- Within the Chrysanthemum Tree -
After everything had ended, Charlotte felt that she could take a breath for awhile. She felt that for this short amount of time, her heart has been put into a test.
Charlotte sat down and watched the three protagonists talked and laughed around each other. It was quite nice to be able to see this kind of peaceful scenery.
'If it was in the past, I thought that there is no way for me to get close to them because I'm a reader and they used to be characters on my favorite manhwa. But now... that wall seems to be disappearing.'
She smiled in relieve and satisfaction.
'Like what they said, there will always be rainbow after the storm.'
It was what she heard from Altaira.
'But then again, I don't see Altaira and Celeste around. They probably left first along with Estelle and Estrella. It's his style to run away from troubles and sacrifice someone else to do his work.'
She knew that from her experience for years after being schemed and tricked to do her brother's chores.
Usually within a party, she was always one of the noisiest ones along with Altaira. But compared to Charlotte, there were the times where he was content just with standing at the corner and watched everything with a satisfied smile on his face.
'I always thought that being cheerful and chaotic are the best ways to express my happiness,' she thought and looked at her right palm. 'But there are ways to congratulate something. And right now, just by looking at them...'
She closed her eyes and her right palm as to enjoy herself at this present moment.
'I'm happy.'
"It's quite rare for you to not join a party," Raisin spoke.
"To be more specifi, she is sitting at the corner smiling like a weirdo."
"I'm in a good mood now so, I won't beat you for what you've said."
The red- haired man came with Noah. The two of them walked side- by- side and walked towards her. And their expressions looked rather solemn which confused Charlotte.
It was normal for Raisin to look so serious all the time. Even Estrella described him as a grumpy old man who wasted God's blessing to have such a beautiful face. But Noah was different. He didn't look relaxed at all. His expression showed the hint that there was something troubling him which made her wonder what it was.
She stood up and walked towards them. Now, she was no longer the child who cried and waited for someone to find her while hiding in the dark. She could stand up and run towards those who required her help.
"Is there something wrong, Noah?" She asked immediately and straight to the point.
Noah's eyebrows frowned deeper. She was getting more certain that this was not a simple matter for him to look even stressed.
'Perhaps I should make him relaxed first?'
Charlotte extended her right hand and held Noah's hand which pretty much surprised Noah. He didn't seem to expect her to come up with such a gesture.
"You know," she said with a smile that showed that she was confident that everything would go smoothly. "If you have any problem, then you can tell it to others. We are always ready to help you."
Noah responded nothing for awhile.
'If only... I meet this kind of people sooner.... if only Celeste and I had the fortune to encounter these people.....'
He bit the bottom of his lips.
'Perhaps we won't suffer that much.'
His purple eyes looked at the brown- haired girl. She was waiting for him to answer her question. Of course, even if he didn't want to, he still have to tell this young lass about his trouble, because his trouble was related to her.
"It's about......."
≪ ◦ ❖ ◦ ≫
"Y... your hands turned into stones?! Shouldn't you go to the hospital?!"
Bam's blunt remark had made Rak's efforts to be stronger seemed to be useless. Because his hands could only change into stones, both Khun and Bam didn't found it as something worth to be proud of. Here and there, wherever he was, as long as he showed off about his new ability, all he got was mockery and blunt insult.
"What?!"
"Bahaha! Are you sick? Is that why you're wearing cast?"
"S... shut up or I'll kill you!"
"But how do you get rid of that thing, Rak?"
"Don't ask me!"
While Bam was asking Rak about his arms, Khun's eyes looked at somewhere else.
Bam was proud to know that his friends were capable of awakening their powers already. While Rak got himself laughed and mocked, others kept praising Khun. It was to be expected. But what he didn't expect was someone who always encouraged him didn't give him any praise at all.
'Where is she?'
Was it because she could read the future and knew that he would be awaking his power soon that she kept encouraging him? And was it because of her being able to see the future that she knew this would happen and didn't praise him? Because everything was to be expected?
