<Chapter 113>
#13. Seeds of Chaos (2)
“Why are you meeting that person?”
“I thought he might tell me something at least.”
Despite Melty’s answer, Calix’s deeply furrowed expression didn’t relax in the slightest. Making no effort to hide his displeasure, Calix ruffled Melty’s hair.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. And regardless of why he did it, resolving the situation wouldn’t be particularly difficult.”
“But still. Don’t you think there might have been some misunderstanding? Durasen-ssi didn’t seem like someone who would harm others.”
Calix let out a brief sigh at Melty’s response. Melty’s thought wasn’t entirely wrong. In fact, even those who discovered Iel Tuanivel’s body had difficulty accepting that Durasen had killed her. Had the Tuanivel family head not been so enraged, there would have certainly been much hesitation about imprisoning him.
“People who hurt others don’t always walk around with ‘I’m a bad person’ written on their faces.”
“That’s true, but…”
“And originally, the only person who could move around avoiding the gaze of people stationed at the mansion, garden, and outside was Durasen-ssi.”
Melty tilted his head, not fully understanding Calix’s explanation. Straightening Melty’s bowed head, Calix added an explanation for him.
“What I’m saying is that to get there at that time without being spotted by others, one would have to use a secret passage. The mansions of each family were built long ago, and most have some kind of secret passage for potential emergencies.”
“Like the place where Calix-ssi took me…?”
“That’s right.”
Melty could easily recall the flower garden with Dolmaui flowers and Tonka that he had arrived at, guided by Calix. Nodding vigorously in agreement with his muttering, Calix continued his explanation.
“Because the search for Iel Tuanivel proceeded so quickly, he couldn’t hide his actions.”
It was clear he hadn’t predicted that Calix would go looking for Iel from such an early hour. This made sense, as Calix originally had little interest in Iel and had no reason to meet her separately. If not for Melty’s jealousy the previous day, and if he hadn’t heard during that process that she had come after receiving a letter from “Braiante Kuse Padrian”…
It was certain that Calix wouldn’t have even thought of meeting her to verify the facts. Calix was the first to discover the messy room, and because of the chaos inside, the weight of “kidnapping” was added. Durasen also suggested that she might have simply gone out, but when those who had come with her from the Tuanivel family to assist her saw the messy room and requested an investigation, he quickly withdrew his opinion.
“Everyone knows that Durasen cared for Iel Tuanivel. Yet he harmed her to that extent, so what would make me trust having you with him?”
“But still…”
After hesitating briefly, Melty turned his body completely toward Calix. Though he had been swept up in the atmosphere and unable to find the right timing to speak, he felt he needed to tell Calix about what he had recalled while talking with his brother Malek.
“Calix-ssi.”
Hearing the quite serious tone with which Melty called his name, Calix also turned to face him. Nodding, Calix prepared to vehemently oppose if Melty were to insist.
“I was going to tell you before, but we got so focused on other things that there’s something I couldn’t mention…”
Melty, his cheeks tinged red, drew small circles on the sofa with his finger. Watching him fidget with embarrassment with a pleased expression, Calix nodded lightly.
“What were you going to say?”
“…I, I think I vaguely know what my gift is.”
“Gift…?”
A question mark appeared on Calix’s face, who had been expecting some cute remark. Calix had never deeply thought about Melty’s gift.
“When I first entered into the employment contract with Calix-ssi, I believed my gift was ‘knowing what food someone wants to eat.'”
Calix nodded slowly at Melty’s explanation. From the moment he first discovered Melty, Calix’s goal was to keep him by his side. At that time, he had been puzzled about how Melty would become such a precious connection to him, but he had proceeded with the employment contract, trusting his own gift that allowed him to recognize significant relationships.
Since Melty’s signing of that contract had essentially fulfilled Calix’s purpose, he had neither interest in nor need to consider Melty’s cooking-related abilities. Unlike Calix, Melty seemed to have given much thought to his gift since believing he had misunderstood it. Calix listened attentively, nodding as Melty continued his explanation.
“Hyung said that the blessings or gifts bestowed by the Beast God are exactly what the person needs. So when I heard that, I suddenly remembered what I had wished for at the temple!”
