CH 46

Spiders Can’t Love Butterflies

***

Kyrie woke up with a chronic migraine. Kyrie, who was staring blankly at the midday sunlight coming into the room, covered her eyes with her hands.

‘……It’s not that room.’

She was trapped only for one day, but she seemed to have been greatly mentally shocked. There was still a faint afterimage. Kyrie, who took a short breath, slowly raised her upper body. She was so tired that she looked around in a grim spirit.

She wasn’t in the county.  Pajamas, bedding, furniture, decorations. Everything was the same as her own room, but the wall finish and the room structure were different.  As she turned her head, she saw Sel’s Central Garden from the window. Yesterday, that was where Nathaniel stood tall like the end.

There were no signs of corpses. There were no guards, nor nobles coming and going, as if nothing had happened. Like having a bad dream.

‘What happened in the end?’

She couldn’t remember anything after she fainted. What she felt was just him touching her back. His hand under her legs.

Kyrie hugged both of her arms due to the coolness that climbed up her back for no reason..

‘It’s all ruined.’

She was confused.

‘What should I have done? Would it have been better to do nothing in the first place?’

Holding on to her throbbing head, Kyrie thought about what to do next.

“Let’s get some consolation money for the dead first. What about Julia? Killing the princess…….’

She suddenly stopped thinking when her bare feet touched the floor. Her feet, which were dirty with blood, snow and dust, were white and clean. Only faint traces of hands and forearms remained, but they did not hurt.

‘Did Nathaniel do it?’

She recalled his indelible smile behind his fingers as if it were engraved on her retina. Again, her whole body became cold.

Nathaniel’s feelings for Kyrie were not love. It was neither an obsession nor a caring heart for pets. It was just possessiveness, a monopoly. If he just had her, it didn’t matter if she was old or broken.

‘As long as I don’t have to die, Nathaniel. All I have to do is stay within the reach of your eyes.’

For the first time since she first met him, she felt afraid of him.

‘I need to know exactly what happened yesterday.’

It was when Kyrie headed for the door with a weary pace. There was a click, and the door opened before she could hold the doorknob.

“Miss!”

It was MarryAnne. When she saw Kyrie standing, she threw away the sack of clothes she was holding and jumped into Kyrie’s arms.

“Ahhhhhh! miss!”

Kyrie held MarryAnne’s head reflexively.

“MarryAnne. You okay? Are you okay?”

“Miss, Miss! Uh hnng……! Miss, wahhh!”

“You’re okay…… I’m glad.”

“MarryAnne, MarryAnne is sorry….! I’m sorry MarryAnne is weak….”

“What are you sorry for? I was really worried because you disappeared, but I’m glad you didn’t get hurt.

“Miss…….”

Kyrie stroked MarryAnne’s back until she calmed down, then led her to a table on one side of the room.

“MarryAnne, can you tell me slowly? What happened after the carriage attack.”

“Sniff, sniff… That day, MarryAnne smelled something bad……. Something bad came in the carriage…….”

“Are you talking about the smoke or something?”

“Yes, sniff, that was really bad. I tried to stop it, but I didn’t know how to do that…… I couldn’t stop it because of lack of defense…… so I gave you all the defensive magic that MarryAnne had before she fell down.”

Kyrie recalled the leaves that were full in her arms.

“That’s how I was able to be fine. Thank you, Anne. You saved my life.”

MarryAnne looked up at Kyrie with her eyes round.

“Did MarryAnne… save Miss?”

“Yes. You did.”

“MarryAnne did a good job?” 

“Yes, you did a good job.”

MarryAnne, shedding pearl-like tears, rolled her eyes from side to side.

“But it wasn’t MarryAnne who saved Miss this time….”

The atmosphere subsided at once. Kyrie smiled bitterly and stroked MarryAnne’s hair.

“Is this the imperial palace?”

“Yes.”

“It’s Nataniel, isn’t it.”

“He moved Miss.”

“What’s wrong with the room?”

“The Lord ordered Uncle Charles to carry the same things.”

“Why would he do such a thing……?”

Kyrie shook her head.

“No, I’m not asking you. What about the dead?

“All the palace people cleaned them up.”

Kyrie’s expression became even darker. There was something she wanted to ask the most.

“What about Nathaniel?”

MarryAnne looked down at her toes with her mouth closed straight, then looked up again at Kyrie.

“MarryAnne doesn’t like him. He’s sinister and bad. But…… I know he doesn’t lie.”

“Lie?”

What was she saying all of a sudden? Kyrie stared at MarryAnne with eyes asking for an answer. MarryAnne mumbled her lips and refused to answer. Kyrie gently held MarryAnne’s hand.

“What did you talk about with Nathaniel?”

MarryAnne shook her head when she saw Kyrie’s worried face.

