EP: 91
knock, knock.
“Kaiton… Are you in there?”
Muriel waited cautiously for his answer in the unusually quiet hallway on the third floor, but no answer came from inside the room for a while. Muriel just stood in front of the closed door and waited quietly. Fen beside her looked up at Muriel, as if asking what was going on, and made a sound like sighing. Muriel moved her stiff lips, showing a smile, and gently brushed his cool fur.
“Come in.”
The answer came much later.
Phew. Muriel took a deep breath as if gathering her courage and carefully opened the door and entered. Even before Muriel could close the door, she heard Kaiton’s voice, mixed with laughter.
“Are you knocking on the door today?”
He grinned as if remembering the day when Muriel had sneaked into his room. The blue talismans that Muriel was trying to steal at the time were still dangling in his ears.
“What were you looking at?”
Before the memories of that day came to mind, Muriel turned her words around. Her heart was already beating fast without recalling them. To calm herself down, Muriel compulsively stroked Fen’s fur. The cool sensation of his fur helped her find comfort.
“You finally did it.”
Kaiton glanced briefly out the window before fixing his gaze on Muriel. The radiant colors of tapahite’s shimmering light were reflected in Kaiton’s room. The light, like a watercolor shadow, rippled across Kaiton’s face.
It wasn’t until Muriel felt her throat tighten and her breath catch that she realized she had been holding her saliva. Kaiton’s cool face, adorned with light, was beautiful. Enough to forget why she had come to this room, enough to absentmindedly stare at him. She might have looked at his face for a long time had he not gotten away from the window and had her follow him to the table where he took out tea.
“…The moat, It was Debbie who did it.”
It was Debbie who came up with the form of moat, and Debbie who came up with a way to collect Tapahite. And it was also Debbie who tirelessly worked on the design and construction, ultimately creating a beautiful iron lattice.
“Well….”
Kaiton let out a moment’s voice, lost in thought, and then locked eyes with Muriel. There was no hesitation in his gaze. It was straight, calm but unshakeable.
“The one who created the first defense facility to drive out demons in the history of the kingdom… it’s you, Muriel. You did it.”
Ah…
She should say no… but when Kaiton acknowledged her, her greedy head nodded on its own. She liked his eyes looking at her that deepened with recognition and pride. She just nodded as if possessed. A thrill ran down her spine. It felt like she murmured a thank you, but she might have only moved her lips like puffing without actually saying anything. In truth, she couldn’t tell. She was so captivated by his black eyes that she couldn’t even tell if her voice came out or not.
“So. You decided not to avoid me anymore?”
Ah… She wanted to savor the feeling of accomplishment a little longer, but Kaiton hit the nail on the head.
“I’ve never avoided….”
It was an obvious lie, but Kaiton didn’t point it out. Only then did Muriel remember why she’d come to his room.
“I heard a rumor from August. The rumor about creating demons out of monsters. That nonsense doesn’t make any sense, so those false rumors will quickly die out. Don’t… worry too much… I just… thought maybe I should check if you minded it… that’s why I came.”
“False rumors… Are you on your way here after confirming it with Sharan? Is that what he said?”
“No… I didn’t ask Ondal specifically… since there’s no need to ask something like that.”
Kaiton lifted his teacup without a word. The tea inside the cup was a famous brand that August had brought from the royal capital. It was said to be popular because of its beautiful red color and the harmonious blend of fruity aromas, but to Muriel, it only tasted bitter, so she never sought it out after trying it once. Did Kaiton like that tea? Muriel had seen him drink it several times. Curious if it had a sweet taste she couldn’t feel, Muriel followed him and tried drinking the tea in front of her again, but she could only taste the dense bitterness.
“Do you like it? I find it just… bitter.”
“It’s bitter, but it’s pleasantly bitter, and there’s a lingering sweetness.”
Then why make that expression… Kaiton had a face that resembled someone who had just swallowed bitter water. It was an expression that seemed to be holding back bitterness. He was expressionless as always, but Muriel could tell. His expression was subtly heavy and bitter. Muriel was surprised to realize that she could even notice his subtle change in expression, but she tried not to think deeply about why she could tell such a minor difference.
