# Chapter 103
Claudia, who had been staring at Levi with expectant eyes, soon showed a disappointed face.
“That didn’t work.”
Since he didn’t understand the word marriage, she had hoped he might just nod in agreement, unable to resist her gaze.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. As long as you stay by my side from now on.”
Claudia’s bright face shone radiantly.
❖ ❖ ❖
“You have arrived.”
Princess Claudia’s carriage arrived not at the imperial palace but at a certain noble’s mansion.
A man in his thirties, dressed in extravagant attire compared to Claudia’s modest dress, placed a hand on his chest and bowed deeply. Claudia, receiving his formal greeting from inside the carriage, smiled brightly through the small window that only exposed her face.
“Today was the day, Eiden.”
Eiden raised his head at Claudia’s words and twinkled his eyes with a kind smile.
“Just thinking about meeting you in person makes me excited already. Please, come inside.”
Eiden made a hand signal to those guarding the mansion’s main gate. Through the wide-open gates, Claudia’s carriage, as modest and ordinary as her dress, gradually entered.
After passing through the splendid garden of the Wesslon Marquis’s residence and arriving in front of the mansion, Claudia got out first and extended her hand toward Levi. But Levi remained seated in the corner of the carriage, showing no intention of coming out.
“Let’s go in, Levi.”
“…”
Levi couldn’t readily take Claudia’s extended left hand.
Even though Claudia said it was fine, other humans would die just by the touch of his black hand. Even if, as she said, his power wasn’t simply killing humans but guiding them to the path of reincarnation, it was natural to be reluctant about unwillingly cutting off their current life.
Claudia’s words still didn’t feel real to Levi.
The fear of ‘killing.’
It was an emotion deeply rooted in his memory from his previous life, triggered by something he’d forgotten. He didn’t know what had happened, but it was clear he had engraved it in his mind as if brainwashing himself.
“I…”
Just as he was about to say he would return to the Black Forest, Claudia’s hand suddenly reached into the carriage. She firmly grasped Levi’s pitch-black right hand as if she would never let go, and pulled strongly.
“It’s fine, I tell you.”
Led by Claudia’s hand, Levi finally emerged from the small carriage and could properly see his surroundings.
Unlike the gloomy Black Forest where light barely penetrated, here was bright sunshine pouring down unhindered, a garden full of vibrant blooming flowers, a mansion so magnificent it could be mistaken for a castle, and numerous humans bowing their heads.
It felt completely different from the Black Forest and the barren land with nothing beyond it.
Claudia, happily watching Levi like this, pulled his arm.
“From now on, this mansion will be Levi’s home.”
“My home…?”
For Levi, who had only thought of the Black Forest where he had opened his eyes as ‘a space where he should be,’ the word ‘home’ was extremely unfamiliar.
Walking alongside Claudia through the rows of bowing people, Levi faced Marquis Eiden Wesslon, who stood at the widely opened entrance of the mansion. With a gentle smile, Eiden bowed to Levi with reverence, just as he had done for Claudia.
“I have been waiting for you, Lord Levi.”
Levi, meeting Eiden and hearing his voice, looked at Claudia beside him.
“Why is a ‘dead person’ here?”
Claudia, who momentarily looked startled, quickly gave a soft smile. It was because Levi had accurately done exactly what she had hoped might be possible.
Marquis Eiden Wesslon.
He was Claudia’s loyal confidant who had sworn infinite loyalty to Princess Claudia, and the first “immortal soldier” Claudia had created.
❖ ❖ ❖
Life in the mansion was very smooth, contrary to concerns.
The people in the mansion acted as discreetly as possible, trying not to catch Levi’s attention since he wanted to keep his distance from humans. Yet they took even more care than they did with their own master to ensure Levi experienced no inconvenience in his daily life.
The problem was that no matter how careful they were, Levi, with his exposed black hand, could hardly be comfortable in a mansion full of people. He locked himself in the bedroom Eiden had prepared for him, not coming out, and mostly just looking out at the garden through the window every day.
“This is a gift for you.”
A few days later.
Claudia visited the mansion at daybreak as usual. She gifted Levi, who was struggling to adapt to the atmosphere of the mansion and the presence of many people, a pair of long black leather gloves that reached up to his forearms.
