The dark and damp interrogation room of the police station. The handsome police officer sat handcuffed in a chair. Other officers surrounded him, their faces filled with rage and disgust.
Police Officer 2: "Speak! Why did you try to do something so heinous to that girl? You've tarnished the name of our department! Tell us why you did it!"
The officer began to laugh lowly. The laugh was chilling. Suddenly, with one jerk, he snapped the handcuffs, causing the others to step back. He slowly moved his hand toward his face and peeled off a thin silicone mask from near his ear.
The entire room went silent. Beneath the mask was not the handsome officer, but the sharp and terrifyingly beautiful face of Anashia. As her hair fell onto her shoulders, her most frightening feature was revealed—her famous red pupils, glowing like fire.
Anashia: (With a sinister laugh) "Your real officer reached the gates of hell a long time ago. I was just in disguise, testing Alia."
The officers stood stunned, reaching for their guns, but Anashia stood on the table with lightning speed.
Anashia: "Trying to rape Alia? Listen, no one in this world has the power to touch her. And the officer you're blaming today died long ago. I just wanted Alia to have the chance to eliminate her enemies with her own hands."
Anashia slammed a smoke bomb onto the floor. In an instant, the room filled with thick smoke. While the officers were coughing, Anashia smashed the window and vanished into the darkness.
On the streets of Seoul, the roar of her bike could be heard. Anashia was smiling; she knew that when Alia heard the truth, those long red nails would want to scratch Viktor and Anashia once again perhaps not out of shyness this time, but out of a strange thrill. That night, Alia was alone in a secret room of the palace. She was thinking about Anashia and Viktor. But suddenly, the room door closed on its own. Alia grew alert, her long red nails digging into the armrest of the sofa.
Out of the dark corner stepped the handsome police officer. Alia was stunned—Anashia had unmasked and left, so who was this boy? Did he really not die?
There was no longer any police-like honesty in the boy's eyes; there was only a primitive ferocity. Before Alia could grasp the situation, the boy pulled out a leather belt and, in the blink of an eye, looped it around Alia's neck and gave it a sharp yank.
Choking, Alia collapsed from the sofa onto the floor. There was no one else in the room—only Alia and that mysterious boy.
The Boy: (Whispering coldly in Alia's ear) "Did you think the game ended just because Anashia wore a mask? I bribed the grim reaper to come back just to crush your royal ego. Those red nails won't save you today."
Alia struggled in agony, the belt around her neck tightening further. She realized this boy wasn't just any ordinary officer—he might be an old enemy of Viktor's or a mercenary who had been waiting in disguise.
Alia tried to grab the boy's hand, her nails sinking into his wrist. But he didn't stop. He dragged Alia toward the wall.
The Boy: "Tell me, Queen, where are your Viktor and Anashia now? In this closed room, only my rule will prevail."
Alia's vision was turning blurry, but her inner defiance hadn't died yet. In the silence of that secret room, only the friction of the leather and Alia's heavy breathing could be heard. When Alia realized she was losing her breath, she gathered every ounce of strength left in her body. With a sudden kick (line mere), she tried to shove the boy away. This unexpected attack caused the boy to lose his balance and step back, loosening the grip of the belt slightly.
But the mysterious boy was not one to give up easily. As Alia tried to scramble up and escape, he lunged forward and grabbed her long hair in a tight fist, yanking it backward.
Alia: (Screaming in pain) "Ah!"
The force on her hair pulled her head back, nearly snapping her neck. The boy moved his face close to her ear with pure ferocity.
The Boy: "Where will you run? There's no way out of this room today. I won't even give you a chance to scratch me with those long red nails."
Alia was writhing in pain, tears stinging her eyes, but the fire of the Mafia Queen within her hadn't died out. She reached out, trying to find a piece of furniture or a weapon against the wall. She could feel her hair being pulled from the roots, but the boy's grip remained unshakable.
The silence of the room was now heavy with Alia's groans of pain and the boy's heavy breathing. Alia wondered will Viktor and Anashia truly never know what's happening to her in this closed room? Or has this boy played a move even bigger than theirs to get in here?
Alia tried to use her long red nails to claw at the hand that was twisting her hair. Alia fought with everything she had. She tried to leave deep gashes on the boy's hand with her sharp, long red nails, and she succeeded a few times. But the boy seemed as if he were made of stone; his grip didn't loosen despite the pain.
