His purple eyes gave off the impression of a formless rope squeezing my body. I remained still and just looked at him.
His unwavering gaze felt like an unbreakable restraint, and I couldn’t help but flutter my eyelashes downward.
“Why aren’t you answering me? We met each other yesterday.”
My lips twitched at the man’s urging for an answer as he slowly approached me.
As much as he was moving toward me, I wanted to get away from him, but I couldn’t because I felt like I was being restrained.
I tried to act nonchalant and keep my voice steady.
“What about Rex and the knights?”
“Don’t worry, I temporarily put them to sleep.”
Although his words brought me some relief, I couldn’t completely trust him.
I wanted to know if Rex was breathing right away, but the man didn’t move his gaze away from me, and I couldn’t move my body.
“You don’t believe me, do you?”
“Would you believe it if you were me?”
“Are we the same? That’s not bad.”
He seemed to be the most difficult person I had ever had to communicate with.
I wanted to flee right away, but I couldn’t leave Rex, who was sleeping like he was dead.
I reflected on the dream I had earlier as I gazed at Rex, who was dozing off like a corpse. Idiotically, I questioned him:
“………Are you watching me in my dreams?”
“Yes.”
He admitted too easily.
“Why?”
“I was just checking in to see how you were doing.”
The explanation left me speechless because it was so absurd. I was reminded of all the unpleasant feelings I had experienced in connection with that dream.
How could he give such a ridiculous reason? I’m beginning to get a little enraged.
“If you’re curious about my well-being, write me a letter.”
“Are you going to send me a reply?”
“No.”
The man nodded as if he had expected my response. He didn’t seem upset. His relaxed attitude made me even more annoyed.
I looked at a nearby stone tower. Maybe it would be alright to take a stone from there and throw it at him? There are all kinds of people in the world.
Despite my internal conflict, I knew that provoking him would have even worse consequences. I made the decision not to agitate him and to maintain my composure. I clenched my hand that was about to grab a stone.
I suppose it would be best to ask the questions I had been curious about if I couldn’t avoid this person.
I took a deep breath and tried to relax my guard against him.
“What brought you here?”
I asked him the most basic question I could think of, and the one I wanted to ask the most, but he just shook his head when he heard it.
“I had the same question. Why did I come here?”
What are you talking about?
He kept showing up in my dreams, ruining my mood, and now he appeared in front of me and put everyone else to sleep?
I tried to keep my expression neutral so as not to offend him, but my face contorted once more.
I looked at him, wondering if he was joking, but the man’s expression was serious.
“Are you saying you just showed up in front of me?”
Without saying a word, the man knelt down to meet my gaze and kept his face expressionless.
He stared at me for a while without saying anything, and I wondered if this pale, bloodless face was really that of a living being.
Even though his gaze was still unsettling, I made an effort to meet it. I somehow didn’t want to lose.
“There is a temple in this town. You saw it, too, right?”
How long are we going to have this meaningless staring contest? The man’s words, breaking the silence, were not an answer to my question. Should I answer? I wondered, and then I nodded.
“I come here often.”
Are you saying that the god of the underworld is really a god?
The headstone I saw earlier is supposed to honor the god of the underworld, but who worships him?
But, according to Cheroke, the temple was dedicated to ancient gods…… So, how old is he?
My head was spinning. I didn’t consider the God of the Underworld to be a legitimate god. In addition, Grand Duke Estin scoffed at the term “God of the Underworld.”
Demimore even made a joke about asking Lausanne to think of a name for him.
“……Are you really a god?”
Eventually, unable to resist, I asked the man. The man blinked slowly at my question.
“Well…”
“…….”
It was a more lukewarm answer than I expected. So is he a god or not?
“Doesn’t it depend on what other people believe about me?”
“Doesn’t that mean you’re not a god if other people don’t think of you as a god? If they merely believe you to be insane, then you must also be insane, right?”
“You think I’m crazy.”
“Oh, busted.”
I opened my eyes wide and covered my mouth with my hands. Though I blatantly pretended not to, I had deliberately said it.
The man let out a winded laugh as if he knew what was going on in my mind.
“Ah.”
“Why?”
“Why… did you write that phrase on the monster?”
The most crucial query almost slipped my mind. The man and I exchanged another lonely silence.
“What kind of phrase?”
“You know, the one who just showed up here,”
I replied in a rather heated manner in response to his tone and expression, which seemed to suggest that he was trying to play dumb once more.
“Declaration of war?”
“Declaration of war?”
“I must admit that I felt a little jealous.”
“…….”
“I was going to send it to Conler’s castle, but the shield was too good there. Was it because I came on your birthday?”
Ha.
This man is a complete nutjob.
“You seem upset.”
“I look upset? Why do you keep bothering me?”
“I’m not bothering you.”
“I’m not harassing you, I love you. if you’re going to say that, you need to think about it. No, and…… why……. Oh, my goodness……”
I’m not bothering you, I’m loving you.
I couldn’t continue because I was getting goosebumps even as I spoke.
Is this man in front of me really doing all of this because he loves me? Wow, is he a psychopath? This is insane.
My voice shook as I spoke because I could no longer pretend.
“…It’s not, right?”
“You’re frustrating. Why don’t you make your own judgement?”
“Please tell me it’s not.”
I begged for an answer, but the man just gave me a serious look.
“I think you know, it’s written on your body.”
“No, it can’t be……. Since when have you known me…….”
“Ha Sohee.”
“How do you know that name?”
I barely moved my hips to get away from him. Perhaps the man in front of me is a real god.
“Someone once advised me to distinguish between love and obsession.”
“I’m only 14 years old now”
“That’s why I’m waiting.”
This is awful. How did I get involved with a man like this and now my life is being ruined?
The man gave me a sad look as I expressed my disgust with my entire body. Sorry, but he didn’t appear to be in any way pitiful.
“Do you despise it so much that I love you?”
“Yes, I do.”
At my firm answer, the man looked up at the sky. He then grimaced in annoyance and clasped his hands together. He exhaled deeply.
“Actually, I thought I was used to rejection. I’ve been rejected so many times.”
As he spoke, the man’s voice trembled a little.
“However, the more I hear it, the more annoyed I become.”
His purple eyes were shining coldly.
I became aware that the vague fear I had been feeling while staring at this man was not unfounded the moment I saw that look.
I felt like crying for some reason, but I refrained from doing so. The man laughed before continuing.
“You know what?”
“……what.”
“You see, Mary. You were born under a curse. You see what others can’t see.”
The man’s voice sounded like a gloomy, damp snake piercing my ears.
Are you talking about the spell? When I was bit my lips without answering, the man continued.
“A child with cat eyes.”
“…….”
“Estin Conler is going to die because of you.”
“Don’t say things like that so casually.”
“You know, I knew you’d be born as a Conler, and do you know how angry I was when there first Lord broke my trust. I put a curse on their blood.”
I got goosebumps all over my body as he was telling unexpected stories one after another.
“On the day a child is born with the ability to read magic spells in the Conler family, the head of the household will die. I don’t remember the curse. It was so long ago.”
“Why, why would you do that…?”
“Why did I put such a curse?”
“Did you really put a curse like that?”
“Yes, I’m going to kill him anyway.”
The man replied with a nonchalant expression. I closed my mouth tightly, not knowing what to say.
I felt my upper body stiffen. The man smiled at me.
“What’s wrong Mary Conler?”
The man spoke in a low voice.
“Now, go and ask Estin Conler why he became head of the house when his predecessors were still alive.”
