Episode 16. A Truly Terrible Day
Kelita opened the carriage door and stepped outside.
The southern part of the Periat Empire, where the capital was located, hadn't seen snow for a very long time.
Compared to the north, the weather was relatively unchanging, so even after the disappearance of Bercheria's guardians, this area hadn't experienced any major problems.
"I've never seen so much snow in my life."
Kelita's cheeks flushed red with the cold, as she marveled. She opened her hand and watched the snowflakes settle on her palm.
The white snow crystals were vivid, then instantly melted into tiny droplets.
Kelita smiled, pulling her palm back and touching the droplets with her tongue.
And at that moment, a man was walking through the scenery caught in her fingertips.
"Ah."
Tall, muscular. Smooth, black hair that swayed with every step, as if it were about to rustle.
A high nose and red lips, combined with striking eyes, sometimes made her lose herself.
"Lacrahan."
He was the man who would soon become her husband and love her forever.
Kelita's feet, anxious to go forward to meet him, stuck to the floor.
As Lacrahan's silhouette became clearer, she realized he wasn't alone.
Wyatt, standing right next to her, also looked dumbfounded and muttered, his hand resting on his eyebrow.
"What's that?"
Lacrahan was walking toward her, carrying a woman on his back.
"Well, let's see, is that woman even dare to ride on the back of His Highness the Grand Duke?"
Wyatt, at a loss, glanced back and forth between Kelita and Lacrahan before running combatively toward Lacrahan.
***
- Berche.
Every time she heard her mother's voice, Bercheria felt her stomach turn. It felt like her insides were being ripped apart, and her blood was flowing backwards. Even though she had clearly seen the tower disappear and the staff absorbed into her body with her own eyes, the anxiety she had learned throughout her life did not easily disappear.
'Please, please just go.'
When she'd thought of returning to the tower with Lacrahan, meeting her mother wasn't part of her plan.
Since birth, Bercheria's world had only had one mother.
"What was the reason? The entire reason this tower exists?"
"I don't understand."
"The reason you were imprisoned here. The reason the staff was turned into a tower. The reason your power was gradually dissapear."
She felt a sickening queasy feeling.
She'd lived in the tower since birth, as if it were a given, so she hadn't questioned it.
She hadn't even felt the need to.
The tower's summit, just a few steps away, was her entire world.
It wasn't until she met the man before her that she decided to escape.
She realized this much later.
It had been about ten years ago.
It was a belated realization, but Bercheria already knew the man's pale hand pressed against her lips.
At first, she hadn't imagined it.
When she'd first seen Lacrahan, he was a boy, not as mature as he was now.
Bercheria would always stand on tiptoe and hang on the railing to observe Lacrahan.
Sometimes with his father, sometimes with his much taller, broader-shouldered brother, and other times with his mother.
Born a goddess, Bercheria possessed five senses that exceeded human understanding, enabling her to observe everything around the tower in minute detail.
She knew, then, how much happier he was, unlike her.
Then, suddenly, they stopped appearing. They must have been waiting, because he was the only one passing through the tower.
Then, about ten years ago, he returned, lost and alone.
Instead, he was joined by his hunting companions.
While they blazed with blazing fire, taking their prey, he followed leisurely, as if taking a stroll.
In ten years, Bercheria had never once seen Lacrahan's hands stained with blood or seen him loading a dead animal onto his horse.
And that brought her relief.
The people he accompanied had changed, but his essence remained the same.
'If I were with someone like that, I wouldn't have to worry about getting whipped or having to cry and beg.'
One day, she drooled, wondering what the jerky he was munching on would taste like, and she was saddened by the fact that if the rain continued, she wouldn't be able to see anyone for a while.
If she had possessed the full power of weather control back then, it wouldn't have rained except when absolutely necessary.
If she had possessed all the powers her mother had taken away, she would have descended this tower long ago.
Instead of running away so painfully.
"Ugh!"
Bercheria couldn't suppress the sudden retching sensation that rose up in her throat.
Then, the footsteps that had been circling around her stopped.
"...!"
Lacrahan looked straight at Bercheria as if to tell her not to worry, then lowered one hand to his waist and gripped his sword. He looked as if he could draw the long sword and cut anyone at any moment.
- Berche
She felt a sickening queasy feeling.
She'd lived in the tower since birth, as if it were a given, so she hadn't questioned it.
She hadn't even felt the need to.
The tower's summit, just a few steps away, was her entire world.
It wasn't until she met the man before her that she decided to escape.
She realized this much later.
It had been about ten years ago.
It was a belated realization, but Bercheria already knew the man's pale hand pressed against her lips.
At first, she hadn't imagined it.
When she'd first seen Lacrahan, he was a boy, not as mature as he was now.
