
Mana.
Zeldryn leaned in slightly for a closer look.
Only now did he realize it.
The head was actually surrounded by an extremely thin fluctuation of mana.
Extremely thin.
If Zeldryn hadn't been paying close attention, he probably never would have noticed it.
The mana covered almost the entire head.
It wasn't dense.
It didn't look like some kind of defensive layer either.
Instead, it felt incredibly delicate.
As though...
The mana was keeping something inside the head from escaping.
“...”
Zeldryn frowned even more deeply.
He didn't understand mana well enough yet to know what its actual purpose was.
But at least now he knew one thing.
The condition of this head clearly wasn't natural.
‘Who the hell is this guy anyway?’
Zeldryn stared at the face.
Not a single memory surfaced.
He didn't recognize him.
‘And why the hell did his head end up inside my room?’
Unfortunately, staring at a dead man's face for ten minutes wasn't going to magically make an answer appear.
So Zeldryn finally gave up thinking about it for now.
He lifted the head while keeping it as far away from his body as his arm allowed.
Then he walked toward the bed.
“...”
Zeldryn bent down.
He slightly lifted the fabric hanging from the side of the bed.
Then...
He shoved the head underneath.
For now...
Under the bed was the best place he could think of.
“...”
Zeldryn stood back up.
Then immediately stepped away from the bed.
‘I'll think about this later.’
He quickly walked toward the window.
After what he had just seen and touched...
His stomach felt slightly uncomfortable.
A little nauseous.
Zeldryn opened the window wider than before.
The morning air immediately brushed against his face.
“Hufft...”
He took a fairly deep breath.
Then slowly exhaled.
His mind immediately felt a little calmer.
A blue sky stretched endlessly before him.
The morning sunlight illuminated the trees and roads surrounding the mansion.
From the second floor, Zeldryn could even see parts of the land quite far away from the mansion.
“...”
‘This view really is fucking beautiful...’
At the very least, it was much nicer to look at than a human head.
Zeldryn rested one hand against the side of the window.
It was still morning.
The air wasn't too hot yet.
And if he really wanted to start exercising...
This was the perfect time to go running.
Zeldryn began observing the area in front of the mansion from above.
His eyes moved across the grounds.
Several guards were busy doing their work.
A few servants were walking around while carrying various things.
Then...
Zeldryn's gaze stopped on one particular area.
“...”
An empty field.
Fairly wide.
Not too far from the mansion.
And there didn't seem to be anything stopping him from running around it.
!!
“I'll run there,” Zeldryn said.
If the field was wide enough, he could use it as a place to exercise for now.
No equipment needed.
No strange facilities.
He just needed to run until his body gradually got used to it.
Zeldryn continued looking at the field.
‘I know the guards and servants are going to think this is weird...’
A young lord who had always been known for being lazy and doing nothing but playing suddenly running around in front of the mansion early in the morning.
Of course it would look strange.
But...
‘Whatever.’
‘I'm already sick of worrying about them.’
For the past few days, almost everything he did had always been accompanied by the same thoughts.
Would they become suspicious?
Was this too different from the old Zeldryn?
Would they think it was strange?
Constantly worrying about those things was starting to exhaust him.
‘For now, I'll just focus on what I can actually do.’
Zeldryn continued staring at the field for several moments.
But suddenly...
!!
A sound came from behind him.
KNOCK.
KNOCK.
KNOCK.
Zeldryn immediately turned toward the door.
“Lord, it's me, Hera. I've brought your breakfast.”
“Come in.”
Zeldryn turned around to face the door.
A moment later...
The door opened.
Hera entered while carrying his breakfast.
!!
But the moment he saw her...
Zeldryn immediately felt that something was strange.
‘Huh?’
He observed Hera for a little longer.
Today, Hera didn't look frightened.
Unlike the previous few days, when almost every movement she made had been filled with nervousness.
Instead, something else seemed wrong.
Her face looked incredibly tired.
Her eyelids were drooping.
Her gaze wasn't completely focused.
She even looked as though she might fall asleep at any moment if someone left her standing there long enough.
‘What's wrong with Hera today?’
‘She doesn't look scared... but she looks completely exhausted.’
‘Her eyes look really sleepy too.’
Hera looked toward the bed.
“Should I place this on the bed again, Lord?”
“No, just put it on my table,” Zeldryn said.
“Yes, Lord...”
Hera then walked toward the table.
Zeldryn continued watching her.
“...”
The longer he watched...
The more obvious it became.
Even the way Hera walked was slightly unsteady.
She was clearly trying to keep her steps normal.
But every once in a while, her body seemed to lose its balance slightly before straightening again.
Zeldryn finally couldn't stop himself from asking.
“What's wrong with you, Hera?”
Hera stopped.
She turned toward Zeldryn.
“My apologies, Lord. I think I'm simply exhausted because of what happened last night...”
!!??
Zeldryn immediately frowned.
“Huh? What happened last night?”
He genuinely had no idea what Hera was talking about.
“What happened?”
Hera continued walking toward the table.
Once she reached it, she slowly placed the plate down.
Then she said,
“I heard from the guards and the other servants that the Mansion's Head Administrator was found dead inside his office without his head...”
!!??
Zeldryn froze.
“Huh?? He was found dead in his office without his head??”