NOVEL NEXT chapter 21
21 – 3. Where Gazes Go and Hearts Settle (3)
The distance where their breaths met.
However, what flowed between them was not a freshness.
Motionless red eyes and
trembling black pupils.
Soon, the boy averted his gaze.
“It’s nothing.”
“Lie.”
The girl grabbed his cheek and made the boy look into her eyes again.
“Those guys did it again, didn’t they?”
“No, they didn’t.”
“Don’t lie.”
“It’s not real. She just tripped.”
The girl, as if there was nothing more to hear, let go of the boy’s face. Standing up from her seat, she chewed on her fingernails and muttered to herself.
“I definitely warned them. I clearly scolded them nicely.”
Her red eyes start to burn brighter.
“But these pests have touched what is mine again?”
The painstakingly crafted nails of the boy are cruelly crushed.
“This time, I’ll crush those two hands…!”
“Don’t.”
The girl’s red eyes look at the boy. The boy, who stood up suddenly, looked at her with a determined expression.
“Then I’ll get angry.”
The trembling of the girl’s red pupils reaches her voice.
“Are you serious? They are…”
“They’re just damn kids. And give me your hand.”
The boy skillfully sits the girl on the bed. Supporting her finger, which she was about to bite off, with his wrist, he furrows his brow.
“Do you know how difficult it is to file lady’s nails with just your wrists? But if I leave it like this, what will happen?”
“…”
“These are pretty hands. They’re hands that I take care of. You should be careful.”
“…”
The girl looks at the boy with her mouth tightly closed.
Her intense gaze proves that she hardly hears the boy’s words.
The boy realizes that the methods he learned from the beggar didn’t work and sighs.
And, after contemplating his words for a while, he reluctantly murmurs.
“It’s just, really nothing important. To me.”
That was the boy’s sincere statement without any embellishment.
Their torment is not taken lightly. Sometimes he wants to fight back.
But they didn’t rape or try to kill the boy. They never stole anything, and they didn’t beat him up so badly that he couldn’t get up the next day.
It means that the boy didn’t cross the line that he could tolerate.
The boy’s turbulent life has raised his threshold so high.
“So, I hope you don’t pay attention to these petty things.”
And, it also made the boy not want to let go of his current life.
A person’s affection is limited, whereas hatred knows no bounds. The boy understood this from an early age.
Even if the girl intervenes once, will it stop the children from tormenting the boy?
It will only make the torment more clandestine.
And the girl will try to stop it every time.
Eventually, she will tire of it.
Tire of the boy.
And the boy didn’t know that his current life was purely at the girl’s mercy.
The girl will eventually grow tired of the boy,
but the boy intended to delay that day as much as possible.
And, above all…
The boy stopped his thoughts there, then looked up at the girl.
“Just don’t worry about it…”
“Rem.”
The girl suddenly embraced the boy.
She rested her chin on the boy’s stiffened shoulders and ran her fingers through his hair.
“You’re the most precious thing I have.”
The girl’s hand tightly embraced the boy, murmuring against his neck.
“My favorite possession.”
Then, she lowered her head and looked into the boy’s eyes. Her red eyes softened gently.
“But, how can anything related to you not matter to me?”
A smile had appeared on the girl’s face as she said this.
It wasn’t the usual playful or mischievous smile.
It was a smile that didn’t feel burdensome to be called an angel.
The boy, lost in thought, stared at that smile.
Then, barely managing to focus on the girl’s next words.
“So, tell me right now who did it. Because someone has to answer for the damage to what’s mine.”
Suddenly, the smile transformed from that of an angel to that of a devil.
The boy knew all too well what the girl who wore that smile was capable of.
Desperately, the boy began to rack his brain to escape this predicament.
Fortunately, for this time, fate was on the boy’s side.
Ding-dong, ding-dong.
The sound of a bell ringing spread across the sky, which was suddenly dyed red.
It signaled the end of the workday.
The boy opened his eyes wide and got up in one swift motion.
“W-well then, I’ll be going…!”
“Huh? Hey! Rem! Don’t just stand there! Reem!”
Ignoring the girl’s shout, the boy quickly closed the door. And before the girl could gather the courage to chase after him, he began running to his room.
.
.
.
“Haa… Haa…”
How long had he been running like this?
The boy turned around, breathing heavily.
In the distance, the Crystal Palace, crowned with the glow of the sunset, looked small.
The weak girl wouldn’t be able to catch up with him anytime soon.
Finally, the boy felt relieved and could let out a breath.
“…Did you run in the hallway just now?”
…Until he heard the all-too-familiar voice from behind.
The boy slowly turned his head like a rusty cartwheel.
A stern middle-aged woman.
She looked down at the boy with cold eyes, resting her hands on her waist.
“Aini, Sister…?”
“Furthermore, I heard that you couldn’t finish preparing for the aspiring Saint before Bishop Ivan arrived today.”
The priest in charge of education,
Aini Klevans.
The boy realized that he had walked into a tiger’s den to escape from a fox.
Aini glanced at the boy and swiftly turned her back.
“Follow me to my office for now, Rem.”
The boy felt like crying.
The sermon of Aini, written as a spiritual torture, had concluded in the dead of night.
The boy staggered into his room, his mind in tatters.
His room, shrouded in deep darkness.
It was no larger than a cramped prison cell, containing only a bed and a desk.
Nevertheless, after a year of use, it had acquired a faint human scent.
“Ugh…”
The boy groaned as he threw himself onto the bed.
Exhausted, he didn’t even consider removing his priestly attire, lying there and staring at the ceiling.
The wooden ceiling, obscured by darkness, resembled a faintly drawn brown cathode-ray tube television.
