‘A mark on the wrist?’
People walked confidently with their sleeves rolled up.
‘But why are their wrists clean?’
But shortly after a yellow mark appeared on their wrists. The mark, written in divine language, read ‘Aite.’
It seemed to be a mark that could only appear when desired.
‘Natu also marked people with green color.’
I wondered if this mark was made by a being like Natu.
‘Did this cult also follow a God sealed by Prache?’
“Hey! Why aren’t you pulling up your sleeves?”
The man’s fierce question snapped me back to reality. He had checked everyone’s marks and was now approaching me.
‘I’m going to get caught!!’
I looked up. Todd and Natu were holding rocks with their tiny feet. They were about to drop it on the man.
But the rocks were too small. They were as small as a pebble. It would most likely tickle the man rather than injure him.
“Could it be that you don’t have a mark?” The man asked suspiciously.
“Confess if you came here to trick us. I’ve had enough of all the freaks showing up and bothering us.”
“I-..”
“Hurry up!”
The man roughly grabbed my hand and pulled up my sleeve, almost tearing it apart.
He stared intently at my smooth wrist. But no matter how long he waited, no mark appeared.
“You, you brat!”
The man exposed his frustration and glared at me. Others also looked at me with hostile eyes.
“We also have respect, no matter how much the likes of you try to discredit us. You will pay for deceiving us!”
I bit my dry lip and looked him straight in the eye.
“I didn’t come here to bully you. I came here to join the order…”
“Let go of her hand.”
Just then, a deep voice cut through the air between the man and me.
We all turned our heads toward the sound.
A man cloaked in a black robe stood there with a chilling presence. He was taller and more robust than others. He even had his hood pulled down low, making him look like a ghost of the night.
“Sir Knight..!” People murmured.
‘A knight? What is a knight doing here?’
The knight made his way through the crowd without answering. He stopped in front of me and stared as if wondering what I was thinking.
‘Who is he? I can’t see his face through the robe.’
I gritted my teeth and craned my head, desperately trying to see his face. The demonic cult’s knight turned his head away.
Then, he forcefully removed the man’s hand holding mine and asked, “What’s going on?”
A deep, mysterious voice, as if it had been dredged up from the depths of the sea.
The voice was unfamiliar yet known to me.
“T-This person is not a devotee…,” The man answered hesitantly.
The knight didn’t seem comfortable with them and shielded me.
‘I guess people find it hard to approach him because of his intimidating aura.’
“She’s a member.”
“What? This woman?”
‘Me?’
The man wasn’t the only one surprised by the knight’s words.
‘I didn’t know I was a cult believer either.’
“I came here because I wanted to be a devotee,” I tried to defend myself to the man.
“But she wasn’t marked!” The man protested.
“She’s new, that’s why she hasn’t been marked yet.”
“A new devotee? But…”
“You seem to misunderstand her as a spy. But she is a student at Barbetz Academy. You should know she can’t afford to mess up.”
“I see.”
The man was convinced. A student couldn’t cause trouble due to the strict discipline there. Others even gave me pitying glances because I went to Barbetz.
‘But how did this knight know I go to Barbetz?’
Besides, the way he was protecting me was way too similar. My heart began to race with sharp intuition.
“I found this student around our ceremony the other day. I told her to think carefully if she wants to become a devotee.”
“If that’s true, she needs to undergo the ritual and receive the mark. I… I should…”
The man reached out to me.
The knight stopped him defensively, “No, I’ll do it.”
“What? By the knight himself?”
“Yes. We need to educate her about our order first. Then we can give her the mark.”
The knight reached back and grabbed my wrist.
His touch was anxious as if he was worried someone would take me away from him. Then he scurried away, taking me with him.
I was being led away by a stranger, but weirdly enough, I didn’t feel uneasy. The only problem for me was that he was too fast. I couldn’t match his speed, and I kept tripping over my own feet.
“T-That hurts! Slow down a little..!”
The knight froze in his tracks, “Was I going too fast?” He asked me in a surprised voice. I grimaced and nodded.
He sighed and lifted me in one swift motion.
“Eek?!”
I screamed in surprise, but he paid no attention.
Instead, he increased his speed and entered the stone temple. Passing through a labyrinth of corridors, we finally reached a room. It was dark and cramped.
“Is this your room?”
“…”
He didn’t answer. It seemed he had decided not to respond to me.
But I wasn’t upset.
Instead, my heart was pounding.
‘I think I know who you are.’
No matter how much he disguised his voice, I couldn’t forget it. And that sturdy back that always protected me. Even his soft sighs. There was only one person I knew who matched that description!
My heart raced so much I couldn’t bear it anymore.
“Bran…!”
I was about to call out his name when the knight suddenly approached me with a dagger in hand.
“!”
He grabbed my wrist and forcibly rolled up my sleeve.
“W-What are you doing?”
“You said you wanted to become a cult believer, didn’t you?”
The knight muttered in a low voice, sounding more agitated than before.
“Why are you…?”
“Are you scared now that you see the knife? Did you come here recklessly without expecting something like this?”
It sounded like he was scolding me. He seemed very angry that I had come here without fear.
As I stared at him without speaking, the man released my wrist. Then, he threw the dagger onto the table.
“If you don’t want to have your wrists slit, you better not try anything like this in the future.”
‘I know you’re not going to hurt me.’
He averted his gaze and said, “Do you know what kind of god this cult worships? Aite is a perverted god. Do you even realize the seriousness?”
“…….”
“So go home. Don’t ever come here again.”
‘Then why are you here?’
I swallowed the question and glared at him as he looked away.
“Why are you pretending to be someone else? But there’s no way I won’t recognize you, Brantley.’
He was much taller and fully covered, but I could recognize him.
My heart reacted from the first moment I saw him.
I approached Brantley slowly. Sensing my presence, he turned his head, and our eyes met through the black eyes hidden within the robe. He flinched, trying to avoid me. But I was faster. I reached out and swiftly tore off his robe. Panicked, Brantley covered his face with his arms.
‘Why are you trying to hide from me!’
My heart ached at the sight.
What’s going on? Why are you here? Why are you trying to hide your identity from me… There were so many questions I wanted to ask.
But I knew if I did, he would run away.
I took a deep breath and smiled broadly. Then I grabbed his thick forearm that covered his face.
“Let go…!”
“Sir, show me your face, I want to see it!”
“What?”
He looked at me in confusion. A hint of disappointment flickered across his face.
‘Sorry for pretending not to recognize you, Brantley.’
But I don’t want to lose you.
Suddenly, Brantley’s arm went limp. I quickly grabbed his arm and pulled it down.
For a moment, I felt like I was under a shower of stars falling from the night sky. A young man as handsome as a finely carved piece of artwork stared at me with a bewildered expression on his face.
He was bigger than before and his features had become more sharpened with experience. But he still had that handsome, lovable face.
I could see the younger Brantley superimposed on it.
I fought back the tears that threatened to fall. Instead, I said with glistening pink eyes.
“I think I’ve fallen for you, Sir Knight…!”
“What…?”
Brantley’s face went blank for a moment. Before he could recover, I quickly held out my wrist.
“I want you to mark me. Whatever God you believe in, I’ll believe in it too!”
