CH 18

“W, What?”

Asha opened her eyes wide. Phoebe snapped her beak as if she were saying the obvious.

<…Not all humans in the Empire intend to speak to their spirits. Maybe everyone has forgotten how. That… >

Whatever she was saying, Phoebe twisted her lips. Like she wanted to talk but couldn’t. As Asha was boiling with frustration in this question-and-answer conversation, suddenly Phoebe flew up and peeped.

<Do you want to help that kid?>

“Is there an immediate solution?”

<Can’t you feed him what you made? As you have been.>

Asha squinted her eyes.

“It’s a serious situation right now. It’s serious.”

<My strength dwells through you. Just contacting you or eating what you made would be a great help in controlling Fafnir’s power. It’s because the power was elaborated with ‘sense’.>

“…really?”

<That’s why the heat of the land in this area has cooled down a lot these days.>

Is that so? Asha tilted her head. She thought it was like that when she saw the attendants wearing more clothes…

“Are you saying that he just has to eat snacks? Are you sure?”

Snacks, bread, whatever. Or you sticking around and touching all day.>

Phoebe went into the button decoration. And at the same time, Asha clenched her fist and ran to Alexei’s room.

When she walked inside, shaking off the embarrassed attendants, Alexei had a smile as thin as thin ice over his tired face. Asha saw Alexei’s feverish face and told the people around her what she was thinking.

The deep, low blue hue around him was depression, sadness, or fear. As Asha thought, she screamed loudly.

“It’s Fafnir who can’t control it!”

“…what?”

At the same time as the sound, the shadow of the flame rose sharply near Alexei and fluctuated.

“In the first place, if Alyosha was an unqualified and incompetent person, he wouldn’t have signed a contract. Why would Fafnir sign with an incompetent man?”

Alexei, who suddenly recognized what she was saying, made a calm face.

“… That’s, That’s when I was desperate.”

“Who’s desperate?”

Asha took a deep breath and grabbed Alexei’s hand. Alexei flinched but did not shake the hand.

“No one smiled at the ceremony. Alyosha saw, right? They wanted to sign a contract with the Spirit King, but they couldn’t, so no one was happy. All the kids, all desperate. But the contract with Alyosha’s Spirit King was made because Alyosha was qualified!”

“That’s…”

“Can’t you be angry? Can’t you even laugh seriously? You’re already mad at me, but nothing happened.”

Alexei’s face turned pale at Asha’s words.

“It’s Fafnir, not Alyosha, who can’t control it. Even if Alyosha laughs and gets angry, nothing happens. Of course. Why the hell… Why do you think so?”

“My father…”

Alexei’s voice broke thinly. Asha gasped. It seemed that the blue tidal wave that had been scorched from Alexei was flooding in. The tsunami engulfed her.

“My father passed away. He signed a contract with Fafnir and then…”

Alexei continued, with trembling blue eyes down.

“When I was five years old, my father was an emotionally violent man… In the end, he lost control of Fafnir’s power and passed away. That’s why my spirit ceremony was done in a hurry then.”

Asha closed her mouth with a pale face. She was dimly reminded of it. Alexei’s father, Nikolai, signed a contract with Fafnir but died prematurely after failing to become Crown Prince, as Alexei said. But that.

‘…that’s not it…’

Emperor Mikhail thought that Nikolai’s temperament, which was weak, sensitive, and passionate, did not suit the position of Emperor.

So, on his behalf, he decides to have Yuriev, the youngest son who was the brightest of his children, as the Crown Prince, although he did not sign a contract with a King Spirit.

Not long after Nikolai found out, he threw himself into the fire that wouldn’t go out and died. He could not accept the Emperor’s decision. After that, it was as if everyone knew it well.

The youngest prince left the palace in a rage at his father, who had driven his eldest brother to death, and the Emperor threw all his other sons out of the palace.

Then, when Alexei, the only son of Nikolai who died, signed Fafnir, he made him the Crown Prince.

‘Is that why you’ve been sticking with that kind of control? Do you think your dad died because he couldn’t overcome his emotions and couldn’t help the spirit?’

“No. Alyosha, no! Alyosha is Alyosha. I mean, he’s different from a great-uncle. Nothing will happen that Alyosha doesn’t want to.”

“But the Imperial Palace, from the day I signed Fafnir to this day…”

“That’s what Fafnir does as he pleases! He’s excited! He likes signing a contract with Alyosha!”

