Chapter 38: 38

“Lily.”

Hugo opened his eyes, calling out his one and only sister’s name.

He felt a strange sense of floating. 

As he fumbled on the floor, the transparent bath water wrapped around him sloshed back and wet his face.

Delicate stained glass was visible.

A picture he knew.

‘<Goddess Flora who created the World Tree…>’

He could guess where this was. 

Hugo slowly raised his upper body. There was an endless staircase under the marble bathtub.

The huge space itself was a structure that supported a small bathtub like an altar.

Spacious square hall, sunlight shining through the glass ceiling. Pointed arch shining like a meteor shower.

This place, which was not marvelous but reverent, was the healing room of the temple.

“Are you awake?”

The twin maids, the larks, greeted Hugo instead of rushing down the stairs.

“You can lie down a little longer. You’ll be very drowsy because you’re healing rapidly.”

“Sisters, is it time to change the water in the #1 treatment room?”

“Viscount Frise? No, he can go home now. Also introduce him to the artificial leg craftsman on your way.”

The larks only greeted Hugo, then they exchanged words with each other.

“Be sure to tell him that unlike evil spirits, we cannot create a body that does not exist. He didn’t understand, perhaps it was because of the shock.”

Instead of a pink dress, they wore temple robes and were very busy.

Probably because of this emergency. And they are talented healers.

Hugo stood up vigorously so that the bath overflowed while fumbling over what had happened.

“Is Lily okay? Where is she?”

Perhaps it was the aftermath of the treatment, the leg that had been laid beneath the rubble staggered.

Even the silk gown was heavy, so he barely managed to hold on to the bathtub frame.

One of the larks answered cheerfully.

“If it’s the princess, she’s okay. She’s in the South now!”

“…What?”

He couldn’t understand. 

He was glad she was safe, but the South? All of a sudden?

“It is just like what I said. The princess went to the South two days ago. She must be arriving soon.”

“Two days? Have I been sleeping that long?”

“No, you slept for three days. The princess left the next day after the gladiator field collapsed, that is, on the second day of the carnival.”

Hugo was silent for a moment, then closed his eyes.

Again. He lost Lily’s hand again. 

He should have protected her. He should have taken her to a safe place with this hand…

He found his glasses and fumbled along the sides of the bathtub.

When one of the larks saw it, she gently put the glasses in his hand.

There were many things he wanted to ask, but it was better to go back to the castle as soon as possible than to pester these busy people.

If his sister confidently left the castle, there was only one reason.

His father sent Lily to the South.

***

“The disposal of Benimus has been decided.”

The first night of the carnival where the gladiator field collapsed. Alan said so while slicing the steak calmly.

I sat down diagonally from him and didn’t answer anything.

No, I couldn’t even blink.

The red juice oozing out on the white plate looked like my blood.

Only one question lingered in my mind.

‘Why?’

I couldn’t figure it out.

Why were you having dinner with me casually even after seeing my hand that had become an evil spirit’s?

“What’s wrong, Lily? Is it not delicious?”

Alan asked worriedly. 

I didn’t know how to answer even a simple question.

It felt like I was walking on a thin sheet of ice.

Alan put down the knife and sighed.

Startled, I put my trembling hands on the table.

Did he want me to eat? If I showed you what you want, would I be able to save even a little bit of my life?

“It, it’s deli… it’s… delicious.”

Rattling. 

A trembling fork scratched the plate. 

The more force I applied to my hand, the louder the annoying sound became.

“I, I’m… sorry. This, this is not going well.”

Alan didn’t stare at me, but reached out his hand.

The moment his firm fingertips touched my cheek, I gasped for air, lifted my arms and blocked my front.

Ah, that was a mistake.

“I, I’m sorry, no. It’s not that I don’t like it.”

“It’s just the two of us, so should I feed you?” 

Alan lifted me up and sat me down on his thighs with a casual expression.

Then, he shoved the sliced ​​steak into my mouth.

I opened my mouth helplessly like a nutcracker and ate the food given to me.

Not lowering my head was the best I could do.

‘Why are you doing this?’

Alan was friendly as always. There was not the slightest hint of murder in every gesture done over my hair.

‘Did he not see it?’

Obviously, Alan’s gaze stayed in my reverse eye and the black left hand at that time.

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Was I mistaken because I was so scared? If that was the case, I would play the drums and….

“I thought you were a spirit because Hugo insisted so strongly, but you are not.”

I almost spit my heart out at those words.

As I turned blue and stopped chewing meat, Alan gently grabbed my cheek to calm me down.

His eyes shone most vividly in the dining room on a candlelit night.

“It’s okay. The only person who knows that you are an evil spirit is me. Of course, Benimus knows it too, but… that’s how it came to be.”

