WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 278: Room 204, Mission Room - ‘Hotel Cinema’ (2)
──────
- Elena
After the Crown Prince told me about the Fox Hunt, the space around me slowly began to shake. I wasn't surprised, since I'd already experienced it once. It skipped the tedious middle part and moved straight into the Fox Hunt.
Then my body suddenly vanished. I became something like a ghost and began watching a scene unfold.
“Gellion! Can't I just say I'm sick and skip this hunt?”
“Your Highness, haven't I explained this several times already? The Fox Hunt is a two-hundred-and-thirty-two-year tradition personally mentioned by the founding emperor, an event meant to build friendships among the empire's distinguished nobles-”
“Ugh! Fine, I said I'll go! Just thinking about that Pendleton bastard showing off again is annoying!”
“Your Highness, what matters isn't the number of foxes you catch-”
“I said I get it!”
Okay. I got the general idea.
This was a scene where the heroine didn't appear in the film. A cut meant to establish the Crown Prince's character as the male lead.
And this film's male lead, the Crown Prince...
Was an idiot.
* * *
「He's an idiot.」
“... That narration won't become a problem, will it?”
At Song-i's worried question, Eun-sol let out a deep sigh.
“That's what I've been worried about. If we can hear the narration, doesn't that mean it's something the audience can hear too?”
* * *
--- Bang!
“Oh! Lord Pendleton, you truly never miss!”
“Haha! George, it's nothing. The fox stopped in front of that tree as if it wanted to be shot. Wouldn't anyone be an idiot if they couldn't hit it? This reminds me of when I went to the Northern Front two years ago-”
--- Bang!
“...”
“... It seems His Highness isn't used to shooting yet.”
The Fox Hunt went exactly as expected. Young Duke Pendleton, who boasted the grand title of having served on the empire's Northern Front, picked off every fox he saw without missing once.
The Crown Prince, on the other hand, turned red whenever a fox appeared, and every shot went wide. Watching him, it felt like the foxes would catch the Crown Prince before he caught one of them.
Calm down. I needed to remember why this event existed in the film.
The first event, the party, existed so the Crown Prince could fall in love with the heroine. Then what was the purpose of the second event?
“Ugh! I'm going back inside now!”
“Y-Your Highness! It's still morning!”
Wasn't it to cheer up that childish male lead and boost his confidence? For a happy ending, the male lead had to be happy at the very least.
“Lord Gellion, could you come here for a moment?”
“Lady Crosibel? Is there something you wish to say?”
“His Highness doesn't seem very happy.”
“... Well, life cannot always be enjoyable.”
“Even so, if the people around him ‘helped’ just a little, wouldn't His Highness be happier?”
“Help him?”
Could my plan work? Honestly, the nobles gathered here weren't all fools, and there was only so much we could deceive them. Anyone perceptive and clever would realize it right away.
--- Bang!
Pendleton's confidently fired shot went wide. Seeing him put on an obvious act of disappointment, I became certain my plan would work. I had the attendants pull a few strings.
I tilted my parasol slightly so my face would show, then leisurely walked toward the Crown Prince. It was ridiculous how the Crown Prince, who'd been sulking like a child, suddenly became well-behaved after noticing me approach.
“Lady Crosibel! Did you come to see me?”
“Of course. Your Highness, are you enjoying today's hunt?”
“...”
“Oh my, have you not caught a fox yet?”
“D-Don't mock me!”
“Mock you? Hunting has its good days and bad days. On my way here, I saw Lord Pendleton hit a tree three times in a row. It seems his streak has ended.”
“I-Is that so? Even so-”
“Your Highness, why don't you try hunting the foxes to the northwest this time?”
I led the Crown Prince in the direction I'd prepared beforehand. Soon, an incredibly childish show began.
--- Bang!
“Oh! Your Highness, the fox in the bushes has fallen!”
“Huh? Huh?”
--- Bang!
“How did you hit that one too?”