Alia struck his stomach with her elbow, desperately trying to twist and free herself. However, in terms of sheer physical strength, the boy was far superior. Every time Alia tried to escape, he would cruelly yank her hair harder or use the belt to pin her down.
Alia thought to herself that she was becoming exhausted fighting alone. It was becoming impossible for a woman to hold out against this monstrous strength for much longer. Her vision was blurring, and her body was growing numb.
Alia: (To herself) "Viktor... Anashia... where are you?"
The boy pinned Alia to the floor and whispered in her ear, "I will turn all your pride into dust today. No mafia title can save you now."
Alia closed her eyes in agony. Her nails were now only clutching the carpet on the floor. Just as she was about to give up hope, the heavy wooden door of the room burst open with a deafening crash. The horror in that dark corner of the room intensified. As the mysterious boy nearly overpowered Alia, he erupted in a sinister joy. While Alia struggled in agony, the boy made the sound of unbuckling his belt chain and began to laugh hideously.
But the most terrifying part was his voice. He leaned in close to Alia's ear and began to whisper exactly in Anashia's voice.
The Boy (In Anashia's voice): "What happened, Alia? Where did all that fire go? Is this how weak I wanted to see you?"
Alia shuddered. For a moment, she wondered—is this truly Anashia? Or is someone else mimicking her voice? The intoxication and cruelty in that tone sounded exactly like Anashia.
The Boy (In Anashia's voice): "Those long red nails of yours look so helpless today. When I bind you with this belt, will you still call out my name like you used to?"
A cold shiver ran through Alia's body. She couldn't understand if this boy was a shapeshifting killer or some dark secret from Anashia's past that even she didn't know about. The combination of the boy's distorted laughter and Anashia's voice created a nightmare.
Alia gritted her teeth, trying to gather her last bit of strength. She knew if she didn't do something now, both her honor and her life would end at the hands of this monster in this closed room.
Just then, a shadow moved past the shattered door.Everything turned blurry before Alia's eyes. Under the unbearable pain and suffocating situation, her body gave out. She became motionless and fainted. Her long red nails lay limp on the carpet.
Inside the room, the atmosphere was strange and horrific. Even though Alia was unconscious, the faint sound of two people laughing reached her ears. That sinister laughter echoed against the walls.
Suddenly, Alia's body jolted. Although she wasn't conscious, the tremors in her body made it clear that something extreme or brutal was being inflicted upon her. What was happening in the darkness of that closed room was bone-chilling to imagine.
The sound of the two people laughing combined with the harsh clinking of the belt chain created a hellish scene. Alia's unconscious body shuddered repeatedly. The mysterious boy and someone else perhaps a shadow or an unseen companion were taking advantage of Alia's helplessness, engaged in a terrifying game.
At that exact moment, the room light flickered on for a second and then went out again. Alia's royal pride and her fire as a Mafia Queen were now being humiliated in a dark room. Had Viktor and Anashia truly arrived too late? Or was there a much bigger conspiracy hidden behind this laughter?
Only those shadows reigned over Alia's motionless body now. It was morning. The harsh sunlight filtering through the window stung Alia's eyes. She tried to get up from the bed, but an unbearable pain surged through her entire body. It felt as if her bones had been crushed. Her body was so numb that she couldn't move an inch.
When Alia pulled the sheet aside and looked at herself, her heart seemed to stop for a moment. She saw that she had no clothes on. The horrors of that closed room from last night flashed vaguely in her memory—the belt, the sinister laughter, and the reign of those shadows over her unconscious body.
The maid, Maria, sat beside the bed with her head bowed. In Maria's hand was a bowl of lukewarm water. She was soaking a soft cloth and gently wiping away the clotted blood and bruised, blue marks on Alia's body. Tears were streaming down Maria's face.
With great effort, Alia asked in a broken voice—
Alia: (In a faint whisper) "What... what happened to me? How did I get here? Where are Viktor and Anashia?"
Maria couldn't answer; she only sobbed. She looked at Alia's long red nails, some of which were torn or broken from the struggle. Maria only pointed toward the corner of the room where the torn belt and Alia's shredded clothes lay.
Alia realized that what had happened last night was not just a nightmare. Inside her royal palace, her greatest humiliation had taken place. But the strangest part was, why was Maria silent? And who were those two people laughing?
Alia gripped the bedsheets tightly with her numb hands. Tears like fire rolled down her eyes. She realized that the walls of this palace now stood as witnesses to a terrifying secret and a deep stain of disgrace.