Chapter 8
Are You, Letiom’s?
“He’s running a fever.”
Riche murmured as she gently touched Deon’s forehead, which was burning with fever.
His body was boiling with heat.
“This is not good.”
High fever was not good for a child.
In the past, the disappearance of children they used to spend time with wasn’t just because of the noise.
Occasionally, there were children like Deon, who would have a fever and break out in cold sweats.
Those children would disappear the next day, never to be seen again. Riche knew that wasn’t a good sign.
“He said he could go into the woods in the morning.”
Could Deon hold on until then?
Riche listened intently. Fortunately, she didn’t hear the sound of monsters.
Deon’s breathing, as he lost consciousness, was ragged. Sounds of pain and groans escaped him.
“He said he was going to give it to the monsters?”
Riche didn’t respond to his nonsense. Though she was choked up with emotion, she didn’t reply, but she heard everything Deon said.
“What should I do?”
If she had her 19-year-old body from before, she would have carried Deon and tried to find a safe place.
But now, she was only a 7-year-old child.
All she could do was…
“Uh, uhh…”
Riche looked at the black energy swirling around Deon’s chest.
As she reached out her finger, the black energy seemed to eagerly respond, wrapping around her finger as if it had been waiting for her.
“All I can do is…”
Her fingertips trembled, and her heart raced.
Fear. The emotion Riche felt was fear.
Hesitating, Riche let the power of purification flow from her fingertips.
The energy rushed towards the shimmering light like a snake charging towards its prey.
“Aaah!”
The sensation of the sharp spearhead piercing through her fingertips like being burnt by fire.
Unable to bear the unbearable pain, Riche stopped her power and withdrew her hand.
The black energy rippled as if disappointed, as if it had lost its appetite.
“I can’t do it.”
Even Duke Gerwer waited until Riche’s 9th birthday to tell her interesting stories, saying that if he had purified her before that, her body wouldn’t have been able to withstand it.
“You must have died. Letiom’s power extends from the heart. The curse energy that entered your body must have burst your heart.”
Familiar pain dragged Riche into memories of the past.
“Purify.”
“It hurts, it hurts…!”
Riche’s small body trembled like a bamboo in the wind.
This time, the short purification seemed to aggravate the energy, becoming poison instead.
Deon’s condition deteriorated rapidly.
Unlike before, his short and rough breaths seemed precarious, as if they would soon cease.
Tears welled up in Riche’s eyes.
“I…”
Two days.
Yesterday and today, she hadn’t felt sick.
She had eaten delicious food, bathed in warm water, slept in a soft bed, and had caring people around her.
She had briefly harbored hope again and even gained a new name.
Though she couldn’t feel it, perhaps what the gods had gifted her was a brief respite after Duke Gerwer’s footsteps ceased. Life was supposed to end in the basement.
“Call him Dad.”
If only she had known that would be the last, she would have called Duke Rodwick Dad at least once.
A title she had never called in her life.
It was closer to resignation than determination. Riche, who was ready to sacrifice her life again, reached out trembling hands towards Deon.
Thwaack!
The wind blew again. Leaves rustled against each other.
The land where the monsters had fallen disappeared, and a new path appeared.
The forest began to change its appearance.
“Don’t die. …Brother.”
Riche gritted her teeth.
Just as she was about to prepare for the imminent enormous pain and use the power of purification.
“Huh…?”
*Kwoong.*
The transformed forest. And the vast landscape of the lake unfolding before the children.
The cool night sky was covered with countless stars. The tranquil lake embraced the night sky.
Everything visible was twinkling, as if jewels had been scattered around.
Riche’s attention was drawn to this quiet and beautiful world.
Thud, thud.
One of the stars in the lake popped out of the water.
Then it swiftly flew around Riche.
“…What’s this?”
Riche turned her head to chase after the star, but due to its rapid speed, all she could see was a trace of light.
At that moment, a cheerful voice reached Riche’s ears.
“Are you, Letiom’s?”
* * *
Kiaaak!
Chwack.
A charging monster fell to Zed’s sword.
Zed looked back at Blake with a proud feeling.
“My lord, did you see that? Just now, my sword skills…”
But his boasting was cut short.
With one strike from Blake, three monsters were already defeated.
“What did you say?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
Maybe my lord alone would have been enough. Maybe I didn’t need to follow.
Zed, realizing anew his master’s extraordinary abilities, lowered his head.
“My lord is a monster. I’m pretty exceptional myself, though.”
While Zed comforted himself, Blake scanned the surroundings with his sword in hand.
A moment ago, the forest had moved again, changing its appearance for the second time.
He was in the midst of running towards the direction where he heard the screams that seemed to be from the child he thought was Riche.
“Deon wouldn’t have been left alone.”
He didn’t like people much, but Deon wasn’t particularly malicious. Perhaps mimicking an assassin was merely to instill fear, to keep people away from him. In fact, Deon had never killed anyone.
So, while Blake thought Riche wouldn’t leave things to go wrong, he was still anxious.
“On a night when the full moon rises…”
The night belonged to the forest.
Some creatures were influenced by the size of the moon.
