“Erne, do you know how to get away from that bug? Then help me. Isn’t it pitiful?”
Henry seemed to have grown fond of Judith as if he felt sorry for her who had collapsed.
“I don’t know exactly. I just know someone who knows how.”
“Then tell me who that person is and I will bring my wife and come back. You go ahead with the plan.”
Henry guessed that this was because his plan to track down Cliff and uncover the truth about his death had gone awry, but that wasn't the case.
The moment he saw the familiar silk pouch, Erne instinctively knew that this was not a mere coincidence.
“Erne.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”
Whether it was coincidence or fate, he could have pretended not to know and left, but Judith caught his eye.
Although she was flexible, the alcohol she had gotten by bending her pride and the horse she had bought as a parting gift made Erne hesitate.
Even though the hand that paid the price was trembling and the face looked like it was about to tear off its own flesh. If you think about it, isn't it a little admirable that she did it even though she hated it that much?
Henry seemed to have grown fond of Judith as if he felt sorry for her who had collapsed.
“I don’t know exactly. I just know someone who knows how.”
“Then tell me who that person is and I will bring my wife and come back. You go ahead with the plan.”
Erne's expression was impassive as he looked at his packed luggage, but his eyes showed the complexity of his thoughts.
The moment he saw the familiar silk pouch, Erne instinctively knew that this was not a mere coincidence.
“Erne.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”
Whether it was coincidence or fate, he could have pretended not to know and left, but Judith caught his eye.
Although she was flexible, the alcohol she had gotten by bending her pride and the horse she had bought as a parting gift made Erne hesitate.
Even though the hand that paid the price was trembling and the face looked like it was about to tear off its own flesh. If you think about it, isn't it a little admirable that she did it even though she hated it that much?
...Is that remarkable? Can he call that remarkable? He gave her the Count’s title and his family, and even saved her life twice, so shouldn’t he at least receive a horse?
“But who is that person? The one who knows a lot about those bugs. Is he a high-ranking official?”
Henry asked, sounding worried.
“I think there must be a reason why you didn’t tell us to go see her from the beginning.”
“She’s not a high-ranking official. She’s just a woman living in a slum on the outskirts of the capital.”
He just didn't want to see that woman again.
Square square square square square square square square square square square square square square square-
I scratched my ears in a fit of rage at the sound of insects eating right next to my eardrums. The thing eating me must be the end of my life.
If I get rid of that bug, won't I be able to live? I threw the silk bag into the fireplace. Sparks flew out.
No matter how great a man-eating insect it is, can it defeat fire? I tried to calm her anxiety as I added more firewood.
But a few hours later.
“No matter how ugly this looks, what if I just leave it anywhere?”
"...Uh?"
Erne, who had been out and about since morning, came back holding a yellow silk pouch.
“Did you burn it?”
“It was in the middle of the hallway.”
No, why is it in the middle of the hallway? I snatched the silk bag from Erne's hand and put it in the water jug.
No matter how great it is, it's still a breathing creature. Unless it's a fish, it will suffocate and die if I put it in water. However, this was my mistake.
I, who went into the kitchen to prepare a meal, almost fainted when I saw a silk pouch dangling from the kitchen shelf.
How on earth did it get back? The bug has legs, so let's say it crawled away. What about the pockets?
How can it be so perfectly fine without even a single soot mark?
“If it were something that could be easily eliminated, would the entire Count family have died out?”
“Am I going to die like this, Sir Erne? Eaten by bugs?”
There are tens of thousands of ways to die in this world, but why would I choose to be eaten by a bug? Not a wolf, not a bear, but a bug that looks like me.
Is this what you were thinking? I, who had lost my appetite, put down my jam-covered bread.
“I found someone who knows how, so I’ll finish it.”
“Really?”
“Yes, let’s go together later.”
I, who was breathing a sigh of relief, suddenly had a question.
“Who is that?”
“Mother’s siblings.”
“If he’s your mother’s younger brother, is he your maternal uncle?”
Erne shook his head briefly.
“So she's an aunt. No, there's a word for aunt, but what's your mother's sister?”
Ern's eyes grew cold. They weren't close enough to call her aunt. They were no different from strangers. No, they were worse than strangers.
Was I fifteen or sixteen?
It was the year that Erne had just been knighted and assigned to the Knights Templar.
He was ordered to investigate a house that was said to be haunted by ghosts alone. It was a sort of initiation ceremony where the senior knights teased the new recruit.
Erne didn't believe in the existence of ghosts, so he laughed and went to investigate.
The house that was said to be haunted was a small, old cabin at the edge of the forest.
The house was plain and clean. It was just that it had been empty for a long time, so rumors had spread. Erne pretended to investigate, so he took out drawers and opened cabinets, and found a sack of gold coins hidden under the floor.
It was in a sack of gold coins the size of Erne's torso.
Yellow silk pouch.
There was a gold nugget in the bag. Erne unconsciously filled the bag with it.
He thought that since it was gold he had found, he could take it. And then he completely forgot about it.
