The exit was right there.
Little Jack stared at the basement exit just a few steps away. There was only an old lock hanging on it.
He could pick a lock like that in ten seconds. No, five.
Having picked every lock in the manor, he was that confident.
But the hoarse voice coming from behind him made his back tremble uncontrollably.
Why? Hadn't that bad man already fallen asleep?
Little Jack didn't dare turn around.
As though as long as he didn't look back, he wouldn't have to face the most hopeless outcome.
He charged toward the exit with his head down, clutching a short piece of wire in his shaking hand. It was the key to his hope.
But he was so nervous that the lock, which should have opened at once, now seemed impossible to even hit with the wire.
An unhurried voice came from behind him.
"Did you know? Hypnotic potions stopped working on me a long time ago. They can only calm me down a little."
The voice was steady and calm, casually explaining why he had not fallen asleep. He was in no hurry to catch Little Jack as he tried to escape.
He sounded as though everything was under control.
"Everything should have gone smoothly, exactly according to plan. This fallen city would disappear in silence. The clean earth would no longer have sin, pain, or torment. I had already chosen the most merciful way, letting everything end in a dream, yet you rejected my mercy and insisted on ruining my plan."
The hoarse voice gradually gained emotion and began to turn angry.
It seemed what angered him most about Little Jack's escape attempt was not the escape itself. After all, he had not succeeded yet. It was the fact that the attempt