Episode 26: Murishi, The Species That Eats Monsters (12)
There were two ways to cancel the effects of the potion sold at 0 store: kissing or saying I love you.
Seeing that Muriel clung onto him as they were kissing, it was clear what she’d consumed was mixed with Kaiton’s blood.
So, Kaiton’s kiss was simply the most effective way to counteract the potion’s effects. At least, that’s what he thought.
Muriel’s body, which had been limp, suddenly tensed up as she stopped sobbing. Judging by her expression, she must have come to her senses. Astonishment spread across her reddened face.
The magic had been lifted.
Without hesitation, Kaiton distanced himself from Muriel. When Muriel’s hand, which was holding his chin and neck, fell, strands of her blue hair tangled up with him. It felt as if the hair was desperately trying to hold onto him, so Kaiton flinched for a moment.
Muriel’s disheveled hair caught his attention, as did her rumpled clothes, showing how frantically she had embraced him. Her moist lips still remained slightly parted in a dazed state.
Kaiton clenched his fist nervously and turned his head. The spell had been broken. All that was none of his concern anymore.
Kaiton quickly composed himself, taking a deep breath. His clothes remained unruffled, and the momentary tension vanished from his composed and cool face.
“Now that the damn spell has been lifted,”
Muriel flinched at his chilly voice. As she distanced herself from Kaiton, who had been supporting her, she slumped to the floor. Her legs had lost their strength, making it impossible for her to stand.
“Could you please explain?”
“I… I don’t know why I suddenly acted like that. I’m… I’m sorry.”
Muriel shook her head in confusion, avoiding Kaiton’s eyes. He had expected to widen her eyes and say something like ‘it’s not my fault’, or offer a casual apology with an indifferent and dull expression. But Muriel was completely out of it.
Seeing her flushed face and her bewildered state, Kaiton felt a strange mix of emotions. What the hell was going through that little head of hers right now? Kaiton was displeased, and spoke sarcastically.
“You’re not mistaken that you begged me for a kiss because you wanted to, are you?”
Muriel flinched at the word kiss and covered her cheek with her hand.
“…No, I mean… I did… kiss you, Kai… I did. But it’s not because I wanted to… It’s just that you looked so… handsome, and your lips were so… moist and plump… I don’t know, it’s like I couldn’t help it! Earlier, my mind went blank, and all I could think about was having… your lips.”
“Stop!”
Kaiton had to interrupt Muriel’s words urgently.
“What on earth are you saying?”
As Kaiton shouted in frustration, Muriel, who had turned red as if about to explode, started to tear up again. He knew she felt wronged, but he still couldn’t handle the words pouring out of Muriel’s mouth.
Because his lips were moist and plump. That’s why.
Was she crazy…
Kaiton unconsciously covered his lips with his hand. Despite Muriel’s protest and whimpering, he realized that she was still stealing glances at his lips and didn’t say anything.
“Why else would I have responded to your a… attack? You were under a spell!”
“A… spell?”
“Yes, a spell. If it wasn’t for that, even if you had charged at me naked, I wouldn’t have responded.”
Kaiton coldly rebuked her. But he was only trying to regain his cool, and was even more embarrassed than Muriel. The power of the words she uttered, which she was unaware of, was great.
“Is it some kind of mental manipulation?”
Only then did Muriel look back at Kaiton with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
“No, it’s not.”
Kaiton suppressed his temper and revealed the fact he had discovered by channeling his magic.
“Do you remember the potion you saw at store 0? The Love Potion.”
“Ah…! they said you’re supposed to put in the blood and hair…! That’s why I wanted physical love. I guess it had Kai’s blood in it…!”
“….”
Muriel let out an inadvertent exclamation but quickly sealed her lips upon seeing Kaiton’s cold expression.
“…Then, could there be any other reason?”
“No… No way. But… it’s not that I don’t like you, Kai.”
“…What?”
What was she saying now?
Kaiton glared at Muriel with a chilling voice this time.
“No… it’s not entirely because of the love potion… I like Kai too.”
“Muriel Storm.”
Kaiton called out Muriel’s name as a warning.
However, Muriel couldn’t control her mouth once it opened, and continued to grumble, shrugging her shoulders.
“If I think about it… I think I liked you from the first time we met… No, I love you.”
“Ha…!”
“I love you, Mr. Crawford.”
“Nonsense.”
“I love you passionately.”
“…Nonsense.”
“It’s true… I really, truly love you….”
“….”
Muriel’s irises, at first glance, appeared black like Kaiton’s, but in light, they shimmered with a blue hue. It was something that could be seen under very bright natural light. Kaiton, standing by the window now, was observing that vivid blue glow.
