Chapter 143: Words in the Letter (2) (1/2)

“Decalane and Kagan Luna.”

…Sylvia’s words conveyed a memory to me. Old films flashed by in a chain, revealing scenes I didn’t know yet.

—Son, she wasn’t the perfect companion for you.

Decalane’s voice rose like a ripple, sparking emotions that ran wildly and ripped through my chest. It was a torrent that became the catalyst for Deculein.

“…”

However, I knew. That this, too, would just pass. The history and facts of the past did not have any effect on me in the present. My ego, composed of both Deculein and Kim Woojin, was designed that way. Sylvia continued.

“But you misunderstood that it was Iliade’s work. That’s why you sent that Demon’s Letter to my mother.”

Deculein returned the letter to Iliade to save his fiancée, but it didn’t work. Sierra was already dying from her disease.

“Yes, I did.”

“…Knowing everything, why didn’t you tell Epherene?”

Kagan Luna, Deculein’s former assistant, and Epherene’s father. Several memories of being with him were coming back. Was this the process of assimilation with Deculein?

“Decalane didn’t want that woman to be my companion and ordered Kagan to send her the letter.”

I would accept the memory alone, however, as Kim Woojin, not Deculein. It would not rekindle that old grudge from the past.

“But I don’t know if Kagan knew the identity of the letter at the time.”

“…”

“You worked hard, Sylvia. In your way.”

Sylvia clenched her fists. I let my eyes slide over her small fist than to her eyes again.

“Everything you said is right.”

“Hmph.”

Sylvia remained expressionless and cynical. I picked up the staff I had left by the bed and grabbed my copy of Blue Eyes. Now, this would be enough.

“Take a rest.”

I stood. There was nothing more to say. She was a proud child who uncovered the truth about her mother.

…But.

“Don’t go.”

A tone unusual for her caught me. It was extremely dry but equally desperate.

“I’m not done yet.”

Her eyes were wet and soft, staring straight at me.

“I have more to say.”

Each syllable trembled softly like it might be cut off at any moment.

“You have a lot to tell me.”

“…”

“I have a lot to hear.”

The girl, unable to overcome her emotions, shook the blanket she was holding back and forth. Tears flowed down her cheeks while I just watched.

“…Tell me.”

The child was trembling like a wet bird, and her growls verged on the point of weeping.

“I said tell me.”

“…”

The child who lost her mother to Deculein. I didn’t know how she felt to face her enemy.

“I have nothing to say.”

Sylvia’s breathing stopped for a moment. Her whole body went cold as her rushing emotions stopped in an instant. She became static.

“The Yukline makes no excuses. All that is left is the truth… I killed Sierra.”

“…”

Sylvia let go of the blanket she was holding and stared at me with empty eyes.

“I will kill you.”

This would be a reasonable response. I nodded.

“Try. You have the right to kill me.”

“…Ugh.”

A half-suppressed groan flowed from between Sylvia’s clenched teeth. The fireplace was still crackling beside us.

“I’ll try not to be killed by you, Sylvia. So that you can live.”

“…What-“

I left her behind and opened the door to the hut.

Whooooosh!

A strong blizzard came in. The whole world was engulfed in snow and wind, but that wouldn’t block my way…

* * *

Whooooooosh…

Epherene walked through the fiercely raging snowstorm. Her hard-earned earthen house was buried under the weight of snow and shattered.

“…I’m glad I learned it at least.”

Manipulation-type magic learned from Deculein; The magnetic field blocked the blizzard, and Psychokinesis pushed the snow out from under her feet as she walked.

Stomp- Stomp-

“Huh.”

Epherene, advancing so efficiently, suddenly found a hut.

“?”

A question mark appeared above her head. A hut in the middle of a snowstorm. She could have just overlooked it, or she could doubt its identity. But Epherene walked forward as if possessed by something. The closer she drew, the warmer her body grew with the heat radiating from the hut.

“This…”

After approaching without a word, Epherene put her eyes to the window to check the inside.

“!”

She was startled. It was a hut with a warm fireplace, but more importantly, inside were Deculein and Sylvia. Sylvia was lying on the bed, and Deculein was in a chair next to it. Their two voices leaked through the window. Sylvia spoke first.

—I know it all.

- …What.

—That you killed my mother.

It was a conversation she shouldn’t listen to. Epherene tried to step away, but her body wouldn’t move, as if she were stuck in place by magic.

- It was because of that demon’s letter. As the letter swept across the continent, Yukline and Carla came out.

Demon’s letter. It was a legend that Epherene knew well, but why were these two discussing it?

- One of those victims-

–Was my fiancée.

“!”

Epherene’s eyes widened. She tried to move, but her body wouldn’t respond. It wasn’t an analogy or an exaggeration. She was stuck in place.

—Someone delivered the demon’s letter to my woman, and she died.

—I know what happened that day. The one who did it. Who wrote the letter to your fiancée.

Amid her struggling, the conversation continued through the window, and Epherene was forced to listen. An incomprehensible force gripped her legs and willed her to stay.

“Why is this…”

That moment-

—Decalane and Kagan Luna.

A familiar name rang in her ears. Epherene froze in place, and her irises grew wide. Naturally, she looked to Deculein.

─Yes.

Kagan Luna. She said that her father delivered a demon’s letter to Deculein’s fiancée.

─…Knowing everything, why didn’t you tell Epherene?

Epherene felt her head go blank for a moment, a fever taking her. She couldn’t close her mouth, nor could she block out the conversation still worming its way into her ears.

Kagan Luna… Demon’s Letter… Fiancée…