Mok Jinwoo, the Chief, you know him, right? Actually, today, he…
As we retraced the attack route… there were unnatural parts… so…
In conclusion… it’s clear that someone inside orchestrated them…
My body trembles uncontrollably. My heart pounds so fiercely it feels like it might burst out of my chest.
I never imagined I’d hear this story from his lips first.
Why did it have to be today? If only I had one more day, I could’ve had time to mentally prepare myself.
‘Get a grip…’
However, Yeon Minha bit her lips hard to wake herself up.
Even so, what needed to be done wouldn’t change.
If anything, from another perspective, it might even be easier to steer the conversation naturally.
Moreover, fortunately, the man seemed so engrossed in his explanation that he hadn’t noticed anything unusual about her yet.
“Well, you know. Actually…”
“…So, I’ve decided to kill them all.”
Just as Yeon Minha hardened her resolve and was about to speak.
But at that moment, overlapping voices stopped her in her tracks.
“What…?”
Yeon Minha unknowingly let out a question. Then, slowly raising her head, she stared at the man.
Only then was she able to see all the emotions he was pouring out reflected in his eyes.
“Ah, ah…”
What unfolded before Yeon Minha’s eyes was the embodiment of chaos.
The blood vessels in his eyes had burst, and what pooled within them were tears of unmistakable sorrow.
However, the corners of his lips curled upward in a smile, a clear expression of joy.
The scars on his face had been scratched so much that the redness made it look like a shy blush, painting his face vividly.
It was a side of him she had never seen before. Not even during their days as adversaries had she encountered such intense emotions.
“…Actually, it’s just been so suffocating all this time.”
Lee Hyun spoke as he looked down directly at Yeon Minha.
“No matter how many demons I caught and killed… no matter how many dark sorcerers’ limbs I tore apart… it all felt meaningless…”
His voice was filled with excitement and elation.
“My mother and friends are already all dead… no matter what I do, they can’t come back… but even so, I couldn’t just leave those bastards alone…”
“…”
“So I killed, and killed, and killed again and again… but even then… no matter what I did, this emptiness wouldn’t go away…”
What he was now showing was the madness buried deep within the bottom of his heart.
And Yeon Minha immediately understood as she confronted it.
Lee Hyun’s sense of loss over what he had lost forever was far deeper than she had ever imagined.
“But when I heard it wasn’t an accident but a conspiracy… that there was someone behind it… the thought that I could finally hold someone accountable made me… so happy, so incredibly happy…”
He became even more passionate in his speech. Yeon Minha, who had turned pale as a sheet, swallowed hard.
The warmth she usually felt from his embrace, which always brought her comfort, now only conveyed an icy chill.
‘Ah…’
“That’s why I’m going to kill them. Anyone even slightly involved… I won’t leave a single one alive…”
Her vision began to spin. Her ears felt muffled, as if something was stuck in them.
Her mind went blank, unable to process any coherent thoughts.
“…Senior.”
“…”
“Senior Minha.”
“…”
“Minha Senior?”
“Huh, huh…?”
What finally brought Yeon Minha back to her senses was, as always, the voice of the man she loved dearly.
“I’m sorry. That was too sudden, wasn’t it?”
“Huh? No… It wasn’t…”
Yeon Minha managed to shake her head slightly, denying his words.
Then, she glanced at his expression.
Before she knew it, he was looking at her with a face full of concern.
“You must’ve… gone through a lot. Truly… so much…”
“…But I’m okay now.”
Lee Hyun shook his head in response to Yeon Minha’s cautious question. Then, for a moment, a bright smile appeared on his face.
It was a smile so captivating and addicting that it felt like just seeing it could melt her heart.
“Thanks to you being by my side, Senior.”
After finishing his words, he embraced Yeon Minha once again. She could clearly feel the warm touch of his cheek rubbing against her hair.
Yeon Minha thought he resembled an abandoned puppy. At the same time, she realized just how much he depended on her.
Which was why she couldn’t meet his gaze.
“Ah, ah…”
Her legs trembled so much that even standing still was difficult. She tried hard not to show it, but no method seemed to work.
And it appeared that the man had already noticed her abnormality.
“Senior. You don’t look so well.”
“Huh? Ah, no… I’m fine…”
“Your face is pale… and your heartbeat seems fast…”
“It’s probably just because I’m a little tired…”
“…Senior. Why can’t you meet my eyes…?”
The suspicion in his tone felt like a heavy stone dropping into Yeon Minha’s chest. She felt a bit resentful toward him for being so sharp only at moments like this when he was usually as dense as a rock.
‘No, this can’t be…’
It was a nightmare-like moment. All Yeon Minha could do was shut her eyes tightly, unable to predict what would happen next.
However, what she heard in the next moment was his soft voice, tinged with an apologetic tone.
“…I’m sorry.”
Then followed a sensation as if her body were floating in the air.
“Huh…?”
Yeon Minha let out a bewildered sound as she opened her eyes.
Before she knew it, she was being carried in his arms, in a princess carry, up the stairs to the second floor.
His face now showed a trace of embarrassment and awkwardness as he looked at Yeon Minha, who still wore a stunned expression.
“I should’ve been more considerate. I momentarily forgot. I remembered until yesterday, but… with everything that happened suddenly…”
“C-Considerate…?”
He smiled lightly and replied.
“It’s your period, isn’t it? Around this time last month too.”
Yeon Minha finally understood. Coincidentally, she had used that excuse to avoid interrogation not too long ago, and now the cycle had come full circle.
“You… you remembered that…?”
“Of course, I should remember.”