That thought kind of made him felt irritated.
Just some thoughts about Charlotte ignoring him already made him irritated, not to mention when he saw her holding someone else's hand and was talking with a smile on her face.
He knew that she was that kind of person, the kind who always hugged others and touched others without bothering whether the person they were hugging was a girl or a boy, but he didn't know since when he felt irritated seeing that.
Teasing Rak felt boring now. Rather than standing in silence while wondering what they were talking about, he chose to approach them and see what was going on.
"What the two of you are talking about?" Khun asked once he approached the two of them. Behind him, there were Bam and Rak following.
Once Charlotte heard Khun's voice, she was startled and let go of Noah's hand. Noah looked at Khun, but he said nothing. He was aware that Bam was glaring at him, but pretended that there was nothing.
"We were just talking about sworn enemy," she answered.
"Sworn enemy?" He asked while crossing his arms. "Whose sworn enemy you are talking about? I thought all of them have been cleared?"
Charlotte's expression looked troubled. Though she was still smiling, the happiness within her faded a little after she heard his question.
"It's...... my sworn enemy."
≪ ◦ ❖ ◦ ≫
Khun had never seen such a large chrysanthemum tree before. Could chrysanthemum grow this big?
The chrysanthemum tree stood mightily right on where it was and the purple petals fell from the ground one by one. That beautiful scenery could have made him felt relaxed... if it wasn't for the thought that they were there for an important business.
He remembered their conversation before.
"You sealed her sworn enemy?"
"Yes," Noah admitted. "And I was wondering if she wanted to go and see her sworn enemy."
He turned his head around and looked at Charlotte who smiled at him with a little bit awkward smile.
"Is that true?" Khun asked Charlotte.
"You don't believe in me?" Noah asked only to be ignored.
"Yes," Charlotte said and scratched the back of her head. "And I want to see my sworn enemy."
She wanted to go to see her sworn enemy that has been sealed. Since it was sealed, there was no way for her to see her sworn enemy anymore unless they chose to unseal her sworn enemy. But according to Noah, unsealing her sworn enemy would be troublesome as it would waste a lot of energy and in the same time, her sworn enemy was not someone could be reasoned with. In his opinion, the opinion that he told to everyone there but Charlotte, her sworn enemy was filled with hatred right now.
Her sworn enemy despised them for standing on her way, for wanting to put her in eternal loneliness and ignored her cries.
Khun's blue eyes were locked at the brown- haired girl. She was standing under the chrysanthemum tree.
'Would it be fine for me to get close?' He wondered. But even so, he still took several steps forward.
'It looks so peaceful from the outside. But I could feel it. Inside this tree, there is someone shouting in rage, someone drunk in hatred.'
She carefully extended her right palm and touched the tree. She didn't know why, but right now, she was not really afraid. She was unexpectedly calm. Was it because she was slowly becoming more like an adult?
'Right. I'm no longer the same person... that person who used to run away from her fear... will be facing her own fear right here and right now.'
She rested her forehead at the chrysanthemum tree. Even if right now she had the courage to meet her sworn enemy, but... her sworn enemy was sealed already. There was no way for her to get in and see her.
That was until she heard a man's voice.
"Do you wish to see her? Your deepest fear. The thing that you want to bury the most. You wish to see it?"
"Who?!"
She turned her head around in shock. The one who spoke those words was not Bam. It was not Noah or Khun. And it was not Raisin and Rak either.
Khun who was standing right in front of her now asked, "What's wrong?"
Charlotte didn't answer his question straightforwardly. Her mind was wondering whether she was imagining things, but her feelings were certain that she was not. She could heard the voice so vividly inside her head.
"I... just thought that I heard someone was speaking...."
Khun didn't understand that.
"What?"
"You didn't hear it?"
"I didn't hear anything," Khun answered. Something was telling him that this might not be a good sign.
'So I'm the only one who could hear his words?' Charlotte wondered to herself as she looked at the tree again.
What on earth was going on?
