She is not an investigator.

It is a perfect fairy tale kingdom, and also the last utopia for young girls.

But it was incredibly fragile and incredibly short-lived; it crumbled and rebuilt countless times during the girl's countless awakenings and slumbers.

until that day.

Until this day.

Someone opened the coffin and woke the girl.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Are you my destined one?"

The princess, so perfect she seemed otherworldly, stood gracefully beside the crystal coffin, gazing at Igris before her.

She stretched out her hand, the ribbons of her white gauze gloves swaying slightly, drawing Igris's attention.

This is the Kingdom of the Unbelievable.

This is the wondrous kingdom that has awakened.

The princess awaited Igris's answer, but instead of the embrace and care of her destined one, she was met with disappointment.

Instead, it was a cold handgun.

The magnificent and solemn castle has collapsed, and ruins covered with dust and rubble have become the main feature here.

The once azure sky turned blood red, and countless cold eyes transformed into clouds, floating in the air.

The world has changed; the world has awakened.

This is the true nature of the Wonder Kingdom, this is the dream after awakening.

“Answer my question.”

Igris's finger slowly landed on the trigger, and amidst the princess's frozen smile, she asked in a low voice.

"Who are you, and what is your name?"

The princess opened her mouth, her puzzled expression genuine, but faced with the cold muzzle of the gun, she could only lower her head slightly, lift her skirt in a gesture of respect, and speak softly.

"Krentia, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"This is not your name."

Igris's pistol could fire a bullet at any moment, but the princess in front of her still tilted her head in confusion, looking puzzled.

"There may be others with the same name as me, but this is indeed my name."

She still insists on her statement, insisting that her name is indeed Krendia.

But that should have been the witch's name, not hers.

"Squeak."

The sound of a rabbit.

In this incredible city teeming with rabbits, hearing their calls is a truly rare treat.

Because rabbits can talk.

"Squeak."

The sound came from the gate, and Igris' gun instantly shifted, pointing towards the increasingly noisy entrance.

Then the rabbits arrived.

The once fluffy and adorable white rabbits now appeared one after another in front of the gate.

They fell silent, stopping in place, their scarlet eyes fixed on Igris, and also on the princess.

Until they opened their mouths, revealing a mouthful of fangs, their already rotting bodies, and their white fur that once symbolized purity but now resembled stark white bones.

Like ocean waves, they surged toward the two of them.

Tyranny, greed, hunger.

A beast-like emotion arose in the rabbits, which were made of corpses and bits of flesh, and they attacked the two of them without mercy.

Without hesitation, Igris placed the princess behind her and shot a rabbit that lunged at her face with a single shot.

The rabbit fell to the ground after being hit by the bullet, but soon it seemed completely unharmed and rejoined the surging crowd.

Their numbers were endless, and Igris' bullets were simply not enough. She had no choice but to draw her straight sword and set herself on fire.

"Miss Administrator...!"

She was calling out to that being, but now no one could answer her anymore.

The caretaker was neither beside her nor in this awakening dream.

"The rabbits..."

The princess stood behind Igris, watching the rabbits rushing towards her.

She couldn't understand why such a thing could happen in the wonderful and incredible kingdom, nor could she understand why these adorable rabbit soldiers had turned into what they were now.

She had slept in the crystal coffin for so long that she was no longer fully aware of what was happening in this world.

She is no longer the owner of this place.

The Bizarre Stage Play – The Arrogant Witch and the Wonder Kingdom: Chapter Twenty, Her Highness

"Ha ha……"

With heavy breathing and a burning sensation in her lungs, Igris slumped against the ruins of the castle, almost completely exhausted.

She is still not good at running, no matter how many times she tries.

The rabbits could no longer catch her, but the changes in the world were already a foregone conclusion.

Beside her, the princess who called herself Krendia was sitting upright next to Igris, staring blankly at the sky above.

The scarlet sky contrasted sharply with the previous azure, as if one had leaped from a fairy tale set into a horror theater.

Although Igris could choose not to think too much, since she specifically brought the princess with her to escape, she must have some questions to ask.

“Your Highness, you seem completely unfamiliar with all the changes that have taken place in this world.”

Igris was still interested in teasing the princess in front of her, but the princess was not in the mood for it at the moment.

She glanced at Igris's exhausted appearance, then at her own pure white dress, now stained with blood, and gently pursed her lips.

"I don't know... I don't know why it turned out this way..."

She didn't know, of course she didn't know, because she was the sleeping princess, and had only been awakened from her crystal coffin by Igris not long ago.

That's why she seemed so lost, that's why she seemed so helpless.

"Is it my fault...? Is it all my fault...? This world shouldn't be like this, this place should be..."

"That's enough, my dear princess. Self-pity won't change what has already happened."

Igris also didn't know what had happened, but she could try to guess.

The administrator wasn't with her, which didn't make sense. Even if they could be separated for a short time, this situation wouldn't have happened. Igris couldn't even find any trace of the administrator.

Igris couldn't think of anyone else who could have such an influence on the administrator in real life, except for a certain malicious voyeur.

But after all, we can't just leave all the problems to the other party, especially when Igris clearly senses the flaws and inconsistencies in all of this.

When did she start ignoring the presence of the caretaker? After entering the illusion from the opera house.

The caretaker was not by her side there, and she was still not by her side after leaving there.

Someone's trapped the building manager? That's impossible.

Rather than believing that she was actually in danger, Igris preferred to believe that the problem lay with herself.

It's very difficult to directly influence the administrator, because of her power and her special status.

However, since the administrator exists solely through Igris, it would be simpler to focus on Igris rather than directly influencing the administrator.

In other words, Igris may not have truly escaped the illusion she was experiencing in the theater at this moment. Instead, she may have believed that she had escaped the illusion while falling into a more real one.

Therefore, guided and hinted by this illusion, Igris did not immediately notice the disappearance of the housekeeper, which to some extent also blocked her inspiration and intuition.

So what was the purpose of doing this? Was it simply to harm Igris?

If it were really that simple, then the witch would have had countless opportunities to act, instead of wasting time and energy on such a wasteful act until now.

This wouldn't cause Igris any major trouble, nor would it be able to harm her.

Especially this dream realm. When Igris first came here, she had already heard from the rabbits that it was under the jurisdiction of a witch.

If the witch is indeed Krentia, then why would she deliberately turn this place into its current state? Is this what she wanted?

And this princess, perhaps, is the biggest question here.

Given the significant changes in the dream, why was the princess completely unharmed?

Not to mention, she seems to know a lot about this world.

Or, to put it another way, to know things outside this world, such as that this place was created, or that everything here is fake.

So, all things considered, could Iris be understood as... the part of this fake world that isn't fake?

Despite being a princess, she doesn't have a deep connection with this world.

That's certainly strange enough.

“I said, Your Highness.”

After resting for a while, Igris stood up straight and waved to her.

"You need to explain to me why you call yourself Krentia. As far as I know, Krentia should be the name of a witch."

Upon hearing Igris's question, the princess looked puzzled and somewhat at a loss.

"I don't understand... This is indeed my name, but who is this witch you speak of?"

A princess who doesn't know about witches.

The witch's name has indeed appeared among the inhabitants of this world, but the princess doesn't know it?

Igris increasingly felt like she was someone who had been temporarily pulled into this world, just like Igris.

But even Igris seemed to know more than she did.