He was thrilled when he first learned this fact as a child. Knowing that Muriel’s eyes, which appeared only black, were actually a deep navy blue, gave him a strange sense of pride. A secret joy that only he knew about this fact. It was an evidence of intimacy that could only be discovered by observing Muriel closely and being close to her.
He kept finding these secret joys. It was because he wanted to know more about her.
At first glance, she always looked expressionless. But he learned to recognize when she was startled, when she was embarrassed, and how her eyes wrinkled when she was being stubborn… Through persistent and delicate observation, he came to know it all.
So even now, he could tell.
That those words of love were all sincere.
“Why don’t you believe me…? I’m saying I love you.”
Those eyes, with their boundaries shining blue, were all sincere. There wasn’t a bit of falsehood in them. That wasn’t the expression she wore when she lied.
“Ha… Believe you?”
And so, he was even angrier.
He was genuinely furious.
“That’s right… Muriel, you always did use to tell lies like you meant them.”
“I’m not lying. It’s true.”
“…Then, are you saying you truly love me?”
“Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I love you so much!”
“Not me.”
Kaiton raised Muriel’s chin mockingly, letting out a scornful laugh. Then he coldly pierced her with his gaze. While doing so, he enunciated each word clearly, ensuring that she could hear him properly.
“I. Really. Hate. You.”
“!”
“I despise you with all my heart. I will never fall in love with you.”
Didn’t someone tell them to use the potion of love for someone they had a grudge against? Didn’t he say it was the ultimate revenge that could tear apart someone’s heart? Kaiton waited for Muriel to feel the agony of her heart being torn apart.
“I… intensely hate people who tell obvious lies.”
He recalled the moment when he went to find Muriel, who had abruptly cut off her visits to the plateau a long time ago.
She knew full well who she was.
Even though she clearly told him herself that he would become the best wizard in the kingdom. Even though they spent sixteen summers, autumns, and winters together on the plateau. Muriel claimed she didn’t know him.
Even back then, Muriel had these eyes. Eyes that were completely sincere, without a trace of falsehood. Eyes that captivated him, shook his heart, and made him blame himself.
This was the anger he felt at the time.
“Does it hurt, Muriel? Huh? Does it feel like your heart is being torn to shreds?”
“…”
“…Tell me. Do you want me to say that I love you?”
Muriel covered her mouth with surprised eyes and looked at Kaiton.
“Then beg me. Beg me to say that I love you. Beg me to release the magic of that wretched potion. Beg me to save you from the agony of a torn heart. Beg like that.”
“Ugh…”
“If you cling to me while crying more, I will help you this time again.”
Muriel hesitated as if to say something and then quickly ran away.
It would be Muriel who’d be sorry if he didn’t break the potion’s effect, so he didn’t try to catch her. He thought that if he left her alone for a few days, she would come back to him on her own.
But he couldn’t relax either. He knew that Muriel didn’t run away because she was in pain. He had already experienced a similar situation. The experience of Muriel, who he thought would come back on her own, completely slipping through his fingers…
‘If you don’t remember me, I won’t lift the curse forever.’
That’s what he said to Muriel, who claimed not to know him, twelve years ago.
He thought Muriel couldn’t bear the suffering and would come back to him. She said she didn’t know him, but he thought she would eventually break down from the unbearable pain and apologize for her lies.
The curse of the pain he left behind could only be lifted by the caster, and even healing magic couldn’t alleviate or cure the pain.
But Muriel did not come to him in the end. She became accustomed to enduring the pain, and acted as if she’d forgotten him for the past 12 years.
When he met her again, he immediately checked to see if someone had removed the curse, but the curse remained.
Yet Muriel seemed indifferent, as if she wasn’t in pain at all. As if she didn’t need his help.
“…I shouldn’t just wait for you this time.”
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
“Gasp… I’m going crazy…”
Muriel, who’d ran away from Kaiton’s lab, traveled through a portal to Storm’s estate.
The pain that Muriel couldn’t feel definitely seemed to include mental pain as well, so she didn’t feel torn or upset by Kaiton’s terrible behavior.
There was another reason she ran away.
“K..Kaiton, I love you? You’re insane. You want to die, Muriel Storm.”
When Muriel was told that the confession was a lie, she felt a strong motivation to prove her love.
So she almost shouted like this.
I love you, Kaiton!
“Agh…”
The mere imagination gave her goosebumps. Despite believing she loved him because of the potion, she was aware that she was dead if he caught her knowing who he was. That’s why Muriel, desperate not to utter his real name, shut her mouth and ran away.
If Kaiton had pushed Muriel a little more, he might have heard her say his name that he’d been waiting so long for.
However, Muriel, unaware of this fact, interrupted the Murishi who was devouring the last demon corpse.
“Let’s go, Pony! We need to escape quickly.”
