“Food?”
“They say that if you kill a person once a year and offer it as an offering, the owner will live. Or you can provide prey to the golden bug.”
The golden bug them all, if there is nothing left to eat, the last one to eat is the owner.
“I heard that families that don’t live together don’t get eaten.”
"Why?"
“Well, I don’t know the details because I just heard it bit by bit. If the village chief were alive, I would have asked him.”
Neither Camilla nor his mother knew much about the Golden bug. However, the village chief at the time was an old man from the Shartin tribe who knew about the Golden bug.
“The village chief said that he had only heard of it as a legend, but this was his first time seeing it in person. Anyway, the second method is to pass the golden bug to someone else.”
It sounds easy, but it wasn't that easy.
“Because the Golden bug is a bug that chooses its owner. The person who would like the Golden bug should steal it or pick it up by chance.”
Camilla added that perhaps it was greed or desire that stimulated the golden sleep.
“Of course, keep in mind that even people who pick up bugs will most likely die.”
Since not many people knew about the bug's existence, the bug's owner was likely to die.
“In other words, you’re saying that it’s okay for someone you want to kill to pick it up and let it go.”
Erne's green eyes, which had been listening silently, shone sharply.
“This bug was in the Rhineland Mansion. What happened? Don’t think of it as a coincidence.”
“Yeah, it’s not a coincidence.”
Camilla's voice, which had been calm even after seeing the bug sac, trembled faintly.
This was the beginning of the 'story' that Camilla wanted to tell Erne, the 'story' that he really needed to hear.
“Your mother, do you know how she died?”
“Did you forget that you told me that he passed away from an illness back then?”
“No, actually, she was murdered. I kept it a secret from you at the time because you were too young and I was afraid you would be shocked, but now it’s time for you to know the truth.”
25 years ago, Erne's mother, Cecil, worked as a maid in the Rhineland Count's residence and became pregnant with the Count's child.
At that time, the Count was already married and had a son with his Countess.
Cecil was banished from the Count's residence and cut off from her mother, who had ordered her to have the child aborted. Neither Camilla nor Erne knew why Cecil had been so intent on having Erne.
Eight years was a short time to remember his mother, but even in the few memories he had, there was no image of her being happy.
They always suffered from financial difficulties. It was common to go hungry for several days. At some point, his mother started drinking alcohol. When she got drunk, she cursed the Count and took her anger out on Erne.
Unable to control her anger, she waved her hand, cried in guilt at having hit her young son, and then disappeared somewhere. When she came back after earning some money, there was peace for a while until she ran out of money.
But the peace was short-lived. Ern still vaguely remembers the terrified face of her mother, who was strangling Erne while she was sleeping, then suddenly slapped him on the cheek.
Why did it stop?
At that time, he didn't resist at all.
Erne still hasn't found the answer to that question. If he had known it would take this long, he should have asked his mother before she left.
A few days after that incident, the Count of Rhineland sent someone to inform them that he would take Erne away. Cecil did not refuse. Erne did not refuse either.
Erne did not look back at his mother, who received a thick purse instead of his son's hand. Erne did not hate or resent his mother. He thought that they had had the best possible farewell.
“Erne, after you left for the Count’s house, my sister came back home. Sometimes I heard her crying at night, but she seemed okay.”
Cecil quit drinking and started working again. Camilla reminisced about the peaceful times that were brief, but the times when she, her mother, and her sister laughed and chatted together.
“Then one day, out of the blue, the Count of Rhineland wants to kill you.”
Camilla thought Cecil was crazy. Why would the Count kill his own son? If he had, he wouldn't have taken him away.
“No matter how much I told her, she wouldn’t listen. My sister ended up going to the Count’s residence. She must have made a fuss and demanded that the Countess hand you over. The Countess must have hated the sight of my sister.”
The Countess had someone beat Cecil. Then she poured cold water on her and threw her into a deserted alley.
“It was a particularly cold day. Without any help, my sister passed away. On that cold street.”
When Camilla found Cecil, she was already a cold corpse.
“I still sometimes think of that image of my sister.”
Cecil, who was dying alone, curled up with her whole body covered in wounds.
“Honestly, I resented the Countess. There was no need to kill her.”
No, the Countess had her reasons. When she brought back the illegitimate child she had given up in her womb, it must have been for a purpose.
The border situation was tense at the time. Dark clouds were gathering over the empire, and rumors were circulating that war would break out within ten years.
In that case, someone from the Count's family would have to lead the soldiers and go off to war. The Countess chose to have an illegitimate child rather than send her son, Cedric, to war.
In fact, she took care of Erne quite carefully. She dressed him in the same clothes as his other siblings, fed him the same food, and even gave him a tutor. In the process, she gradually built up a sense of debt inside Erne.
