Chapter 23
I took a short nap.
When Sis opened her eyes, she saw Alexis’s firm chest right in front of her. She quietly got up and saw that the fireplace was still burning hot. She didn’t know how much time had passed, but judging by the sky being as dark as the abyss, it must have been dawn.
I remember lying down next to Alexis on the sofa, talking to him before I fell asleep. I put my head on his arm and continued talking, and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep. When I looked down at Alexis, he was in a deep sleep for some reason.
Perhaps because it was so early, the entire duke’s mansion was as quiet as if it were asleep. Sis, who was still half-asleep and staring into space with a hazy gaze, blinked as a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
‘Isn’t now… …the opportunity?’
Alexis was asleep, and since it was dawn, there would be no servants roaming in the halls. And Sis remembered the location of the exhibition hall using the map Mona had given her.
The thinking was short and the decision was quick.
Sis carefully got up from the sofa so as not to make a sound. Then she took off the blanket she had wrapped around herself and covered it over Alexis’ thick body.
The gaze that had been lingering on the blanket involuntarily moved to touch Alexis’ face. Then, strangely, it froze in place as if nails had been driven into its feet, and it was unable to leave the reception room right away.
Sis stared intently at his face, as if she wanted to capture every single moment.
‘I wanted to try dating you.’
The words he had said before I fell asleep lingered in my ears. My heart was pounding, but when I realized the reality I had encountered, a bitter wave came over me.
He was a person who lived in a different, ordinary time than I did. The two mainsprings in a clock may mesh for a moment, but they cannot last forever.
Sis thought to herself. Her situation was always tragic, but today it was even more so, and it tore her heart. The stinging sensation made her want to cry, so Sis turned away.
As soon as she left the reception room, all the warm warmth disappeared. As she walked along the carpet in the hallway, which was covered in silence and cold, Sis looked out the window. She could see the garden where she had sat across from him, drinking tea, and talking. It was a memory that felt unreal, like a dream, even though it had only been a short time.
While that peaceful time felt like a dream, the present moment, when everything was about to end, felt harsh and real.
Sis tried to shake off her thoughts and recalled the map. She turned the hallway and took the stairs to the third floor.
After passing the pillars and several windows, a heavy door with luxurious and ornate relief carvings appeared in front of Sis. This was definitely the exhibition hall located in Mona’s map.
Sis’s hand, which had been sweeping the carved pattern along the wood grain, soon reached the doorknob. The doorknob turned easily, making it seem as if the worry of it being locked was gone.
Creak. The large door opened, echoing down the silent hallway.
Sis took a quick look around before going inside and quickly closing the door. The room was twice as large as the reception room she had just been in. And it was completely white, as if it had been snowing heavily. The pure white color somehow gave the impression that it was something that should not be touched carelessly.
As Siss was leaning against the door and looking around, she noticed the exhibition stands set up at regular intervals in the distance. Siss headed straight for them without hesitation. The sound of her heels hitting the marble floor was unusually loud.
On the long, rectangular display stand, various items were arranged without any particular standard. Sis, who was looking through them one by one, soon stopped in front of an item that caught her eye.
‘found it.’
The music box of the dead that she had only seen in pictures.
When I actually saw it, I felt its mysteriousness doubled. At first glance, it looked like a very luxurious ornament. The delicate floral patterns drawn on the surface and the patterns decorated on the top doubled its luxuriousness.
The death spell contained within is complex, but the method of activating the magical tool is extremely simple. When the music box is opened, sweet music flows out. While the melody is playing, magic is casted, and with the last note, it activates and takes the life of the person who opened the music box.
Sis stood dumbfounded in front of the music box of the dead. A real death would be better than a gray life that was no different from death. What might feel like a curse to some was a salvation to Sis.
‘……Really?’
Could this really be her salvation?
The firm resolve that had supported Sis’s feet began to waver. The spark of doubt that had once been ignited spread uncontrollably, helplessly eating away at her will.
Sith have always thought that death was the only answer to escape suffering. But was that really the answer?