Melty’s hands moved greatly, perhaps excited while telling the story. There was no room for boredom in his gestures as his hands waved this way and that with each word. Calix nodded lightly, taking the posture of listening attentively to Melty’s story.
“What did you wish for?”
“I wished to be able to earn a lot of money.”
“…Money…?”
This was unexpected.
Calix blinked at the statement Melty delivered with shining eyes, using his pinky finger to scratch his ear. Unlike Calix, who thought he must have misheard, Melty continued with a faint smile on his lips, noticing Calix’s confusion.
“I always felt so sorry for my family. I was constantly bedridden, and the medical fees and medicine costs were all very expensive. So to earn money, they had to work, which meant my family was always busy.”
Melty’s brown eyes darkened as he recalled that time.
“So, if I received a good blessing or gift from the Beast God, I wanted to do many things for them, just like they did for me. I wanted to make my family happy.”
Melty’s face, beaming with a bright smile, was so beautiful it was almost blinding. Calix stared at his face, forgetting to even respond to his words.
“So I think my gift is probably related to ‘happiness.’ Everyone who ate the food I made with my gift seemed happy too.”
“…Isn’t the gift too focused on cooking to be called ‘happiness’?”
At Calix’s question, Melty mumbled in a tiny voice, “I thought about that too…”
“I really believed my gift was related to cooking. So every time before using my gift, I always wished for the food that person wanted to eat to come to mind.”
“…You mean you’ve been using your gift in a limited way?”
Melty nodded vigorously at Calix’s question. Stroking his chin as he retraced Melty’s words, Calix nodded lightly. If he had limited the broad value of ‘happiness’ to ‘food,’ there was certainly a possibility that all the results so far had only been related to food. There were mentions in ancient texts of people who failed to properly utilize their gifts due to imposing limitations on their potential.
“It’s not certain, but… I used my gift on hyung, and for the first time, I saw something different from food. So I’m guessing my thinking is correct…”
“That could be the case. But why bring up the gift now?”
At Calix’s question, expressing curiosity, Melty brought up the request that had been rejected earlier. Understanding why Melty had suddenly brought up the topic of his gift, Calix let out a deflating sound. Watching Calix’s reaction cautiously, Melty quickly added an explanation.
“So I thought that if I used my gift on Durasen-ssi, I might be able to better understand why he did what he did.”
“…So you still want to talk to Durasen?”
“Yes! He said he was going to meet his family after this matter is settled. He really missed his family, so for him to have hurt someone else’s family…”
“Wait.”
Calix interrupted Melty, who was continuing to chatter. Though watching him speak with animated lips was enjoyable, there was a statement that bothered Calix too much to let pass.
“He said he was going to meet his family? Who? Durasen?”
“Yes! Durasen-ssi!”
“When did he say such a thing?”
With a slightly confused expression, Melty blinked his eyes and opened his mouth at Calix’s question.
“Well… when I had the interview with Durasen-ssi after you were detained. I saw a family photo at the place I was guided to. He said his son lives far away, and after this matter is settled, he would go to meet him… Why?”
Calix looked down at Melty with a hardened expression, feeling as if someone had struck him heavily on the back of the head. Observing him, Melty had to review whether he had said something strange. Seemingly having no time to pay attention to Melty, Calix immediately rose from his seat.
Startled by his urgent movements, Melty pressed close to him.
“Why, why?”
“Durasen Botenta has no heir.”
“So?”
He had heard this before. Not fully understanding Calix’s explanation, Melty stuck close to Calix who was moving quickly. Turning his gaze to look at Melty, Calix belatedly realized that his explanation had been insufficient and continued:
“He has no heir because they all died during a previous epidemic.”
“…What? B-but in the family photo…”
In response to Melty’s dazed muttering at the unexpected explanation, Calix shook his head lightly from side to side. It was certain that both sons and even his grandchild had all died at that time.
“There are no surviving family members. So when he says he’ll go meet his family after this is over…”
Pausing briefly, Calix quickened his pace and continued.
“It means he’s going to die. Since they’re family he can’t see while alive.”