“A little bit sweetness is enough for me.”
“…Yes.”
To avoid Kaiton’s piercing gaze, Muriel took a sip of the tea that only had a bitter taste. It was still bitter, but slightly better than before, with a slightly sweeter aftertaste. She still couldn’t taste it, so she was probably imagining it because of Kaiton’s gaze. She could stand the bitterness for now.
“The demons have indeed increased. Eklum is diligently trying to clean up, but I suppose he can’t keep up with the pace they’re growing at. There’s talk of abandoning the surrounding territories to escape the demon attacks out there too.”
“…It’s not that bad yet. I know because I’ve heard about it too.”
“At this rate, it won’t take long. If they don’t catch the culprit, more territories will be abandoned.”
“It could be a coincidence… Who knows. Demons attack people, after all…”
“It’s logical to suspect that someone is creating demons. It would be rightly reasonable to suspect that someone is Ur.”
“That’s… what I’m saying. I know very well that Kaiton is not the culprit.”
Again.
That bitter expression was on his face again.
“…Combining the power of Ur’s sculpture with monsters… It’s a groundbreaking approach and requires exceptional magical skills. They must have a ruthless and radical enough personality to create demons indiscriminately to the point of using monsters. Don’t you think it suits me pretty well?”
Kaiton spoke as if he were a detective narrowing down a suspect. He drove himself to the cliff, and yet remained calm like it wasn’t his affair. Muriel bit her lips and glared at Kaiton’s dry eyes. It was frustrating. She didn’t doubt him in the least, yet he acted as if she already did. Like it was natural to suspect him, and not doing so would be foolish… He was pushing Muriel into a pit, trying to corner her.
“Still.. I believe in you…”
With a scoff at her stubborn words, Kaiton sneered and poked at Muriel again. Muriel’s heart grew cold aftering being stabbed through a loophole.
“You must be well aware that I’m not using your pacio at all these days?”
“…”
“Did I find a way to get pacio while deceiving Sharan’s eyes? You should suspect that.”
***
“Muriel, can I come in?”
It was Ondal. He came in with water dripping from his waist-length hair.
“You were looking for me…?”
“So that’s why you ran all the way here when you were in the middle of drying your hair?”
Ondal held a towel in his hand. His thin tunic, soaked from water dripping from his hair, was spread wide open, unable to properly cover his neck.
After being practically kicked out by Kaiton, Muriel looked for Ondal. She needed to know if the rumors were true about demons being created from monsters. However, Ondal had his hair tightly tied back and was training in a silver armor that August had personally ordered and gifted him. From basic etiquette to swordsmanship, August was his teacher.
Ondal’s once slightly bent shoulders and waist were now straightened, and his posture was becoming more and more like August. Straight, neat, and strong. The boy… or rather, the small and cute troublemaker Ondal gradually emitted a more masculine scent. His muscles grew, and his hands became rougher. He appeared quite like a knight, to the point of feeling a little unfamiliar.
He swung a sword thicker than Muriel’s waist with ease. It was clear that he had natural strength, but she could also tell that he had been training tirelessly. Even Muriel, who knew nothing about swordsmanship, could see that the tip of his sword was quite solid and threatening.
She couldn’t interfere with his training, so she left a note in the room and returned, but she hadn’t expected him to come rushing in such a hurry. Ondal was still Ondal. The noble appearance he had shown earlier as the White Knight was nowhere to be found. Instead, he blushed and fidgeted with his fingers, feeling embarrassed.
“Muriel… can you help me dry off?”
“…Me?”
“My muscles are sore… It’s hard for me to lift my arms…”
Since hearing Ondal’s confession, Muriel had been struggling to maintain a certain distance between them. They were friends, not lovers. Affectionate, for not enough to give room to anything else. Due to this complicated and ambiguous relationship, Muriel had unintentionally been keeping her distance from Ondal lately.
“Should I cast a healing spell?”