It wasn’t just stories limited to monsters.
On the night of the full moon, tales had circulated since ancient times about beings from other dimensions roaming the forest.
Nonchalantly slashing at the monsters rushing towards him, Blake moved forward.
“Zed.”
“Yes, sir. Let’s move on.”
The night air was chilly.
* * *
“It’s really Letiom!”
After the first star emerged from the lake, other stars also emerged and flew around Riche.
Despite it being midnight, the surroundings were bright as day.
“Make a contract with me!”
“No, with me!”
“I’m stronger!”
Then, they began competing among themselves, with Riche sitting in the middle.
“What’s going on…?”
Riche was bewildered.
Even amidst the chaos, she stayed by Deon’s side.
“Ugh…”
Deon’s condition remained the same.
“He couldn’t have heard about Letiom, could he…?”
It seemed like Deon was expressing his pain with only groans.
It was when Riche was about to hold Deon’s hand, who was suffering.
“No, you can’t!”
“You have to make a contract if you want to use your power!”
The yelling was so loud that it pierced through one ear and out the other, making it unbearable.
She just wanted to hold his hand.
Reflexively bringing her hand to her ear, Riche spoke to the stars.
“Um, sorry, but it’s a bit noisy… Could you speak more quietly?”
“Then will you make a contract?”
“A contract?”
Riche cocked her head in confusion.
She had been wanting to ask since earlier, but hadn’t found an opportunity to interrupt and ask.
“What kind of contract are you talking about?”
“What kind of contract do you think? A contract with Letiom!”
“With me? …Why?”
“If you make a contract with Letiom, we can go outside.”
“Outside? Where’s outside?”
“Your world.”
As if enjoying the conversation with Riche, the stars giggled.
Then, perhaps recalling Riche’s request for silence, they started whispering among themselves.
“We need to make the contract quickly.”
“It’ll be a big problem if the biggest star comes out.”
“I said I don’t want to make the contract. I said I’d get rid of Letiom if I saw him.”
“He’s scary.”
“He’s scary because he’s powerful.”
“The biggest star?”
As if to answer Riche’s curiosity, there was a splash in the lake.
Unlike the bouncing sound when the stars emerged earlier, it was a heavy sound.
“Scream!”
“Run away!”
The stars gathered around Riche vanished like shooting stars.
Darkness returned briefly.
But it was only for a moment.
A brilliant light, incomparable to before, appeared in front of Riche.
Blinded by the brightness, Riche opened her eyes.
It hovered in the air as if observing Riche, then flashed and flickered.
“You, it’s not your first time, is it?”
“…?”
“I liked it.”
The light rushed towards Riche.
“The biggest star said it would get rid of Letiom.”
Before that, Deon…
Quickly, Riche grabbed Deon’s hand and used the power of purification.
“It hurts…!”
The excruciating pain tearing through her entire body, Deon’s breath evenly changing, and the massive blob of light engulfing her.
Amidst the fleeting sensations, Riche lost consciousness.
* * *
“…Miss, miss!”
When Riche opened her eyes again, she was on a bed.
It wasn’t the servants’ bedroom she had shared with Anna before, but a large bed in a luxurious room.
“Where is…?”
Riche didn’t have time to understand the situation before she was enveloped in someone’s arms.
It was Anna.
“Are you okay?!”
“I’m, I’m fine…”
After repeating words of relief about five times, Anna explained the situation to Riche, handing her a glass of water.
“His lordship went into the forest to find you two.”
Blake and Zed, unable to wait until morning, went into the forest to find them.
When the forest changed for the third time, fortunately, Deon and Riche were not far away, lying unconscious.
“It was fortunate. If they had been a bit later… A bird-shaped monster was lurking near the trees.”
After dealing with the monster, Blake and Zed waited by the children until morning.
Then, they carried the unconscious children out of the forest.
That was yesterday morning.
Riche, who had lost consciousness, had been sleeping on the bed for a whole day.
“I was so worried when you didn’t wake up for a whole day.”
Anna’s face as she said this was tearful.
She had been keeping watch by Riche’s side all night.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
Riche shook her head.
“I’m not hungry.”
“Still, before lunch, I’ll bring some light soup that you can have easily. Since you haven’t eaten for a day, your stomach might be surprised if you have a meal on an empty stomach.”
Sitting on the bed, Riche looked up at Anna and nodded, and Anna, seeing her like that, felt a pang of pain inside.
“Oh, really cute.”
With round, unknowing eyes looking at her, how adorable she was.
She wanted to hug her again, but she resisted because she might be surprised.
“I’m relieved that you woke up. I was so worried when you went into the monster forest.”
Even after safely returning to Blake’s arms without any harm to the child, Anna couldn’t relax.
Since she didn’t wake up at all… She had worried a lot about what would happen if the child got hurt.
“I’ll bring it right away.”
“Um, Anna…”
Riche grabbed Anna, who was heading towards the door.
Why was she using honorifics? Where is his lordship now?
There were many questions, but there was one she wanted to ask the most.
“His lordship, no… What about Brother?”
“Oh, his lordship?”
With a relieved smile, Anna replied.
“He’s trapped.”
