The transition did not feel like magic.
It felt like being crushed.
One moment the three girls had been walking through a quiet forest path.
The next—
The world folded inward.
Color drained away.
Sound vanished.
Air disappeared from their lungs.
For a single impossible instant, existence became a silent vacuum.
Then reality snapped back.
Three bodies collapsed onto cold marble.
"Ow—!"
Theresia groaned as she pushed herself upright, rubbing the back of her head.
Her gray hair fell messily around her shoulders as she blinked in confusion.
"…Where are we?"
Her voice echoed faintly in the enormous room.
Behind her, someone sighed.
Nine slowly sat up from the floor, brushing strands of black hair away from her face. Her red eyes narrowed as they adjusted to the dim light.
"Tia," she said flatly.
"Try not to shout."
Theresia turned immediately.
"Oh good, you're alive!"
"Unfortunately."
Nearby, Rhea was still on the floor.
The blonde girl slowly pushed herself up, blue eyes wide as she looked around.
The room was enormous.
Black iron pillars stretched toward a vaulted ceiling. A massive bed rested beneath a silk canopy, its frame carved with intricate metalwork. Velvet curtains hung beside tall windows overlooking the distant city.
Every surface gleamed with wealth.
Gold.
Polished marble.
Dark carved wood.
Rhea's voice trembled.
"…This place looks expensive."
Theresia stood up fully now, spinning in a slow circle.
"Expensive is an understatement."
Her eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"Did we teleport into a palace or something?"
Nine didn't answer immediately.
She was studying the room.
Carefully.
Her gaze moved from the bed… to the iron pillars… to the heavy curtains.
Then it stopped.
On a symbol engraved into the metalwork.
A jagged black circlet.
Nine's red eyes narrowed slightly.
She turned her head, noticing the same crest repeated across the room.
On the pillars.
On the furniture.
On the door.
Everywhere.
Nine exhaled slowly.
"…I see."
Theresia blinked.
"What?"
Nine stood up and brushed dust from her coat.
Her voice was calm.
"We're in a noble house."
Theresia tilted her head.
"Okay…?"
Nine continued.
"In Rovenwale."
Rhea froze.
"What?!"
She grabbed the edge of the bed to steady herself.
"The Iron Kingdom?!"
Nine nodded slightly.
"The crest confirms it."
Theresia scratched her head.
"…Wait, how can you tell?"
Nine pointed toward the symbol carved into the iron pillar.
The jagged black circlet.
"The royal crest of Rovenwale."
She gestured around the room.
"And judging by the scale of this chamber…"
Her eyes moved toward the massive bed.
"…this isn't just a noble house."
Realization slowly spread across Rhea's face.
"Oh no…"
Before Nine could finish—
Boots thundered down the hallway outside.
"Did you hear that?!" a voice barked.
"There was a sound inside!"
"But His Majesty is still in council!"
"…Then who is in the royal chamber?!"
Nine's eyes widened slightly.
"…That answers the question."
The doors exploded open.
"Royal Guard!"
A squad of soldiers rushed into the room.
They wore layered matte-black armor, heavy plates grinding together as they moved. Spears leveled instantly toward the three girls.
The Iron Guard.
They froze when they saw them.
Three strangers standing inside the King's private chamber.
Silence filled the room.
Theresia slowly raised a hand.
"…Hi?"
Nine closed her eyes.
"This is bad."
Very bad.
The Iron Guard did not lower their weapons.
The captain's gaze moved across the three girls slowly.
Three strangers.
Standing inside the King's private chamber.
His voice was calm, but edged with steel.
"…Explain."
Theresia raised a hand immediately.
"Oh! We can do that!"
Nine closed her eyes.
"Tia—"
But Theresia had already started.
"So basically," she said, gesturing enthusiastically, "we were walking through a forest and then the world folded in half and then we landed here."
Silence filled the room.
One of the guards frowned.
"…What?"
Rhea stepped forward quickly.
"Please listen!" she said nervously. "We're telling the truth. We don't even know where this place is. One moment we were somewhere else and then suddenly we appeared here."
"In the King's private chamber," the captain replied flatly.
Rhea faltered.
"…Yes."
Nine sighed quietly and stepped forward.
Her red eyes were calm.
"We understand how suspicious this looks," she said.
"We are not assassins."
A guard scoffed.
"That's exactly what an assassin would say."
Nine ignored him.
"If we intended harm, we would not still be standing here."
The captain studied her for a moment.
Her composure was unusual.
But the situation was impossible.
No one entered the King's chamber without permission.
No one.
His decision was immediate.
"Seize them."
Theresia blinked.
"Wait— what?"
The soldiers moved instantly.
Two guards grabbed her arms before she could react.
"Hey! Hey— hold on!"
Rhea gasped as another pair of soldiers seized her from behind.
"I'm not resisting!" she said quickly.
Nine didn't struggle.
She simply raised her hands slightly.
"That would be the expected outcome."
One guard pulled a set of gray shackles from his belt.
Dull-Iron.
The metal was rough and dark, its surface dull like unpolished stone.
The first pair snapped around Nine's wrists.
The moment the metal closed, she felt it.
Her mana quieted.
Suppressed.
"…Dull-Iron," she murmured.
"Of course."
Another guard locked shackles around Theresia.
She twisted slightly as they tightened.
"Okay! That's really unnecessary!"
A third pair secured Rhea's wrists.
The captain looked down at them coldly.
"Three unknown individuals discovered inside the royal chamber."
His voice carried the weight of a final verdict.
"You will explain yourselves to His Majesty."
Theresia groaned.
"Couldn't we just explain to you instead?"
No one answered.
The guards pushed them toward the door.
Chains clinked softly as they were escorted into the corridor.
The palace halls stretched wide and silent.
Tall iron pillars lined the walls, each engraved with the jagged circlet of Rovenwale.
Theresia leaned slightly toward Nine as they walked.
"…Nine?"
"Yes."
"I think we might be in serious trouble."
Nine stared straight ahead.
"Yes."
Rhea swallowed nervously.
"…What happens now?"
Nine glanced down at the iron shackles around her wrists.
Then at the soldiers surrounding them.
"…Now," she said quietly,
"we meet the king."
Behind them, the doors of the royal chamber slowly closed.
And deep within the Iron Palace, the first threads of fate began to tighten.