“They’re made from Etlun leather. I wear them occasionally too.”
After personally putting the gloves on Levi’s black hands, Claudia beckoned to a male servant who was standing nearby to attend to them. The servant, who approached with a bow at her call, readily extended his hand when ordered to ‘touch Levi’s gloved hand.’
Surprised, Levi tried to pull his arm away before the servant’s hand could touch it, but Claudia held it firmly with her characteristic strength. Eventually, the servant’s hand touched the black hand, but contrary to Levi’s expectation that he would collapse with his breath cut off, the man was completely fine.
“Why didn’t he die?”
The servant, who didn’t know much about the power of the black hand, also looked puzzled at Levi’s questioning words.
Claudia, who had dismissed the servant, stroked the back of Levi’s gloved black hand and answered.
“Etlun is a small dragon… no, a lizard born from the remnants of the Ash Dragon. Since they contain the Ash Dragon’s energy, their skin can seal or block our power.”
“So they won’t die if I touch them?”
Levi’s anxious gaze began to change. Claudia hugged his face tightly and rubbed her cheek against his, as if she found this Levi absolutely adorable.
“That’s right, that’s right. They won’t die. Now you can touch any human as much as you want when you feel like it.”
Embraced by Claudia, Levi blinked several times and then gently closed his eyelids.
A strange warmth spread through him. It was pleasant, this coziness and softness, as if he were fully immersed in the black pond where he had opened his eyes.
Levi accepted this as the influence of the strong connection between himself and Claudia, and the comfort of meeting his lost other half.
‘Were we really… one originally?’
Two beings created from the condensed power of the Ash Dragon.
The two, who had been together since before gaining consciousness, felt the utmost satisfaction in the world just by being in contact like this.
According to Claudia, this is what “affection” is. Of course, it was an emotion Levi didn’t understand well.
All Levi knew was that the golden energy he had longed to regain since ancient times had taken root in Claudia.
After that day, Levi’s severe wariness and anxiety quickly subsided.
Around the time when Levi had come out of the mansion on his own and could walk around the garden under the warm sunlight.
Claudia’s carriage appeared, carrying a white coffin.
Inside the coffin was a man whose entire body was tightly wrapped in bandages. He was letting out agonized groans, as if even breathing was difficult.
“Levi, please.”
Unlike usual, Claudia’s face was extremely dark.
Levi could tell immediately upon seeing the man in the coffin.
There were traces of life energy from Claudia’s left hand that had dwelled in the man before scattering.
What Claudia wanted was to give the man in the coffin peace while connecting his broken path of reincarnation.
Levi also knew that he was the only one who could make this possible.
After quietly looking at the man, Levi turned to Claudia and opened his mouth.
“If I let myself be used as you wish, will you grant my request?”
Claudia looked somewhat surprised. She hadn’t expected Levi to say such a thing.
Levi’s pitch-black eyes looked at Claudia.
“Can you give me something in return?”
Claudia, who had looked surprised once more, soon wore a small smile.
“Yes. I’ll grant anything you want. What do you want?”
With her permission, Levi drew out the desire that had been crouching deep inside him.
“I want to become human.”
Levi showed her his black hand. Without the glove, his black hand was frighteningly dark as always.
“After I connect the next life for all humans who have strayed from their orbit, I’ll become an unnecessary existence. After that, I want to become human who can live without taking life.”
Levi’s gaze turned tender.
“I want to have many emotions like humans do. I want to be called ‘human’ like you.”
A faint emotion of jealousy flowed from Levi, who didn’t usually show much emotion.
The golden bead had taken root in a human body and completely assimilated with them, so why was he a monster?
The human of this flesh, who had swallowed him when he was a bead, had wished for a peaceful death, and in exchange for granting his wish, Levi had assimilated with the dead body.
But that didn’t mean he became human. He was merely ‘Death’ wearing a human disguise.
Levi wanted to transcend ‘Death’ and become ‘Life’ like the golden bead.
Hearing Levi’s words, Claudia kept her mouth tightly shut for a moment, then stretched out her arms and hugged him tightly.
“I will.”
Their warmth exchanged softly through their touching chests, as if they were one.
“I will definitely make you that way, Levi.”
Claudia’s promise made at this time penetrated deep into Levi’s core.
