Chapter 194 - I Had A Cup Of Coffee With The Devil (2/2)
”How completely boorish of me,” he chuckled as he extended one of his hands towards Isca.
”My name is Reed Evergreen. It is a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to finally meet you in person... Ms. Yaalte.”
After what seemed like an eternity in shame, Isca finally extended her arm and shook his hand. Surprisingly enough, it was not what she had imagined it — her impression of him.
Despite his intimidatingly inhuman presence, there was a pulse in his hands and even a sensation of warmth. Although it was admittedly imm.a.t.u.r.e of Isca to think of him as some sort of fantastical monster, she couldn't help it.
For goodness' sake, he quite literally has to hunch over in order to not scr.a.p.e my living room's ceiling! I can't be blamed for thinking of him as some sort of folk myth, right?!
And yet, here he is, the most famous person in the world, drinking my cheap instant coffee on a godforsaken Saturday night! What. The. HELL. Is. Going. On?!
When Reed noticed her curious gaze, he said, ”You can ask if you want to, Ms. Yaalte. I won't be offended, no matter what you ask me. That much I can assure you. In fact, you'd make me quite glad if you asked, to be honest...”
He had not lied about that — Reed had long since developed a thick layer of skin; a natural response to what he'd heard people call him.
”Well sir, uh, I was wondering how you end up growing so... much? I've seen recordings of your younger years and there were no indications of your... unexpected growth spurt,” said Yaalte as she tried her best not to step on any verbal landmines.
Reed laughed uproariously when he heard her question and nearly choked on his coffee. She reminded him of his younger self, specifically when he had first arrived in Mulia.
Cowering, overly cautious, and completely self-conscious. Terrified that a single misplaced word might get him punished, or put him in the bad graces of his would-be superiors.
”Please, just call me Reed. I hear ”Sir” and ”Lord” and ”Your Excellency” enough from my aides and the people I have to meet every single day. You'd be doing me a tremendous favor by just treating me as a normal person,” said Reed as he fiddled with a coffee cup that was far too small for him.
He gestured at the coffee cup in his hand that seemed as if it were for a child and said, ”My unusual physique is a product of an equally unusual heritage. You see, I am not entirely human, as you might have already discerned. I am one of a kind, as far as I am currently aware, for the simple fact that I am a Human-Mulian individual.”
Isca felt as if the world froze when she heard his answer, her mind grinding to a complete halt. For a good minute, she even forgot to breathe as she stared at Reed.
Had she heard that correctly, or had she finally lost it?
To be honest, the latter seemed to make more sense, given the extraordinary situation she was currently in. It would not have surprised if she woke up back in reality at any point in time.
”Umm, si— I mean...” Isca recollected herself and said, ”Reed, did you just admit that you are partially, well, a...”
”Yes, a Mulian. As in, the native race that inhabited this continent and by extension, the rest of the world it was originally a part of. The same race that took your ancestors from their homeworlds and brought them here. As you can see, my Mulian heritage... manifested itself very prominently late in my adolescence — a shock even for myself, as I had once thought myself a human.”
This was not common knowledge, not in the slightest. Only a handful of people knew this secret and even then, they were all individuals who understood the ramifications that it could have for Reed.
And yet, he had told Isca, who was nothing short of a stranger, this priceless secret without so much as batting a single eye. Reed had spoken so nonchalantly, it would've seemed like an odd joke had Isca not asked for clarification.
It scared her, rightfully so. She was no lion-hearted warrior; the last time Isca was put in a serious position, she was forced to choose between vanilla or mint chocolate ice cream.
For all intents and purposes, she was a normal person, and it went without saying that normal people did not get involved in secrets such as this.
”Why are you telling me this?” asked Isca in a worried tone. ”I'm just a nobod—”
”The Allure of the Flame, right? I liked it. A little precautionary warning about people like me,” said Reed, pulling a folded scrap of paper out of his pocket.
He handed it to Isca and said, ”I was a nobody too, once upon a time. And then I got pulled into this mess and became a somebody. Tonight, I offer you a chance to become someone if you wish for it, but only if you can help me with a problem of mine...”
A curious request with an even stranger reward. It was the call of something unknown that would surely lead her into an adventure of sorts. There was no way it would not, considering who had come to request her help.
”What could I possibly help you with? I'm no warrior, nor a powerful person of any capacity. Do you, by chance, need a housemaid or a mediocre historian to regale you bedtime stories? If not, I do not know what I could possibly help you with...”
Reed snorted in amus.e.m.e.nt and said, ”These are very tempting suggestions, but I was thinking of something else. No, I was hoping to commission you for a special project — a biography of my own life.”
He gestured at the folded paper in her hands and said, ”If it isn't too much to handle, I would like for you to write my story, Isca Yaalte. I promise you many more secrets should you accept. Money too, if you want it. More than enough for you to never buy this... frankly appalling instant coffee, that's for sure.”
Isca blew a gasket when she heard that and said, ”Coffee is coffee! It just needs to get you from one deadline to the next. That's all that matters to me....”
Reed shrugged his shoulders and muttered, ”I suppose it's tolerable for you with the small mountain of sugar you've dumped into it, but I beg to differ. In any case, why don't you take a look at the note, Miss Instant Coffee?”
Better for her to be annoyed with him than to fear him, he thought to himself. What a great deal it had done to break her free of the pitiful restraint she had imposed on herself. He found her far more charming as she was now than when they had begun talking.
She scowled at Reed and said, ”What is this supposed to be, a damn chec....”
Her mouth slowly stopped moving when unfolded the note, stunned into absolute silence by what laid within its contents.
”I thought it'd interest you. If my secrets weren't enough to entice you, I thought that, perhaps, I might help illuminate some of the secrets of your past instead...”
Isca had been made an offer she couldn't refuse, for she had been shown something that she never thought she'd ever see.
”H-How... did you find this? I've never even seen...”
Reed put down his coffee cup and said, ”I can do more than show you, if you'd like. I can take you there, so long as you help me. So... what do you say?”
It almost felt like she was making deal with the Devil, except he was morosely handsome and a cheeky smartass. Not that she knew the Lord of Hell personally, but was certain that Reed could substitute him if wanted to.
Because she had been caught in his damn net and found herself unable to reject his offer.