“Episode 12”
Instead of a pillow, it was the frost-covered stone floor. His head felt heavy, and his clothes, patched in places, were threadbare.
There was bread and wine to stimulate appetite, but there was no desire for survival. The man sat in a corner, watching ants carry bread crumbs, killing time.
“Still at it,” said Phillip, his only visitor. He brought food whether the man ate it or not, and he came to talk, so the cobwebs wouldn’t settle in his mind.
“Why keep trying to escape?”
The prisoner sighed. His once plump cheeks were now hollow, making him look ten years older than his actual age. His skinny wrists were unsuitable even for chopping wood. It was all because Phillip’s normal meals had been taken away.
“Do you really expect the master to set you free if you keep this up?”
Phillip chuckled. He cleared away the stale bread from the plate.
“It’s a shame, really. You’re still not fully awake.”
“Please, please let me see the lord. I’ll explain everything.”
Phillip handed the man a small item he had brought.
“What’s this?”
It was a handheld mirror with a pearl in the center. Suspicious, the man looked around the mirror and then screamed and dropped it.
Crash! Dozens of shattered mirror pieces. His fragmented reflection was the same.
“No! No!”
With a cat-like beard, a nose protruding like a hedgehog, and feathers densely covering like a bird, he clawed at his hair.
Biting his tongue, there was no change. He wailed as the taste of salty blood filled his mouth. His eyes saw himself as a bug under a magnifying glass. His mother lying on a sickbed would spit, and the friends who once stood shoulder to shoulder would vomit. There was no recognition of his departed father. In addition to being accused of ruining the Lisburne family, the heir to the family had become a clumsy beast. It was all because of the detestable Clothan Caciliere.
“Do you still not understand?”
“Turn me back to normal right away!”
Phillip was getting tired of all this. It was the umpteenth time this had happened. He hoped the man would become numb to it. Phillip said the same thing for the fiftieth time.
“Everyone here is like that.”
“These cursed bastards! They turned me into a monster?!”
“Everyone here owes it to the master.”
Phillip kneeled in front of the frenzied man.
“I’m not particularly fond of the new family members.”
“I am the eldest son of the Lisburne family!”
“Especially clueless ones like you.”
“Shut up!”
Gathering the broken mirror pieces, Phillip continued.
“I’ve been taking care of the master since he was a child.”
The gathered mirror pieces also reflected Phillip’s appearance. He still wore the cursed shell.
“I swore allegiance, but because of you, I tried to escape just once, and look what happened.”
“I-I didn’t try to escape!”
“Have you ever seen Jack, who grinds the fodder in the stables?”
The man remembered. He was a man with the stature of a bear and sad eyes who moved hay around.
“He happened to find this place by chance.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“And he gambled away the money borrowed for the lord. Promised to pay double.”
Phillip sang the rest of his words like a little tune.
“Our lord gladly agreed, and Jack ended up losing not just half, but one-third of one-third of your share. What do you think happened after that?”
“…”
“Of course, you saw Jack with your own eyes. You can guess the outcome without me saying.”
“I can repay.”
“You can’t.”
“I can repay. I can borrow right now! Don’t compare me to such lowly gamblers!”
“Unfortunately, once a curse is cast, it cannot be undone.”
“What, what?”
‘Curse?’ Heshe was momentarily dumbfounded by Phillip’s words, and as he stared at his dry lips, a discreet sound of footsteps came from below.
“Phillip.”
Mary, with her nose wrinkled from the stench, spoke irritably.
“Introduce him now.”
“Got it.”
With secretive glances exchanged, there was an atmosphere of trickery surrounding Heshe.
Unsure of their intentions, Phillip first released the chains that bound him. Then he put a worn-out hat on Heshe’s greasy head. It wasn’t much to look at, but it would do. Finally, Mary, with her grating voice, listed a few matters.
“From now on, your name is John.”
“What? Are you talking to me?”
“It’s better not to rebel if you can help it. The pain will be worse than death.”
Heshe suppressed the curse-filled words. He had to endure. This was a golden opportunity. Midlife Mary was easily subdued, and the surveillance was at most the old Phillip. He couldn’t end his life like this. He must escape no matter what.
With Heshe leading the way with his lips tightly sealed, the three quickly made their way above ground.
Heshe pressed down the worn-out hat deeply. His eyes stung from the light.
“Just a moment.”
Phillip raised his hand. Heshe, whose mind was racing with thoughts of escape, sweated profusely. He was terrified of being asked to turn back. He couldn’t stand being stuck underground without income.
