Episode 31: Arson (4)
Kaiton appeared in front of Muriel, who was bound and awaiting Sharan’s disposition. This wasn’t an underground prison, but Sharan’s knights guarded it with an ironclad determination, so she couldn’t figure out how the hell Kaiton got in.
“So, this is it? Did you come rushing here to give up your life in place of August?”
“I don’t intend to die. I have other plans.”
“What plans?”
“…I can’t say right now.”
Kaiton looked at Muriel with a pitiful gaze. He seemed to think she had no plan at all. Unable to completely deny it, Muriel bit her lips, fiddling with the cloak Kaiton had given her.
“It was reckless.”
“I had no other choice.”
“To think you would take the blame instead. What on earth were you thinking?”
“…”
“If you’d left August to take the blame, you could’ve been shielded from Sharan’s eyes.”
“August didn’t do it.”
“You didn’t do it either.”
Kaiton was also by Muriel’s side when she picked up Rovelia’s talisman. He must have realized that Rovelia was the real culprit.
“And do you think Sharan will believe you? The entire kingdom knows that you’re incapable of magic. No one will believe that you could create such a massive fire and burn down a mountain.”
“…if Rovelia can do it, why can’t I?”
Muriel didn’t want to go around in circles when Kaiton knew that fact anyway.
“Rovelia borrowed the power of Ur.”
“!”
“Are you going to tell him you have the fragment of Ur too, then? You’d be lucky if he doesn’t immediately execute you.”
“Ur… what do you mean by the power of Ur, haha…”
Muriel let out a forced laugh that sounded awkward even to her ears and tried to act ignorant. But perhaps Kaiton was tired of pretending now, for he stared at Muriel and drove the nail further in.
“The fragment of Ur you cherish in that Nihil. ‘I burned down the mountain with this power’ are you going to tell them that?”
“….”
Was Kaiton worried that Muriel might lose Ur’s fragment to Sharan? Ah…! So that was it. That’s why he followed Muriel all the way here and suddenly gave up pretending not to know about the piece.
“I… I won’t give the piece of Ur to Sharan. Oh, of course, I’m not saying that I have the piece. But if, hypothetically speaking, I did have the real piece, I wouldn’t hand it over to him still.”
Muriel poured out her words in rapid fire fearing Kaiton might take the piece away. But his expression became even more crumpled. Well, it was understandable. It wasn’t the loss of Ur’s fragment that Kaiton was worried about.
Of course, it was only right to worry about that first, but what made him anxious was the possibility of Muriel dying at Sharan’s hands. So he ran to Muriel without realizing it and confronted her by asking what the hell she was thinking.
He probably would have saved Muriel himself if he’d finished sorting out his mind and had been able to decide to save her. But he still hadn’t sorted out his feelings towards Muriel.
Did he want to kill her or save her? His feelings changed every time he looked into Muriel’s eyes. So instead of saying, ‘Please survive!’ he just got angry. That’s why Muriel couldn’t understand him properly and was left to bark at the wrong tree, and Kaiton was nervous and about to lose his mind. He couldn’t stand the carefree Muriel who wasn’t worrying about herself but someone else.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
When she tilted her head and frowned, Kaiton grazed his teeth and sneered.
“Sharan will kill you. The moment you bring up Ur’s sculpture, you will die.”
“Uh… Then I won’t bring it up?”
“What do you think is the way for you to survive right now?”
It was finding and destroying all the Ur fragments spread throughout the kingdom. Muriel intended to say that to Sharan. But she couldn’t tell that to Kaiton, so she kept her mouth shut, which only made Kaiton’s expression become more pathetic. At this point, Muriel also started to get annoyed.
“…did you only come here to scare me? You can only seem to conclude Sharan will kill me no matter what I say.”
Kaiton glared fiercely and grinded his teeth, as if he was really contemplating whether she would be killed or not, then sighed and spoke.
“Tell him to spare your life because you’re the saint. Say that the Saint who will save the world with Sharan, as mentioned in the oracle, is you, and that he will regret killing you. That’s what you should say while begging for your life.”
“…I’m not a Saint. I don’t have the ability of prophecy.”
Kaiton’s expression contorted as if someone had a knife to his throat, and he twisted his lips. A suppressed voice slowly flowed out of him.
“You… made a prophecy. A long time ago.”
“…Me?”
“You may not remember. But you prophesied yourself as the hero who would save the world.”
Kaiton once again spoke of a past that Muriel could not remember. Muriel wondered what kind of connection she had with him in the alternative memories that had disappeared from her mind, but she couldn’t ask. This was because his face looked too tormented for that.
“Will Sharan believe that? I don’t even believe them myself. He’ll just think I’m lying because I want to live.”
Muriel was the one who made the expression ‘A typhoon is brewing’ popular in the kingdom. It meant that she made up derivative lies to captivate people’s interest because she wanted attention. She was the icon of deceit in the kingdom. She wondered who’d believe her without a witness.
