The Male Leads Are Trapped in My House

‘It’s not her. It can’t be…’

I turned around and entered the Happy House. Then, I headed back to the banquet hall where I had first found the wolf.

There were torn pieces of table and ripped clothes scattered messily there.

I wanted to run away, but my steps were already headed in that direction. Slowly, step by step.

I walked towards where the clothes were.

A deep green, neat tailoring suit, and a flared skirt of the same color.

Before leaving for the train station in the morning, I had bid farewell to Susanna, who was packing up at the mansion. That was the outfit she was wearing then.

Only then did I notice another unidentified body in a corner of the banquet hall.

The creature that looked like a bear was merely a young child, and something like an iron skewer was embedded in its head.

Thump. Without even realizing it, my legs gave out, and I sat down hesitantly.

‘Could the wolf I just killed… have been Susanna?’

Whether a bear or a wolf, one of them seemed likely to be Susanna.

It wasn’t long before I got to know Susanna. It’s only about half a year at most.

But if the world was ending, she was one of the two people I wanted to protect.

‘But I killed her with my own hands… with my own hands…’

My hands trembled as if they were paralyzed.

I sat on the floor blankly, gazing endlessly at the torn piece of Susanna’s clothing.

‘With my own hands…’

If I hadn’t told Susan to come down to Brunel, would she have been okay?

In the novel, the population of the capital excluding Aurora’s group was described to be wiped out, but maybe there were other survivors hiding, not just the mentioned few.

Susanna could still be alive.

‘But now, what use is it to make such assumptions? What use…’

Something wet slid down my cheek. It took a while for me to realize it was tears.

Thump-

I snapped back to attention at a distant, thunderous noise. I didn’t even have time to grieve.

The source of the noise was towards the entrance of the Happy House. The monsters were still making a commotion outside.

I tried my best not to make any sound.

I carefully preserved Susanna’s torn dress and put it in her room, then brought the bear from the banquet hall and tossed it in the garden.

I don’t know how I managed to handle all of this.

‘I need to survive.’

That’s why I came here.

Like a mantra, I kept repeating that phrase in my hazy mind. I lifted Eden, who was slumped near the entrance, onto my shoulder and carried him inside.

In the end, I was the one protecting Eden. Of course, if he were to hear this, he’d probably laugh.

The original story deviated doesn’t mean Aurora can’t meet the scientist male lead and Ezra, right?

Such an ominous thought crossed my mind, but I decided to focus on the present. I couldn’t miss the present while dwelling on the original story’s details.

I laid Eden on the bed in my room, then sat down beside him, leaning against the bed.

‘This is just the beginning.’

This was why I came down to Brunel, to protect the characters. To avoid experiencing events like this.

“Both of you must have received a lot of love from God. Seeing how you were taken away so early.”

Suddenly, what Harrison had told me while crying in front of my parents’ graves came to mind.

Yes. That’s right. That’s why. God must have wanted to see Susanna quickly.

‘But still, the fact that I killed her with my own hands remains unchanged.’

I remained leaning against the bed, my face buried in the blanket, crying uncontrollably.

I couldn’t believe it. Why did this have to happen to us?

I cried and cried until I was exhausted and collapsed.

In my fatigue, with blurred vision, Harrison’s face faintly crossed my mind.

‘What about Harrison…?’

Could it be that Harrison didn’t arrive at the train station today because he had already fallen victim to those creatures?

‘No, don’t think negatively.’

Harrison should be okay. I can save both of them. And Eden too.

‘I can save them. I created the Happy House to survive, Cherry. I can do it.’

Continuing to self-suggest this way, I eventually fell asleep right where I was.

* * *

On the day the world came to an end, in the early afternoon.

Harrison had prepared five bags with weapons upon Cherry’s request.

Perhaps because of Eden, the police who had detected the smell had begun searching the trains leaving the capital, making using the train too risky.

So, Harrison decided it was even more daring and reckless to travel by train.

The train that ran through the southern region of the Grayden Kingdom was owned by a company invested in by the Sinclair family.

As a result, Harrison could bribe his way to having weapons transported in the train’s cargo.

It was an uncharacteristically bold and risky move for Harrison, but…

“Come quickly, Harrison.”

Cherry’s desperate voice continued to echo in his ears.

From Capital Benton to Kint, a total of four stations.

And only one station remained until the Kint train station. Just one station.

He hadn’t expected the train to stop at Westmore as the starting point. Suddenly, there was a roadblock at Westmore, and train service was suspended. The police authorities had ordered that everyone follow the instructions.

Harrison was anxiously sitting on the train, debating whether he should get off and use another mode of transportation.

Ah, ahhh!

At that moment, a man dressed in tattered clothing burst into the train, screaming. It was the beginning.

The man collapsed on the train floor, contorting his body grotesquely, then suddenly started to change.

In an instant, growing fur, elongating limbs, three eyes on the forehead. The widely opened mouth revealed sharp, crab-like fangs. And it promptly began devouring those nearby.

Aaaah!

Kyaah!

From that moment, hell broke loose inside the train.

Bizarre and chilling creatures kept emerging, and the number of survivors dwindled.

People fleeing pushed, trampled, and threw others to the monsters to save themselves.

As a result, the train’s entrance and exit were blocked.

Harrison quickly hid beneath a seat, realizing that there was no way to escape outside.

The train floor was drenched in blood in his line of sight.

Creak. Creak.

Harrison held his breath. He could hear the guttural sounds of the creatures nearby.

Thump. Thump.

Furry feet passed by, brushing against the seat he was crouched behind.

‘If only I had a weapon.’

Ironically, all the weapons he had brought were in the cargo compartment.

Suddenly, Harrison remembered the day when Cherry had abruptly come to him, asking for weapons.

“Why do you suddenly need weapons?”

“I want to protect myself.”

Wasn’t Harrison now heading to Brunel with weapons because of Cherry’s request? It eerily matched the current situation.

Moreover,

[Exclusive Report! Heiress Cherry Sinclair Borrowed 100 Million Gold under the Pretext of Overseas Business Funding! What is this Phantom Overseas Business…?!]

Hadn’t she borrowed an immense sum of money without a word and left for Brunel?

Then, unexpectedly, Harrison recalled what Cherry had said.

“Harrison, actually. The world is going to end. An epidemic that turns people into monsters will spread. I’m going to Brunel to prepare for the end.”

Cherry knew. She knew that the world would end up like this.

‘So, that’s why she suddenly bought a mansion in a rural village and did strange things.’

Only now did Harrison feel like all the pieces of the puzzle were fitting together. Cherry’s suspicious actions finally made sense.

But then, how did Cherry know about all of this in advance?

‘Whatever happened, I just hope she is safe.’

Figuring out the cause of everything could come later.

If Cherry used her power, she might easily overcome this situation. But if there were too many monsters, it would be a different story.

‘Still, taking the medicine under the Sinclair Chairman’s coercion turned out to be helpful.’

Cherry had a congenital weak constitution.

Worried about her, the Sinclair chairman had acquired medicine from somewhere one day.

After a year of taking the medicine, Cherry’s health had noticeably improved. But its effects had gone overboard, resulting in an immense power.

She had desperately concealed the power she had gained. Being a strong woman was not seen as a virtue in high society.

Harrison, who respected Cherry’s wishes, had also pretended not to know about it.

Unbeknownst to Harrison, Cherry had been able to use this power to her advantage due to the medicine.

Harrison hadn’t imagined that the situation would be like this when he arrived in Brunel. He just hoped that Cherry was safe, and that was why he had to hurry. Cherry was waiting.