Chapter 112
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Dear, I believe you may be misunderstanding.
Episode 112
She nodded frantically, grasping Rudiger's arm.
'Anything!'
Rudiger, observing the trembling fingertips of her hands, took the small child from Elenoa's embrace into his own arms instead.
'Very well. Then....'
The man clenched something from a pocket within his garment.
Soon, fine granules scattered from his palm across the ground, and a mystical light rippled across an area large enough for three people to enter.
'Let us go there.'
Rudiger grasped Elenoa's hand and moved forward.
The three figures vanished into the light in an instant.
* * *
'Where is this place?'
When the three, enveloped in rippling light, opened their eyes, they had arrived in a place of absolute darkness.
Grace, who had been floating alongside them, surveyed her surroundings.
It was a most unfamiliar and eerie cavern.
Stalactites sharp as the fangs of winged beasts hung down menacingly, and some had become pillars as though they had fallen to the ground and hardened.
'Th-this place....'
'The Primordial Cave.'
'The Primordial Cave?'
'...In the distant past, witches originally awakened here. It is a place that nurtured and cradled them with endless vitality.'
He walked straight into the depths.
How many minutes had they walked?
A faint light appeared from deep within the cavern that had been nothing but darkness.
There was an opening in the high ceiling of the cave's interior, and moonlight poured through it.
The light illuminated a very small pool of water deep within the cavern.
It was barely a spring small enough for a child to crouch within.
Rudiger laid the unconscious Grace there.
'It was originally much larger...but now only this remains.'
A spring so shallow that even the small Grace would not be fully submerged.
The man gazed down at it with sorrowful eyes, then seated Elenoa beside Grace.
'The child's eyes have already been completely destroyed, and all their function has died. To restore them to their former state, an equivalent exchange must occur with something of corresponding value.'
'My eyes! Exchange them for my eyes.'
Elenoa spoke without hesitation.
Grace, who had been staring blankly at this, started in surprise.
But the man listening to her plea nodded as though he had already anticipated it.
'A decision cannot be reversed.'
'There is no such thing.'
Elenoa answered firmly and grasped Grace's hand.
'...Thinking of the world this child will see in the future, I don't regret it in the slightest. I could give them away countless times.'
She offered a gentle smile, as if to convey her willingness.
'So please, don't hesitate. Take them.'
Even as tears streamed down her cheeks, she smiled and urged him to take her eyes.
'...I understand.'
At some point, a small dagger appeared in Rudiger's hand.
As he grasped the corroded and worn hilt, a bluish light began to emanate from it.
Without hesitation, he severed his own wrist with it.
Blood poured forth—a shade paler and darker red than ordinary blood.
The man bore the pain with nothing more than a grimace, then used that blood to draw a circular boundary around Elenoa and young Grace.
A bluish aura coalesced above the blood that fell to the ground.
The spring water cradling Grace rippled.
'You said earlier you'd do anything, didn't you?'
'Yes.'
Rudiger gazed at Elenoa and Grace for a moment, then spoke in a voice that sounded like a sigh.
'When the child opens her eyes, return to that Mansion.'
'...What?'
'Let the child grow up there. And you will come here and be buried. Those are my conditions. Will you accept them?'
He asked in that same toneless voice as when he'd once asked her if she would accept her fate.
At first glance, it sounded like he was asking something utterly trivial.
But Elenoa knew the horror concealed behind that flatness.
'...The Oellin Family Mansion.'
Return to that dreadful place.
Where there was a boy who tried to kill my child, and a man like an enemy who bound me in terrible ways—a hellish place.
There had been times when I wanted to strip that man of everything and give it to Grace.
But now I was simply sick of it.
Yet if it meant saving Grace....
If only it could be that way....
Yes.
It was a hell I could endure if it meant saving Grace.
'I will do as you say. So please, save this child now. Return her eyes to her.'
Rudiger stared at Elenoa for a long time.
And then he looked at the young girl she held so desperately.
His hands slowly covered Elenoa's eyes and young Grace's eyes.
A blue force flickered along his palms.
'Hah!'
The searing pain that pierced Elenoa's eyes was the very same agony Grace had felt moments before.
She clenched her teeth and swallowed the pain.
'...I won't take your sight all at once. I've made it fade as slowly as possible, but it won't be that gradual.'
What sudden whim was this?
His voice, which had remained emotionless throughout, carried the faintest tremor of disturbance.
'Until your sight fades completely, the pain will persist.'
As though that were sufficient, Elenoa laughed.
Blood and tears mingled together, streaming down between eyelids clenched tight from agony.
'Thank you. Thank you....'
For allowing me to see Grace even a moment longer....
Did I hear the mother's voice trembling with sobs?
'Mother....'