“To… build muscles… he said not to use healing magic… because you need to tear the muscles…”
You don’t have to build muscles like that… Muriel mumbled casually, but Ondal anxiously bit his lip as if he wasn’t happy with Muriel’s answer. His gaze shifted to Fen. Lying next to Muriel, enjoying the unconscious touch of her caressing hand, was the drowsy, snowy-white Fenrir.
Ondal, of course, was still wearing his black blindfold, but Muriel couldn’t help but laugh when she thought there might be eyes jealous of Fen behind that fabric.
“It’s… co… cold…”
“Really? I shouldn’t catch a cold…”
“…If I catch a cold, please do healing magic, Muriel.”
“I thought you were a rabbit.”
Yet he was acting like a fox. His face was rather turning red like a hot person, not cold.
“Muriel shouldn’t be cold… Should I… make the fire hotter? Because… Fen… Fenrir might make you feel cold…”
Ondal pushed the firewood into Muriel’s fireplace. He pushed it in so tightly that there was no room to breathe, as if the fire was about to go out. As the fire gradually grew, Fenrir stretched out even more in the warm heat. The front legs that were always arrogantly crossed were now relaxed, revealing its belly as it stretched out.
Ondal’s mouth hardened. He thought Fenrir would run away if it got too hot, but it seemed the opposite was true, and he looked slightly annoyed.
“Fenrir likes the fire.”
Muriel snatched the towel from Ondal and tapped the chair beside her. Ondal’s expression instantly brightened. Mhm, she was indeed weak to cute things. Even the rabbit that tries to act like a fox was cute… it was inevitable.
“But you really shouldn’t catch a cold… Next time, come after drying your hair.”
“Yes. Next time…”
As the firewood crackled in the fireplace, Muriel gently dried his long hair with the towel. Looking at Ondal’s back, who had managed to get a good posture but was now slouched again, Muriel felt a moment of peace. However, the bitter expression on Kaiton’s face quickly came to mind again.
“Ondal… Have you ever seen someone stealing pacio and turning someone into a demon? With Sharan’s eyes…”
“Yeah…”
“You’ve seen it… before?”
“Yeah… in the nearby forest…”
The rumors… were true?
“When… when did it start? No… why didn’t you say anything until now?”
“It started a while ago… I’m sorry… I was worried about Muriel getting upset.”
What did that even mean? It was unsettling.
“Why… would I get upset?”
“…You told Kaiton not to take others’ pacio… but he did anyway…”
She should say ‘What does that matter, you should’ve said it’ but Muriel felt a lump in her throat. She could only look at Ondal’s blindfold. Like if she could see his eyes, she would be able to see the truth.
“Muriel…”
Ondal reached out to Muriel’s hand carefully, his worry evident on his expression. Ondal’s fingertips, which gently tapped on her hand, were calloused and rough, unlike before.
“No.”
Muriel’s hand did not notice Ondal’s anxious gesture and passed by it. Contrary to her careful actions while drying Ondal’s hair, she roughly swept back her own hair and shook her head.
“It’s not Kaiton. You didn’t see Kaiton directly, right?”
“Um…”
“Look. It’s not Kaiton. I… trust him.”
Ondal, unable to hold Muriel’s hand, tightly clasped his own hands in front of his chest. He bit his lip. Ondal wanted to believe everything Muriel said. But Muriel’s absolute trust in Kaiton broke Ondal’s heart. Muriel must undoubtedly be unaware of Kaiton’s cruel side that Ondal had witnessed multiple times. Kaiton’s appearance as he ruthlessly took away others’ pacio without hesitation with a scary face was terrifying. He was Ur itself, the fearsome and evil Demon King.
Ondal wanted to ask Muriel, “You know everything about me, so why don’t you know him?” He wanted to say that he was a bad guy. But it was clear that Muriel’s face would then surely distort with sadness, so Ondal simply asked another question quietly. After the question was over, he had to bite his lip again. He had to keep his mouth shut firmly, so no other words would slip out.
“Then who did it…?”
