“Honey, so did you get everything you wanted?”
The slowly rising corners of his mouth grated on me. He acted like this knowing full well I wouldn’t even know the basic terminology. His personality was disgustingly foul.
“You’re the one who knows everything, so why are you asking?”
“It’s interest. Directed at you.”
He slowly bent his waist and whispered by my ear. If Ruvlian was a fox who lured people in with gentle eye smiles, this lunatic was a snake. A wicked snake that would coil around one’s entire body and strangle them without anyone knowing.
But I wasn’t Eve, so there was no way I’d fall for such a snake. There would be no eating of the forbidden fruit after being deceived by the snake’s wicked tongue.
“If you want to spout bullshit, go look elsewhere.”
“Calling my sincerity bullshit. That hurts.”
His expression didn’t look hurt at all. Rather, signs of enjoyment were evident. It was to the point where I thought I should question his tastes.
Pushed away by my hand, he straightened his back again. Then he extended his hand to me. It looked like he was going to escort me.
“You should eat lunch.”
“I wonder. I feel like I’ll get indigestion eating with you.”
I replied listlessly while caressing the book’s outer cover. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d get indigestion, but I wasn’t drawn to eating while looking at that face.
A face identical to Ruvlian’s, but looking a bit more mature. But it wasn’t the color I loved. The parallel world Ruvlian’s eyes were colder and deeper than the sparkling sea. They were like the dark deep sea. That was an indicator that clearly distinguished Ruvlian from him.
As I looked at his face as if examining it piece by piece, he narrowed his eyes with an expression that seemed somewhat displeased. His narrow eye smile, half-covering his eyes, brought to mind a snake timing when to bite its prey.
“Honey.”
The voice calling me was extremely gentle and relaxed, not matching his eyes that had been crossed by a different light.
“Why do you keep thinking of that brat while looking at me? Are you trying to drive me crazy?”
A large hand suddenly approached close. It seemed like he was going to grip my cheek forcefully again. I swatted away the approaching hand like shooing a fly and sent him a look that apathetically said ‘as if that would happen.’
Then he bent his waist like before. It wasn’t easy to retreat backward since the chair had a backrest. Our eye levels became similar. I was reflected in his deep sea-like eyes. It was uncomfortable, as if I was submerged in the deep ocean.
“Look carefully. Don’t overlap me with that brat, honey.”
I’d never overlapped them. The person before my eyes and Ruvlian were clearly different. In Lee Hyun’s case, I’d been confused because he was Ruvlian, because he had been Ruvlian.
Knowing I’d fallen into thoughts of Ruvlian again, his expression became a bit more vicious. His red lips drew a round arc, but his insides seemed to be shaped angular rather than round.
“I just told you not to do that, but you’re doing it again. Honey, if you do that, will I be hurt or won’t I be hurt?”
The words spat out, not matching his gentle voice, brought bleakness. I didn’t avoid his gaze, trying not to lose to him.
He forced a choice on me in a tone of admonishing a child, exactly like when we first met. Even knowing there was no way the answer he wanted would come from my mouth, he did so.
He wasn’t harboring even a bit of expectation. The knockoff Ruvlian recognized more clearly than anyone that there was no way I’d like him and that I wouldn’t easily follow his words.
I couldn’t understand what he wanted from me. I couldn’t understand why he was obsessed with me. I couldn’t understand what business connected us. He was a guy entirely wrapped in a veil difficult to predict.
“What do you want from me?”
Unless he was reading the flow inside my head, it was an abrupt question.
However, the parallel world Ruvlian wasn’t flustered. Rather, the smile that had been hanging on his lips slightly lifted. An ambiguous face whose meaning couldn’t be understood. It was when he moved his lips.
“Pardon me, but Master, you should come urgently.”
Along with a clattering sound, a polite man’s voice spread through the study. The subtle atmosphere that had been piercing flesh disappeared. The opportunity to dig out something had long since flown away.
“What is it?”
“Well……”
The man who approached where he and I were glanced at me sideways. It was a nuance that it was a bit difficult to talk with me present.
Then the parallel world Ruvlian glanced at me and lightly tapped his foot. Whether he used a silence spell, his lips moved but no sound could be heard. As the time they conversed grew longer, his smile deepened further. Something seemed to have happened.
As if they’d finished talking, the curtain between them and me lifted, and he turned to look at me and let out a languid voice.
“Sorry, but honey. You’ll have to eat lunch alone.”
“I never said I’d eat with you.”
“Honey, are you sulking because we can’t eat together?”
