【Chapter 59】
“I want to make it clear that we have no intention of violating the authority of the Grand Duchess. No one here has such intentions.”
“Nobody here thinks like that.”
“I know. Still.”
Because people don’t know.
“Sister, I’m going down alone.”
I said it bluntly, but opposition came out from all sides at the same time.
“No way.”
“Minuelle! I don’t want to say this, but are you out of your mind?”
“No way, my lady!”
“Myaa!!”
…including Elle. However, I had already anticipated such reactions. I firmly refused once again.
“Here, no….. Let’s all wait a little farther away. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“You don’t know what’s going to happen, how can I let you go alone?”
“Sister, you know me. I haven’t bled since I left the last town.”
I could feel it. Something’s pulling me in there. And as I got closer to it, the more energetic I got.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been so full of energy in my life.”
I quickly touched my sister’s cheek. The warmth was enough to melt through her frozen skin, even though she was always able to withstand the cold. It was as if she had an inexplicable body temperature that defied explanation, even for someone with a resistance to the cold. We were in a land of glaciers, after all.
“It… can’t be.”
“Right?”
I laughed with confidence.
“I can feel it. The spirit favors me. It will be resolved well.”
“But!”
“The reason why you can’t come with me is because we can’t predict where the power will go. Who would have known that it would snow in the desert 10 years ago?”
“……”
“Trust me, Sister. It will be resolved well.”
I repeated the words like a spell.
“It will work out.”
I didn’t really believe it, though.
The sudden surge of energy felt more like a lure that would draw prey into a carnivorous plant.
I was supposed to go alone in the first place, but because of that feeling, I couldn’t bring Elle or anyone else, including my sister.
“Please take care of Elle and Ramande.”
I hugged my sister, being careful not to sound like it was my last words. Then I hugged Elle, hoping to share some warmth with him since he seemed so cold.
This was undoubtedly the hardest moment of our journey. Elle dug his claws into my clothes, determined not to let go.
“Myaa!”
I didn’t know what the cat said, but it was clear that he didn’t like it.
“I’ll be right back. Our Elle will be a good boy, right?”
“Myang.”
“Really. Promise. I will be back really soon.”
“Meow. Myaaa…”
As tears welled up in Elle’s eyes, he started to sob. They say that an animal’s affection is blind, and Elle’s affection seems to be just like that. I’ve only treated his injury once, but he’s following me like this. So I patted Elle’s buttocks and showered them with lots of kisses to comfort them.
“Oh, I’m so sad….. I’m sorry. I’ll be right back. Okay? Can’t our Elle just look at me once?”
“Mya, myaaang…..”
After chatting with him for a while, Elle finally put off his claws.
“Thank you. As expected, our Elle is smart, cute, nice, and the best. Isn’t that right?”
After another round of praise, I handed the Elle to Ramande.
“Hold him in your arms.”
However, Ramande and Elle both looked disgusted at the same time.
“What? I don’t like it. It’s disgusting.”
“Myaa! Myaang!”
“Look, he doesn’t like it either.”
“Both of them are really…..”
It was all useless to say get along.
“Do as you please. I’ll be back soon, okay. I’ll be back.”
I walked carefully on the ice so as not to slip back. And it was when I touched the front entrance with my hand.
“Minuelle!”
I looked back at Ramande upon hearing the urgent call and smirked.
‘I knew this would happen, silly Ramande.’
Ramande held Elle tightly wrapped in clothes, shaking one of its front paws as if saying goodbye.
“Be careful when you go.”
“Mya!”
Anyway, they are both incredibly cute. I smiled widely and waved to everyone.
After that, I didn’t look back.
I walked straight into the bright blue cave. Despite the lack of light sources inside the ice cave, the ice emitted a faint glow.
‘It’s really pretty…..’
As I looked around at the mystical scenery, unlike anything I had ever seen before, I followed the winding path through the cave. However, just as I was thinking that there should be a fork or a dead end in the cave, a tremendous obstacle presented itself.
It wasn’t because I had walked a long way and reached a dead end.
Through some crevice or another, a small stream flowed under the surface of a stagnant lake. The water appeared to be a yellowish color, much like the lake in the Emperor’s garden, and it gave me chills.
But that was to be expected, I suppose.
“…..do I have to go in there?”
The power within me was firmly pointing to it.
It was indeed the “inside of the coldest thing,” as it was described.
“Could you look at me, spirit?”
The recipient should at least take care of taking it themselves if they were forced to give it. Whether it’s humane or spiritual!
However, the water remained still even after waiting for a long time. Normally, when something is returned, isn’t it customary for the deity to appear with a golden or silver axe and give a reward?
“Excuse me, but could you just extract my energy and leave… please?”
I didn’t want to get into such deep water. I can only handle water in a bathtub!
I even suggested a solution, but there was no sign of the power disappearing, let alone revealing the form of the spirit.
“That’s harsh.”
Wait, no, to be honest, I complained for a while and then, like Sim Cheong jumping into the water to save her father, I covered my face and dived in.