“You didn’t have to worry! It’s not like that, he said…he won’t kill Miss.….”

It was a strange remark. Unable to figure out how to react, MarryAnne said to the silent Kyrie.

“MarryAnne was actually getting ready. MarryAnne’s mother came from the North Continent across the sea, and there’s magic for bad people!”

“Really?”

“Yes. MarryAnne thought Nathaniel would harm Miss, so she was preparing it all the time while she wasn’t out of the room… That person came.”

“That’s an old story, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

MarryAnne blinked her big eyes with a very sullen expression.

“He said he knows what MarryAnne’s trying to do, so he told her not to. He said he wouldn’t kill Miss. And he really saved you. Not MarryAnne, but he…….”

“I see.”

She thought it was strange because the child who had been so absent suddenly got better again, but she guessed there was a situation like that. Kyrie was lost in thoughts for a moment.

He saved her. They might see it that way. However, he didn’t care about any problem other than saving her. Then, if there was an obstacle in front of him, would it all die in Nathaniel’s hands?

“Is that right?”

Kyrie mumbled low. Looking blankly at Kyrie, MarryAnne tilted her head.

“He couldn’t help it, Miss.” 

“Hm?”

“He had no choice but to do so”

“What do you mean? “

“Because spiders can’t love butterflies. It’s just incredible that they don’t eat them! It can’t happen. So……. MarryAnne decided to believe. But now, MarryAnne has to be prepared as well…….”

MarryAnne murmured. Kyrie looked down at the little MarryAnne.

“But I’m not a butterfly, and he’s not a spider.” (T/N: impressive how she interpreted herself as butterfly and him as spider)

MarryAnne stared at her with a straight face. For a while. Then, she stretched her arms upwards, smiling as if nothing had happened.

“I need to tell him that Miss is awake! MarryAnne will bring the rice gruel!”

“Wait, MarryAnne?”

“Take a rest!”

MarryAnne walked out of the room quickly. Kyrie sat blankly, recalling the question that had made MarryAnne escape.

“‘Eat them’…?”

***

Soon after, Nathaniel came. Nathaniel with a black cane muttered softly when he saw Kyrie.

[It’s an outdoor dress.]

“Is there a problem?”

Nathaniel smiled faintly and sat at the top of the parlor as if it were natural. Kyrie waited with a little impatience to see what he would say, but he spoke in a strange way.

[Hello.]

It was like Nathaniel. Kyrie looked around, hiding her exhaustion.

“I can’t say good morning. Is this the imperial palace?”

[Yes.]

“I’ll have to ask everything for you to tell me, right?”

Nathaniel laughed like a child who planned a very fun prank.

[Lying isn’t my cup of tea, but I like to hide it.]

“If you allow…….”

[I’ll allow.]

“I want to say that the disposition is very bad.”

[That’s a cute sentiment.]

The silence fell for a moment. Even if he forced a lively conversation, what had happened would not disappear. Nathaniel looked at Kyrie with a cold smile like a shade in the middle of the day. Kyrie calmly calmed her heart in front of the gorgeous face.

“How about Princess Julia?”

[Dead.]

“Is she dead or killed?”

[I killed her.]

His way of speaking was skillful and crafty. Kyrie asked again.

“As soon as you found out I was kidnapped, did you come straight to the Sel?”

[I knew it in the evening. It was dawn when I came.]

“What about after I fainted?”

[Logically, it’s morning.] (T/N: here, it’s a bit tricky way he purposely interpreted her question she meant to ask what happened after she fainted but he interpreted as the time, meaning, after she fainted and woke up it’s morning)

“……That’s not what I mean, you didn’t talk to the Emperor?”

[I didn’t.]

Then what happened after she fainted? When Kyrie was absent-minded for a moment, Nathaniel reached out.

[Are you hurt?]

“What?” 

Nathaniel’s hand touched Kyrie’s cheek, who answered in surprise. Long fingers swept through the back of her ear, cheek, neck, and forehead. Obviously, it was a selfless, but strange contact. When Kyrie shrugged her shoulders, he smiled again and pulled his hand away.

[The forest animal will nurse you. I’m at odds with treatment.]

“Ah….”

[Is that all you have to ask?]

“I’m not……but.”

Kyrie smiled bitterly.

“…..I’ve got a lot of things to say, but when I face you, they all disappear. I don’t even think it’s my fault to question them.”

[That’s pretty good.]

Nathaniel chuckled. What was so fun? Kyrie got up from her seat with a disapproving face.

“MarryAnne’s late. I need to go to the dining room. I’m going to see Her Majesty, the Emperor right after the meal. Would you be coming with me?”

[You’re always walking around.]

“I’ve been busy since I picked someone up in the snow. I’m taking care of it.”

[Then someone will tell her for you. You don’t have to do that anymore.]