No more nonsense from now on. I revealed without reserve a gaze like looking at someone insane.
“Yeah. See you later. Don’t come to the first floor reception room area. If you do, magic will prettily get your ankles, you know?”
However, the lunatic unfazed even by such treatment merely continued speaking in a soft tone, then moved his steps. The man followed behind him. Left alone in the library, I pondered then looked around the interior to familiarize myself with the structure for when I escaped.
As if forming symmetry on both sides, the bookshelves on both sides were placed at identical intervals. It was a clean and simple structure. Hiding my body seemed impossible. It wouldn’t be possible anyway due to the surveillance acts that had no intention of hiding in the first place and the magic cast over the entire mansion.
While continuing to look around, I discovered mana unnaturally clustered on one wall. It was the same feeling as when the parallel world Ruvlian had appeared earlier. Because my mana was being controlled, I couldn’t clearly know what kind of magic it was. However, since I could see the presence or absence of mana and its flow to some degree, I could notice it.
So this was where I’d been strongly feeling unnatural mana from earlier. I pondered for a moment then reached my hand toward the wall. It was strange that there was a place in the library with magic cast on it, as if deliberately wanting me to notice. The parallel world Ruvlian would have already anticipated that I would notice there was magic cast here.
I thought it might be a trap, but if he was going to kill me, he would have killed me already. Seeing him keep me alive like this, it was clear I was still a necessary existence to him. So the magic cast here was definitely not attack magic.
Thinking so, when I touched the wall, I felt something. It was a door. It wasn’t openly revealed. It seemed to be hidden so it couldn’t be detected by magic. Flawless skill.
If I could just use magic, I would use detection or clairvoyance magic to check where it led, but it was impossible because my mana was being controlled. It was the moment I was pondering whether to go or give up.
‘……it. ……kill……’
The cutting sound I’d heard earlier penetrated my head again. The sound gradually became clearer the closer I got to the door in the wall.
What was beyond this door, and what exactly was this sound? My contemplation about whether to go or not ended quickly. I didn’t trust the parallel world Ruvlian, but it was certain he had no intention of killing me. I pulled the door open and was immediately transported somewhere.
……So there was Teleportation magic cast on it. I couldn’t tell where this was. Moreover, whether it was a remote place, there wasn’t even a single passing servant.
Furthermore, though it was a corridor, the only light was a single ray of sunlight coming through discolored curtains at the very end. When I took one step, dust floated up. I couldn’t estimate how long it had been neglected.
‘……it……ry. ……kill. ……ll……’
I whipped my head around. The sound was heard again. And a bit more distinctly at that.
‘……it. ……bl. ……me.’
Why was the voice being heard again here? Though it was full of questions, as I moved my steps, I could tell there were places where the sound gradually grew louder and places where it gradually grew softer.
As if guiding me, I headed toward where the sound became clearer and louder. The place I arrived at was in front of a certain door.
Here too, as if it hadn’t been cleaned in a long time, dust was piled on the doorknob. This corridor itself was full of dust, unlike other places. But I didn’t have the leisure to think about that. Because the sound rang even louder, tearing through my head.
‘Kill. ……the one inside……it. Die. Kill……away.’
I placed my hand on the dust-filled doorknob. I soon opened the door. The dark room with no lights on had no warmth. Even though the scattered clothes proved someone had lived there.
Bedding that didn’t match the season and a completely empty desk with pure white dust settled on it. The bookshelf next to it also had only a few books.
The premonition wasn’t good. I tried to retreat backward due to the ominousness, but at that moment, an unclear voice tore through my head. From that shock, I staggered and ended up stepping into the room.
“Ugh.”
Immediately after, I collapsed and clutched my head.
‘Kill. Die, Belitent. Please, kill him. Die. Kill Ruvlian. Kill. Die. Die away.’
The clarified voice endlessly dug into my head. I felt like I was going crazy. Extreme pain continued to the point where I thought my head might shatter like this.
Kill. Kill. Kill Ruvlian. Kill him. Kill Belitent. Please kill him. Die. Kill him. The voice that continued to cry out was utterly calm, but it was a scream.
A struggle to live. Resentment asking why this was done to them. A plea not to be killed. Fury to die. A desire to live.
In the voice endlessly telling me to kill Ruvlian, all of those things were contained. It was the deepest and most desperate resentment I’d ever heard. If this wasn’t a curse, what would be a curse?
……What the hell did this lunatic do? The resentful voice showed no signs of stopping. At this rate, I felt like I would go crazy.