Soon, various images began to surface above it.
The girl’s face, which had come so close.
The softness when the girl embraced him.
The angelic smile the girl had shown in the end.
Summaries of the silent moments today.
Thud!
The blanket thrown aside rises as if it would touch the ceiling.
The boy, feeling his face burning, abruptly sat up on the bed. He paced around the room like a madman, muttering to himself.
“Crazy girl…! Seriously, what the hell…! What kind of crazy idea was that…! Ugh!!”
…And then, he accidentally stubbed his toe on the edge of the desk, sprawling on the floor.
Unable to scream in the middle of the night, he simply covered his mouth with his blunt wrist.
How much of a fool did he make of himself?
The boy lay on the floor, staring at the ceiling again.
But this time, he had his blunt wrist with him.
The girl chosen by the gods and the orphan abandoned by them.
Furthermore, the orphan didn’t even have a wrist.
“Sigh…”
At best, it might be an amusing toy.
Even going further, perhaps a teddy bear that moves.
The boy sighed and sat up, illuminating the magical light on the desk, then opened a drawer.
A drawer filled with hard, stale loaves of bread.
And in between, there is a thorn standing.
The boy put the thorn in his pocket and hung a magical lamp on his blunt wrist.
Therefore, the boy needs insurance.
The boy covered the lamp with a cloth and stepped outside the room.
***
“When will you fix Rem’s hand?”
It was a time around the end of the class.
The girl looked at Archbishop Ivan, swinging her legs. It was a gaze full of dissatisfaction.
However, even so, Archbishop Ivan did not frown.
“Why are you suddenly asking that…”
“I said you would fix it. When Rem came to the Crystal Forest.”
The girl furrowed her brow.
“But it’s been a year already. How long does my exclusive magician have to live without a hand?”
Archbishop Ivan looked down. With a lowered head, he spoke.
“I apologize, but according to the normal laws of magic, his hand…”
“I know, I remember. Lost parts that have been missing for so long cannot be restored by magic. That is why you need to perform a transplantation from someone else.”
The girl puffed up her cheeks.
“But do you think it’s a valid excuse that you couldn’t find a suitable hand for transplantation in a year?”
Archbishop Ivan simply bowed his head deeper.
“We have searched in every possible way, but there was no donor…”
“If there is no donor, you can just cut off the hands of the prisoners locked in the basement of the Holy See or the heretics and attach them.”
The girl tapped the armrest of her chair in frustration as she spoke.
However, Archbishop Ivan’s response to that was surprisingly firm.
“That goes against our principles.”
Furthermore, it was a response that the girl had already expected.
“Again, principles, principles. Don’t you think it’s okay to make exceptions sometimes?”
“There cannot be exceptions to principles.”
Ivan looked up and looked at the girl.
“Didn’t I already tell you before? Humans are inherently imperfect, and without principles, they are bound to lose their way. Therefore, for our own sake, we must prioritize principles above ourselves.”
Ivan’s tone was calm, but there was a strange light flickering in his eyes.
However, the girl didn’t notice him,
So she just rolled her eyes as if bored.
“Fine, just hurry it up a bit. I don’t need the dessert you promised last time.”
Then, she leaned on her hand, gazing out the window with a troubled expression.
Ivan quietly observed her for a moment, then lowered his head.
“I understand, but… is there a reason you’re rushing this?”
“…!”
As if struck, the girl trembled faintly. Soon, with a somber expression, she spoke.
“It’s just… constantly neglecting what’s less important.”
Especially the children, she added. A look of puzzlement crossed Ivan’s face.
“Talking about it again? I’m sure you’ve been warned…”
“Maybe because I was born as someone with limited abilities who can’t understand words.”
The girl spat out with contained anger, chewing on her words. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she looked at Ivan and said,
“Ivan, can’t you just not say anything? You’re a bishop.”
“Just because I’m a bishop doesn’t mean I can dictate everything to others.”
Ivan awkwardly smiled and shook his head. The girl uttered in irritation.
“But still…”
“And even if I were the Pope, I couldn’t say anything about that issue.”
At words incomprehensible in meaning, the irritation in the girl’s forehead deepened.
Ivan kindly smiled and elaborated.
“Indeed, Rem comes from a lineage unsuitable for priesthood.”
Ivan intertwined his fingers as he spoke.
“The fact that such a lowly being is in the most sacred place, the Crystal Palace, could be discomforting to some.”
The girl narrowed her eyes.
“Then, doesn’t that mean I, being a saint’s daughter, am unacceptable? I’m the daughter of the Chancellor.”
A fleeting smile vanished from Ivan’s face.
Kneeling before the girl, he lowered his head and said,
“Please, even in jest, refrain from saying such things, Lady Clara. You are undoubtedly the chosen daughter of the divine.”
Then, cautiously, Ivan took the girl’s hand.
A murky light emanated from Ivan’s hand, flowing into the girl’s hand.
Then, the dim light suddenly turned into a beautiful golden hue, and it flowed down the girl’s arm.
“Wouldn’t there be no reason for someone who doesn’t have the daughter of that person to possess such immense divine power?”
The girl looked down at the idiot.
The idiot was making that ‘stupid’ expression he often did.
It was the expression of a dog bounding towards its meat.
The girl turned her head away from him and muttered softly.
‘Silly…’
And then, without even looking at him, she said to the idiot.
“Anyway, fix it quickly. It’ll be less of a mess if your hands are whole.”
The idiot lowered his head.
“I will do as instructed.”
“Ah, and.”
The girl suddenly opened her mouth as if she had just remembered something.
“I was going to find a child within the Summer Palace.”
Her eyes flashed coldly.