The gaze that reached me was so sticky and viscous that my body felt damp and clammy, to the point where I tried my best not to avoid it. Perhaps the intense obsession that had been condensed over such a long time was captured in that gaze.
I fiddled with the shiny surface of the stone in my pocket, trying not to avoid that gaze as much as I could. The surface felt smooth to the touch.
Although I couldn’t feel it by touch, I knew it was engraved with magic by a woman to protect someone.
I don’t know if she was protecting herself or someone else, but I’m pretty sure she wanted to protect someone from the man in front of me now.
“I thought you wouldn’t come.”
I couldn’t figure out what the man’s gaze meant.
It was like a beast that had learned too much over the years, pitying the one-day-old pup in front of him.
It was as if he was both glad and slightly dejected. I couldn’t quite grasp the meaning of his words right now.
“My father is sick.”
Rather than trying to read his mind, I decided to just throw a fastball.
I knew that if I let my private thoughts get in the way of my conversation with him, I would want to run away.
In response to my words, the man tugged the corner of his lips and chuckled. The process felt rather slow.
“Of course, I told you I’d kill your father.”
Yes, he said that right here.
The family curse this man spoke of and the image of my father’s anguished face spun in my head.
I felt my body slowly freeze, starting with my legs.
I can’t see what he sees in my eyes, but I’m sure it’s the coldest, most distant look I can muster.
“You should have just tormented me.”
I could feel tears threatening to form under my eyes, but I didn’t want to cry in front of him, so I clenched my lower jaw.
The result was a voice that sounded pitiful even to me. I regretted not speaking after I calmed down a bit, but I couldn’t help it.
“I wanted to, but you kept hiding.”
Lies. He would have bothered everyone around me even if I hadn’t hid.
However, the way he used the word ‘kept’, I realized that he was accounting for the fact that I had hidden in my previous life as well.
It was so unfair. I wanted him to see the difference between her and me. However, when I thought about Mary Conler and Ha Sohee, I realized I couldn’t do it either.
And I thought maybe the man in front of me intentionally reminded me of when I was Ha Sohee.
“I’m not going to hide anymore. So my father…….”
“Estin Conler was a strong man.”
I hoped that even if he didn’t get his memories back, he would be relieved of the pain that was consuming him.
My plea bounced off the strong iron wall that surrounded him, and I clenched my fists as he spoke.
He was a strong person; the past tense indicated that Estin Conler was no longer so.
“I can’t believe he let his daughter know he was having a headache. In the old days, he wouldn’t let that be known.”
“When he was sleeping… I secretly saw it when he was sleeping. I wouldn’t have known otherwise.”
“Didn’t you go secretly at night knowing he was sick?”
I finally looked away from the violet eyes that seemed to see through my every move.
I felt like I’d lost the game by looking away, but I couldn’t help it; his eyes were too much for me to bear, too fierce.
“Even though I hid you like that, he still found you, and he continued to protect you. And you keep clinging to him……. Do you see how annoying he was to me? He’s getting weaker, so I don’t have to help him.”
“He doesn’t have to regain his memory, so he won’t need to feel the pain.”
“He doesn’t need to regain them?”
He lowered his voice even further.
Perhaps sensing his sullenness, Arsene, who had said nothing but stood beside me, grabbed my shoulders to protect me.
At the sight of it, the corner of the God of Death’s mouth, which had been raised at an odd angle, returned to its normal position.
“Yeah. He doesn’t need to regain them. Because he still cares about me anyway.”
How far does he really know? The man instantly saw through my arrogance making me lose my strength and staggered.
Arsene made me lean more on him. However, he only acted like that, but he did not add anything to my words or contradict the man’s words.
“…… Estin Conler will continue to suffer.”
The man’s lips parted as he glanced lazily between me and Arsene.
The chronic headaches will continue to eat him away, and the nightmares will continue to haunt him.
Now, in his unconscious state, he is revealing his weakness without realizing it. Anyone can easily see that he is not in good shape just by standing still. Perhaps it would be fortunate if he died.
Fortunate if he dies.
As he said that, the man’s smile returned. He looked positively pleased.
Now that I think about it, I don’t know why he hates Estin Conler so much when he hasn’t done anything to harm him directly.
If the reason is entirely me, I hate it so much to the point I want to throw the stone in my pocket now at him.
“He killed X’s brother, who became a cursed beast. And in doing so he was cursed. He’s lucky that he didn’t die and only his memory was taken away.”
“Lucky” and “fortunate” are probably the same thing, but the situations he cites are all disparate.
The lucky situation is that my father did not die, and the fortunate situation is that he barely survived.
Because of me.
“Because you were more important to him than his life.”