Alexei looked a little confused and absent-minded at Asha’s cry. He couldn’t even ask how she knew.

Alexei stumbled a little and then sat down again. The red shadow that began to shine beside Alexei fluttered more and more violently.

“I had a sudden spirit ceremony and signed Fafnir, but I knew nothing. It was not the Candle Spirit but the Fire King Spirit that I signed. Grandfather told me when I came back from the contract. At that time, I…”

Alexei’s eyes were quickly wet. Asha covered her mouth with her hands.

“I… shouldn’t have cried.”

Every time Alexei blinked his eyes, tears fell. Alexei was so embarrassed by himself that he just put his hand around his eyes.

The murky waves of grey that flooded in from Alexei stifled her. Asha barely held her breath, hugging Alexei with her trembling arms.

“Even if Alyosha cries, laughs, or gets angry with me, nothing changes.”

She tried to hug Alexei, but on the contrary, Asha seemed to be in Alexei’s arms.

In his arms, Asha held Alexei’s clothes tightly and only listened to the sound of his fast-beating heart. The sound of her heart said he had been lonely for a long time. And at the same time, a red air current rose violently and burned, embracing Alexei.

━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━

She let Alexei cry to his heart’s content, and he fell ill. The court healer left after only diagnosing that Alexei had accumulated fatigue and mild body aches due to overwork.

“No… Was that the end of the diagnosis? What about the medicine? You’re not giving it to him?”

Asha, who returned to her bedroom at Lise’s attendance, lay in bed and asked in a bewildered voice. Lise spoke softly to her.

“His Highness the Crown Prince doesn’t take medicine. So…”

“Oh.”

He told her the other day that the poison doesn’t work. The medicine didn’t seem to work on the same principle.

Asha couldn’t sleep and paced around even after Lise went to bed, and eventually knocked on Alexei’s door again. Cyril opened the door with a deep face.

“Your Highness Anastasia.”

“I came back because I was worried about Alyosha. Is he still sleeping?”

Cyril nodded. Asha sat by Alexei’s bedside. Only a small candlestick was burning with a subtle light on the table.

<What should I do with this, huh?>

And when a sudden crackling came in, Asha almost screamed and barely held her breath. Cyril, who was standing a little far away, tilted his head a little. Asha waved her hand at nothing and looked at the candlestick on the table. The candles were burning brightly like firewood, unlike before.

‘You, no way…’

<You son of a bitch! How dare you talk to my contractor?>

<Ah look at me! What to do. My child isn’t waking up!>

<It’s because you’re stupid! Take care of it! Don’t talk to my kid!>

Asha managed to keep her mind awake between the roaring candles and the increasingly vivid new embroidery on the sleeves of her nightgowns.

‘Phoebe! Phoebe, wait! Please be quiet. Is this… Fafnir?’

<Yes! Yes, my name is finally called!>

<Listen to your contractor for your name!>

<How can I be called when my contractor is sleeping over there? Yeah, what am I supposed to do with that? Huh? Alexei won’t wake up.>

She felt like she was going crazy again. Asha tried to fix her thoughts.

‘I haven’t heard Fafnir’s voice until now. How did you get to speak?’

<Thanks to you! No, thanks to me!>

Phoebe tried to intervene, but Asha wrapped her hand around the sleeve of her pajamas. The candlelight fluttered loudly.

<Well, I don’t know about that spirit, but it’s thanks to you! After the spirit world and the human world were divided and darkness arose, the contractor could not speak out unless the spirit was recognized first…>

‘Spirit and human worlds are divided? Was it always together?’

<Well… it was a long time ago. Anyway, it’s all thanks to you for bringing me out.>

‘I brought you out?’

When Asha asked back with an uncertain tone, the candle moved. The candle wax splashed slightly.

<You looked at me like you were going to kill me for not talking to Alexei.>

‘I didn’t look at you like I was going to kill you! …but that’s how we get to talk? I’m not even your contractor.’

Asha blinked in surprise, Phoebe was flattered.

<Just by properly sensing it, you can open the door to communication. Even if it’s someone who doesn’t seem to be able to talk at all. It’s proof that you are qualified as my contractor. That is why this body is the greatest spirit, Asha.>

With the candle about a knuckle of her finger still shining bright like the full moon, she pretended not to hear Phoebe and she made a different noise.

<No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t help but stare at Alexei from afar without speaking to anyone… >

Phoebe flagged the story.

<What a crazy spirit! That’s why it’s hot in the middle of winter!>