Chapter 55
“There were once two rival households in Verona.”
The chorus plays just before the start of Romeo and Juliet.
The tragic love story of the descendants of the Capulet and Montague families begins.
Erica watched the play somewhat pensively.
She already knew the story inside out. The actors’ performances, the direction, the songs all heightened the immersion, but that was all.
No matter how great a piece of work is, if you see it repeatedly, it’s inevitable for interest and attention to wane. Even if there are some variations, the basic plot remains mostly unchanged.
Glance? Look at the seat next to you.
It’s strangely quiet.
A few years ago, when Shugenharutsu and the noble families gathered to watch a play, there were discussions about the actor’s performance, the brightness of the lighting, and so on. Erica, who had no connection to the play, criticized it harshly to the point of being furious.
However, this time, it’s all quiet for some reason.
His face, hidden in the darkness, became visible as the lighting changed, revealing sharp jawlines and a nose.
Following that line, there was a lake with ice. His meticulous pupils were quietly fixed on the stage without any movement.
Today, Shugenharutsu’s condition is particularly strange.
He still seemed to be playing around with confidence, but it was different. While he used to throw metaphors and strange sayings around, today he seemed somewhat calm.
Even now, he’s the same.
He’s not usually the type to quietly appreciate a piece of work like this…
Even if she had cursed, it would have been normal for her to speak dozens of words, but he didn’t pay attention to anything other than a brief glance.
It seems like he’s enjoying this obvious play, analyzing it, and being immersed in the experience.
“…Hmm.”
Erica turned her gaze.
The play continued, and Romeo and Juliet, meeting for the first time at a masked ball, unfolded.
Romeo, captivated by Juliet, sings a song. He expresses his feelings, enchanted by the harmony with the people around him.
“…….”
In truth, Erica didn’t like this story.
She didn’t like the idea of two sworn enemies falling deeply in love and longing for each other.
She didn’t like the development of Romeo killing Juliet’s cousin.
Even though it went that far, she didn’t like the tragic ending.
Among them, the scene that made her frown the most was when Romeo fell in love at first sight with Juliet.
Realizing how foolish it is to like someone without knowing anything about them.
Erica’s white hand clenched into a small fist.
“Isn’t it truly foolish to look so foolish.”
Suddenly, Bargan opened his mouth.
Still watching the stage, he slowly continued as if to prove that he was speaking to Erica.
“Why does that emotion called ‘love’ make people so foolish.”
“…….”
Erica didn’t respond at all.
She sat quietly, just listening to what he had to say.
Bargan’s voice was quietly layered.
If you didn’t look at his straight, cold eyes, you might mistake his voice, filled with a gentle sadness like dawn mist, for something else.
“…But, that’s why it’s scary.”
Bargan and Erica’s gazes met.
Both eyes were fully visible.
It was clear that his eyes were not frozen stiff.
He thought he would be as rigid as an iceberg for his whole life, but it felt like the surface was melting a little.
Why? How?
Erica, reading Bargan’s eyes, narrowed hers to hide her surprise. With a sly smile on her lips, she provocatively uttered, “If anyone saw, they might think it’s a confession. Am I suddenly becoming more likable?”
“…Don’t worry about it.”
Bargan averted his gaze from Erica.
A fleeting illusion seemed to convey his true emotions after a long time. As if not wanting to reveal his vulnerable feelings. He turned his head.
…It must be an illusion.
Undoubtedly just a misconception.
He spoke solemnly, “I will make sure such a thing doesn’t happen.”
“……”
While uttering those words, Bargan, on the one hand, turned to a different sentence. It wasn’t easy to move on.
‘Instead, it will gradually fade away.’
In a slightly unfamiliar atmosphere.
The two tried to focus on the play, avoiding the current mood. Embarrassment, fear, shame. Various emotions arose, but the most intense was a different one.
Since that day, whatever Bargan did, that emotion lay at the bottom of Erica’s heart.
It’s the same now.
***
It had been a little over five years since Bargan and Erica got engaged.
Today is a very, very, extremely important day.
“Heh, hehehehe~!”
Thirteen-year-old Erica sang softly, strolling through the corridor with light steps. If her parents saw, they would scold her for being impolite, but she pushed that concern aside.
