Eldritch Horror Theatre

"You ate all of this?"

Given the truly lavish spread on the table, Fu Qian looked back at Violetta.

"Mhm!"

The little girl gave a crisp nod, her eyes practically glued to the table.

Fu Qian tactfully stepped aside, letting her return to her seat.

Once she scrambled into her chair, she eagerly grabbed a pastry and stuffed it straight into her mouth.

"Where did all of this come from?"

Watching Violetta gorge herself, Fu Qian stared in sheer disbelief.

This completely contradicted the atmosphere he had pictured!

Under normal circumstances, shouldn't she be huddled tightly against the edge of the bed, hugging her knees and shivering in terror?

Yet right now, the room held absolutely no sign of being bleak, miserable, and desolate. Instead, it looked like she was throwing a birthday party.

He had previously thought his own dinner was at least passable, but in comparison to this, it felt so pathetic he wanted to gag it back up.

"It's dinner."

Violetta seemed somewhat puzzled by Fu Qian's question.

"They asked me what I wanted to eat. I told them, and then they brought it to me."

The difference in treatment was way too extreme!

Fu Qian shook his head and let out a long sigh at the ceiling.

"I thought you were here to find Mother."

"I am. But Mother also said that pastries are the most wonderful things in the world, and you can never pass them up if you come across them."

Heh... fair enough.

Fu Qian did not press the issue, and he politely declined the cupcake Violetta held out to him.

"Did Mother ever tell you where to find her?"

"...Yes."

Violetta earnestly wiped her hands clean, then carefully opened a small bag and poured out its contents.

Fu Qian squinted at them and found there were only two items in total: a palm-sized black-and-white photograph, and a golden Key worn completely smooth from use.

"This is the Key Mother gave me. As long as I find her room, I can open it and see her."

Violetta said with a serious expression, clutching the Key tightly.

"Alright."

Fu Qian took the Key and laid it flat in his palm.

It was a rather classical Key, with a fairly simple structure.

Theoretically, he could pick this kind of lock with ease, even without the Key.

Of course, that was only in theory. Considering how every aspect of this task oozed with bizarre phenomena, this Key likely held far more symbolic weight.

If he actually tried picking the lock with a hairpin when the time came, a bolt of divine lightning might just strike him from the sky.

"Did Mother tell you where her room is?"

Returning the Key to Violetta, Fu Qian picked up the black-and-white photograph.

The image was very simple: a woman in an elaborate gown was holding a slightly younger Violetta.

The woman was fairly young, with a hint of playfulness tugging at the corners of her lips. She had a distinctly aristocratic air about her, and their facial features shared a striking resemblance.

"Just follow the road all the way to the end, and it will be there."

Violetta answered Fu Qian's question with unwavering certainty.

...

'I knew it!'

Fu Qian sighed. He hadn't held out much hope to begin with.

He tried flipping the photograph over, but found no special information on the back.

"Why was that person outside trying to grab you earlier?"

"Because I'm Snow White."

Violetta repeated the very first thing she had told him.

"They won't let me go out to find Mother."

...

"When you say 'they,' who exactly do you mean?"

Fu Qian pondered for a moment before asking.

"A whole lot of them. They live in the Wooden Castle."

"A lot of them?"

Fu Qian frowned.

"So far, I've seen a Scarecrow in red clothes, that cleaning lady from earlier, and a Magic Mirror. What else is there besides those?"

"You saw the Magic Mirror?"

To his surprise, Violetta's reaction to the words 'Magic Mirror' was exceptionally strong.

She instantly put down the pastry in her hand and looked around in alarm.

"The Magic Mirror is extremely dangerous. Mother said it knows everything, so I must never casually look into mirrors outside. And even if I do see it, I must never, ever speak to it."

'Too bad. Not only did I look into a mirror earlier, but I even had a pleasant chat with that entity.'

Fu Qian mused, before a sudden realization struck him.

Under Violetta's bewildered gaze, he walked over to the beige curtains and threw them open—only to reveal a solid wall behind them.

No wonder he had felt a vague sense of wrongness earlier; this room didn't even have a window.

And it wasn't just that. Fu Qian scanned the room.

There wasn't a single reflective surface to be found in the entire room. Even the doorknob was made of a dark, non-reflective metal.

They were truly doing everything in their power to avoid the Magic Mirror. This place was scrubbed far more thoroughly than his own room...

Fu Qian subconsciously turned around, staring at this little girl who wasn't even old enough for elementary school.

Was this a coincidence, or did she possess some sort of mysterious power?

Considering there was no immediate answer to that question, Fu Qian decided to set it aside for now and continue his gentle probing.

"So after they catch you, they'll drag you back to the Wooden Castle?"

"No, they'll kill me."

To his surprise, this time Violetta shook her head quite naturally.

She was that sure?

Fu Qian frowned.

"Kill you?"

"Mhm. If Snow White doesn't run away, she gets killed."

Violetta's tone was exceptionally firm, as if she were reciting some sort of rule.

"I understand."

Fu Qian let out an 'oh' of realization, recalling the contents of the fairy tale.

"Will they feed you a Poison Apple? And then put you in a crystal coffin, until one day a prince wakes you up?"

"What's a prince?"

Violetta looked puzzled.

"They won't feed me any Apples. They'll take out my lungs and liver."

...

"And then chop off my head and plant it in the garden."

...

"The next year, a tree will grow out of it, and I'll turn into a little bird in the tree."

"Did Mother tell you that, too?"

"Yeah."

Your Mother's version of the fairy tale really is... Fu Qian rubbed his head, momentarily at a loss for how to evaluate it.

However, Violetta's calm reaction didn't necessarily mean she looked at death unflinchingly; a child this young simply didn't grasp the true concept of death.

"You'll help me, won't you?"

Fu Qian didn't say anything for a moment, but Violetta took the initiative to ask, her Amber-like eyes shining as brightly as morning stars.

"Because I'm Mister Doctor?"

"Mhm!"

Violetta nodded forcefully.

Thank goodness. It seemed that even though her Mother had omitted the prince from the story out of some unknown twisted sense of humor, she had at least kept the dwarfs.

Of course, the most crucial part was that he, as Mister Doctor, really was going to have to play the babysitter and play along with this little Snow White's quest to find Mother.

"Yes."

Fu Qian let out a long sigh and gave an affirmative answer.

"Thank you!"

With Fu Qian's approval, Violetta's expression instantly relaxed, and she revealed a heartfelt smile.

Right at that moment, a clear knocking sound came from the direction of the door.

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