You have received my grace, so you must repay it. You must do something for those who accepted you as a brother even though you had different mothers.
Then, she told Erne that Cecil was selling Erne and was living with a new man using the child support money she received.
But the Countess must have been very annoyed when Cecil suddenly appeared and tried to ruin the plan.
“After my sister died like that, my mother couldn’t sleep peacefully even for a single day. And then you showed up. Looking like you were dying.”
Holding that weird bug.
“The day you came, I fell asleep while taking care of you and when I woke up, my mother was gone. And the gold coin and that bug you brought to give to my sister.”
Camilla went out to look for her mother, but she was nowhere to be found. The first nephew she saw was dead, and her mother was missing.
Just as Camilla was about to have a nervous breakdown, her battered mother was carried in by a casino worker.
“When I asked what she was doing, she said she was giving the bug to your stepbrother.”
She worked as a cleaner at the casino without receiving a salary, waiting for Cedric, Erne's half-brother and the eldest son of the Count, to come to the casino.
Then, when the bastard had lost all his money, she said he sneaked a look at the bag of gold coins.
Since she was obviously a shabby old woman holding money, Cedric seemed to think it was worth stealing.
“He stole the money and took the bugs that were inside with it.”
He could have just taken the money, but Cedric insisted on riding a horse and chasing the old woman and then running her over. The old woman's fate was obvious, as she was hit by a horse's hoof and did not receive proper treatment.
“...Is that when she died?”
“They say that if you kill a person once a year and offer it as an offering, the owner will live. Or you can provide prey to the golden bug.”
The golden bug them all, if there is nothing left to eat, the last one to eat is the owner.
“I heard that families that don’t live together don’t get eaten.”
"Why?"
“Well, I don’t know the details because I just heard it bit by bit. If the village chief were alive, I would have asked him.”
Neither Camilla nor his mother knew much about the Golden bug. However, the village chief at the time was an old man from the Shartin tribe who knew about the Golden bug.
“The village chief said that he had only heard of it as a legend, but this was his first time seeing it in person. Anyway, the second method is to pass the golden bug to someone else.”
It sounds easy, but it wasn't that easy.
“Because the Golden bug is a bug that chooses its owner. The person who would like the Golden bug should steal it or pick it up by chance.”
Camilla added that perhaps it was greed or desire that stimulated the golden sleep.
“Of course, keep in mind that even people who pick up bugs will most likely die.”
Since not many people knew about the bug's existence, the bug's owner was likely to die.
“In other words, you’re saying that it’s okay for someone you want to kill to pick it up and let it go.”
Erne's green eyes, which had been listening silently, shone sharply.
“This bug was in the Rhineland Mansion. What happened? Don’t think of it as a coincidence.”
“Yeah, it’s not a coincidence.”
Camilla's voice, which had been calm even after seeing the bug sac, trembled faintly.
This was the beginning of the 'story' that Camilla wanted to tell Erne, the 'story' that he really needed to hear.
“Your mother, do you know how she died?”
“Did you forget that you told me that he passed away from an illness back then?”
“No, actually, she was murdered. I kept it a secret from you at the time because you were too young and I was afraid you would be shocked, but now it’s time for you to know the truth.”
25 years ago, Erne's mother, Cecil, worked as a maid in the Rhineland Count's residence and became pregnant with the Count's child.
At that time, the Count was already married and had a son with his Countess.
Cecil was banished from the Count's residence and cut off from her mother, who had ordered her to have the child aborted. Neither Camilla nor Erne knew why Cecil had been so intent on having Erne.
Eight years was a short time to remember his mother, but even in the few memories he had, there was no image of her being happy.
They always suffered from financial difficulties. It was common to go hungry for several days. At some point, his mother started drinking alcohol. When she got drunk, she cursed the Count and took her anger out on Erne.
Unable to control her anger, she waved her hand, cried in guilt at having hit her young son, and then disappeared somewhere. When she came back after earning some money, there was peace for a while until she ran out of money.
But the peace was short-lived. Ern still vaguely remembers the terrified face of her mother, who was strangling Erne while she was sleeping, then suddenly slapped him on the cheek.
Why did it stop?
At that time, he didn't resist at all.
Erne still hasn't found the answer to that question. If he had known it would take this long, he should have asked his mother before she left.
A few days after that incident, the Count of Rhineland sent someone to inform them that he would take Erne away. Cecil did not refuse. Erne did not refuse either.
Erne did not look back at his mother, who received a thick purse instead of his son's hand. Erne did not hate or resent his mother. He thought that they had had the best possible farewell.
“Erne, after you left for the Count’s house, my sister came back home. Sometimes I heard her crying at night, but she seemed okay.”