Maybe it had already decided the answer from the beginning and had been doing everything accordingly.
While her thoughts were growing rapidly, Sis’s hand, which had been wandering in the air, touched the music box. However, she could not bring herself to open the music box. The moment she touched it, the Alexis that had been filled in her eyes and heart surged up like a tidal wave. As if she had been swept away by a wave, all her willpower became powerless.
If she were to use the music box of the dead to disappear, what kind of expression would Alexis have? Would he be angry when he realized her intentions belatedly, or would he be sad that she had disappeared from this world forever? Whatever it was, it would never be positive, and it would ultimately hurt him deeply.
Death, which she had longed for her entire life, was right in front of her, but she was hesitating.
No, the answer was already decided from the moment I hesitated.
‘I don’t want to die.’
She didn’t want to ignore him and disappear forever. Every sensation that Alexis awakened in her was new, and the time she spent with him was more enjoyable and happy than ever in her life. If her life before that was no different from death, after meeting Alexis, she felt that she was truly living.
The spring that was thought to be broken was working properly. Her time was still flowing at this very moment.
Sis took a step back from the music box. Once she had the thought that it wouldn’t work, she didn’t have the confidence to open it. Sis, who was backing away with her hands clenched, suddenly stepped on something and stumbled slightly. She quickly regained her balance so as not to fall and looked down to see a white cloth lying under her shoes.
‘Heavens? Why is this here… … .’
I slowly turned around and saw a huge piece of cloth covering the entire wall.
The white cloth wasn’t just lying on the floor, but was covering something that was evenly placed on one wall. The end of the cloth stretched all the way to the floor, so Sis grabbed it without thinking.
Swish. The sky flowed down something, revealing what was hidden to the world.
Her entire body, holding the cloth, froze like a stone.
Dozens of Sis were looking her way.
For a moment, she thought she was looking in a mirror. But it wasn’t a mirror, it was a portrait of someone who looked exactly like her. It wasn’t just one or two. There were countless portraits in square frames, filling the walls.
Sis turned her back to the music box of the deceased and groped her way towards the frame. Her fresh green eyes shook as if she couldn’t believe what she was facing.
‘No. This is not someone who resembles me…’
The owner of the portrait that looked so similar that I thought it was a mirror was none other than her. Why on earth are her portraits hanging in Alexis’s exhibition hall? And why are they so crowded?
Sis quickly bent her legs and examined the painting. Now that she knew Alexis had feelings for her, she wondered if he had made this recently.
But the signatures and completion dates engraved on the corners of the portraits betrayed her expectations. The numbers, which ranged from nearly ten years ago to the present, reminded her that these portraits had been completed quite a long time ago.
There was only one assumption that could be made from it.
‘He… knew me?’
That he had known Sis for a long time. Not just knowing her, but to the extent that he had created and kept several portraits of her… … .
Her normally healthy heart suddenly started beating so hard that it felt like it was going to burst. She took a deep breath, tinged with indefinable anxiety.
Since when, why, and how?
All sorts of questions came rushing in like a tidal wave, but Siss couldn’t come to a single conclusion. Feeling like she had seen something she shouldn’t have, Siss hurriedly left the exhibition hall.
Sis, leaning against the wall in the hallway, clutched her pounding chest. She never dreamed that there would be someone who knew her, living like a shadow, and that it would be Alexis.
What on earth was he thinking when he accepted her?
How on earth do you know me?
Now, even the feelings he had confessed were beginning to be questioned. Deep fear filled the air, as if covering up her longings. Bang, bang. It felt like lightning had struck my heart. My mind was spinning in a mess, and my eyelids were trembling.
While she was in deep confusion, the darkness was fading away and dawn was slowly breaking.
* * *
That day, Sis didn’t have the confidence to look at Alexis’ face, so instead of returning to the living room, she went straight to the entrance of the mansion.
When she reached the entrance, she happened to meet a maid, to whom she said that she wanted to go back immediately. The maid, with a puzzled expression, gave Siss the carriage as she wished.
* * * *
