# Chapter 37
Kalvern, who had been standing behind him, answered triumphantly.
“There’s a secret chamber in the annex near the Imperial Palace’s ballroom. However, its exact location was obscured due to the expansion of the annex after Former Empress Claudia was dethroned.”
“I heard it was quite a noisy operation this time.”
“He was the one who executed it. Since there were no casualties, the investigation shouldn’t last long.”
After hearing Kalvern’s words, the man gazed down wistfully at Levi, who was still clutching his hand.
“…Finding that is our top priority.”
Meanwhile, Levi instinctively reached out with his black hand to grab a nearby person, but having failed to absorb energy, he immediately lost consciousness again. His black hand slipped from the man’s arm and nearly hit the floor. Just before it touched the ground, the man caught Levi’s hand and gently placed it on the floor.
❖ ❖ ❖
One dawn.
He had a terrible dream.
Thump-thump—
Afraid his frantically beating heart might be heard, Ion lay on his side, pressing both hands firmly against the left side of his chest.
A faint breeze could be felt from somewhere. His already racing heart pounded even faster than before.
His heightened senses detected the slightest presence. It was so light and careful that it could have been mistaken for a small bird that had accidentally flown in.
The presence drew closer and gazed down at Ion, who was deliberately breathing at an even pace. Then, it carefully extended a hand.
Ion felt the hand rest on his head and pressed down harder on his chest. Unable to contain himself any longer, he suddenly grabbed the hand.
Levi, who had thought Ion was in deep sleep and was trying to use his right hand’s ability again, pulled his arm forcefully when his hand was suddenly caught. But it didn’t budge at all; instead, Levi was the one being pulled.
Ion swiftly removed the mask from Levi, who had been yanked onto the bed with a thud.
The golden eyes trembled faintly as they took in Levi’s face revealed in the moonlight.
Ion covered Levi with his body and buried his face in the crook of Levi’s neck. He could smell Levi’s scent from his squirming body beneath him.
“Haah…”
Ion deeply inhaled Levi’s fragrance and then exhaled slowly, as if reluctant to let it go, while rubbing his face against Levi’s cheek.
“Levi… Levi…”
Levi only rolled his eyes as his name was called again and again.
Ion embraced Levi with one arm and sat up. The sight of Levi comfortably seated on his lap, facing him, was so identical to the young Levi that it made Ion’s eyes sting.
Levi, who had been watching Ion examine him intently, asked in a small voice.
“Do we know each other?”
“…Yes.”
Ion answered briefly as he pulled Levi into an embrace. While listening to Levi’s small heartbeat, Ion undid a button of the black shirt wrapped around his white neck with a soft click.
“We’re not just acquaintances…”
As he unfastened one more button, a clear collarbone came into view. Ion placed a kiss where Levi’s core should be. Looking up at Levi from this position, his eyes curved beautifully like a crescent moon.
“We liked each other.”
Since they had actually told each other they liked one another before, it wasn’t a lie.
Hearing Ion’s words, Levi furrowed his brow.
“I did?”
Seeing Levi’s reaction, Ion felt a twinge in a corner of his heart. Even though he had expected it, it still hurt more than he thought it would.
What remained in Ion wasn’t the simple childish feeling of “like.” His center of being had become Levi himself—how could he define that with such a light and immature word?
It was something more intense and deeper, an abyss-like, distant emotion.
Meanwhile, Levi remembered nothing. Not how he had comforted and embraced Ion, not how he had told Ion he liked him, not how he had sacrificed himself to protect Ion.
A complete blank slate.
An agonizingly painful blank slate.
“I also…”
Levi moved his lips tentatively.
Ion’s heart began to pound rapidly. In contrast, Levi added very slowly:
“…like Ion…”
Hearing Levi say his name, Ion felt his heart racing madly. It was beating so hard that it felt as if it had been pierced by something, to the point of pain.
He cupped Levi’s face with both hands. His heart ached so much that he couldn’t speak, but he opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to call out to him.
A bright, radiant smile—one Ion had never seen before—spread across Levi’s face.
Crack—
Along with it came the sound of something breaking from Levi’s collarbone area.
Snap— Crack—!
Before Ion could be surprised, the space between Levi’s collarbones began to split in half. Blood poured out profusely from the split, and within the opening, a black pearl covered in dark blood was visible. His core, breaking into pieces.
Levi kept smiling as if unaware that his core was shattering. Blood trickled from his smiling lips, and starting from his fingertips and toes, his entire body turned to black powder and scattered, yet he just… just smiled.
“I don’t want to die…”
Only after most of his body had turned to black powder did his voice take on a sad tone.
Clear tears dropped from Levi’s curved eyes.
“Save me…”
The face of Levi that Ion saw just before waking from the dream was filled with nothing but utter despair and sorrow.
❖ ❖ ❖
I’m hungry.
I’m hungry. I’m hungry.
I’m hungry. I’m hungry. I’m hungry.
His body felt fine, but his mind was screaming.
His vision was dark, as if his eyes were closed. In fact, it seemed as though there was nothing but darkness all around.
He walked, and walked, and walked through the endless darkness.
As he kept walking, he spotted a mass containing brilliant gold light in the distance. The moment he saw it, his mouth watered. Even though he knew it wasn’t something to be eaten with his mouth, he wanted to devour it immediately somehow.
He raced through the darkness that felt like a swamp. Feeling as if his mental hunger was wildly driving his body, he ran toward that golden mass.
One.
Two…
He devoured whatever he saw. He reached out, gripped tightly and burst them, split them in half and held them in his hands. Big ones, small ones, he touched everything he could reach.
The golden masses scattered like fragments with each touch. Those scattered pieces entered deeply into him through his hands, settled within, and cried out for more.
I’ll feed you as much as you want.
I don’t want to be hungry anymore, so let’s just eat everything.
He moved forward, taking in everything he could get his hands on.
Only after a long while did he realize his vision was changing. The terrifying darkness that had obscured everything had gradually lightened with each golden mass he consumed, and now even a faint light was visible.
I’m not hungry anymore.
The moment he realized this, his vision brightened all at once. This was completely different from the gradual brightening he had experienced until now.
The light was so blinding that he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. Along with that, the ground that had felt like a swamp became solid, and his ears, which had heard nothing before, suddenly opened as if capturing the sounds of others.
“Aaaaargh—!”
“P-please, save me!”
He frowned deeply, and when he opened his eyes, there were people lying at his feet. Nearby, someone was crawling on the ground with a face drained of color.
Levi looked up and surveyed his surroundings.
Stalls displaying various items for sale, scattered fruits, crushed and dented vegetables.
Belatedly realizing that he was in the middle of a marketplace, Levi frowned as pain shot through his head. He held his forehead with one hand and staggered.
‘Why am I in a place like this…?’
Levi slowly tried to trace his memories. He couldn’t quite remember what he last remembered.
As he blankly tried to recall his memories, he soon realized that he had been trapped in a cage, facing starvation.
Levi’s face immediately turned ashen. He removed his hand from his forehead and scanned his surroundings again with trembling eyes.
People who had fallen and made no attempt to get up.
People who were frantically running away at the sight of him.
People who were pointing fingers and hiding, calling him a monster.
It felt as if his breath was caught in his throat. Breathing became difficult.
Levi tried to grasp his own neck with his right hand.
The red mark engraved on the palm of his black hand emitted an ominous light, unlike usual. It was so dark and intense that it looked like someone had painted it with red blood.
Levi instinctively knew that this was the oversaturation phenomenon that appeared right after resolving starvation.
Levi’s desperate eyes scanned the corpses surrounding him.
That day, for the first time, Levi wailed without tears.