Cecil quit drinking and started working again. Camilla reminisced about the peaceful times that were brief, but the times when she, her mother, and her sister laughed and chatted together.
“Then one day, out of the blue, the Count of Rhineland wants to kill you.”
Camilla thought Cecil was crazy. Why would the Count kill his own son? If he had, he wouldn't have taken him away.
“No matter how much I told her, she wouldn’t listen. My sister ended up going to the Count’s residence. She must have made a fuss and demanded that the Countess hand you over. The Countess must have hated the sight of my sister.”
The Countess had someone beat Cecil. Then she poured cold water on her and threw her into a deserted alley.
“It was a particularly cold day. Without any help, my sister passed away. On that cold street.”
When Camilla found Cecil, she was already a cold corpse.
“I still sometimes think of that image of my sister.”
Cecil, who was dying alone, curled up with her whole body covered in wounds.
“Honestly, I resented the Countess. There was no need to kill her.”
No, the Countess had her reasons. When she brought back the illegitimate child she had given up in her womb, it must have been for a purpose.
The border situation was tense at the time. Dark clouds were gathering over the empire, and rumors were circulating that war would break out within ten years.
In that case, someone from the Count's family would have to lead the soldiers and go off to war. The Countess chose to have an illegitimate child rather than send her son, Cedric, to war.
In fact, she took care of Erne quite carefully. She dressed him in the same clothes as his other siblings, fed him the same food, and even gave him a tutor. In the process, she gradually built up a sense of debt inside Erne.
You have received my grace, so you must repay it. You must do something for those who accepted you as a brother even though you had different mothers.
Then, she told Erne that Cecil was selling Erne and was living with a new man using the child support money she received.
But the Countess must have been very annoyed when Cecil suddenly appeared and tried to ruin the plan.
“After my sister died like that, my mother couldn’t sleep peacefully even for a single day. And then you showed up. Looking like you were dying.”
Holding that weird bug.
“The day you came, I fell asleep while taking care of you and when I woke up, my mother was gone. And the gold coin and that bug you brought to give to my sister.”
Camilla went out to look for her mother, but she was nowhere to be found. The first nephew she saw was dead, and her mother was missing.
Just as Camilla was about to have a nervous breakdown, her battered mother was carried in by a casino worker.
“When I asked what she was doing, she said she was giving the bug to your stepbrother.”
She worked as a cleaner at the casino without receiving a salary, waiting for Cedric, Erne's half-brother and the eldest son of the Count, to come to the casino.
Then, when the bastard had lost all his money, she said he sneaked a look at the bag of gold coins.
Since she was obviously a shabby old woman holding money, Cedric seemed to think it was worth stealing.
“He stole the money and took the bugs that were inside with it.”
He could have just taken the money, but Cedric insisted on riding a horse and chasing the old woman and then running her over. The old woman's fate was obvious, as she was hit by a horse's hoof and did not receive proper treatment.
“...Is that when she died?”
"Yes."
Erne burst into laughter at the unimaginable story. Both her mother and her maternal grandmother were killed by the Rhineland Counts.
But because the bug was passed on to the Rhineland family, the Rhineland family also died. So, was this revenge successful?
“Just wait a minute.”
Camilla got up and started rummaging through the old dresser and chest of drawers.
“Where was it? Oh, here it is.”
She took out a yellowed piece of paper.
“The village chief at the time wrote down everything he knew about bugs. I left it here just in case, and it turns out like this.”
Camilla hesitated and then opened her mouth.
“I used the money you lent me last time well. I will definitely pay you back someday.”
“Let’s say it’s worth hearing the story.”
Erne crumpled up the paper and stood up.
There was no greeting like when he came. Judith only nodded and quickly followed Erne.
The secrets of the cursed mansion have been solved. A way to remove the golden bug has also been found.
Erne lifted Judith onto his horse, thinking that he could now concentrate on finding out why he had become an incorruptible corpse.
Judith looked back at Camilla, then grabbed Erne by the waist.
***
On horseback heading to the mansion.
“I feel uneasy.”
Erne frowned at Judith's whispers from behind him.
He had expected this moment to come since they started hearing unnecessary stories together, but it wasn't a very pleasant situation.
“Pity is disgusting, so put it away.”
“I don’t like sympathy that is just verbal, but this is similar. If you are going to sympathize, you should do it with money.”
“So you’re going to give me some money?”
There was no answer from Judith. Yes, he gets it. She doesn't want to spend money on pity, that's it. He hates being pitied, but what is this strange feeling of being at a loss?
“If it’s a consolation that doesn’t cost money, I can give it to you.”
“No need.”
“You’ve become so vulgar.”
Where did they treat me the same way?
Erne was furious.
“It’s not that I’m not sad. I’m just not sad.”
“It’s not that I’m not sad. I’m just not sad.”
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment