CH 24

An uncomfortable groan flowed through the mask.

“Is it uncomfortable?”

Clarisse asked the Duchess, but she just shook her head as she didn’t know either.

“I don’t know. Whether taking off the mask at will is good or bad for the boy.”

“But he seems to be having trouble breathing….” 

Clarisse moved carefully toward the boy’s bed. 

The Duchess tried to stop her from going, but Clarisse was a little quicker. The girl put her hand over his mask. 

It was then.

“D, don’t touch it!”

The boy screamed in a cracked voice as he jumped up from his seat.

Behind his cat mask, his long, blue hair spread like wings.

Surprised, Clarisse fell back and slumped on the floor. 

The boy adjusted his mask with his slender fingers and looked around. 

He seemed so flustered that Clarisse tried to tell him he was safe now.

But the moment she faces the dark eyes behind the mask. 

Clarisse was frozen and unable to say anything.

“Baby.”

The Duchess wrapped her arms around Clarisse’s shoulder and barely spoke.

But that was it.

Purple powder bloomed from the boy’s outstretched fingertips, and he vanished without a sound in an instant.

* * *

When the startled Duchess screamed, the waiting knight immediately came in, grasped the situation, and began to search for the boy.

Meanwhile, Clarisse returned to her room with the Duchess’s permission. 

Clarisse opened the window wide in a quiet room with no one around.

Soon a cold wind blew into her room.

With long sky blue hair.

“He said you would be here.”

Clarisse turned to her side, resting her chin on the window.

Outside, on the window sill, there was a boy in a cat mask, barely hanging on his body.

Clarisse picked up the red pebbles from her pocket and held them out. 

“I’m Clarisse.”

Noah took turns looking at the girl and the red pebble but didn’t take it. 

“It’s your friends, isn’t it?” 

When she reached out again and handed it over, a reply came back that crawled back.

“….Not friends.”

Clarisse thought it was amusing that his voice sounded like a red pebble. She didn’t even bother talking about it. 

“You’re Noah Sinette, right?” 

Clarisse didn’t think the boy would introduce himself, so she pretended she already knew him.

Noah was a little startled.

“Your friend Stone told me.”

“…I told you it’s not my friends.” 

Clarisse thought Noah must be quite stubborn.

“Would you like to come into my room? It’s cold there.”

“Would you like to come into my room? It’s cold there.”

Clarisse pulled the curtains that were fluttering in the wind to one side, making it easier for Noah to enter.

“I… plan to disappear from this world.”

“To where?” 

“To a place where I can’t go back.” 

Clarisse knew right away that it meant ‘death’.

Her father and brother left there some time ago.

In any case, his wishes were completely incomprehensible to Clarisse. 

“Why do you want to go?”

Clarisse pulled him out over the window frame and stared up at Noah.

Her little feet lifted slightly from the floor and throbbed.

“That person… is there.”

“That person?”

Noah’s staring gaze seemed to be burdensome, and Noah turned his masked face the other way around.

“Who?”

Clarisse asked, leaning a little closer over the window frame, then lost her balance and leaned forward.

“….!” 

She was so shocked that she couldn’t even scream as she felt herself about to fall.  

Clarisse closed her eyes tightly.

A scene Clarisse didn’t know flowed into her darkened vision.

｢You are a very special child. You will definitely have a friend who recognizes your true self. A lot of good things will happen.｣

How did this happen?

Clarisse opened her eyes in bewilderment.

Noah grabbed her arms that were about to collapse in front of her, and fortunately, her feet were back on the floor.

Clarisse looked at Noah’s hand holding her.

“…Girl!”

Noah, too, must have felt something strange, so he hurriedly shook Clarisse’s arm.

“What are you? Are you a wizard?!”

Clarisse shook her head.

“I’m Clarisse, a prisoner who belongs to Sheridan.”

“Prisoner?”

“Eung.” 

“How could the prisoner be like this…” 

While he couldn’t speak for some reason, Clarisse smiled at him.

“That person must have been a precious person to Noah.”

The friendly old man’s appearance, which she saw when he touched her, seemed somewhat weak, and Noah’s heart, which counted it, was deeply saddened and longing. 

“I don’t know.”

“But, I want to know.”

Even though the boy was clearly a person, she somehow felt the aura of a talking stone.

It was fascinating, and she was happy to see him for some reason.

With a boy like this, it seemed like Clarisse wouldn’t be treated strangely, even if she was talking to a stone.

“And I agree with what he said. You know, a lot of good things happen when you’re alive.”

“Don’t pretend a child knows.”

“This is not pretending. I actually know.”