When Alan found me and Benny from the collapsed gladiator, I narrowly returned my arms and eyes, but Benny remained the same.

Soon after, the imperial knights arrived, and of course there was an uproar.

People called Benny the monster. They even thought he had taken me hostage.

Benny didn’t respond to the murderous intent towards him, but growled like a wild dog as Alan tried to separate me from him.

Then he was properly hit by the hilt of a large sword.

Alan seemed genuinely angry. As if Benny had taken me away.

Benny struggled to approach me the whole time while being suppressed by the knights.

There was blood in his white eyes and his nosebleed dripping down his chin.

It was like a bloodthirsty beast. 

I really didn’t know that such madness was hiding in a boy who was always indifferent.

Frustrated, the imperial knights must convene all of the empire’s troops before Benny summoned his comrades.

He even screamed loudly for it.

To keep things from escalating, I had to calm Benny first.

I secretly spoke to Benny with my mouth.

‘I’ll definitely go see you.’

With that one sentence, Benny softened his anger and stopped resisting.

He was called ‘a monster that was difficult to deal with’ and was led to the Imperial Palace under Alan’s supervision.

I returned to the Duke’s Castle before Alan.

I didn’t know if I was dead or alive until he called me to dinner.

“Benimus is dangerous. But I will not execute him. He said that he would not cause any harm as much as possible.”

The imperial family was not a pushover, and there was no way they could have believed Benny’s words right away.

The postponement of the execution was probably simply because of the enormous risk.

Because they don’t know how the other evil spirits will react when they beheaded him.

“However, on the premise that there will be no resistance… he added a condition.”

Alan said nothing for a moment, and then clenched his teeth.

“Benimus asked to meet you.”

“…Ah?”

“You can say no if you don’t like it.”

It didn’t make sense to say no. Moreover, it was not a situation where I could refuse even if I hated it.

The barrier on the gladiator field was broken for no reason. It would be better if it was an accident, but if that was Benny’s fault…

“No, it’s not ‘if’. Benny must have done that.”

I saw it with my own two eyes. The sight of the evil spirit taking its own life with a single gesture from Benny.

‘The knights from the Imperial Palace said that Benny could summon evil spirits, but that’s not all. Benny can control evil spirits.’

I haven’t told anyone what I saw yet.

I didn’t even want to play with my tongue. I realized it through this incident. 

Benny is the only rope who can save me.

“I, I’m… fine. I will meet him.”

To others, Benny is a scary monster, but to me it was the other way around.

The only person in this world who could reach out to me was Benny.

‘Because that child and I are of the same race.’

I recalled Benny’s expression from the collapsed ruins.

The more I pondered about the sensation of the hand that touched my cheek, the more I became convinced instinctively.

I would be safer with Benny than with an armed army.

“Usually the winner of a gladiator match would be freed from slavery and would become an apprentice of the sponsored family.”

Then Alan exhaled as if passing by.

“Now that the situation has come to this, the apprenticeship problem must be difficult. But… Benimus will go to the next subjugation under the premise that I am monitoring him.”

“…What?”

It was a relief that Benny was safe, but what did he mean subjugation?

In other words, it meant that Benny would become the duke’s private soldier.

“In order for him to continue living within the sanctuary, he’ll have to prove himself not to be a danger.”

Alan’s tone was calm. That’s why I felt more dizzy.

“It will take a while, but if he can stand it, he can turn from a monster to a hero. Because of this incident, public opinion of fear toward evil spirits has inflated.”

When I quietly listened to Alan, I asked a forbidden question while parting my lips like a carp.

“Why are you… taking care of Benny?”

Why were you doing this? To me, and to that child.

Did he read the meaning behind the question? Alan blinked his eyes, and answered as if it was quite natural.

“Because that kid is of the same race as you. I have to set it as a good precedent, so that you will be treated well when your power is awakened.”

It felt like I was being hit in the back of the head with a hammer.

“I’ve been thinking a lot, but I think it would be dangerous for you to remain in the duchy. It would be difficult for me to even make time to be together or protect you for a while…”

All of Alan’s following words sounded far away.

“I’m sorry. It seems I have tied you up too much at home. I didn’t know you were going to sneak out. It must have been very frustrating.”

Alan stroked my red hair affectionately. As if he was my real father.

“Stay in the south until the barrier is restored. Pedro will go with you. Enjoy the remaining carnival in a warm place. Do you understand?”

The smile on the corner of the man’s lips was much more natural than when I first came to the castle.

At that moment, a thought crossed my mind.

‘No, it doesn’t make sense.’

It certainly didn’t make sense, but I could not shake it off.

It was some crazy imagination. But…

‘This is why… I feel like the real Lily.’

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