“Wait here for a moment.”
“That’s fine.”
The two left alone exchanged a knowing glance. Heshe’s brain raced with thoughts of escape as he looked only towards the exit. It was firmly locked. On top of that, rain poured outside. It was the worst conditions.
“Are you planning to fight?”
“Don’t even talk about it.”
“Why?”
“Our lord doesn’t know when to stop.”
The conversation that had been murmuring since earlier was bitter. Scratching his itchy head, Heshe followed their gaze.
“Hey, hey!”
A betrayal from his own blood. It was Ray. But Heshe couldn’t scream. It was because of Clothan sitting behind him. Something sinister. The horror of tearing his insides gnawed at Heshe fiercely.
“It’s still not undone?”
It was a peculiar scene. The rough Ray only looked out the window, while Clothan, embracing her from behind, was wandering around. Heshe pinched his own cheek.
“Get out of here.”
It was chilly but fragile. It wasn’t something to argue about with Clothan, who had lived for centuries as a vampire.
“When are you going to let me go?”
“I don’t want to. Go away.”
“When?”
When Clothan leaned in to kiss her neck, Ray pushed his arm away.
“How could you do that?”
“What?”
“What?”
“Just what. What?”
He was a demon every night. Sometimes Ray cried, unfamiliar with how wicked he could be. Yet Clothan greeted her in the morning as if nothing had happened. It was an unfair treatment.
“I cried and begged yesterday. But Clothan ignored me. Just, just like that.”
“Just how did he do it?”
“Just said bad things… Like that.”
“Bad things?”
With a thoughtful tone, Clothan rolled his eyes.
“I never did anything.”
“You did!”
“Can you be specific?”
Specific. The disgusting tone lingered in her ears. Ray, with tightly closed eyes, murmured a word of reluctance.
“About, about leaving… Saying that kind of thing.”
“Should I promise not to say things like that from now on?”
“Really! Clothan, if you don’t say such things, ah, can’t you?”
Clothan, with his arms folded, glared.
“This could be interesting.”
“What?”
“A scoundrel mocking a noble lady. How’s that?”
Clothan kissed Ray, who was leaning against the window. It was a short and simple kiss.
“You’re so beautiful.”
“What, what are you doing?”
“Surely you have a fiancé?”
Behind her was the cold window, and in front of her, Clothan blocked the way. He leaned down towards Ray’s chest, took a deep breath, and asked about the buttons on her dress.
“Is your fiancé treating you well?”
“Why are you like this… Don’t do this.”
“When you come to my shabby bedroom every night.”
“Clothan…”
“Have you forgotten the night when you spread your legs?”
“Ugh.”
He hugged her tightly. After generously biting her plump lips and tangling his tongue like a snake, he kissed her. It was an extremely tender kiss. Their frequency of encounters increased even more. She even tried to wrap her hands around Clothan’s neck.
“Hey, there!”
At that moment, a startled voice woke them up from their reverie. Phillip grabbed them, but Heshe had already stepped forward. Clothan, with a furrowed brow, looked at Phillip.
“I, I, I…”
He was already a puppet enslaved by Clothan. Creeping actions were impossible. Sweating profusely like a downpour, Heshe asked Ray for help, but she responded coldly. It was a gaze not of recognition, but of unfamiliarity with facing someone new.
“This is John, who just joined us.”
“Oh, I…”
“Our lord asked to bring this laborer.”
Wrapped around Clothan’s crossed arms like a layered baby, Ray was snuggled between his opposite arms. Heshe understood. More than what Clothan intended, Ray wouldn’t recognize him even after the sun went down. With the same bloodline, Ray called someone else John.
“Hello, John.”
“Don’t greet so prettily.”
“Clothan. I’m really embarrassed…”
There was no sign of a break in the rain. Outside was muddy, and the road was long. The siblings, having lost their homeland, had their ankles bound. The only option was to intercept the food given by others like parasitic birds.
“Let’s go back now.”
With an angry expression, Phillip grabbed Heshe’s shoulder and dragged him away. It was a pitiful sight of being pushed around. Heshe thought as he was dragged away. He couldn’t end his life in this ignorant mansion. The proud siblings of the Lisburne family may have lost their limbs, but they did not give up. Ray, still unchanged, was there. The survival of the family depended on her.
The time will come. Even the fierce snake hibernates in winter. There will be flaws in Clothan as well. Heshe concealed his eyes, burning with resentment.
Today was a tactical retreat.