Several months later, on the day when he was receiving the large reward money, Erne coughed up blood for the first time.
He grew weaker day by day. He started bleeding from his ears, had frequent nosebleeds, coughed up blood, and eventually he was bedridden for days because the bleeding wouldn't stop.
He thought he was going to die. Only then did he think of his mother. Although in Erne's memories, his mother was always drunk and swearing, saying, “You ruined my life,” Erne still wanted to see her at least once before he died.
Erne took all the money he had saved and went to see his mother. If he went empty-handed, he wouldn't be welcomed. And what good would all that money be if he were dead?
He thought of it as child support. He thought it was a way to repay the favor of the Count for raising him after giving birth to his illegitimate child, being abandoned, and living in extreme poverty and self-loathing for eight years.
Erne went to the house where he lived with his mother while he was sick, but she was not there. Instead, he met his maternal grandmother, aunt, and Camilla.
And from that day on, Erne was on the verge of death. He couldn't even tell how much time had passed. When he came to, Camilla, full of resentment, was practically chasing Erne away.
“Go, don’t come back again.”
Erne was kicked out without hearing any further story. Strangely enough, a few days later, his body was completely healed.
He never looked for his mother again. Then, two years ago, just before the Empress's rebellion, Camilla came to see Erne.
It was obvious that she needed money. Erne gave her the money without saying anything, and Camilla shamelessly handed him a piece of paper with her home address written on it.
“If you want to hear a story, come find me.”
A story? A story about my mother? Or my maternal grandmother? I wasn't really curious.
His mother's face is now vague, so what's the use of listening to old stories? He just considers it a price paid for saving his life when he was young.
But the moment Erne saw the yellow silk bag again in the Rhineland mansion, he realized that the 'story' Camilla had told him was not about his mother, but about this strange insect.
When he heard about the death of the Counts of Rhineland, he briefly thought of the silk bag and the golden insect.
He didn't know exactly what would happen if he died from a bug, but he had no idea. He never imagined that the bug would be in the Count of Rhineland's residence.
How on earth did the silk bag he had picked up as a child end up in the Count of Rhineland's residence?
Like it or not, it's time to hear the reason.
Camilla's house.
I had come here to find a way to live, but I felt like I was sitting on a bed of thorns. I had guessed it when I was introduced as his mother's younger sister, but Erne and Camilla did not seem close at all.
Even as I entered Camilla's house, I didn't even exchange the usual greetings.
Instead of saying hello, Erne took out a silk pouch and threw it at Camilla, who frowned and nodded.
Green eyes that resembled Erne scanned the pocket.
“I knew you’d come here for this, but I didn’t think I’d see this again.”
Ominous. Camilla muttered something that was either a prayer or an incantation.
“Do you know what this is?”
Erne didn't say anything about me, and Camilla didn't ask who I was or why I had been brought there.
All I asked was if I wanted some tea, which made me feel even more uncomfortable in this position.
“It is a bug that brings all kinds of gold and silver treasures to the person who chooses it as his master.”
Huh? I looked at the silk pouch with new eyes.
Is it a worm?
“While the master is blinded by the wealth that is coming his way, the worms are eating him up.”
What is it, a pest?
“Eventually, you die from holes in your internal organs. You bleed from every orifice in your body.”
I rubbed my forearm as I recalled the sight of my own blood dripping from my nose. It gave me goosebumps.
“Then what should I do?”
“There are two ways. One is to bring food to the bugs.”
“But who is that person? The one who knows a lot about those bugs. Is he a high-ranking official?”
Henry asked, sounding worried.
“I think there must be a reason why you didn’t tell us to go see her from the beginning.”
“She’s not a high-ranking official. She’s just a woman living in a slum on the outskirts of the capital.”
He just didn't want to see that woman again.
***
Square square square square square square square square square square square square square square square-
I scratched my ears in a fit of rage at the sound of insects eating right next to my eardrums. The thing eating me must be the end of my life.
If I get rid of that bug, won't I be able to live? I threw the silk bag into the fireplace. Sparks flew out.
No matter how great a man-eating insect it is, can it defeat fire? I tried to calm her anxiety as I added more firewood.
But a few hours later.
“No matter how ugly this looks, what if I just leave it anywhere?”
"...Uh?"
Erne, who had been out and about since morning, came back holding a yellow silk pouch.
“Did you burn it?”
“It was in the middle of the hallway.”
No, why is it in the middle of the hallway? I snatched the silk bag from Erne's hand and put it in the water jug.
No matter how great it is, it's still a breathing creature. Unless it's a fish, it will suffocate and die if I put it in water. However, this was my mistake.
I, who went into the kitchen to prepare a meal, almost fainted when I saw a silk pouch dangling from the kitchen shelf.
How on earth did it get back? The bug has legs, so let's say it crawled away. What about the pockets?
How can it be so perfectly fine without even a single soot mark?
“If it were something that could be easily eliminated, would the entire Count family have died out?”
“Am I going to die like this, Sir Erne? Eaten by bugs?”