Bercheria would always stand on tiptoe and hang on the railing to observe Lacrahan.
Sometimes with his father, sometimes with his much taller, broader-shouldered brother, and other times with his mother.
Born a goddess, Bercheria possessed five senses that exceeded human understanding, enabling her to observe everything around the tower in minute detail.
She knew, then, how much happier he was, unlike her.
Then, suddenly, they stopped appearing. They must have been waiting, because he was the only one passing through the tower.
Then, about ten years ago, he returned, lost and alone.
Instead, he was joined by his hunting companions.
While they blazed with blazing fire, taking their prey, he followed leisurely, as if taking a stroll.
In ten years, Bercheria had never once seen Lacrahan's hands stained with blood or seen him loading a dead animal onto his horse.
And that brought her relief.
The people he accompanied had changed, but his essence remained the same.
'If I were with someone like that, I wouldn't have to worry about getting whipped or having to cry and beg.'
One day, she drooled, wondering what the jerky he was munching on would taste like, and she was saddened by the fact that if the rain continued, she wouldn't be able to see anyone for a while.
If she had possessed the full power of weather control back then, it wouldn't have rained except when absolutely necessary.
If she had possessed all the powers her mother had taken away, she would have descended this tower long ago.
Instead of running away so painfully.
"Ugh!"
Bercheria couldn't suppress the sudden retching sensation that rose up in her throat.
Then, the footsteps that had been circling around her stopped.
"...!"
Lacrahan looked straight at Bercheria as if to tell her not to worry, then lowered one hand to his waist and gripped his sword. He looked as if he could draw the long sword and cut anyone at any moment.
- Berche
Bercheria's eyes widened at the sound of a voice right beside her. Her mother had clearly located her location through the sound of her retching.
- There she was!
She felt her mother's body tilting through the moonlight-drenched bushes.
As she lowered her head to where they were clinging to the ground, Lacrahan's sword slipped out of its sheath.
"...!"
Bercheria felt the air turn cold.
The moment their eyes met, she had a gut feeling.
Her mother's eyes, her mother's pupils. They were definitely hers, yet they were completely different.
There was no cold, murderous energy in her gaze. It was as if she were submissive, only responding to someone's orders. Her mother wasn't the type to look at people with that kind of gaze. She was a parallel butterfly. She was someone else, using divine water to imitate her mother.
- There she was!
She felt her mother's body tilting through the moonlight-drenched bushes.
As she lowered her head to where they were clinging to the ground, Lacrahan's sword slipped out of its sheath.
"...!"
Bercheria felt the air turn cold.
The moment their eyes met, she had a gut feeling.
Her mother's eyes, her mother's pupils. They were definitely hers, yet they were completely different.
There was no cold, murderous energy in her gaze. It was as if she were submissive, only responding to someone's orders. Her mother wasn't the type to look at people with that kind of gaze. She was a parallel butterfly. She was someone else, using divine water to imitate her mother.
Bercheria shouted at Lacrahan.
"Lacrahan! Not Mother!"
The moment she shouted, a woman's hand suddenly burst into the bushes. Just as Lacrahan swung his knife to cut the hand, a huge snowball piled on the tree above her crashed down.
"Ugh!"
"...!"
Lacrahan instinctively turned and wrapped himself around Bercheria. Snow poured down on them like a giant curtain, and her mother, who was beside her, was flattened by the snow. With no bushes to shield her, she seemed to lose consciousness, unable to fight back.
"Ha."
Bercheria looked at her mother, frozen in place with her hand outstretched.
"Are you alright?"
“Yes.”
“Ha. This is a truly terrible day, isn’t it?”
Bercheria laughed weakly. In front of them, the hand of the woman she believed to be her mother was transforming. It belonged to a dull, thick-knotted man.
“It certainly looks like you have a parallel butterfly.”
Bercheria bit her lips, trying to restrain her trembling body. She hoped it wasn’t true. Not just a parallel butterfly.
“Are you scared?”
Bercheria muttered at Lacrahan’s voice, looking at his thick hand.
“I’m scared. I can’t even guess when, where, or in what form my mother will appear.”
“Let’s talk as we go.”
Bercheria groaned as Lacrahan strained to stand.
“What’s wrong?”
He turned his head and saw that her feet had turned the other way. Lacrahan was startled and pulled away from her.
“What the hell is going on? Why aren’t you telling me?”
Bercheria raised her head and looked down at her feet.
“I didn’t know. And even if I got hurt, I’d probably get better soon anyway...”
Lacrahan took off Bercheria’s shoes. Instead of the dirty clothes she’d worn when she left the tower, her new dress and shoes were once again covered in dust. Still, it didn’t bother Lacrahan at all.
