<Chapter 144>
#16. Hidden Purpose (8)
Despite his desperate escape using his trump card, Melty found himself imprisoned once more in the same space where he was first kidnapped. The iron bars he had practically destroyed while escaping were now tightly wrapped with chains. It seemed to be a replacement for the broken door lock. He looked around carefully, searching for a way to escape, but without the knife that had been his first escape tool, there was no way to undo the layers of chains.
‘I miss Calix-ssi. I wonder what happened to Hyung.’
Melty sniffled softly with his ears drooping. Calix’s face, looking serious while promising to somehow solve everything, flashed through Melty’s mind. Along with it, the image of Malek, clearly ill, appeared and disappeared.
‘If only I could deliver at least the contents I wrote with the Gift…’
Unlike when he had just used the Gift and everything appeared clearly in his mind, now everything was foggy and blurry. It made him feel sorrowful and upset that all he could do was trust Calix while still feeling anxious.
‘If only I could undo those chains, this time I could surely escape far away.’
Melty’s ears twitched and moved. The growing sound of footsteps was undoubtedly heading toward where he was now. As if he hadn’t just been staring intensely at the chains in deep thought, Melty quickly lay down on the blanket and turned toward the wall. Simultaneously, someone opened the door and stepped into Melty’s space. A low sigh was heard, but Melty didn’t need to confirm who it was to know.
“Are you uncomfortable anywhere?”
As if confirming Melty’s thoughts, a soft and affectionate question rang out. Finding it absurd that someone who had locked him up in such a place would ask in a concerned tone, Melty pursed his lips.
“Melty-ssi. I didn’t bring you here with ill intentions.”
“You should speak honestly.”
Though he had intended to go another day without exchanging a single word, Melty raised himself from the blanket and looked at the man standing beyond the bars.
“You didn’t bring me, you kidnapped me.”
“I told you I was in a hurry to bring you and didn’t have time to explain the situation. I apologized last time too, are you still upset?”
“I’m not over it at all, and I don’t plan to be. Johaim-ssi did apologize to me, but I never said I accepted it.”
After making this firm statement, Melty sharply turned his head to the side. When he was escaping that day and saw Johaim greeting him from a tree, he had believed Johaim was on his side. The shock he felt when he realized the people appearing behind Johaim were the same ones he had barely managed to shake off moments before still hadn’t faded.
“So you’ll continue to be angry like this?”
At Johaim’s question, Melty hesitated briefly. After taking a deep breath, the face of his beloved Calix naturally came to mind. If it had been Calix, he would have undoubtedly manipulated the other party with that sly smile of his to get what he wanted. Drawing strength from the image of his lover that appeared in his mind, Melty quietly clenched both fists and opened his mouth.
“…If you grant my request, I won’t be angry.”
“What request do you have in mind?”
At his question, Melty cautiously gauged his mood. His gentle smile looked no different than usual, but Melty couldn’t possibly believe that the man’s exterior matched his interior.
“Please send me back.”
“I can’t do that.”
“But you said you’d grant my request!”
“I asked what request you might make, but I never said I would grant it.”
Seeing Johaim’s firm refusal, Melty pouted and took a breath. From the start, he knew Johaim would refuse his request. Things he had learned while observing as Calix’s assistant remained clearly in his memory.
Since the first proposal had been substantial, it was now time to request something smaller.
“Johaim-ssi. Do you happen to have the paper I was carrying when I was kidnapped?”
“……”
Johaim gave no answer. But his maintained silence was enough of an answer for Melty.
“That! Please deliver that to Calix-ssi!”
“When I received your belongings, there was indeed paper.”
Muttering softly, he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. Though wrinkled, Melty could be certain that the paper in Johaim’s hand was what he had written with his Gift. With a bright expression, Melty nodded eagerly. Johaim examined Melty carefully with narrowed eyes and asked.
“Is what’s written here the cure for this epidemic?”
“……”
“I see it is.”
Mumbling quietly, Johaim lowered himself to meet Melty’s gaze. Despite his gentle voice, Melty tensed at Johaim’s calm, settled expression.
“I would like to grant your request, but I’m afraid that will be difficult as well.”
“Difficult? Why…?”
Not expecting this request to be refused too, Melty blinked vacantly. The Sarvie family, known for their excellent medical skills, had always lived a life of giving to many people. Even Melty, who had been confined to bed, knew about their free medical services they provided while traveling.
While he still couldn’t understand why Johaim had instigated his kidnapping, he thought it would be separate from the epidemic. After all, Johaim was the first to discover this epidemic and the quickest to move to find a solution. Seeing Melty’s confused and perplexed expression, Johaim kindly added an explanation.
“Because the cure shouldn’t come out this quickly.”