[T/N: Sim Cheong is a character in a well-known Korean folktale called 심청전 (Sim Cheong-jeon) or The Story of Sim Cheong. In the story, Sim Cheong is a filial daughter who sacrifices herself to the sea to help her blind father regain his sight.]
Splash!
Again, I have to emphasize that I am not someone who is good at swimming. After the sound of splashing, it was pitch dark.
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“I’m sure I fell into the water.”
But now I was surrounded by black smoke. I had climbed up to the bottom of the emergency stairway leading to the rooftop, with flames flickering around me.
“This…..”
It was a familiar place. The place where I had my last moment, a place that I could forget for 10 years, and a place that haunted me in my dreams.
“What is this, cough!”
As soon as I coughed, I bent over and sat down. It was a meaningless gesture, but now it seemed like I couldn’t help but do it.
“Uh….?”
However, amidst the smoke-filled air, the clothing that faintly caught my eye in the glare of the flames was definitely not what I was wearing just before I was about to die.
‘Isn’t it because you’re dressed in full armor looking for the spirit stone?’
I pulled my tightly braided hair in surprise, like someone who just woke up from a nap and checked it.
“My hair….”
It is pink.
It was an unbelievable situation. Even the hypotheses that came up naturally were also unbelievable.
- Minuelle’s body was shifted to this world.
- It’s a dream.
Normally, it would be number two, but the heavy smoke made my eyes, nose, and mouth feel so hot.
‘Is it the mischief of the spirit?’
As I coughed for a while, I thought of the third option. This place was the site of a fire, so of course, there was fire, and that meant the spirit of fire could have some power here.
‘If only I could touch the fire in my dreams.’
However, strangely enough, unlike the dreams that had just repeated memories passively, now I could move as I thought. If this wasn’t a dream, the spirit might have created this space based on my memories. Perhaps, it was made especially for me.
– Should I break it?
Suddenly, I remembered the voice I had heard on the day of my coming-of-age ceremony.
At that time, I shook my head to hold on to my reason, but now things were different.
“If it’s a stage made for me, it’s natural to break it.”
And another thought occurred to me. If the spirit created this space to test me, failing to control my energy might foil my plan to outsmart it by pretending to be weak and submissive.
‘So you have to run wild so that no one dare to touch it.’
I looked straight at the iron door that was standing stubbornly in front of me.
According to Article 10 of the Fire Services Act, closing or blocking emergency exits was illegal! But it was the same iron door that had ultimately killed me.
‘This time, I have to open it and release my grudge.’
However, opening the door without any preparation in this sealed space where fire is smoldering and rising would be a disaster. If there was a sudden rush of oxygen, it could explode all at once, and that would be the end of it.
‘Respirator! Firefighter uniform!’
After imagining and shouting in my mind, my breathing became comfortable after a while.
‘Just as I thought.’
Before I knew it, I was wearing a fireproof suit and a respirator mask.
“Would this work too?”
I tried to push away the smoke by imagining the flow of air, but it was a failure. So, I had no choice but to imagine a strong force pushing me toward a certain spot, and at the same time, I imagined the door in front of me being torn apart.
Whoosh!
A gap was formed between the wall and the door, and the air was being strongly sucked in, indicating an extremely dangerous situation with no room for argument. I desperately hoped that my fragile body would jump properly at least once, so I leaned tightly against the door and tensed my whole body. And then, the next moment, as if to say “give it a try,” the front suddenly gave way. I put all my strength into it and leaped forward.
Kwaaang!
With a tremendous sound, a shock hit my back. Even though I was wearing a fire-resistant suit, the heat was so intense that I thought my whole body was on fire.
But for now…
“I, I survived.”
The door opened. The door that had been closed forever!
“I’m alive!”
I rolled forward in a prone position.
“I’m alive! I’m alive…huhu…mom, dad, sister!”
I rolled over in the same position I was in and tears almost came out belatedly as I tried to suppress the fear and focused on my imagination, thinking how it would have been if the door didn’t open.
– Not good, not good! Argh, tsk.
A hoarse voice that sounded like it had swallowed a lot of smoke pierced through my head.
– Naughty little girl, of all places, why did you have to come to this connected spot?
A figure emerged from inside the door, breaking through the fluttering flames.
A figure emerged through the flames flickering inside the door. It was a person made entirely of fire, a tiny figure small enough to fit on my knee. I gasped in surprise.
“Of course, I chose it because it was here.”
The place where I escaped was the seal of the spirit world. A place surrounded by ice and water.
Fire cannot continue to burn without fuel.
“There’s always a hottest thing in the coldest place.”
Of course, it probably wasn’t what Sister Elga had intended, but it was a clear hint.
At first, I thought of things like fire extinguishers or fire extinguishers. But if the buildings outside were also implemented… the flames would devour them and grow even bigger.
So I judged that if that happened, my chances of winning would be even smaller, and I chose the place where the spirits would be weakest. I put my hand on my waist and asked.
“Are you a spirit?”
I couldn’t help but speak harshly with a mouthful of curses because it called me a naughty girl.
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Thank you for reading! ♡