His response, as if it were only natural, carried a subtle hint of his deep obsession with her. At that moment, Yeon Minha was at a loss for words, unable to determine whether this was a stroke of good fortune or bad luck.
“You’ve been tired from visiting your family home, then even preparing dinner… You must not be feeling well…”
“…”
“The candy I gave you last time was delicious, wasn’t it? You don’t have to go out of your way like this…”
He carried her naturally into the second-floor bedroom and placed her on the bed. Then, he gently pulled the soft blanket over her rigid body.
Still wearing that dazzling smile, he spoke again.
“Now…”
“Get some rest. I’ll take care of the rest, so don’t worry.”
With a delicate touch, he brushed through her hair a few times. Soon, his departing footsteps left Yeon Minha alone in the silent room.
Thump-thump. The sound of her heartbeat echoed loudly in her ears.
-Anyone even slightly involved… I won’t leave a single one alive…
Yeon Minha replayed Lee Hyun’s words in her mind.
If he ever discovered that Jeokhwa was involved in that tragedy…
I was completely clueless—could that alone allow me to escape his wrath?
Surely, he wouldn’t go so far as to kill me. That much I could be reasonably confident about.
But still, I am a member of a family that is practically his sworn enemy.
If he were to find that out, would he still look at me with loving eyes?
Would he continue to speak sweet words and treat me with this much kindness?
…Or perhaps, like Baek Seoyeon in the past, he would recoil just from my touch, showing signs of trauma.
Because I had witnessed the depths of his sorrow so clearly, I couldn’t easily come to a conclusion driven by pity.
“What, what should I do…”
Yeon Minha curled up like a shrimp, clutching at her hair in frustration. Time was ticking away, tightening its grip around her neck, even as no answers came to her.
***
By the time morning came, Yeon Minha was already gone. Her diligence was astonishing, even under such circumstances.
As I walked toward the main building, I thought about what had happened yesterday.
Yeon Minha. She seemed deeply flustered. Well, of course, she would be. Hearing something like that so suddenly…
It feels like I keep unintentionally showing my honest self to her. Maybe it’s because I’ve opened my heart to her that much.
It’s a little embarrassing, though…
“…”
Even in the midst of the chaos, students were gathering at the main building for their lectures.
The bustling crowd made me think of so many things.
The existence of monsters disguised in human skin. Could such beings be among them? Of course, it was only a possibility, but still…
“Then, did both the Leader and the Chief participate in that subjugation?”
“Yes.”
Suddenly, the conversation I had with Mok Jinwoo yesterday replayed in my mind.
The Republic reportedly sacrificed an uncountable number of magicians to subdue the witches.
Among those who faced them in actual combat, the only survivors were the Leader, Mok Jinwoo, and the sisters.
Though it was a time when no information was available, their exceptional strength was still astonishing.
My thoughts naturally turned to concerns about the Leader and the sisters.
There was still no reply from the eastern region.
While it’s said that out in such remote areas, it’s common for a crow’s coordinates to go astray…
The word ‘Great Enemy,’ which they exchanged in my dream, and the face of that person, grinning wickedly in the guise of the dead, still weighed heavily on my mind.
“You don’t need to worry. You’ve fought them yourself, haven’t you? The first male magician to make it to Category 1 before you is that guy. Fifteen years ago, he single-handedly killed more than 80 percent of the witches. Even those who shouldn’t have been killed were… hm, hm.”
Though Mok Jinwoo boasted confidently… is it really okay?
According to him, the Leader went east merely to carry out a mission. So, I shouldn’t worry.
But after hearing such stories, I can’t help but think.
What if the Leader’s journey to the eastern region is actually to track down traces of the witches who have returned?
“Why does the Leader hate witches so much? If it’s merely because they’re monsters…”
“…Because he lost his other half to them.”
Though Mok Jinwoo hesitated, his answer helped me piece together the story to some extent.
After the Jeokhwa incident. When I woke up at Heukryeon’s family home.
The student council photo I saw in his room. In that photo, the woman who had her arm around the Leader’s neck with such familiarity.
Seol Yujeong.
The reason for her death.
The reason the Leader, the sisters, and even Professor Shin Jae-yu, who had spent their cradle days together, all stayed silent about her.
If things hadn’t escalated to this point, Mok Jinwoo, too, would’ve remained silent.
It seems the Leader still hasn’t been able to forget her. Considering he doesn’t accept the sisters’ feelings…
Well, I guess I’m no different when it comes to being unable to let go of the past.
Thinking that, I glanced around at the students nearby.
Could it be that a descendant of the family involved in the attack two years ago is here in this cradle?
The suspects were said to belong to one of the top ten families in this country.
If they’re from such a family, it’s only natural that they’d spend their school years at this cradle, one of the nation’s top academies.
And perhaps… they may have even been directly involved in the incident.
Just imagining such a possibility made rage boil up from the depths of my chest.
I sincerely hope no such person exists.
Because if I were to encounter them, I doubt I could maintain my sanity.
If that happens, I may no longer be able to obey the Leader’s order to graduate from the cradle obediently.
“Oh? It’s the Chick.”
At that moment.
A voice from below the spiral staircase snapped me out of my thoughts.
Without even turning around, I immediately knew who it was. After all, there’s only one person in this cradle who calls me that.
The familiar second-year female student waved enthusiastically and approached, hopping as she did.
The buttons of her sweat-soaked uniform shirt were undone by two or three, leaving the upper part to dangle loosely.
And the moment I caught a glimpse of the black garment peeking through.
I clenched my eyes shut tight.