EP: 104
The lobby of the Ghost Estate was busier than ever. Even though only agile and fit children were selected, there was still much to prepare for the journey that would last five days. There were many things to be managed for those who remained in the estate, so there were also many things that needed to be handed over.
“Remember, you should never touch the moat’s door when there is no black wizard around.”
“I understand.”
“The same goes when feeding the Murishi. Unless a black wizard can protect you, you must never approach them recklessly.”
“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”
Sadie looked at the smiling girl’s face with concern, even though she looked quite bright. Even though she’d repeated the same warning several times, it seemed that the young girl, who did not even reach up to her chest, was still not fully understanding.
“Sadie, that’s enough. The door of the moat won’t open unless injected with magic anyway. You know that well enough, so why are you nervous?”
Debbie approached while caressing the new robe she had received from August in order to participate in the funeral. As a typical item bought by Eklum, the robe was excessively luxurious compared to what she had requested, so she felt awkward. Debbie, who was usually indifferent to clothes and just wore whatever was discarded in the castle, constantly smoothed out the wrinkle-free fabric with her hands this time. She cared this time.
This journey was particularly important. She had a hunch that the Ghost Estate would enter a completely new phase with this.
‘Rockford, where is your hometown?’
‘Hovsgol, located in the Dachini Territory.’
‘Hovsgol… That’s not too far from here, is it?’
Rockford seemed unable to guess why Muriel was asking such a question. However, ever since Muriel had given her home and workplace to him and his gang, Rockford had been treating her with respect, as their leader, and answered sincerely.
‘Yes. If you walk, it will take about fifteen days, and if you ride, it’ll probably take around twelve days.’
‘Then, if you travel on a Murishi, you’ll arrive a lot earlier than that… It would be a perfect place to start.’
‘To start?’
‘I heard your wife, who turned into a demon, is still in your hometown. We must hold a funeral.’
‘…Excuse me? What… What do you mean…;
Debbie could still see Rockford trembling when he heard Muriel’s words that day. For someone as skittish as Debbie, there were times when Rockford, who effortlessly tore apart monsters without batting an eye and fed them to Muri, didn’t seem human. His rugged muscular body felt like a rock, and even his unyielding, rough heart felt like one too. But with just one mention of holding a funeral for his wife, he trembled with such fragility. Since witnessing the Murishi tear apart rotten monster flesh without hesitation, there hadn’t been a scene that was as eerie and intensely captivating as this one.
‘Let’s go say goodbye to your wife together.’
‘Why… Why me? Why… I’m not a noble nor anything…’
‘We are now a family.’
Muriel said so calmly, and Rockford, who’d lost one eye to the kingdom guards while living as a bandit, cried passionately with his remaining eye.
When Muriel declared that anyone who wanted could return to their hometown and hold a funeral for their family, starting with Rockford, the atmosphere of the thieves’ gang became restless and changed. Those who had been trying to assimilate into the estate due to the pressure of needing to earn their keep and Cece’s strong argument suddenly became completely part of the estate. More precisely, they became Muriel’s people. Most of them were children who had not yet reached adulthood, so they expressed their respect and affection for Muriel more honestly and intensely. If Muriel was good, all was good.
When Muriel got along with the black wizards, they also got along with the black wizards. Although they openly showed their dislike and rejection towards the dark wizards, their attitudes changed as if flipping their hands. Except for the fearless Chen, they avoided Kaiton with fear, and treated Ondal and August the same way.
Although there were no obvious conflicts, the ghost estate, which couldn’t mix like water and oil, slowly became one with Muriel at its center.
Debbie felt the changes that Muriel brought about so easily, and realized that the changes that would come to the kingdom in the future were not far away. A funeral for the demon, she said. If a demon appeared among the family, they would not be protected but rather chased out of the village. Unless they were nobles, a funeral for a demon was a dream that was difficult to even imagine.
Therefore, it was clear that Muriel’s move would draw the attention of the kingdom. Perhaps the surrounding fiefdoms would react first, and then people abandoned from the kingdom, like bandits, will gather one by one to the ghost fiefdom, and eventually reach the fake Sharan’s ear in the kingdom.
“Muriel. Your last name was Storm, right?”
As if surprised by the sudden question, Muriel glanced at Debbie and replied curtly.
“Why do you suddenly ask?”
“Just because. I thought it was a name that fits amazingly well.”
“It’s bland.”
“It’s fresh. By the way, August left early this morning, didn’t he? I hope he properly secured Ejlum’s treasure. We can’t ward off the demon’s curse without that talisman brooch.”
At a crucial time, August had to answer Kasal’s summons and leave for the palace. It was because of his relentless pursuit of the wanted Muriel and Ondal. At a time when the search for them was narrowing down, Muriel had pushed ahead with the funeral, even though it was evident that it’d be risky to draw attention to the Ghost Estate. Debbie shuddered briefly as she imagined what might happen in the future.
“Debbie, why are you so nervous? The captain surely knows what she’s doing. Don’t you know nagging isn’t cute?”
Sadie dismissed Debbie’s concerns, echoing the words she had heard from her earlier.