Kaiton wasn’t unaware of Muriel’s worries. He thought of giving her his name. Only Sharan and the three guardians knew the name Kaiton Ur. He wondered if Muriel could persuade Sharan if she named him.
Kaiton had waited a long time for Muriel to recall that name, but now it was time to end that wait. Kaiton was about to speak, but Muriel was a little faster.
“I’m probably not the saint. I get the creeps when I look at Sharan.”
“What?”
Did he hear that wrong?
Kaiton, feeling like he had heard something incredibly sweet, forgot about mentioning his name and asked back dumbfoundedly.
“I dislike Sharan. I dislike the High Priest too.”
Although Sharan Kasal, the reigning monarch, was a fake Sharan that did not possess Sharan’s eyes, but still…
“A Saint who dislikes Sharan. That’s weird. It would make more sense if I’m a villain.”
“…Ha!”
It was an unexpected answer.
For Kaiton, who had only ever thought of Muriel standing on the side of the kingdom, it was a moment when new possibilities opened up.
He had always believed that Muriel stood on the side of the kingdom, on the side of Sharan and the guardians known as justice. It was so natural for him to think that way. Since the moment she came to that cold plateau, carried by the chilly wind, Muriel had always been light to him.
“If you were a villain….”
Kaiton’s laughter, which began with a scoff, gradually grew louder. He laughed so heartily that she was worried the knights might come chasing after him, and tears welled up in his eyes as he giggled.
“The world doesn’t revolve around a black and white logic. But I mean, if I have to choose between this side or that side… I just mean, well, I’m not on that side.”
As Muriel became embarrassed and tried to explain with an excuse, Kaion shook his head.
“No. I would’ve liked it if you were on this side.”
Kaiton was pleased with Muriel’s answer. Muriel becoming a villain. If that were the case, the two of them could continue to be together.
“If you’re a villain, then you should pray to the Devil. Isn’t that right, Muriel Storm?”
Kaiton asked, smiling charmingly. Muriel’s head turned white for a moment at the seductive face she’d never seen before. Her heart started racing, even though the potion’s effect should have worn off.
“What Devil….”
Muriel avoided his gaze, feeling like her face was turning red, and asked hesitantly.
“Isn’t it natural for a villain to be by the Demon King’s side in order to be saved?”
He whispered that she should come down with him. For the first time, he looked like a true Demon King to Muriel. He seemed like a tempting demon, enticing her to fall together to ruin.
“I don’t know how to use black magic.”
“Just use Ur’s fragment.”
“Use it? Are you telling me to use Ur’s fragment to kill Sharan?”
Kaiton smiled again. He seemed ecstatic, but Muriel was flustered.
Cheerful Kaiton was dangerous. His smiling face and seductive voice were unsettling. His laughter stimulated a strange imagination. Watching the sensual curve of his lips, impure thoughts clouded Muriel’s mind. She turned her heated head away, but avoiding his gaze was futile.
Laughter flowed into her ear as if whispering. A low, dark voice resonated in a rhythmic pattern. It was a pleasant surprise to hear him making joyful and cheerful sounds, but she didn’t expect her heart to tickle like when she had taken the potion. She was just hearing him laugh, but it felt like she was doing something bad.
Was there really a person who laughs like that?
As Muriel knew, laughter was bright, clear, and innocent. But Kaiton’s laughter made her feel like she was being possessed. It was provocative and playful, like seducing her. Hidden desires she didn’t even know existed deep within her heart kept pushing her head up.
Sigh…
This was driving her crazy. Was he laughing like that on purpose?
As Muriel blushed and mumbled to herself, Kaiton took a step closer.
“You can escape from here with the power of the fragment.”
As she watched Kaiton brush his hair aside, Muriel couldn’t help but wonder if this person was really teasing her. Kaiton’s cheerful demeanor was unfamiliar and sudden, yet he seemed to shine.
“I’ll get caught eventually.”
“The Demon King will save you.”
“I don’t think he will. Ur is not the Demon King.”
Even though Muriel spoke with a tick in her voice, Kaiton continued to gaze at her with a satisfied smile. Normally, he would glare menacingly at any words she said, but now, he had a smile that was harmful to her heart every time she uttered something.
“Reach out to Ur, Muriel. The Demon King can save you.”
She thought he might start talking about destroying the world together if she kept Kaiton around any longer, so she soothed him and sent him back. It looked like he wouldn’t go back until she said she would side with him, so she had to make a vague promise about using Ur’s power at a crucial moment.
Muriel didn’t ask how Kaiton would help her while being pursued by Sharan as a fugitive himself. But she had a feeling that Kaiton would find a way somehow.
However, Muriel had no intention of being swayed by Kaiton. It wasn’t that she wasn’t tempted when the man who always made her angry came to her determined and seductively all of a sudden. But Kaiton was the one who would betray Muriel and take away Ur’s fragment from her at a crucial moment. It was ultimately because of Kaiton that Muriel became the real Demon King in the novel.
To survive, Muriel had to take the lead in her relationship with Kaiton.
“Don’t be deceived. Snap out of it.”
