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Chapter 23 – He And I Become One Molten Body
A desolate silver grass field. As the wind blew, the dried silver grass of summer collided with each other and wept lowly. It wouldn’t be strange at all if a demon jumped out of it.
Kieek, kieek, kieeek!! Moreover, the birds chirped loudly because they were perturbed that an intruder had appeared near their nest.
‘Whew, why would you bring me to such a place where you can just kill me without making a lot of noise?’
Wouldn’t it have been better to be eaten by those monster crocodiles earlier? No, no, no.
Gerard was a human, so we could still communicate. Shall I talk to him? I looked up a bit, but the atmosphere didn’t seem like it.
‘Seriously, what kind of romance is this intrigue in my life?’
Ha…
First of all, I had no choice but to remain immobile. I was clutching Gerard’s body tightly like frozen winter laundry. Because the cool night wind rapidly cooled my body. My fingertips and toes were frozen and numb.
“How long are you going to stay like this?”
‘Did his long-unheard and forgotten voice always sound like this?’ His voice wrapped around me as coolly as dry ice.
“Oh, my. What should I do? I ran across the sky all wet so my hands and feet froze and won’t fall off.”
I pretended to try hard to get my hands and feet off. Actually, it wasn’t a lie. My hands and feet were frozen. I was just clinging to his body like a quick-frozen squid to survive. To get out of this crisis. My arms and legs trembled from how much force I applied. Gerard, who couldn’t stand it, frowned and shouted.
“Get down!”
‘Oh my, so kind.’ I dug into his armpit as if I couldn’t hear him.
It was a matter of the future. It wasn’t just my future. The future of Gerard, the future of Alfred, the future of the Empire, and the future of Theodor.
“Sinclair.”
“Honey.”
I looked up at him with the expression of the most delicate and pitiful woman in the world. Yet, his green eyes shone as coldly as a million-year-old glacier. My chin trembled.
‘Is it because of the cold? Or is it because of fear?’
“Wife.”
“I want to get down, but as you can see, my body is stiff. I apologize for what happened in the library earlier.”
I blurred my last words, pretending to be as vulnerable as possible. Gerard frowned.
“That’s not it.”
‘I can’t believe he was such a cold-hearted character ‘
Phew, then I’m willing. I let go of the hand that hugged him, and then I let go of my legs. But as I was standing, my body was already crumbling.
Thud. I just fell on my rear. My tailbone hurt terribly. Tears that had been piling up flowed down my cheeks and fell to the ground. The pain wasn’t the problem. My arms and legs were so stiff that I couldn’t stretch them out.
I knew it was cold but it was too cold. My whole body trembled like an aspen tree. Unknowingly, I crossed my arms and stuck them on my chest. It was necessary to reduce the area of the body in contact with the wind as much as possible.
“Why are you trembling like this?”
‘Are you hiding something?’ I pretended to ignore the hidden meaning of his words.
He raised my chin with his sword under it. The chill texture of the blade gave me goosebumps. Looking up, I could feel a clear tension in his jawline. The suspicion extending from his green eyes was tightening around my body like a midsummer vine.
“It’s cruel, you…”
“…?”
“You already know. While holding me all drenched. You must have felt it all over your body, I was shivering all the way because it was cold.”
I pouted coyly. He removed the sword from my chin and returned it to his sheath. Then he suddenly fell to his knees.
‘What’s wrong?’
I was flustered for a split second then he hugged me tightly.
Haaak! My ribs were sore.
‘Are you trying to crush me?’
I twisted my disobedient body to get out of his arms. Suddenly, red flames erupted from his body. Those red flames wrapped around me.
‘Ah… It was warm.’
The red flame flapped its long tongue and gently swept through my long arms and legs from my head to my face, shoulders, chest, and back.
“Ah…”
A moan erupted spontaneously. Before I knew it, he and I became combustors of one body and burned with red flames. It was magic. My hair could burn, but it was just warm.
The hot ondol felt like it was warming me from my head to my fingertips and toes. Seeing the sparks fluttering in my fingertips, I fanned the back of my hand up and down, amazed.
[tl/n: Ondol: a Korean form of underfloor heating]
It was as if the fire fairies were dancing on the palm of my hand. However, after a while, the flames that danced loudly disappeared, and the heat that had warmed my body disappeared in an instant. Just as the little girl enjoyed the instant warmth of the matches in that story.* My warm hands were cold again. The night breeze hit my back and shoulders coldly as if jealous. My body was still like a wet mouse. He pulled away and checked, his eyes widened.
“What happened? I can’t believe I’m still shaking!” That was what his eyes were saying. I shook my head as if saying I didn’t know.
Gerard let out a deep sigh as he tilted his head to the side in disbelief. He touched the back of his neck with one hand and jumped up. I looked up, wanting to know what he intended.
He went behind me and hugged my shoulders and waist tightly. My back pressed against his chest tightly. I looked down at his arms covered in blue flames flashing under my eyes.
‘You’re a talented person. Do you know how to control the temperature of the fire?’
The colors of fire can be usually classified into blue, white, yellow, and red. From red to blue, the wavelength is shorter and the energy is greater(blue) so the temperature is higher.
A feast of fires hotter than before was spreading through my whole body. I was amazed.
The Little Match Girl would die looking at these flickering flames.
‘I’m not going to die, so what’s the big deal.’
Maybe he’ll interrogate and kill me after this?
“Are you going to stop? Your magic… It doesn’t seem to work for me.”
Flop. He let go of my body. He turned my shoulders around and looked at me as if examining a strange creature.
“Who are you?”
“Your wife.”
He frowned, but I had nothing else to say. Or,
“Theodor’s mom.”
“Are you kidding me now?”
He narrowed his eyes and stared at me.