"Your life- savior... as well as your biggest enemy," the voice spoke again, as if he could hear her words and replied to her confusion. "Right now... I have that strength to allow you to get inside the tree. But once you step inside, if you can't conquer your fear, then you should be trapped inside. It doesn't matter for hundred of years or thousand of years... defeating your fear is the only way to get out from it."
She could not understand his first line. She just knew that the invisible guy had the ability to allow her to see her sworn enemy. But once she went inside, unless she managed to conquer her fear, then she won't be able to leave.
She would be left alone together with her fear.
"............."
It was so quiet.
Charlotte turned around again and looked at the tree. Her eyebrows frowned not because of her suspicions, but because she was determined.
'Even brother had conquered his fear. I shouldn't lose.'
This was not a competition, but motivation.
'Even if it takes a thousand years, I still have to face what I've been running away from.'
"I want to get in," she said suddenly.
The others could not hear her voice clearly as she spoke in a low volume, but she was sure that this mysterious guy could. And so as Khun as he asked her where she wanted to go. But his question, however, was ignored by the brown- haired girl.
A moment later, she heard a reply,
"The decision has been made."
The same, faint red smoke appeared suddenly in the air and circled her right arm. Charlotte recognized that smoke. That faint red smoke appeared when she was using the clicker back then... when she thought that she had seen it wrong.
But that didn't seem to be the case.
As soon as the red smoke touched the tree, white light began to glimmer on the chrysanthemum tree.
"What the?!"
It became an unexpected and unwanted surprise for the rest of them who had no idea what was going on.
'This can't be!'
It was something that even Noah couldn't comprehend.
'Gardenia's seal... how can this be? Is it because she's an irregular? But this is a technique taught by my father who's also an irregular! She could break the rules of his seal?!'
The white light glimmered before blinding everyone with its brightness. Charlotte closed her eyes for a moment and was still able to maintain her calmness. When she opened her eyes again, the white light seemed to have formed a path to her to get inside.
She couldn't see what was covered with that white light. She could only feel that this was the door to see her enemy. The white light didn't destroy the whole tree. In a rectangular shape, it was a door to get inside.
"What did you do?!" Khun asked her, feeling that she knew what was going on.
Charlotte's lips curled into a smile. The mysterious guy was not lying at all.
"I did nothing," she answered. "I simply want to see someone."
As she was just about to walk inside the tree, she could hear Bam's voice calling her from distance.
"CHARLOTTE!"
She could hear Bam was shouting for her name in worry. She knew that he wanted her to step aside and not to get inside. But this was something that she had to face, something that she should be facing alone.
'I can't keep relying on them to survive,' she thought. 'And I'm sure they would be proud at me if I could conquer my own fears and troubles. But as the younger one, it is a must for me to tell my brothers where I'm going.'
She turned around and smiled at Bam in ease.
'So that they won't be worried and could wait for me to return in peace.'
"Don't worry," she assured him. "I'll be back soon. I won't leave too long."
The second time she wanted to get inside the tree, she was stopped again. But this time, she was stopped by Khun.
"No. It's too risky," he said. "If you want to get inside, then let's get inside together!"
He held her hand tightly in order to prevent her from going inside. But he was still careful as not to hurt her.
"Sorry but," with her left hand, she removed his hand that was holding her right wrist. "This is something I must face on my own."
"What?"
"Be assured, Khun," she said. "I know clearly what I'm doing."
After saying those words, Charlotte immediately turned around and ran inside the tree before he could stop her.
"CHARLOTTE!"
The green vines grew from the ground, becoming a wall to prevent the others from coming.
"LOTUS TURTLE!"
And with that wall of green vines, neither Bam and the others could catch up with her. And once she went inside and vanished without leaving anything behind, the white light was getting smaller and smaller. The door was closing.
"Step aside!"
Using his orb, Bam was hoping to be able to break through the vines. But the vines were made in order to stop them and prevent them from coming. Charlotte knew how powerful her brother was and so, she made those vines ten times tougher and thicker on purpose.
"Damn it...!" Raisin cursed.
'You think I would let you get inside alone?'
Khun had destroyed a vine that was trying to ensnare his ankle with his ice spear. It was hard to do so as she was determined in going inside on her own, but he had no other choice. After that, without hesitating, he ran towards the door that was closing.
The white light had gotten smaller that only one of his hands fit to get inside. But as soon as his right hand went inside the white light, his whole body was pulled inside. And no matter how much he struggled, he was bound to be pulled inside the tree.
And everything went black.
≪ ◦ ❖ ◦ ≫
"What?! You said that... you met our mother?!"
Estrella and Estelle were both surprised.
The mother who they cherished the most, who they cared the most, who they yearned the most, she had appeared as their sworn enemy and was killed at the hand of their friends.
Tears dropped from their eyes. They always longed to see their mother. Even if her mother was present as their enemy, they were fine with that. They just wanted to see her once again and to hear her voice one more time, even when what comes out from her mouth would be something harsh and cruel.
But their mother had a different thought. Rather than breaking their children's and her hearts by fighting against each other, wouldn't it be better for her to be executed first by someone else? That way, their children won't have to stain their hands and lived in regret.
She was so confident with her thoughts that she didn't know it was not what her children wanted. And she was so certain with her actions that she didn't know that her children would have been happier to solve the things between the them on their own.
Droplets of tears fell from their eyes as the painful memories resurfaced again.
"I love you."
At the end, those three words were the words that they wanted to hear the most, as well as the words that tormented them the most.
'Where am I?'
He felt dizzy and suffocated.
It was as if someone had pushed him to the ocean to be drowned, it was so hard to breath and open his eyes for a moment. He could only wonder where he was while trying to stay conscious... because he felt like he was going to faint any time.
"You wish to follow her to the abyss?" A voice asked with the hint of curiosity.
It confused to him to hear someone's voice in the middle of the darkness. He couldn't open his own eyes, but it seemed like his ears were still working. It was clear for him now that he was not actually drowned. But if he wasn't drowned, what was this suffocated feeling?
"Abyss?"
"Be careful," the voice continued again with the tone of mischief. "Trust is the mother of deceit."
"What?"
"That girl is cursed, you know."
"Cursed? I-- I don't understand."
He felt like the one who this stranger was referring was his friend, Charlotte, Xi. This person seemed to be referring to the only reason why he risked his life and entered a rather foreign place despite of knowing he could just die anytime.
For him, Charlotte was not a jinx. For them, her existence was not a curse. Charlotte, Xi, or even Nox, they were not cursed.
Khun swore that he had never heard this kind of voice before. As far as he could remember, he didn't know anyone with this voice. This complete stranger was talking to him with a rather ease and casual tone as if they were friends or something. He could hear him snickering as if there was something amusing. It was a rather malicious snicker.
Khun couldn't read someone's mind. He could only observe them and guess what was running on their mind. And listening to his snicker carefully, he was certain of one thing. Whatever this guy found amusing, it must not be anything good. It was the snicker of a demon who laughed at the sight of his target falling slowly to darkness and desperation.
"Of course. Not even she knows this. But I'll tell you a little secret."
Suddenly, the pain of the suffocation seemed to be lessened. He still felt suffocated and dizzy, but it was better than before. He could open his eyes slightly now even though his vision was blurred.
But what he saw turned out to be a land with scorching fire everywhere. His nose could only smell the heavy and disturbing scent of fresh blood. All his ears could hear was the cries of people. Young, old, male or female, there were cries and begs for mercy.
"Spare us!"
"Please!"
"I still have a family who I should take care of!"
"Please!"
"Please!"
"SPARE US!!"
And lastly, there was the laugh of a woman.
"Spare you? Why?"
A woman, he could not see clearly who she was. All he knew that she was a woman with maniacal laughter as if she was insane already and her body and hands were filled with blood. She looked happy to do a massacre by herself, turning living people to corpses.
He wondered why everything else looked so clear for him except for the woman. He couldn't see who she was. But he could hear what she said.
"When you saw a beggar begging for some food, what did you do to him? Did you pity him and give him some foods? NO! You kicked him and hit him for no reasons! And you vile creatures laughed at his pain and sufferings, not knowing that you will have a worse end than him!"
She covered her eyes and looked at the red sky, laughing so happily as if it was a very funny joke.
"But... but what does the beggar have anything to do with this? The beggar is not your family!"
She stopped laughing and smiling suddenly, pondering about the words of one of the citizens.
"Family....?" She echoed before she spoke with an exhausted tone, "Yes... I did have family."
Like a depressed and exhausted man, she spoke, "But they all died. Each followed me and died. I made a promise to that good- for- nothing to keep the last one alive.........................."
She smiled again in hatred and pain, "But you guys don't know when to quit."
"You don't want me to kill you, but I just want to kill you all. The more you beg and struggle, the happier I am! And if you don't want to sacrifice your pride and dignity to lick my boots for your petty lives....hmmm...."
She pondered for awhile before she smirked, "Does it even matter? Death is death. It doesn't discriminate, right?"
She truly had gone mad.
"What's with the scary face? Come on! This night will definitely be an unforgettable night!"
The land was dirtied with corpses, and insanity seemed to be corrupting the air of the land. Khun couldn't believe what he had just seen or what he had just heard. Everything felt truly sickening.
'Just what the hell is this place?!'
"You see now?"
Everything blurred again. Something was wrong with his vision once more. It was as if he could only see what the mysterious man wanted to show and hear what he wanted him to hear. Only the voice of the stranger could be heard clearly. The maniacal laughter, the cries and begs for mercy and kindness, the scorching flame and the heavy scent of blood-- they were disappearing gradually except for that voice.
"She is cursed to be a demon. As long as she refuses to comply, then what awaits her is eternal torment and suffer."
"Who the hell are you actually?" He asked, trying to reach out his hands and catch whoever made this joke.
"Who am I?" He questioned back before he giggled and answered, "Good question, good question. I am her stepping stone, a pawn that she once used, discarded and betrayed."
"She was very cruel, you know. At outside, she appeared like a saint. But the truth was that... oh, how miserable I was at that time! A foolish believer who was abandoned by the one who he thought as his savior! Pitiful and poor me had been used by a heartless witch blinded by greed!"
The voice replied with woes and misery. If he didn't know better what kind of person he was, then he would have completely mistaken for him to be really sad. But after saying those words, his next tone sounded rather calm.
"But it is fine."
Woes, calmness and the next tone that he was using was filled with hatred. When Khun thought that the person couldn't get any worse, he suddenly shrieked.
"̷̡̝͈̝̫̙͗͊̓̋̓͂͝͠͝͝ͅB̷̨͔̦̻̩͈͂͘ͅḛ̶̈̀̃̕ç̵̻͉̀̽̉̎͜͜͝͝å̶̢̧̛͚͕̦͚̯̮̯̂̋̔͛̀͊͘͠ṵ̴̗̱̦̭̗̓̀̑͊s̷̨͍͈̗̦̭̬̑̅͜͜ẻ̸͔̜̪͚͈͕̥̾̈́̂̈̎͘ ̶̢̩̪͉̠̯̲̇͑͜Ì̷̡̞̺̮̗̘̥̟́̂̉̎̈́͂̚͘͜ ̴̢̧̖̦̙͈̯̲͖̪͒͋̄̓͂̅͘w̶̞̰̋͂̏̋͌̎͘i̶͇̔l̷̡͎̯̰̳̖̮͍̗͖̈́̉̒̾̎͝l̸̡͙̝̎͛̓̍́̂͛̔̎ ̴̛̹̻̜͆̉͘̚͜͝ͅm̷̗͛̑̀̕a̷̧̜͉̞̭̼͙̥̒́̄̇̃̈̎̆͘k̵͎̔͗́͊̒͌͘͝͝ͅȩ̸̼̠̗͚͉̥̣̐́͌̓̎̚͜ ̸̢̠̱̬͖̩͚͔̩̹̄̃h̸̘̞͉͂͋̆̿̓͊̄̓̿̑e̵͉̞̮̣̜͕̰̤̣̓̈̉͗̑̚r̸̡̫̗̺̼̋ ̶̧̢̛͉̦̼̳͙̖̫̿̃̿́́̋̚ͅṕ̷͇̩̀̃̌͑̕ą̷̞͖͖͐͌y̴̢̪̩̻̭̤͒͜ ̴͚̼̤̼͚͈͉̜̠̳͋͑̒̊̿͛̐͒̑͘t̷̛̲̜͚͕͈̙̪̭̠̄̑͗͐͗̈͑ḛ̴̡̤̪͕̖͗̀̿̚ͅn̷̢͎̖͆̈́͠ ̷̢͓͋̓t̵̟̻̰̯̪̥̯͓̅̈̃͠i̷̯̟̯͉͈̝̬̥̩̼̊͒͊́̓̋͆͝ḿ̵̟̙͈̪̞̗͆̐́͒͘ė̸̡͚͇̠̫̅̒̈́͝ͅs̸̩͖̭͓̪͗̒̏ ̷̡̛͕͕̹͓̳̪̔̀́̐͐̄f̷̻̞͇͋́̈́̀̚͠ò̶̢̙̬̳̬͎́̂͆̒̓̎͠͠ḻ̵̭̮̘̫̺̲͇̱͂̓̀͒̉d̸͍̹͖̻̠͔͓͉̏͑̍!̴̘̼͈̠͂̉̅"̴̱̳̆̂͌̔̽̎̚̕
The shriek of fury made him open his eyes again unwillingly.
When Khun opened his eyes, he found an oil lamp on the ground. The oil lamp was the only source of light that he found in that unknown place.
And aside from the oil lamp that was on the ground and next to his foot, he saw two large shelves. And on the two shelves, he could see a lot of spheres that were different in colors. Red, green, yellow, blue, some were dim and some glowed rather brightly.
In the middle of the darkness surrounding him, with only an oil lamp as the source of his light, what he could see was limited.
'What on earth is this place now? And where is Charlotte?' He wondered as he picked up his oil lamp and walked forward.
He kept walking and walking forward. It was better than just standing idly waiting for someone to pick him up because he knew that there would be no one else but him. He just had this feeling that... he was alone.
It was uncomfortable for him to be alone after what he had just experienced. It was as if the stranger was still following him until now... observing him from a place that he couldn't see, from the corner of that unfamiliar place. He was at the light, and his enemy was at the dark.
It was uncomfortable and it sent shiver down his spines, but he should walk forward. He could only walk forward because he knew that it was the only path.
And in that bizarre place, he took his time thinking about the words before.
"̷̡̝͈̝̫̙͗͊̓̋̓͂͝͠͝͝ͅB̷̨͔̦̻̩͈͂͘ͅḛ̶̈̀̃̕ç̵̻͉̀̽̉̎͜͜͝͝å̶̢̧̛͚͕̦͚̯̮̯̂̋̔͛̀͊͘͠ṵ̴̗̱̦̭̗̓̀̑͊s̷̨͍͈̗̦̭̬̑̅͜͜ẻ̸͔̜̪͚͈͕̥̾̈́̂̈̎͘ ̶̢̩̪͉̠̯̲̇͑͜Ì̷̡̞̺̮̗̘̥̟́̂̉̎̈́͂̚͘͜ ̴̢̧̖̦̙͈̯̲͖̪͒͋̄̓͂̅͘w̶̞̰̋͂̏̋͌̎͘i̶͇̔l̷̡͎̯̰̳̖̮͍̗͖̈́̉̒̾̎͝l̸̡͙̝̎͛̓̍́̂͛̔̎ ̴̛̹̻̜͆̉͘̚͜͝ͅm̷̗͛̑̀̕a̷̧̜͉̞̭̼͙̥̒́̄̇̃̈̎̆͘k̵͎̔͗́͊̒͌͘͝͝ͅȩ̸̼̠̗͚͉̥̣̐́͌̓̎̚͜ ̸̢̠̱̬͖̩͚͔̩̹̄̃h̸̘̞͉͂͋̆̿̓͊̄̓̿̑e̵͉̞̮̣̜͕̰̤̣̓̈̉͗̑̚r̸̡̫̗̺̼̋ ̶̧̢̛͉̦̼̳͙̖̫̿̃̿́́̋̚ͅṕ̷͇̩̀̃̌͑̕ą̷̞͖͖͐͌y̴̢̪̩̻̭̤͒͜ ̴͚̼̤̼͚͈͉̜̠̳͋͑̒̊̿͛̐͒̑͘t̷̛̲̜͚͕͈̙̪̭̠̄̑͗͐͗̈͑ḛ̴̡̤̪͕̖͗̀̿̚ͅn̷̢͎̖͆̈́͠ ̷̢͓͋̓t̵̟̻̰̯̪̥̯͓̅̈̃͠i̷̯̟̯͉͈̝̬̥̩̼̊͒͊́̓̋͆͝ḿ̵̟̙͈̪̞̗͆̐́͒͘ė̸̡͚͇̠̫̅̒̈́͝ͅs̸̩͖̭͓̪͗̒̏ ̷̡̛͕͕̹͓̳̪̔̀́̐͐̄f̷̻̞͇͋́̈́̀̚͠ò̶̢̙̬̳̬͎́̂͆̒̓̎͠͠ḻ̵̭̮̘̫̺̲͇̱͂̓̀͒̉d̸͍̹͖̻̠͔͓͉̏͑̍!̴̘̼͈̠͂̉̅"̴̱̳̆̂͌̔̽̎̚̕
'What the hell has happened before? Who's that guy?'
"She is cursed to be a demon."
'A demon? Charlotte? No way.'
If there was one thing he knew for sure about Charlotte, it was that her heart was so pure and childish. She wouldn't be a demon like any other people in the tower because that was her nature. He was completely certain in that and there was no room for doubts.
'It would have been more believable to say that she is cursed to be childish and immature brat who couldn't handle simple math.'
By Khun's standard and brain, the math that we found troublesome must be a mere child's game.
His eyes landed on one of the spheres. It was a yellow sphere with a rather dim light. When he looked at the sphere closely, he noticed that there was something moving within the sphere.
'Hm?'
He was interested. He wondered what was moving inside the sphere. And so, he extended his hand to touch the sphere, only to find that his consciousness was being pulled inside.
When he reopened his eyes again, he realized that he was not in the same place anymore. He was in a huge bed room with a few months old baby playing with his toy.
'A baby?'
The baby with purple eyes was a little bit familiar. But right now, he could not careless about the baby as he had something more important to do. The baby was adorable, but there was someone else waiting for him.
'Where am I this time? I've just touched the sphere... could it be that I got pulled inside here?' He wondered. 'No, I have to find the way out soon. I can't let Charlotte wonder alone in this strange and foreign place--'
SLAM!
Someone slammed the door open, barging inside the room without even knocking. Khun wondered which rude person did that when he saw a boy with messy green hair and a pair of purple eyes just like the small baby. He was holding a blue stuffed cat doll in one of his hands and he had a bright and excited expression on his face.
The child didn't even reach ten years old yet. But even so, despite of his small body and his childlike voice and behavior, he found the child awfully familiar.
'Altaira?' He was the first person who crossed in his mind after seeing the little child.
"CHARLOTTE!"
His heart skipped a beat when he heard that name.
'Charlotte?'
Could this be coincidence that the baby was named Charlotte as well? The green- haired boy ran towards the baby who looked surprised to see someone barging to her room with an excited expression. His purple eyes only looked at the child, completely unaware of his presence.