“…….”
“You said he was in pain trying to get his memories back, but the curse can only be lifted by X, the brother of the demon he killed. That requires either killing him or…”
Or if I die. Estin lost his memory of me, whom he valued more than his life, as the price for killing the cursed monster.
And he was struggling alone to regain his memory. What am I doing, dwelling on the past?
“Well, I’ve answered all your questions.”
He concluded in a very businesslike voice.
So, the reason Estin Conre is currently suffering from headaches and weakening is because of me. He told a long and painful story that all of this would be resolved if I died.
“Estin was ready to give his life for you, and I wonder how you’ll respond.”
It was funny, coming from someone who probably wouldn’t have thought of sacrificing himself for someone else in his lifetime, and speaking to me with such nuance. It was funny, but I couldn’t laugh.
Obviously, he couldn’t come close to me because of the stone, but I took a step away. I was disgusted as if he were talking in my ear. Arsene patted me on the back.
“Mary!”
I was about to wallow in self-pity, wondering if it would all end if I died, when someone ran to me and hugged me tightly.
I squeezed my eyes shut at the familiar scent. Only then did I realize that I had been blinking for quite a long time.
A single tear fell from my tired eyes. Demimore continued to stroke my back as if he knew what was on my mind.
“This bastard…….”
Not liking the way Demimore was hugging and soothing me, the God of Death reached out to him, but his hand was knocked away, just as it had been when he first reached out to me earlier.
Demimore pulled away from me, and with a smirk on his face, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a stone.
It was a stone with the same magic pattern as I had, though it might not be seen by Demimore.
“I heard it roughly.”
Demimore put the stone back in his pocket with a sheepish look on his face, then turned around and spoke to the God of Death.
He must have heard the conversation between me and the God of Death.
I don’t know how Demimore ended up here, as the stone probably prevented me from sensing his presence.
But it was a great comfort to me to know he was here.
I let out a long sigh, wondering if Arsene was relieved too. Come to think of it, why isn’t Arsene saying anything?
“So, all we need to do is kill him, right?”
With every word that came out of Demimore’s mouth, I could feel a certain intonation.
He brought up a pretty scary story in such a lively voice.
To kill…… Is it me? I was having a stupid idea in my head, and Demimore spoke again with a unique smile in his eyes.
“You bastard, you too. If I kill you, it’s over, right?”
The gaze that reached me was so sticky and viscous that my body felt damp and clammy, to the point where I tried my best not to avoid it. Perhaps the intense obsession that had been condensed over such a long time was captured in that gaze.
I fiddled with the shiny surface of the stone in my pocket, trying not to avoid that gaze as much as I could. The surface felt smooth to the touch.
Although I couldn’t feel it by touch, I knew it was engraved with magic by a woman to protect someone.
I don’t know if she was protecting herself or someone else, but I’m pretty sure she wanted to protect someone from the man in front of me now.
“I thought you wouldn’t come.”
I couldn’t figure out what the man’s gaze meant.
It was like a beast that had learned too much over the years, pitying the one-day-old pup in front of him.
It was as if he was both glad and slightly dejected. I couldn’t quite grasp the meaning of his words right now.
“My father is sick.”
Rather than trying to read his mind, I decided to just throw a fastball.
I knew that if I let my private thoughts get in the way of my conversation with him, I would want to run away.
In response to my words, the man tugged the corner of his lips and chuckled. The process felt rather slow.
“Of course, I told you I’d kill your father.”
Yes, he said that right here.
The family curse this man spoke of and the image of my father’s anguished face spun in my head.
I felt my body slowly freeze, starting with my legs.
I can’t see what he sees in my eyes, but I’m sure it’s the coldest, most distant look I can muster.
“You should have just tormented me.”
I could feel tears threatening to form under my eyes, but I didn’t want to cry in front of him, so I clenched my lower jaw.
The result was a voice that sounded pitiful even to me. I regretted not speaking after I calmed down a bit, but I couldn’t help it.
“I wanted to, but you kept hiding.”
Lies. He would have bothered everyone around me even if I hadn’t hid.
However, the way he used the word ‘kept’, I realized that he was accounting for the fact that I had hidden in my previous life as well.
It was so unfair. I wanted him to see the difference between her and me. However, when I thought about Mary Conler and Ha Sohee, I realized I couldn’t do it either.
And I thought maybe the man in front of me intentionally reminded me of when I was Ha Sohee.
“I’m not going to hide anymore. So my father…….”
“Estin Conler was a strong man.”
I hoped that even if he didn’t get his memories back, he would be relieved of the pain that was consuming him.
My plea bounced off the strong iron wall that surrounded him, and I clenched my fists as he spoke.