There are tens of thousands of ways to die in this world, but why would I choose to be eaten by a bug? Not a wolf, not a bear, but a bug that looks like me.
Is this what you were thinking? I, who had lost my appetite, put down my jam-covered bread.
“I found someone who knows how, so I’ll finish it.”
“Really?”
“Yes, let’s go together later.”
I, who was breathing a sigh of relief, suddenly had a question.
“Who is that?”
“Mother’s siblings.”
“If he’s your mother’s younger brother, is he your maternal uncle?”
Erne shook his head briefly.
“So she's an aunt. No, there's a word for aunt, but what's your mother's sister?”
Ern's eyes grew cold. They weren't close enough to call her aunt. They were no different from strangers. No, they were worse than strangers.
***
Was I fifteen or sixteen?
It was the year that Erne had just been knighted and assigned to the Knights Templar.
He was ordered to investigate a house that was said to be haunted by ghosts alone. It was a sort of initiation ceremony where the senior knights teased the new recruit.
Erne didn't believe in the existence of ghosts, so he laughed and went to investigate.
The house that was said to be haunted was a small, old cabin at the edge of the forest.
The house was plain and clean. It was just that it had been empty for a long time, so rumors had spread. Erne pretended to investigate, so he took out drawers and opened cabinets, and found a sack of gold coins hidden under the floor.
It was in a sack of gold coins the size of Erne's torso.
Yellow silk pouch.
There was a gold nugget in the bag. Erne unconsciously filled the bag with it.
He thought that since it was gold he had found, he could take it. And then he completely forgot about it.
Several months later, on the day when he was receiving the large reward money, Erne coughed up blood for the first time.
He grew weaker day by day. He started bleeding from his ears, had frequent nosebleeds, coughed up blood, and eventually he was bedridden for days because the bleeding wouldn't stop.
He thought he was going to die. Only then did he think of his mother. Although in Erne's memories, his mother was always drunk and swearing, saying, “You ruined my life,” Erne still wanted to see her at least once before he died.
Erne took all the money he had saved and went to see his mother. If he went empty-handed, he wouldn't be welcomed. And what good would all that money be if he were dead?
He thought of it as child support. He thought it was a way to repay the favor of the Count for raising him after giving birth to his illegitimate child, being abandoned, and living in extreme poverty and self-loathing for eight years.
Erne went to the house where he lived with his mother while he was sick, but she was not there. Instead, he met his maternal grandmother, aunt, and Camilla.
And from that day on, Erne was on the verge of death. He couldn't even tell how much time had passed. When he came to, Camilla, full of resentment, was practically chasing Erne away.
“Go, don’t come back again.”
Erne was kicked out without hearing any further story. Strangely enough, a few days later, his body was completely healed.
He never looked for his mother again. Then, two years ago, just before the Empress's rebellion, Camilla came to see Erne.
It was obvious that she needed money. Erne gave her the money without saying anything, and Camilla shamelessly handed him a piece of paper with her home address written on it.
“If you want to hear a story, come find me.”
A story? A story about my mother? Or my maternal grandmother? I wasn't really curious.
His mother's face is now vague, so what's the use of listening to old stories? He just considers it a price paid for saving his life when he was young.
But the moment Erne saw the yellow silk bag again in the Rhineland mansion, he realized that the 'story' Camilla had told him was not about his mother, but about this strange insect.
When he heard about the death of the Counts of Rhineland, he briefly thought of the silk bag and the golden insect.
He didn't know exactly what would happen if he died from a bug, but he had no idea. He never imagined that the bug would be in the Count of Rhineland's residence.
How on earth did the silk bag he had picked up as a child end up in the Count of Rhineland's residence?
Like it or not, it's time to hear the reason.
***
Camilla's house.
I had come here to find a way to live, but I felt like I was sitting on a bed of thorns. I had guessed it when I was introduced as his mother's younger sister, but Erne and Camilla did not seem close at all.
Even as I entered Camilla's house, I didn't even exchange the usual greetings.
Instead of saying hello, Erne took out a silk pouch and threw it at Camilla, who frowned and nodded.
Green eyes that resembled Erne scanned the pocket.
“I knew you’d come here for this, but I didn’t think I’d see this again.”
Ominous. Camilla muttered something that was either a prayer or an incantation.
“Do you know what this is?”
Erne didn't say anything about me, and Camilla didn't ask who I was or why I had been brought there.
All I asked was if I wanted some tea, which made me feel even more uncomfortable in this position.
“It's a bug called a goldfinch, Miss.”
“Goldfinches?”
“It is a bug that brings all kinds of gold and silver treasures to the person who chooses it as his master.”
Huh? I looked at the silk pouch with new eyes.
Is it a worm?
“While the master is blinded by the wealth that is coming his way, the worms are eating him up.”
What is it, a pest?
“Eventually, you die from holes in your internal organs. You bleed from every orifice in your body.”
I rubbed my forearm as I recalled the sight of my own blood dripping from my nose. It gave me goosebumps.
“Then what should I do?”
“There are two ways. One is to bring food to the bugs.”
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