“What do you mean it shouldn’t…? And why would a cure coming quickly be troublesome…?”
Speaking in a daze as if talking to himself, Melty suddenly recalled when he first met Johaim.
– “Do you frequently visit other places as well?”
– “Well, I do have many matters to attend to outside.”
To Melty’s curious but casual question, Johaim had answered calmly and as if it was obvious. As Johaim’s answer from that day came to mind, the conversation he had with Calix when discovering the cause of the recent drought also flashed through his head.
– “Calix-ssi, do you think someone deliberately caused this?”
– “If it wasn’t deliberately transplanted by someone, there’s no way a plant that only grows in desert regions could grow in so many different areas.”
If Johaim traveled to various regions, there was a good possibility he had also been to desert areas where “Avartia,” the cause of the drought, mainly grew. Melty carefully voiced his ominous suspicion, which was closer to a certainty.
“Don’t tell me, Johaim-ssi… Did you cause this epidemic? No, that can’t be, right?”
“That’s correct.”
Johaim readily admitted that this was his doing. His answer was as calm and clear as if saying, “I ate breakfast this morning.” Because of this, Melty found it difficult to accept what he had just heard from Johaim and asked again.
“Really… you did it? Why…? Why would you do such a thing? You’re from the Sarvie family! You were the first to try to find a cure for this epidemic!”
Calmly watching Melty who shouted in disbelief, Johaim erased the smile he had etched on his lips.
“Melty-ssi, your words are a bit strange. What does being from the Sarvie family have to do with anything?”
“…Jo, haim-ssi…?”
With all expression wiped from his face, he was extremely bizarre. Hesitating at the unfamiliar feeling, Melty called his name in a frightened voice. Johaim smiled lightly at the sound of his name.
“While I’ve been trained in medicine passed down through generations in my family, I don’t particularly like people. In fact, I’m closer to despising them.”
Despite his polite and kind tone, his words were heavily tinged with contempt. Blinking at the dissonance, Melty shrank back. Although they had known each other, the current Johaim felt like a stranger he was seeing for the first time.
Noticing that Melty was terrified, Johaim calmed his sharp energy and continued with a smile.
“You don’t have to be so scared. I wouldn’t harm you.”
“…I’m a person too.”
“I told you that you’re special.”
At that whispering voice, Melty nervously swallowed. Those eyes that he had only felt were kind now seemed strange.
“You’re simply being deceived by Padrian. By that vile and selfish person.”
“Calix-ssi has never deceived anyone.”
Despite Melty’s firm response, Johaim didn’t flinch at all. As if he had expected Melty to say that, Johaim exhaled a long sigh and spoke.
“Everyone believes that until they realize they’re being deceived. My sister was the same.”
At his response, muttered in a heavily sunken voice, Melty froze. He could immediately understand who Johaim meant by “sister.” The girl from the Sarvie family who had kidnapped Calix when he was 10 years old.
“That child believed in that heartless bastard until she was on the verge of death.”
“B-but that’s… because she kidnapped Calix-ssi.”
Melty defended Calix with a grumbling voice. Though Calix had acted as if he wasn’t bothered by the past incident at all, Melty didn’t believe for a moment that Calix was truly fine. At just 10 years old, he should have been under the protection of his family. Melty didn’t think it was wrong for Calix, who had been kidnapped and imprisoned at such a young age, to falsely promise engagement to her for his escape.
“As Melty-ssi said, my sister was certainly at fault.”
Contrary to expectations that he would shout not to say such nonsense, Johaim calmly accepted Melty’s opinion. Puzzled by his unexpected response, Melty blinked. Johaim, matching Melty’s eye level, continued what he hadn’t properly finished saying earlier.
“But that doesn’t make what that bastard did right.”
“What?”
“My sister spent her entire illness believing in that one lie of his, waiting for a long time.”
Despite his calm tone, undisguised anger flickered in his eyes.
“Even when she begged just to meet once, he never showed his face. My sister believed in that promise until the very, very end.”
“……”
Melty chose to remain silent rather than object to his words. Melty instinctively felt that no communication would go well with the current Johaim.
Unable to look directly at Johaim, Melty averted his gaze. At that moment, Johaim’s hand suddenly reached through the bars and grabbed Melty’s wrist. Startled by the unexpected physical contact, Melty’s body stiffened considerably. Johaim slowly rubbed Melty’s wrist with his thumb to calm him down as he remained frozen in place.
Without releasing Melty’s hand, which was wriggling to break free, Johaim pushed up his glasses with his other hand.
“But Melty-ssi.”
Melty swallowed nervously at the calm, settled voice. Looking straight at him, Johaim opened his mouth.
“Why do I feel another person’s pulse along with yours?”