With her short arms, she carried a neatly wrapped gift box, making sure not to drop anything.
The gift was not large at all, but given her small stature, the box felt relatively big.
“I hope Bargan-nim will feel better with this!”
Her voice was very bright and cute, but Erica had been worried a lot lately.
Not just worries.
She had been hurt a lot.
There were nights she spent crying, feeling her eyes swollen and puffy to the touch.
There was clearly no problem.
Not even a minor quarrel, let alone a dispute.
Bargan was pushing away Erica, who was so easily understandable.
Fierce and cold. He was pushing her away.
He didn’t answer the question of why.
The warm smile that always greeted her had turned into a cold winter. The gentle voice that used to wrap around the listener’s ears like soft fabric had become a sharp knife.
And then.
The winter’s knife began to torture Erica.
The first time he cursed at her, it felt like losing a finger.
Watching him abuse the servants felt like losing an arm.
Seeing him tear apart the exchanged letters felt like having her heart cut out.
“Why… are you suddenly acting like this….”
However, Erica believed.
He is a good person.
Even if he verbally abused himself.
Even if he treated subordinates harshly.
Even if he tore apart precious memories.
This is just a passing cold season.
If only this moment passes, he will return to his original self and warmly embrace her. Erica truly loved Baragan. It started as an almost idolatrous young heart.
After half a year, after a year, around three years. Leaving her family behind, focusing solely on Baragan, the surrounding background didn’t register in her eyes.
Someone who saw this might not have known it was the clumsy emotions of a mere ten-year-old. Even to her, she felt very young.
But she never wanted to let go.
Wanting to see him every day, wanting to be together every moment, if this empowering feeling isn’t called love, what else could it be named?
Baragan felt the same. That was certain.
The five years they spent sharing emotions and exchanging sweet words couldn’t be false.
So Erica decided to trust Baragan and wait.
She resolved to accept the present as a trial and wait diligently.
Patiently.
Shaking her head, Erica dismissed negative thoughts. Her glossy black hair swayed. Thinking of him momentarily made her heart ache with tears, but she swallowed it along with her breath.
Today is a good day.
Let’s celebrate his birthday with a bright smile.
After all, wasn’t the gift she painstakingly acquired for this very purpose?
Even if she didn’t know, she had prepared a special item that any magician would be delighted with.
Moreover, the people of Shugenhardt were currently at our mansion. If tears were shed, they could leave.
Erica made up her mind once again.
“But… Where did Laila go? I said I’d show her before presenting it to Lord Baragan after finishing the wrapping.”
Laila, who had been with Erica since birth, was her confidant.
Always by her side, listening to her worries, helping with tasks, and more.
Erica wandered around the vast mansion in search of Laila.
“She’s not here either.”
Not even in the room where the confidants gathered to rest.
“Not here either.”
Nor was she cleaning Erica’s room.
“…Hm. Where on earth could she be?”
To Erica, Laila was more than a simple confidant. As precious as her parents, an indispensable presence.
It was Laila who read Baragan’s letters together with her.
Laila was the one she spent most of her day with.
It was strange for her to be absent without a word, especially when she was supposed to check if the wrapping was done nicely.
“Is she here…?”
Erica slowly opened Laila’s door.
She had never seen her return to her room during working hours, but she had checked almost every possible place.
If she hadn’t gone outside, the only place left was here.
“Laila… Are you there…?”
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Kkiig?.
As the door opened, the darkness of the room welcomed Erica through the crack. Along with the darkness, what greeted her was the inexplicable scent of metal.
“Lord Vargan…?”
Erica saw the figure engulfed in darkness. He looked down at Erica with predatory gleaming eyes, colder than snowfall in winter.
?The gift box Erica was holding fell to the floor.
The impact of it hitting the ground revealed a gleaming blue gem inside the box, illuminating the room.
Pain (痛症).
Once again, the sharp blade tried to strike Erica.
But this time, strangely, she felt no pain.
She couldn’t feel it.
“Is it Erica.”
Vargan’s indifferent voice was heard.
Even witnessing Erica in the current state, he showed no surprise. Calmly and coldly.
“This fellow offended me, so I gave him his due punishment.”
Seeing Laila turned into a corpse.