Whenever the Crown Prince pulled the trigger, everyone busily moved around. Some discreetly placed foxes they'd killed beforehand, while others fired at the same moment as the Crown Prince and killed the foxes themselves.
The Fox Hunt to cater to the Crown Prince had begun!
I was worried when I first started this staged hunt with the attendants. The foolish Crown Prince might be fooled. He barely understood where he was aiming his gun in the first place, so he could easily mistake someone else's shot for his own.
But would the nobles gathered here, who weren't fools, fall for something this obvious? Of course they didn't. That was why the plan worked even better. The perceptive nobles who understood what was going on began actively cooperating with the match-fixing!
A little earlier, the eldest son of House Antidum had quietly approached and slipped a fox he'd caught into the Crown Prince's trophy basket.
A moment ago, Viscount Toyburg fired at the same time as the Crown Prince, hit the fox the Crown Prince had aimed at, then congratulated him.
Pendleton had even begun deliberately firing five consecutive shots, every one going wide.
“Bwahahaha! I got another one! I got another one!”
“Congratulations, Your Highness!”
The Crown Prince's laughter filled the hunting grounds. There still seemed to be plenty of film time left, and the thought of having to flatter that idiot for the rest of it was horrifying.
What if someone else had been in his place?
Someone with some sense would have had fun mingling with the nobles, whether they caught foxes or not. Even if their pride had been hurt, they would've done something themselves to turn things around.
Was skill at catching foxes really that important at an event for rich people's children to socialize? The imperial throne didn't go to whoever could shoot best.
Hmm...
If Mr. Ga-in were the Crown Prince, what kind of stupid stunt would he have pulled?
* * *
“Cough!”
My name came up out of nowhere! I nearly dropped my cola. And what was that last sentence supposed to mean?
Across from me, Song-i clutched her stomach as she laughed wildly.
“Ga-in, seriously, stop pulling so many stupid stunts.”
“W-What does Elena usually think I do?”
A-ri snickered.
“Honestly, most of what you do is a stupid stunt, isn't it? In Room 104, you suddenly pretended to be an Apostle sent down by God. I wonder what Elena thought while going along with that!”
* * *
This should mean the second event, the Fox Hunt, had gone well too, right?
The Crown Prince came before me with a grin stretched across his face and presented the box overflowing with fox carcasses. I wondered how many of those foxes he'd actually caught himself.
Around then, the space began shaking again. It was a sign that we were moving on to the next event. Shortly afterward, I awoke while walking through a dazzling imperial city.
...
This time, I was a little flustered.
Before the party and Fox Hunt events, someone had told me what would happen. This time, there had been nothing. The set simply changed around me, and I was suddenly dropped into the middle of the capital. When I hurriedly asked a nearby maid, she told me the New Year Festival was underway. Judging by the situation, quite some time had passed since the Fox Hunt.
What was going on?
This was a film. The maid telling me I was going to a party at the start, and the Crown Prince mentioning the Fox Hunt right after the party event ended.
Both lines, when you thought about it, were for the audience. They helped the audience predict what would happen next. If the set suddenly changed like this without context or explanation, the audience wouldn't be able to understand the plot.
As I walked through the city amid cheerful music coming from all directions, I gradually realized what had happened.
“A scene I hadn't been shown had played out.”
There had been a scene between the Fox Hunt and the New Year Festival. The audience, my companions outside, must have seen it. But it hadn't been shown to me, the heroine.
Tension slowly rose within me. Why show the Crown Prince's conversation with his attendant, a scene that revealed his inferiority complex, but not the scene that had just passed?
It meant it was a scene the heroine wasn't supposed to know about. What could it be?
Then I realized that the maid attending me had disappeared. Strangely, the surroundings were dark. I had clearly been walking through a city filled with music, but when I came to my senses, I had arrived, as though it were perfectly natural, in a dim alley with no one else around.
Heavy footsteps sounded somewhere nearby.
--- Click!
A chill ran down my spine. Was there only one person approaching?
“... Who sent you?”
When I spun around and asked, the man in a black robe flinched.
