61 – How to Make the Ground Move
Before meeting Lian, Iris had completely collapsed mentally and had to block out all her senses to protect herself. She spent her time huddled in the darkness, unable to distinguish between today and tomorrow.
It was Lian who pulled her out with his tender touch.
Like a child starting to learn about the world for the first time, Iris held Lian’s hand tightly and took small steps towards the world.
The cruel world she had lived in before meeting him felt like a dream, and life with Lian was so sweet.
Iris gradually began to understand not only her surroundings but also the situation she was in.
She realized that Lian poured out affection without expecting anything in return, and that they were siblings. The fact that he was her family, which had once disgusted her, now felt lovely.
But just as she was immersed in happiness that tickled her toes, the cruel reality loomed closer.
She always smiled, but when she was alone, the scars and the smell of blood that kept growing, the times she was called by the “Big Boss” and returned reeking of blood to the point of nausea.
The reality that Iris had never known because she always closed her eyes tightly and only looked at his laughter tightened her throat.
“It’s okay. Lian said it’s okay. So… “
Iris tried her best to erase her personal thoughts from her mind. She wanted to live like a doll, breathing and existing.
…She wanted to live so stupidly, but at some point, Iris discovered that she was looking at the cruel reality.
Iris lowered her head and thought deeply.
“Why are you so good to me? Is this what family is supposed to be like?”
Iris didn’t know what family was. She was confused because she had never experienced it before.
“Why don’t you say it hurts? Why don’t you resent?”
He smiled as if it were obvious and suffered in a place where she couldn’t reach. Lian endured all of that because he was her “brother.” Iris couldn’t understand such a Lian.
Iris lifted her head, her head gently stroked by a comforting hand. Lian was looking at her with love and concern in his eyes.
“Iris, where does it hurt?”
The sweet worry poured in as if it were natural. Iris wanted to be held in his arms, crying out in pain. His hand, gently touching her forehead, brushed lightly against her cheek as if checking for a fever.
“No fever?”
The words that lingered on her lips eventually swallowed down her throat. Iris was afraid that if Lian held the secret he was hiding, their fragile relationship would shatter.
His lips held resentment towards her, and his affectionate eyes shattered into pieces as tears streamed down…
Iris didn’t want to be resented by Lian. That’s why she emptied her mind once again. She turned away.
“Uh, no. I’m fine.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I want more to eat.”
“Is that so? Eat a lot.”
Yes, this will do.
Ignoring Lian’s hunger, the smell of blood, and even his wounds as if they never existed, she let him do as he pleased.
She couldn’t live without Lian, so it was an inevitable choice.
***
A peaceful afternoon.
I was talking to an old man who was on the floor, shaking and hitting his teeth together like a bone.
“Gasp, huff, huff…”
“Are you okay? Um… I’m a little embarrassed…”
“Hee hee…”
The old man who called me after a few days finally made me fall to the ground, peeling off my skin with a knife.
With a villainous expression, he pressed the knife against my skin and pushed it all the way, causing my skin to start peeling like the skin of a fruit. Not only my skin, but also my clothes and organs peeled off like a shell and piled up on the floor.
If you carve fruit well, doesn’t the peel stay intact and not get carved? The old man must have been skilled with his hands, because he carved me just like that. Because of that, I became a skeleton.
Everything else was fine, but it felt embarrassing to have holes all over my body. So I asked for clothes, but the old man sat down on the iron floor and kept backing away.
“Are you scared of skeletons?”
There were people like that in the comedy world too. People who scream when they see zombies or skeletons. The old man seemed to be one of those people.
“I thought you were only physically weak, but your heart is fragile too.”
I thought to myself as I looked at the hunched old man wheezing. His pants seemed strangely damp… I quietly averted my gaze.
“Is this all for today? Well then, I’ll be on my way.”
“Ge-Get… Get lost!”
Now that I had permission, there was no reason for me to stay here any longer. I left the white room and walked down the hallway.
“Huh? The trap didn’t activate this time? Oh, maybe it’s because I’m a skeleton?”
Unlike last time, I quickly escaped the white space. I rummaged through the closet and put on a shirt and pants.
“It’s because of that old man that I lost my clothes. He’ll understand this much, right?”
Honestly, there was no other way to leave except for this method. My body had returned to normal, so I was able to leave the old man’s room without any problems.
While walking towards the elevator, I came face to face with a familiar face.
“Oh, hello?”
“…Hello.”
The man who had given me a satisfying meal last time was standing in front of me. He seemed a little flustered at first, but then he greeted me with a friendly expression.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t told you my name. My name is Ansho. Please feel free to call me that.”
“Yes, I will. Ansho.”
Ansho’s expression subtly changed at my words. Should I say it was trembling as if there was an earthquake? I don’t know why.
Angsho thought to himself.
“Is he really insane?”
No matter how much Angsho allowed him to, he had never seen anyone who didn’t even attach the honorific suffix ‘nim’ to the subject of a slave.
“He must not have received proper education… Even though I know he spent quite a long time in the arena.”
Angsho silently noted down Lian’s displeasing behavior.
“I should give him separate education.”
Thinking that, Angsho captured the expression of a crumbling Lian.
“But anyway… I thought he would come out in a mess if he was called to the Halfmoon. He looks better than I expected. His clothes are intact too.”
Angsho leisurely scanned Lian from head to toe. Angsho became annoyed at his pristine appearance after meeting with the Halfmoon.
“Tsk, I guess I’ll have to torture him as usual.”
As soon as Angsho heard that Lian was called to the Halfmoon, he made a plan. The moment when a person’s heart becomes the weakest is after experiencing great pain.
Whether it’s the pain of separation or physical pain… comforting them afterwards generally leaves a deep impression.
Angsho planned to raise Lian’s favorability by taking care of him after torturing him. However, the plan was ruined because Lian, unexpectedly, didn’t inflict a single wound on the slave and sent him back.
“Thank you for the meal last time. Thanks to you, my younger sibling was able to eat delicious food to their heart’s content.”
“I see. But… why are you here today?”
Angsho asked Lian, hoping to get some information about what happened with the Halfmoon.
“Ah, a certain guest called for me and had a conversation with me. I think they’re an elderly person with a tender heart and a weak body.”
“A tender heart… and a weak body?”
Taken aback by the unexpected words, Angsho stumbled in his speech. Lian didn’t notice and continued talking.
“Yes! Even the smallest things seem to shock you, and your body seems to be in pain all over. I’m not sure why you called me… Maybe it’s because I’m reliable?”
“Ah…”
Thinking that he had found someone he could communicate well with, Lian continued talking.
“What’s going on? Did you meet someone other than Banseok?”
Angsho asked, feeling confused.
“Well… then, what did you do today?”
“Well, today I carved leather.”
“…Excuse me?”
“I was a little surprised because I didn’t expect that. It’s embarrassing if it’s visible everywhere. I guess.”
“Ah…”
Angsho ultimately failed to control his expression. He had a blank look on his face, like a student listening to a professor’s explanation.
“Anyway, so… ah, the elevator is here. I’ll go now.”
As Lian left, Angsho was left alone, mentally exhausted. Angsho thought with a blank face.
“What on earth was that?”
His mind, which had been smoothly functioning, suddenly felt completely frozen. Angsho felt small in the face of the unknown, something he had never encountered before.
“hahahaha, it’s getting… more interesting.”
Like someone trying to forget their fear, Angsho filled his fear with anger and determination.
He was following the same procedure as the two people who had been defeated before.