Clarisse leaned out of the window frame again, perhaps forgetting the dizzying accident a while ago.

“Since I begged for my life on the execution ground, I’ve had a few good things happen to this day.”

“….”

“So it’s better to be alive.”

“I don’t believe you.”

The boy corrected his mask, which had been slightly distorted by the wind, and muttered in a low voice.

“Whatever Master said, I have made it my creed. But as far as this… I can’t believe it.”

There was a hint of sadness in his voice.

‘Maybe…’

Clarisse wondered if the boy had spent his life being ignored by others. 

Just like she did.

For a moment, she thought about asking the red pebble about Noah’s past.

The red pebble is friendly to Clarisse, so he might gladly tell her.

But, deciding to stop, Clarisse turned to him again.

“I will prove that your master is right here.”

“Prove?” 

“Eung.” 

Clarisse raised her toes and reached out to his hand.

“I will be your friend.”

The cat mask glanced back at Clarisse. Even though she couldn’t see his face, she could tell he thought she was being ridiculous.

“….” 

Only the gaze continued, and there was no answer, so Clarisse asked cautiously with a slightly teary face.

“Perhaps, do you hate me?” 

“….” 

“But I… like you.” 

Especially something that felt like a stone.

It’s the first time they’ve met, but she can’t help but feel a sense of familiarity. 

The boy, who had been silent for a long time, gave a mumbling answer.

“…I’m a monster.” 

Monster? 

Clarisse stared at the boy, but she didn’t feel that way at all. 

Rather, the sky-blue hair fluttered like an angel’s wings, making him look very beautiful.

However, it seemed the boy would be ashamed of such a compliment, so Clarisse replied with a playful smile.

“So what if you’re a monster, I’m a prisoner!”

A chuckle and a small laugh were heard.

It seemed to mean that Noah’s heart had moved a little, so Clarisse quickly stretched out his hand.

“We, shake hands!”

“….” 

But Noah looked down at her hand and only managed to give her the hem of his clothes.

Clarisse shook hands excitedly, saying that even the loose clothes were fine and almost fell down again.

“You almost fell again!”

Even as Noah said that, she quickly grabbed Clarisse’s wrist again.

“Wow, I was really surprised.”

This time, Clarisse was so shocked that she took a few quick steps back from the window, her heart beating so fast. 

Naturally, their hands fell off.

Noah still squeezed the remaining warmth in his hand and hid it behind his back.

‘…Warmth?’

He thought about the unfamiliar word that came to his mind again. 

His body, which became a monster, was always cold. So much so that when he touches an opponent, it makes them feel cold right away.

To him, the warmth only lasted a moment and was almost impossible to feel.

But the hand that touched that girl is still—.

‘No, it’s an illusion.’

He stopped the flow of his thoughts and brushed off his free hand.

Now, he couldn’t feel anything anymore.

What happened just a moment ago must have been nothing more than a kind of fantasy.

“Noah!”

He raised his head in surprise at the friendly call.

“Are you not coming? I get cold if I keep the windows open.” 

“I, I…” 

Clarisse, who came to the window again, grabbed and pulled his robe.

Noah was forced to enter Clarisse’s room.

Somehow, it seems strange to refuse more here.

When he came down, Clarisse quickly closed the windows and shutters and ran to the fireplace.

Clarisse, who was rubbing her hands in front of the hot fire, gestured to Noah.

“Come here, stay by the fireplace, and you’ll melt in no time.”

That’s what humans do, and it has nothing to do with monsters like Noah.

“I told you to hurry up and come here.”

However, he couldn’t refuse the request of a noisy girl stamping her feet.

She seemed to be getting louder for some reason, and Noah hates loud things. 

“…I, I got it.” 

He stood next to Clarisse.

He didn’t feel anything significant except for the thought that the ambient temperature must be quite high since the fire was burning brightly in the fireplace.

“Don’t stay still. Stick it out like this.”

Clarisse said this and gently waved her hand.

“….” 

A monster with his hands on fire.

Somehow it felt a little terrible, but Noah didn’t like Clarisse’s babbling, so he put his hand forward.

Because he is generous enough to show it to a child who can’t even reach his shoulder.

“What do you think?”

Clarisse took a step next to him when she reached out to him and asked a question with a twinkle in her amber eyes. 

“It’s very warm, isn’t it? You feel like you’re melting, right?”

Noah stared at Clarice, quickly took three steps away, and lowered his head the other way.

“…I, I don’t know.” 

It’s just… what is it? 

He felt like his fingertips were itchy for some reason. Although he doesn’t know why.