Grace, who had lost consciousness entirely, opened her eyes faintly.
Elenoa, her own eyes impaired, opened them and drew her small child into her embrace, searching for me.
'Oh, my baby... my precious one.'
'Mother... why are you crying....'
Grace lifted her weak hand and wiped away Elenoa's tears.
'Mother, don't cry. I'm, I'm... fine. Yes?'
Elenoa wept endlessly, yet smiled toward Grace through her tears.
'Yes, I won't cry, my dear. Mother... won't cry.'
'...That's a lie.'
'...Yes, it's a lie. My good daughter, just get through today for me. Pretend you don't know... please.'
What could Grace have possibly been thinking in that moment?
The child, breathing heavily, reached out and pulled her mother into an embrace.
'I understand. I'll pretend not to know... So please don't cry so much... Mother.'
With small hands like autumn leaves, she stroked her mother's hair and whispered.
'I love you.'
...How vast was the love contained in those words?
The heart of Grace, watching blankly from the void, shattered.
* * *
"...Grace, Grace!"
At the urgent voice calling out to me, my eyes snapped open.
"Oh, heavens. What on earth has happened? Are you all right? Why are you crying like this? What is it?"
Through my blurred vision, I could see Lucas Black, his complexion deathly pale.
Why did his face appear to be trembling so?
Lost in such thoughts, thick teardrops began to fall down my cheeks.
"Ah...?"
Before I could even gather my senses, the tears came pouring forth again.
"Ah... huh...."
My chest constricted painfully, my face contorting.
I could not stop the tears from flowing.
No—they burst forth so violently that "burst" was the only word that could describe it.
"Grace, what dream were you having? Did you have a terrible nightmare?"
Lucas Black, his face gone pale with alarm, quickly pulled me into his embrace.
I pressed my forehead against his broad shoulders and wept without restraint.
As I sobbed like a child, his uncertain hands ceaselessly stroked my hair, the back of my neck, my shoulders, and my back.
"It's all right. Everything will be all right. Yes? Don't cry, please...."
He soothed me with a voice that burned with anguish.
But my sobs did not diminish.
Lucas Black's eyes trembled with anxiety.
"Damn it, I... I'll make everything all right for you, so please, don't cry."
"Lucas Black, Lucas Black... huh...!"
His soothing voice was so tender....
That gentle and soft voice was so similar to the voice of young Grace I had seen in my dream....
I wept all the more.
Though it was I who was crying, Lucas Black's face bore an expression of greater anguish as he pressed his lips to my tear-stained cheeks.
"Please. Please.... Grace, what can I do for you? What should I do? To keep you from crying...? Please. Tell me."
As though he would swallow every tear that fell from me, he kissed my jaw, my cheeks, and the corners of my eyes without pause, holding me desperately close.
Held in Lucas Black's embrace, I made a wish he could never grant.
"I want to see my mother... I want to see my mother."
My mother, whom I could never see again, no matter what....
* * *
After crying for a long while, Grace finally regained her composure.
It was noon, with the sun hanging high in the sky.
Only then did she feel embarrassed by her puffy eyes and flushed face.
Grace pressed her throbbing head without lifting her gaze, unable to bear it.
For reasons she couldn't fathom, Lucas continued to hover around her with an anxious expression.
"Here, drink this water."
She swallowed the cold water he offered her gratefully.
As the dehydration subsided, her throbbing head eased considerably.
After taking a short, deep breath, she looked up at Lucas with an awkward smile.
"I'm sorry. I must have frightened you terribly."
"Do you have nightmares often?"
"Oh, no. Actually, it wasn't a nightmare... it was because of that."
She pointed to the incense burner placed on the bedside table.
The incense had already burned away completely, leaving only fragments inside the burner.
"That incense burner..."
"It's something my mother left behind. Father sold it at one point, but the Countess—no, Mother—found it for me."
She explained to Lucas the incense burner's remarkable abilities.
And she briefly described the contents of the dream she had witnessed through it.
She had seen her mother, who loved her endlessly, and understood why she had developed such an extreme fear of heights.
And to convey all of this, she added an explanation she could not omit.
"...A witch?"
"Yes, to be precise, she called herself a half-witch. She didn't become a witch through complete awakening."
Lucas's expression grew serious.
His gaze naturally drifted to Grace's arms.
Grace, aware of his attention, brushed her hands and wrists.
"I suspect this might be influenced by that."
"It would seem so."
Witch's blood.
The Curse of the Seven Great Families was manifested by the witch mentioned in the founding mythology.
And now, after countless ages had passed, not even witches—let alone demons—could be found.
'...According to the records, there were still quite a few even three hundred years ago. But the witches of that time had no influence over the Curse whatsoever.'
Then why was Grace different from all the others?
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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