'Could it be that he can't see me?' Khun wondered to himself, because any sane child would have freaked out to see a stranger in his house.
"Look at this cat! Isn't it adorable?" The green- haired boy showed the stuffed cat animal to the little baby. The baby was extending her hands to reach the doll and spoke some words that he couldn't understand their meaning. Well, the baby was still a baby who hasn't learnt how to speak properly yet. It would have been a miracle and a horror if a baby could suddenly speak so fluently at his age.
He assumed that the two of them must be siblings considering that they shared few resemblances with each other. The boy was obviously the older one while the baby must be his younger sibling.
"Don't you want this doll? You want it, right?" He asked while showing off the doll to the child.
'Can't you see that her hands want to hug that stuffed cat?'
"If you want it, then I'll give it to you!"
As soon as the little one received it, she was pulling the doll into a tight hug. Her wide and satisfied smile showed how happy she was to receive that gift.
'After she receives the stuffed cat, it doesn't seem like she cares for the boy any longer,' Khun thought as he watched the baby was only playing with the blue stuffed cat, completely ignoring the boy who was talking to her.
"Ah, how could there be such an adorable little sister in this world? Look at these cheeks and tiny fingers! You are very adorable, don't you know that? I won't have to envy those who have younger siblings to play with anymore!"
He sat on the bed and continued to talk with the baby who was pinching the stuffed cat.
The boy who resembled Altaira seemed to notice that the baby wasn't listening to him at all. Her purple eyes were locked at the blue stuffed cat doll that he gave to her. And judging from his expression, Khun assumed that he had noticed that there was no way for a baby to understand his words. Despite of being young in age, he already had the bittersweet expression on his face.
"Charlotte."
He pulled the baby into a hug with a calming smile.
"Even if mother and father despise and ignore you, I won't be leaving you alone. You are God's gift towards me... someone who will accompany me in this cold and dull mansion. I will always be with you."
Khun had nothing to say towards his words.
The clueless child with the pure purple eyes was born in a house without parents' love. He guessed that the current her would never imagine what she would experience in the future. But being a cold- hearted man, he chose not to care and he knew that there was nothing he could do.
'I can't even touch things around here. It's as if I'm just here to watch this siblings' moment or something,' he thought as he tried to to open the window behind him. But his hands, no matter how hard he tried, couldn't even touch the window and he felt like a ghost.
"It would have been better if you could speak. That way, I won't be looking like I'm talking to myself, my cute, adorable and tiny sister," the boy spoke with a wide smile. "Ah, I just could not forget you even for a second."
The small baby was playing with the stuffed cat doll before she suddenly stopped.
"Hm? Is there something wrong with the doll?" The boy asked when he noticed that she stopped playing. "Is the doll not to your liking?"
To their surprise, the baby opened her small mouth and bite the stuffed cat's head.
"........"
She did that without hesitation.
"HEY! You aren't supposed to bite that!" He was startled and tried to pull the stuffed cat away from the baby who seemed to enjoy biting and chewing the cat's head. "LET IT GO! What sin has the blue cat committed for you to bite him like this?!"
Khun sweated dropped with a rather awkward smile, 'They're definitely similar in many ways.'
Red light then surrounded him. His body was slowly disappearing from the bed room.
'What is this now?'
Before he completely disappeared from the bed room, he took a last glance towards the baby. Maybe it was a coincidence, for the baby to look at him and let go of the stuffed cat. Maybe she was just looking at his direction. She looked surprised to see him, as her purple eyes widened.
And taking the chance that she was distracted, the boy snatched the doll and regained his attention.
"If you want to eat something, don't eat this doll!"
She was annoyed as she tried to snatch the doll back from him.
And the sight of the small baby trying to take her doll back was the last thing that he saw, for after the red light completely devoured him, he disappeared.
When he opened his eyes again, he was back in the dark place with an oil lamp on his hand.
And the sphere kept repeating the same scene again and again.
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Author: Thank you for those who support me this far. I hope this chapter is up to your liking.