“Of course not. If you don’t like that answer, then Michael Owen’s daughter.”
‘And also a witch’s daughter.’ But I couldn’t say that aloud.
“But it’s really fascinating.”
‘Witches can’t be affected by magic?’ No, in this universe, both witches and wizards are under magic, right?
“Magic? Spells? It was my first time doing this sort of thing. Why doesn’t it work on me?”
It seemed as if in front of me there wasn’t just one Gerard but two or three. Even self-replicating in this situation?
‘You’ve made up your mind.’
Indeed, I was sent by those who sought Theodor’s life. Moreover, above all else, there was no ‘trust’ between us.
So what’s left of me.
“Excuse me, Husband. I don’t know why it doesn’t work on me. Judging by the circumstances, it seems you doubt my identity, but I have nothing to say. After all, I am the daughter of the ones who want to eliminate you, isn’t that right?”
All I had left to do was ask a question to understand his intentions. There was no answer. A bitter smile naturally appeared.
“I see. If so, please kill me without pain.”
There was no way. To those who are determined to kill. He rose from his seat and drew the sword from its scabbard.
“What’s the last thing you want to say?”
“Is Theodor okay?”
“…!”
“Just tell me that.”
He will cut my throat, but I will not die. Angry at this, he’ll probably lock me in Shlezen’s dungeons and torture me, right? Am I going to die for Theodor in the dungeon this time? But if that would be the case, there would have been no reason for me to fall into this world in the first place, right? I should be able to twist it a little.
It was a pity that I didn’t see the Alfred I loved after the wedding.
‘Alfred, I will protect you even like this.’
Theodor was surprisingly good and cute now. I hoped this good memory could stop the devil’s manifestation. I’ll pray even in prison.
Theodor, I’m sorry I misjudged you in the first place. Please don’t ever forget the kindness in your heart when you grow up.
“Grand Duke?”
I raised my head and looked at him.
“Theodor is fine.”
“Then please do me a favor.”
“…?”
“Theodor’s friend died today. It was a yellow bird about the size of the palm of my hand. Very small and delicate.”
“…!”
“Do you remember that swarm of monster birds that came before? Theodor scolded the monsters for trying to eat the baby bird. That’s why they showed up.”
‘Considering, I think it will take longer.’
Because Gerard didn’t seem to have any interest in his emotional education because he was stuck in the library trying to lift the curse.
‘Lonely little Theo. I hope your dad will listen to my last words.’
You see, your dad is more capable than indicated in the book. Perhaps the reason that the curse could not be stopped was because he focused on research alone. If he had spent a lot of time with you, got to know you well, understood and supported you, maybe your future would have been different. And also the future of the Empire.
“Excuse me. Your arm looks like it’s going to hurt. Will you put it down? I think I’m going to talk longer.”
He gently pressed the tip of his sword against my neck. No voice came out. I grabbed the sword with both hands and tried to force it back, but he was strong.
‘Damn it. If that’s the case, I can just pull my body back!:
I pulled away and cried.
“You idiot, Theo was shocked today!”
At that moment, my body leaned sideways.
Thud.
Suddenly, the side of my head hit the ground. I should have lied down earlier. It was comfortable. I stretched out my arms and drew a square on the ground. I started describing as quickly as I could.
“Well. So, when you get to the castle later tonight, write a diary with your child. A picture diary. Theodor was sad that the baby bird died earlier.”
He didn’t move.
‘Is this bastard listening to me?’
“Hey, Husband! I want you to listen. I convinced him that Theodor’s mom and dad in the sky would take care of the dead bird, but little Theo said. He said, without hesitation, that he would like to go to heaven. He can’t, right?”
I raised my voice in anger at Gerard who said nothing.
“So I said that his parents and the little bird in the sky wished for our Theo to be happy on earth. I wish you happiness, not in heaven, but in this Empire. His parents would be happy if he lives long and long while being loved and loving people and going up to the sky later, much much later. I ask you to draw a picture like that in the diary together.”
As I spoke, I drew pictures with my fingers on the ground. The blood that had dripped from my hand earlier had stopped. It was because of Sinclair’s ability to heal her injuries quickly.
Whether Gerard noticed or not, I’ll end up in a dungeon anyway, so there was nothing left to fear.
I had to say what I had to say. I didn’t know what Theodor’s mom and dad looked like, but I drew a round face, a long face, and a pointy little bird inside a square. And a long horizontal smile on a round face, a sharp V-mark smile on the long face, and a small bird with two half-moon-like eyes side by side. Hearts, hearts, and hearts above them. And below it,
“Theo, I love you! Our savior, Theo.”
I wrote earnestly.
I was afraid that I would have to experience the pain of losing my breath again by the blade that would fly to me soon.
If it wasn’t now, I probably wouldn’t be able to convey these words.
Because he wouldn’t believe the words of a crazy witch who never dies. Even if it was like this, since I was alone with Gerard, I had to say everything I wanted to say.
“Our Theo… Even if you can’t break the curse. Theo can solve it himself. Just show him love, please. Love him a lot. A lot, a lot.”
The wind kept blowing and trying to ruin my drawing. I keep talking while repairing with my fingers the doodlings that kept getting ruined by the wind.
“If you can’t, Theo can.”
For Theodor not to become a demon, he had to live a small life when he was young.
For Theo not to turn into a demon he must not forget that day in his childhood when, even with his small body, he fought tirelessly against monster birds five times his size for a small life.
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Don’t forget that you were a courageous child who challenged the impossible with the tiny hand of a five-year-old child.
I prayed earnestly, earnestly. Like that, I sank into another death.
——
*A very sad story about a little girl who sells matches and freezes to death after using all the matches she couldn’t sell on Christmas night. I don’t know why someone thought of such a story, seriously.
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