Erica screamed.
Whether her head was severed or her heart pierced, at that moment, Erica no longer felt the pain towards Vargan.
Lies. Lies.
Tell me it’s a lie….
***
Inside the spacious theater.
There were only three figures filling the space.
Vargan, Erica.
And.
?In life, there are always opportunities. If you catch the wind of opportunity, you may reach a golden future, but if you miss it, the path of life is likely to be stuck in misfortune.
The man standing on stage spoke with a long smile. His smile stretched to his ears, tearing them apart.
“Oh, truly a profound saying. Who on earth are you? Who are you to spread such truths in the world and exist in what kind of past.”
The man, illuminated by the lighting set depicting a playwright that did not exist in his world, seemed to perform every action as if in a play.
Looking up at the ceiling, the man, who missed those he never saw in life, shook his head. With a crooked gaze, he looked at the two spectators sitting in the audience.
Vargan and Erica seemed to be asleep with their eyes closed.
“Beautiful. You, shining more brightly than described in the ‘Bible’…!”
The man pointed at Erica.
His arm was so long that if stretched out, it would reach the floor.
“I shall name this moment ‘Destiny.’ Beautiful you, why have you come here, and with what significance.”
The man’s arm gradually extended.
Like a rubber band, the elongated arm approached Erica’s closed eyes, about to wipe away the tears clinging to her lashes.
He was about to wipe away Erica’s tears and perhaps even lick them.
To taste how intense her emotions were, filled with what kind of horrific past, what nightmare she might be dreaming of.
To savor the condensed tears.
“Our meeting is like that of Romeo and Juliet. Feuding families. Feuding races. Yet, we met and fell in love. Even if it ends in tragedy, I vow to never regret this moment’s choice.”
The man’s hand reached just in front of Erica.
A shadow of the hand fell upon Erica’s face.
The fingers’ shadows moved eerily, trying to savor the moment.
The grinning man.
The hand inches away from touching.
But soon, that hand twisted away without stealing tears.
“Whaattt???!!”
Snnnaaap??.
The man’s index finger folded back.
Middle, ring, pinky, thumb. Every finger.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
Four times.
…
Continuing to fold like paper, it folded in.
Starting from the fingers, it climbed up the long arm.
Even the wrist folded.
Thud? Thud?
As if pressing straight down with a press, his body contorted.
Unable to bear that excruciating pain any longer, the man cut off his arm. If left as it was, it seemed like bugs would devour him up to his torso.
Quite a splendid play it was. Though it didn’t satisfy me, it would receive a decent evaluation from discerning critics.
An abrupt voice is heard.
Utterly arrogant words.
The way he spoke made it seem like everyone else was insignificant and worthless creatures.
The man twisted his mouth even more at the arrogance.
Escaping from authority?! It was unthinkable!? Along with that astonishment, another thought emerged. Anger flared up against the villain who hindered his love.
“What are you…!! Why do you disturb me waking up from a nightmare!”
That man was not in the scriptures.
Originally, the beautiful lady should have come here alone.
But, unable to overturn what had already been set in motion, it proceeded as planned. There shouldn’t have been any issues.
It’s ‘authority.’ The firm authority bestowed upon by Him. Could a mere fledgling warrior possibly escape from it?!
With one arm severed, Altif now sharpened it, ready to rush in and kill the opponent.
The arrogant noble, with eyes of disdain for the insignificant creature, says to the man.
“I ask the questions. You have no memory of me.”
“Nonsense you babble…!!”
“You’re a noisy one. You should lower your voice. If you wake my fiancée, won’t it be troublesome?”
Intellectual Altif became even more menacing.
That arrogant fellow calling his fate his fiancée angered him.
“Really… Worried that my fiancée is popular with strange guys. I don’t even have time to sleep well.”
Swish. Barugan raised the handkerchief pinned to his coat and wiped away Erica’s tears.
And then.
“This guy??!”
With a shout, a man rushed towards them.
Destroying everything around him, he ran straight towards them.
Barugan, without any resistance, watched him approach. He murmured softly about the current situation.
“It’s wrong. Very wrong.”
Barugan lowered his head.
“Now, at this juncture, it’s not you who should be angry, but me.”
His eyes became even more serious.