He was a strong person; the past tense indicated that Estin Conler was no longer so.
“I can’t believe he let his daughter know he was having a headache. In the old days, he wouldn’t let that be known.”
“When he was sleeping… I secretly saw it when he was sleeping. I wouldn’t have known otherwise.”
“Didn’t you go secretly at night knowing he was sick?”
I finally looked away from the violet eyes that seemed to see through my every move.
I felt like I’d lost the game by looking away, but I couldn’t help it; his eyes were too much for me to bear, too fierce.
“Even though I hid you like that, he still found you, and he continued to protect you. And you keep clinging to him……. Do you see how annoying he was to me? He’s getting weaker, so I don’t have to help him.”
“He doesn’t have to regain his memory, so he won’t need to feel the pain.”
“He doesn’t need to regain them?”
He lowered his voice even further.
Perhaps sensing his sullenness, Arsene, who had said nothing but stood beside me, grabbed my shoulders to protect me.
At the sight of it, the corner of the God of Death’s mouth, which had been raised at an odd angle, returned to its normal position.
“Yeah. He doesn’t need to regain them. Because he still cares about me anyway.”
How far does he really know? The man instantly saw through my arrogance making me lose my strength and staggered.
Arsene made me lean more on him. However, he only acted like that, but he did not add anything to my words or contradict the man’s words.
“…… Estin Conler will continue to suffer.”
The man’s lips parted as he glanced lazily between me and Arsene.
The chronic headaches will continue to eat him away, and the nightmares will continue to haunt him.
Now, in his unconscious state, he is revealing his weakness without realizing it. Anyone can easily see that he is not in good shape just by standing still. Perhaps it would be fortunate if he died.
Fortunate if he dies.
As he said that, the man’s smile returned. He looked positively pleased.
Now that I think about it, I don’t know why he hates Estin Conler so much when he hasn’t done anything to harm him directly.
If the reason is entirely me, I hate it so much to the point I want to throw the stone in my pocket now at him.
“He killed X’s brother, who became a cursed beast. And in doing so he was cursed. He’s lucky that he didn’t die and only his memory was taken away.”
“Lucky” and “fortunate” are probably the same thing, but the situations he cites are all disparate.
The lucky situation is that my father did not die, and the fortunate situation is that he barely survived.
Because of me.
“Because you were more important to him than his life.”
“…….”
“You said he was in pain trying to get his memories back, but the curse can only be lifted by X, the brother of the demon he killed. That requires either killing him or…”
Or if I die. Estin lost his memory of me, whom he valued more than his life, as the price for killing the cursed monster.
And he was struggling alone to regain his memory. What am I doing, dwelling on the past?
“Well, I’ve answered all your questions.”
He concluded in a very businesslike voice.
So, the reason Estin Conre is currently suffering from headaches and weakening is because of me. He told a long and painful story that all of this would be resolved if I died.
“Estin was ready to give his life for you, and I wonder how you’ll respond.”
It was funny, coming from someone who probably wouldn’t have thought of sacrificing himself for someone else in his lifetime, and speaking to me with such nuance. It was funny, but I couldn’t laugh.
Obviously, he couldn’t come close to me because of the stone, but I took a step away. I was disgusted as if he were talking in my ear. Arsene patted me on the back.
“Mary!”
I was about to wallow in self-pity, wondering if it would all end if I died, when someone ran to me and hugged me tightly.
I squeezed my eyes shut at the familiar scent. Only then did I realize that I had been blinking for quite a long time.
A single tear fell from my tired eyes. Demimore continued to stroke my back as if he knew what was on my mind.
“This bastard…….”
Not liking the way Demimore was hugging and soothing me, the God of Death reached out to him, but his hand was knocked away, just as it had been when he first reached out to me earlier.
Demimore pulled away from me, and with a smirk on his face, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a stone.
It was a stone with the same magic pattern as I had, though it might not be seen by Demimore.
“I heard it roughly.”
Demimore put the stone back in his pocket with a sheepish look on his face, then turned around and spoke to the God of Death.
He must have heard the conversation between me and the God of Death.
I don’t know how Demimore ended up here, as the stone probably prevented me from sensing his presence.
But it was a great comfort to me to know he was here.
I let out a long sigh, wondering if Arsene was relieved too. Come to think of it, why isn’t Arsene saying anything?
“So, all we need to do is kill him, right?”
With every word that came out of Demimore’s mouth, I could feel a certain intonation.
He brought up a pretty scary story in such a lively voice.
To kill…… Is it me? I was having a stupid idea in my head, and Demimore spoke again with a unique smile in his eyes.
“You bastard, you too. If I kill you, it’s over, right?”