“What are you doing?”
“Have you ever been broken and recovered?”
Bercheria bit her lip and shook her head. Just because a wound healed quickly didn’t mean it was painless.
“Just bear with the pain. No matter how good your healing ability is, a broken bone won’t go back to its original place and heal.”
He lifted Bercheria’s foot to his chest. He placed one knee on her other thigh and looked at Bercheria.
“The person she sent won’t return, so she’ll show up herself. Just think about getting out of here.”
“Yes.”
Even buried in the snow, Lacrahan’s hand holding her foot felt burning hot.
Bercheria tilted her head and watched him examine her feet.
“That’s how it is.”
Lacrahan raised an eyebrow, as if to ask him to continue.
“Is your body temperature hot?”
She thought it was a trivial question, but Lacrahan’s expression changed strangely.
It was like the face of a child being asked a difficult question he couldn’t possibly answer.
“Mom, I like our Lacrahan because he’s warm. All the Adkins men are cold, aren’t they? Our chubby, cute Lacrahan.”
He closed his eyes and suppressed the memories that surged up without warning.
Ever since he’d arrived up north, he’d tried desperately not to think about his family. He knew the more he thought about them, the more painful it would be.
But suddenly, Bercheria’s words made him feel pathetic for all the time he’d spent struggling.
This woman had lived a life dozens of times more painful than his, yet she didn’t run away, but faced it.
He was still just avoiding it.
Body temperature? What’s so great about that?
“Why?”
Lacrahan fixed his long, drawn eyes on Bercheria, who asked again.
“That question, my mother often asked.”
“She has a beautiful smile.”
Lacrahan’s hand stopped.
“What?”
“...I saw it from the tower. You and your mother are passing by together.”
“Oh.”
“Father and brother, too.”
“...I didn’t know you were watching.”
“Watching that was my only pleasure.”
Lacrahan raised his eyebrows, then let them fall with a short breath.
“Yes. I see.”
He grabbed Bercheria’s thin ankle and glanced at her.
“It’ll hurt. Just bear with it and don’t make a sound.”
“Yes.”
Lacrahan put her ankle back in place with a single thrust. He had expected it, but seeing her not groan, he smiled as he put her shoes back on.
“You always exceed my expectations, you know?”
“It’s the same for both of us.”
Bercheria tried to stand up, but stumbled due to the pain in her foot.
Lacrahan grabbed Bercheria's arm as if supporting her, then hoisted her onto his back.
"What, what are you doing?"
"I'm just carrying you."
"I can walk on my own."
Lacrahan turned his head to face the rear, the orange glow of the rising sun gleaming over his sharp nose.
“That’s how it is.”
Lacrahan raised an eyebrow, as if to ask him to continue.
“Is your body temperature hot?”
She thought it was a trivial question, but Lacrahan’s expression changed strangely.
It was like the face of a child being asked a difficult question he couldn’t possibly answer.
“Mom, I like our Lacrahan because he’s warm. All the Adkins men are cold, aren’t they? Our chubby, cute Lacrahan.”
He closed his eyes and suppressed the memories that surged up without warning.
Ever since he’d arrived up north, he’d tried desperately not to think about his family. He knew the more he thought about them, the more painful it would be.
But suddenly, Bercheria’s words made him feel pathetic for all the time he’d spent struggling.
This woman had lived a life dozens of times more painful than his, yet she didn’t run away, but faced it.
He was still just avoiding it.
Body temperature? What’s so great about that?
“Why?”
Lacrahan fixed his long, drawn eyes on Bercheria, who asked again.
“That question, my mother often asked.”
“She has a beautiful smile.”
Lacrahan’s hand stopped.
“What?”
“...I saw it from the tower. You and your mother are passing by together.”
“Oh.”
“Father and brother, too.”
“...I didn’t know you were watching.”
“Watching that was my only pleasure.”
Lacrahan raised his eyebrows, then let them fall with a short breath.
“Yes. I see.”
He grabbed Bercheria’s thin ankle and glanced at her.
“It’ll hurt. Just bear with it and don’t make a sound.”
“Yes.”
Lacrahan put her ankle back in place with a single thrust. He had expected it, but seeing her not groan, he smiled as he put her shoes back on.
“You always exceed my expectations, you know?”
“It’s the same for both of us.”
Bercheria tried to stand up, but stumbled due to the pain in her foot.
Lacrahan grabbed Bercheria's arm as if supporting her, then hoisted her onto his back.
"What, what are you doing?"
"I'm just carrying you."
"I can walk on my own."
Lacrahan turned his head to face the rear, the orange glow of the rising sun gleaming over his sharp nose.
Comments
Post a Comment