“Sure, she knows what she’s doing. But Muriel has a tendency to react to what she sees and act recklessly…”
Why did she stop talking? Sadie followed Debbie’s gaze, turning around in surprise, and her mouth opened in surprise.
Ondal, with lowered eyes, was slowly descending the stairs. His face was turning bright red, as if the gazes concentrated on him were burdensome. But what astonished Sadie and Debbie wasn’t just his flushed face, but his eyes, as crimson as his cheeks. Through his snowy white eyelashes, his shy and moist red eyes, tinged with embarrassment, sparkled.
“It’s daytime…?”
“…Can you see?”
***
The night Kaiton magically put Ondal to sleep.
Muriel fell asleep first while waiting for Ondal to wake up. Despite Muriel’s persistence in wanting to see Ondal until the end, Kaiton quietly watched Muriel, who had eventually fallen asleep on the couch.
‘When he was trapped underground, he only saw the moon every day because there was no one by his side. He could endure it because of the moon… but it’s so sad he only ever had the moon to rely on.’
So please be a little kind, Muriel said. Kaiton sat on the armrest of the couch so as to not wake Muriel up, and gently stroked her blue hair with his fingertips. Now, as a habit, Muriel’s hair was all curled up in the direction his hand naturally moved.
Muriel didn’t say anything else to Kaiton, who didn’t respond. But when his eyes sharpened, her raised eyes looked firmly at him. It seemed as if her gaze was saying, ‘You know best what it feels like to be alone in the world. You have experienced how lonely, sad, and terrifying it is. So, please be kind to someone in a similar situation.’
“But I don’t like it…”
Kaiten, who was quietly recalling Muriel’s gaze, muttered softly before going to Ondal’s room. The fact that their rooms were adjacent once again scratched his mind.
Even though it was a bright moon night, not a single ray of light seeped in because of the thick curtains. When Kaiton created a strong light source, deep and long shadows appeared. Step by step, as Kaiton approached, his dark shadow climbed up and cast itself over the sleeping Ondal.
Kaiten’s hand, which was about to touch Ondal’s forehead, momentarily paused and stopped. Should he wake him up like this? Such a thought briefly crossed his mind. Although he had told Muriel that he would wake up on her own, the spell he had cast on Ondal would cause him to fall into eternal slumber. None of the wizards in the estate could detect the nature of the spell he had cast, so Kaiten would only have to pretend.
“Tch…”
Kaiten looked for a moment at Ondal, whose face had darkened with his own shadow, and pressed his forehead as if pushing him awake. No matter how much he pretended to be ignorant, it seemed like Muriel would notice he’d done it.
The red eyes distorted by the light opened and quickly scanned the room. He was searching for Muriel. Kaiton’s face, shadowed by the backlight, became colder.
“Shall I let you see the sun?”
It was only then that his wary looked at Kaiton. He hadn’t asked what he meant, but judging by the slight trembling of his pupils, it seemed he’d understood his words at once,
“I can give you eyes that can see the light.”
“…Why? Why would you give that to me?”
“I’ve been there too. Alone in the darkness.”
So he knew it painfully well. How obsessed one becomes when a light appears in the solitary darkness. How apprehensive one becomes, afraid of losing that one and only light. How much meaning one attaches to it and how desperately they hold onto it, not letting it slip away.
So it wasn’t kindness or the friendliness Muriel hoped of him that made him propose that he would let Ondal see the light. It was to turn Ondal’s eyes, which were focused on Muriel alone, somewhere else, and to break Muriel away from his obsession.
Above all, he just hated it. The fact that there was another person who looked at Muriel just like him was simply unbearable.
“What are the conditions?”
Now that Ondal confirmed that Muriel was not in the room, he closed his eyes and asked. He looked much more comfortable now than when he forced his eyes to open to scan the room, even though all he could see was darkness since Kaiton wasn’t using the power of the fragment. He seemed calm, as if he was very used to the darkness, but there was impatience in his questioning, urging Kaiton for an answer.
“There must be conditions. What are the conditions?”
Smile.
Kaiton suppressed his harshness and pretended to be calm, as his lips curled at Ondal’s cool voice. Even though he knew that Ondal couldn’t see him, he wanted to mock him.
Look. In the end, to get something he wanted, he would use Muriel’s pacio. He pretended to be so worried about Muriel, saying he didn’t want to take advantage of her kindness, but in the end, he was eager to seize the opportunity. He wanted to mock him, to say, “Your desires come before Muriel, after all.”
“More than that… Are you okay with it? You’ll use the pacio of Muriel, whom you love so dearly.”
“…How much?”
“As long as you keep your eyes open, it will continue to flow… It depends on how long you and I are alive, I suppose.”
Ondal’s face was distorted by Kaiton’s teasing words. Under the pale light created by magic, Ondal’s face, distorted with anger, bewilderment, humiliation and distress, was revealed starkly.
“The conditions are nothing. Just show yourself to everyone.”
If Ondal saw people other than Muriel and mingled with them, and if his interest in Muriel diminished, he could tolerate this much of a troublesome task. Of course, there was also the possibility that he would only look at Muriel with his newfound clarity of vision, but that didn’t matter either. The guilt of devouring Muriel’s pacio to satisfy his own desires was not something that could be easily handled. If he succumbed to the torment of destroying such precious light with his own hands and collapsed or went insane, then that would be a reward in itself.
“Come find me when you make up your mind. I’ll let you see the real light.”
***
Until Muriel knocked on his door with Fen in hand, Ondal sat in his room, agonizing for a long time. He had remained in the same position since Kaiton left, and he couldn’t tell how long it had been. Time did not pass in his room. Even when the sun rose and the moon set, he couldn’t perceive any change, so it was as if time stood still. In the unchanged room, Ondal was unable to make any decisions or resolutions and was melancholically sinking.
“Muriel’s hair… It’s originally a brighter color, right? It seemed… a little brighter than what I see now.”
But as soon as he saw Muriel, he blurted out this question. He had tried so hard to contemplate and hold back, but his selfish greed leaked out too easily. Ondal felt as if he had exposed his heart. Despite feeling depressed, he couldn’t help but feel his heart pound from his rising anticipation.
“Well… Yeah. It does look a bit black now.”
“I see…”
Sitting side by side with Ondal, Muriel looked down at her hair and roughly ran her hand through the tangled mess. When her hair became even more disheveled with her clumsy touch, she made a momentarily perplexed expression, then sighed as if annoyed and roughly pushed her hair back behind her. It seemed like she intended to ignore it and let it be.
“Can I… do it?”
As Ondal turned his head slightly to ask, he couldn’t help but worry about meeting her gaze. Even though it was too dark to see clearly, the thought of making eye contact with her made him anxious.
“I’ll… arrange it for you.”
“It’s going to get tangled up anyway. Strangely, I think it’s getting tangled more and more these days. I’m thinking about just cutting it all off-“
“No, you can’t!”
Muriel’s eyes widened in surprise as he shouted reflexively and urgently. Feeling embarrassed, Ondal covered his face while pretending to touch his forehead and mumbled to make excuses in a hesitant voice.
“No… I mean… You were against cutting my hair too… If Muri, if Muriel cuts her hair… I, I’ll cut mine off too.”
“Hmm? Then shall we both cut it off? It would be a shame if I can’t see Ondal’s pretty hair… But won’t it be bothersome for you during training with your hair getting in the way?”
Muriel ruffled back her hair with her hands as if it was annoying. It was like watching a pen scribbling on paper. Eventually, after several attempts, Muriel’s careless touch left her hair hopelessly tangled. It looked like a huge cotton candy was sitting on her head. As Muriel said, cutting it off seemed to be the most comfortable option.
“Not yet… you can’t.”
Ondal tightly closed his eyes. He was still uncertain, even though she was in a hurry. Worried that Muriel, who seemed to have no hesitation, would suddenly chop off her hair, he anxiously confessed.
“I haven’t decided yet… Can you wait a little bit? I wanted to see. Um… what it would look like… with my own eyes… I wanted to see it…! Can you wait a little longer? If Muriel’s hands don’t touch it, your hair won’t get tangled anymore. If you just leave it alone… maybe…”
The crawling voice became clearer and clearer. It was thanks to the courage he gained from the gentle blue waves in front of him.
He wanted to see her through his own eyes, not through Sharan’s eyes. What color would her pitch-black eyes be under the sunlight? Despite being tangled like a ball of yarn now, what color would her hair actually be as it fluttered softly in the wind? Not the rough, muddled shades of darkness… but the delicate hues that Muriel had. He wanted to see them with his own eyes and confirm.
“What are you waiting for?”
“Kaiton…”
“Kaiten?”
“He… said he could fix my eyes. I have to use Muriel’s… pacio, but…”
“Ah, Kaiten…”
Muriel’s eyes widened as if surprised, and she quietly pronounced his name. It seemed like Muriel was thinking about him, for her expression softened. It was a unfamiliar face. Ondal had seen Muriel smile many times before, but there was something different this time.
“Why…”
Was she smiling like that?
Ondal felt like Muriel would disappear if he didn’t hold onto her right now. Feeling distant and unfamiliar, he felt the need to keep Muriel from moving away. At the same time, a heavy and sour feeling settled in his chest, but he couldn’t understand why he felt that way.
It was ominous. It felt like the world was collapsing due to heavy rain somewhere. It was ominous, frightening, and sad.
Restless and anxious, Ondal tried to reach out his hand towards Muriel, but she suddenly grabbed it herself. Muriel, smiling brightly like this, was a familiar face to him.
“But why wait?! We have to do it right away!”
“…Can we truly…?”
“Of course! It’s obvious! It’s… It’s so good, Ondal, I’m so glad….”
“…”
Muriel, delighted as if it were her own achievement, brushed Ondal’s head. Eventually, Ondal’s head turned into cotton candy, just like Muriel’s. Muriel chuckled while looking at Ondal’s head, unaware that she had a similar appearance, but Ondal only faintly smiled, feigning laughter. It was because of a certain ominous foreboding that settled in his heart. Despite wanting to turn away, it continued to grow and envelop Ondal’s mind.
I’m back with a few chapters! still on break tho
