Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Calyx was perplexed for a moment. After looking around the room, Calyx was able to find the spy who was supposed to be the original intruder. A black mass lay at Rosaline’s feet as she stood calmly. The man’s neck was completely twisted around. No matter how proficient she was with a sword, a woman with weak physical strength should not be able to twist and break the neck of an adult man like this. Not to mention she didn’t even have a single wound when fighting against someone with a weapon.

Kwang!

Calyx grabbed her, shoved her hard against the wall, and placed the sword below her chin. She only looked up at him with her eyes wide open.

The moment his eyes met her clear ones, he felt flames sear through his body. Calyx had to clench his jaw to keep his teeth from trembling. Rage clawed at his throat. But when confronted with that face so similar to his own and those green eyes under the moonlight-

“Calyx,” the voice calling him rang so clearly.

Calyx erupted into tears that seemed to leak out of nowhere. He was angry, sad, frustrated, and tormented. Calyx clasped Rosaline’s shoulders a little tighter. Despite the pressure from his terrifying strength, she didn’t even show any signs of discomfort. From the first day to this very moment, her unchanging expression bothered him endlessly.

‘I am not the person that you used to know,’ she seemed to speak with her whole body.

Tears streamed down Calyx’s chin. He spits out his words one by one, “Do you think I will not cut you down just because we are flesh and blood? Tell me! Or should I just cut your head off? For what purpose did you come here, and how dare you do this?!”

Calyx took a deep breath and urged her. An unknown emotion ran through his body.

“What are you?!”

Her hair became more tangled as she was pushed and shaken roughly by his hand. Calyx couldn’t take his eyes off her face, which was half-covered by her hair.

“Just who are you?!”

The last question was like a scream. From behind, it looked as if Calyx was holding her in his arms. But the space between them was divided by a single sword. Calyx did not move in this state.

Time passed. But it was such a short amount of time that not even the tick of the second hand of the clock had yet been heard. Rosaline, who had been silent this whole time, finally moved. Her hand lightly brushed against the sword. Calyx trembled but didn’t respond in turn. Her gaze, which had been facing him all along, drifted over his weapon. Rosaline’s figure reflected on the surface of the well-polished metal.

She stared at it for a moment before opening her mouth, “I am the shadow.”

Then she smiled.

Calyx stared blankly at her. Her smile was very similar to someone else’s. A very gentle smile with her eyebrows drooping slightly, her sharp eyes softening, and only the corners of her mouth raised slightly.

“... You...”

The dark-haired human talked to ‘It’. The wind whispered louder than her small, colorful voice. ‘It’ faltered a little, then moved faster than usual to stand a little closer to her. The human grabbed ‘It’ without fear, and ‘It’ was surprised for the first time in its life. The human was also surprised. The black smoke she thought could not be caught had a familiar yet, at the same time, unfamiliar texture like dry sand and wood. She could feel the scattering particles slipping out of her hand, but she was able to catch some.

“H- Help me...”

‘It’ was put in a difficult situation. ‘It’ knew the human language. ‘It’ could understand what the woman wanted, but ‘It’ had no means to heal her.

The black mass moved smoothly.

‘Something seems to be stirring in it,’ she thought.

‘It’ soon began to change into the form of a little girl. The dark areas gradually disappeared, eventually becoming a perfect human being. This was the little one ‘It’ had eaten several years ago.

She realized that the part she was holding had also turned into a child’s arm. A feeling of warmth circulated, making her eyes widen. She knew about ‘It’. She was aware of its existence.

“You. A lot of blood. Die. I can’t.”

‘You will die, and I cannot help you.’

She understood the child’s meaning. She closed her eyes tightly and then opened them. Something like sparks flashed in those clear eyes. A fragment of her remaining fear flared up. Her consciousness gradually waned due to her bleeding and rapid breathing. She was well aware of her condition and her situation: her death was approaching. It felt like time was running out. She barely uttered a single word in her consciousness.

“... You can eat me.”

The child found this person very interesting. ‘It’ had never asked for permission to eat anyone, and this was the first time that someone granted permission. The woman coughed up blood, and then she smiled.

“Instead, please do one thing in my stead.”

The child could not understand why she was smiling. ‘It’ may have wanted to know a little more, so ‘It’ shared a few more words with her, whose speech was beginning to stutter.

Drythorne County, Vista.

Somewhere in that deep forest...

A taboo contract was made.