IPUAVNP Chapter 118

Episode 118

 

Brody nearly fell backward. Startled by the sudden voice, she looked up to find Kernels perched in a tree near the pond.

The crow had appeared silently, and his presence shocked her enough to make her glare sharply.

“What? How long have you been here? Were you spying on me?”

Kernels, who was leisurely grooming his feathers and looking at Brody as if she were nothing more than an insignificant creature, snorted at her accusation.

“Spying on you? Are you that self-absorbed? Why would someone like me waste time watching a rabbit like you? Do you think I, Kernels, have so little to do?”

With Kyle absent, Kernels had no reason to hold back his sharp tongue.

In his mind, the debt he owed Brody for saving his life had been paid off when he tattled on her during the banquet.

But as Brody continued to eye him like a stalker, his irritation grew.

“Rude little rabbit. This is my usual spot to relax! You’re the one who’s intruding on my resting place!”

As much as Brody hated to admit it, he was right.

Unlike other birds who preferred nature, the worldly crow Kernels favored the artificial luxury of the leader’s garden.

Perching on this particular tree and gazing at the pond lined with shiny pebbles was his favorite pastime.

When Brody glanced at the pond filled with sparkling stones, she finally understood.

She remembered that crows had a fondness for shiny objects.

“Tch, of course. Typical crow.”

She muttered, kicking the dirt lightly in annoyance.

Kernels, about to tell her to leave if she understood, suddenly paused.

He noticed something different about Brody’s demeanor.

After a moment of watching her, he spoke, tossing the question casually, as if it were a crumb of interest.

“Hey, Rabbit. Why were you talking about the Magic Gate just now?”

His words made Brody tense. Had he seen her earlier monologue? 

Wariness filled her gaze as she looked up at him.

“How much did you hear?”

Kernels exaggeratedly flapped his wings, mimicking her earlier excitement.

“‘Oh, right, the Magic Gate! Why didn’t I think of it sooner? I’m such a silly rabbit!’”

It was pure mockery.

Brody resisted the urge to chuck a shiny stone from the pond at his head. Instead, she decided to make use of the nosy crow.

Getting information about the Magic Gate from him would be more beneficial than indulging in her annoyance.

Swallowing her irritation, she asked.

“Do you know anything about the Magic Gate?”

What Brody already knew was that the Magic Gate could transport someone to their desired destination, provided they knew its exact location.

The more precise the location, the better—vague knowledge risked ending up somewhere unintended. Thankfully, Brody remembered her village’s location perfectly.

Her plan was to return home through the Magic Gate, avoiding unnecessary hardships.

Kernels, unaware of her intentions, replied indifferently.

“Why the sudden interest in the Magic Gate?”

Brody hesitated for a moment before replying with a curious expression.

“I read that each tribe in the southern region has a Magic Gate. I’ve never seen one before, so I’m curious.”

Feigning curiosity about the unknown world, she crafted an innocent expression.

As expected, Kernels simply mocked Brody, as if to reassure her that her worry was unnecessary.

“Well, I suppose I’d feel embarrassed too if I didn’t even know something that basic.”

Brody wasn’t embarrassed at all, but she played along, glaring at him with a flushed face as if he’d hit a nerve.

Then, with a sharp turn, she headed back to the house. Behind her, the sound of the crow’s laughter echoed in the air.

Although Brody still feigned embarrassment with a reddened face, as soon as she entered the house, her expression immediately hardened.

 

***

 

That evening, dinner with Kyle and the rest of the family passed as usual—ordinary, yet special in its familiarity.

Brody, as always, chatted away, working hard to create a lively atmosphere.

The family, now used to her bubbly personality, joined the conversation and shared their meal harmoniously.

Kyle, as usual, didn’t participate in the family chatter, but the tension in his demeanor had eased compared to before.

After dinner, as Brody and Kyle headed upstairs to their room, she looked at him warmly and asked,

“You went to the northern village for work today, right? How was it? Everything okay?”

It was the same question Brody asked him every day after work, and Kyle would usually respond by recounting the hardships he’d faced, as though seeking acknowledgment for his efforts.

But today, his response was different.

“It was fine.”

The curt reply carried a sense of irritation—was it just her imagination? 

Until yesterday, he hadn’t been this cold toward her.

The change in his attitude could only mean one thing to Brody: Zelda.

Still, Brody reminded herself of her promise to do her best until it was time to leave.

Resolving to try one more time, she clenched her fist.

But before she could open her mouth, she felt her energy drain completely. The simple indifference in his tone had shattered her resolve.

Her pride and self-esteem screamed in protest, but she couldn’t bring herself to push further.

Instead, she forced out a single phrase, hollow and strained.

“…I see.”

She smiled awkwardly and nodded.

When her response ended there, Kyle glanced at her.

The truth was, his curt reply wasn’t out of disinterest, but because of Brody herself.

Ever since remembering what had happened in Avril Village during their last night there, Kyle couldn’t stop thinking about her lie.

It had gnawed at his mind relentlessly, making it impossible for him to focus on anything, including the questions she was asking him now.

His emotions burned, and he wanted to confront her right then and there.

He wanted to ask her outright if she had returned to her human form that night. But he suppressed the urge.

What if she lied again?

He feared confirming that she wanted to erase that night from existence. That fear paralyzed him.

And so, Kyle became a coward before Brody, burying his growing questions deep in his heart.

 

***

 

For two nights in a row, Kyle hadn’t been able to sleep properly.

Even while working, his mind wandered. He’d been so distracted at the construction site that he made the mistake of giving incorrect instructions to move materials to the wrong location.

Though most were too intimidated by Kyle to say anything, the Oswald brothers weren’t afraid to voice their frustrations.

“Boss, what’s going on? Get your head together!”

But Kyle couldn’t pull himself together for the rest of the day.

Sensing something was seriously wrong, the brothers approached him after work.

“Is something going on? You’ve been out of it since yesterday.”

“You looked like you were on top of the world at the banquet the other night. Did you and your wife have a fight or something?”

Oswin’s teasing tone made his intentions clear, but Kyle remained silent.

The twins took his lack of response as confirmation and eagerly started offering their own ‘solutions.’

“So it was a fight! In that case, you two need to spend some time apart. Being around each other will just make things worse.”

“Shut up, you idiot. What you need is to stick together and figure things out as a team. That’s the way to get through it.”

Oswin, a little sharper than his brother, suddenly clapped his hands as if he’d thought of something brilliant.

“Boss! Remember when you asked us to look into vacant houses? Well, some people from the northern village recently left, and there’s a small cabin in the forest east of Mount Nevo that’s empty now. Why don’t you two spend some quality time there?”

Kyle said nothing, even as Oswin looked so confident in his suggestion.

As the twins continued to argue over increasingly ridiculous ideas to grab Kyle’s attention, another voice cut through their chatter.

It was Kernels, who had been eavesdropping from a branch above them.

With a shrug of his shoulders, the crow spoke.

“The time for cozy cabin getaways has passed. That rabbit’s already planning to leave this place.”

That single sentence snapped Kyle out of his indifference.

His face hardened as he raised his head to look at the crow.

“What did you just say?”

 

Thank you Daenellew for the Kofi! Happy to see new people😊