“What are you talking about all of a sudden-”
“You were secretly following me to hurt me.”
“O-Oh, you misunderstand. Hurt you?”
“You lied.”
The light around my eyes softly filled the alley. For one breath, explosive force filled my body.
With one breath, I leapt, shattering the ground.
With two breaths, I brought the edge of my hand down on the startled man's right arm as he moved to defend himself.
With three breaths, I grabbed the neck of the person who staggered after losing his balance.
“Urk!”
“Who sent you?”
“I-It is a misunderstanding! I am Gellion.”
What? Gellion? The Crown Prince's attendant?
Startled, I tore off the robe, and it really was him! The old man who always attended the Crown Prince stood before me.
“D-Didn't you just follow me?”
“His Highness invited you! Have you forgotten the meaning of the New Year Festival?”
I was completely flustered as I watched the attendant angrily protest.
I-I made a mistake. Come to think of it, festivals like this were usually events where the male and female leads romantically confirmed their feelings for one another!
Countless scenes from novels and films I'd seen flashed through my mind. The Crown Prince and his lover, who was clearly no ordinary person, disguising themselves as commoners and enjoying a date late into the night in a dazzling, beautiful city.
As sunset approached, the Crown Prince would reveal his true feelings in an atmosphere that made their hearts race. That was exactly how it was supposed to go!
I let out a long sigh, lowered my head, and began following the attendant.
“... His Highness didn't see what just happened, did he?”
“He did not. But, my lady, what was that movement just now? I, Gellion, can say with certainty that your movements were like those of an imperial knight.”
What else would it be? It was the power of punishment granted when Lie Detection found a lie.
My breath caught. A moment ago, I had clearly detected this man's lie!
The instant I stepped back to put distance between us, pale smoke blocked my vision.
Ha! A fog like this couldn't stop Justice from activating. With the power of a blessing, these pathetic people would be-
... Was it really right to use my blessing?
I was so confused that I didn't know what to do. The film I was in wasn't an action fantasy, but a romance film!
If the heroine in a romance film fell into danger, the normal development was for the prince to appear like the wind and save her. I'd never once seen a story where the heroine suddenly unleashed miracles and slaughtered assassins.
Would using my blessing to sweep away the assassins here ruin the story? That brief hesitation cost me my chance to fight back.
“Capture her alive! Anyone who hurts her will not leave with all their limbs intact! She seems trained in martial arts, so be careful!”
My consciousness began to fade. Faintly... someone's face crossed my mind.
* * *
“Why was Elena even hesitating over that? If she'd just used Justice, she could've wiped them all out. She got caught because of that hesitation!”
“Wasn't Elena's judgment right? Isn't the male lead supposed to barge in and save her now? What kind of romance film has the heroine beat assassins to death? Wouldn't fighting with the attendant before that have been the real mistake?”
Listening to Mook-seong and A-ri talk behind him, Ga-in became confused. A heroine crushing assassins with brute force in a romance film was certainly an absurd development. Did that mean that even when enemies attacked, she had to deliberately hold back and get captured?
Ga-in suddenly felt a headache coming on.
‘This mission is fucking harder than I thought!’
Song-i, so immersed that she looked ready to enter the screen herself, raised a slightly different question.
“What was that image that flashed by at the end? It looked like Elena suddenly remembered something.”
“It passed too quickly for me to know. I think she passed out before she could remember it properly.”
Of course, someone did realize the identity of that image. Leaning back in her chair, A-ri felt an indescribably subtle emotion.
‘... In that moment of danger, Elena thought of the true prince in her heart. Even knowing that prince was in a position where he could never save her.’
It was a strange feeling. A-ri knew Elena had Ga-in on her mind, but seeing it in such a specific image felt different.
‘What if.’
‘If I faced a situation like that, would I think of someone too?’
The moment her thoughts reached that point, A-ri couldn't bear it any longer and kicked the person in front of her.
“Argh! What was that for?”
“Just because.”
Footnotes:
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