114.The Great Forest (5)
The damp early-morning air brushed against my skin, and it felt a little cold. It was just shy of being clammy, but the scent of the forest mixed into it made it not all that unpleasant.
More than anything, Dogeon was beside me. At this hour, the only ones walking around were a handful of guards, so there was no need to worry about prying eyes. That alone felt nice.
When I looked up at the sky, I could still faintly see the stars, and in the east, the dark sky was slowly turning blue as the sun prepared to rise.
“…It’s refreshing. Unlike the academy, you can really feel that we’re out in nature. Hoyeon, how about you?”
“I don’t really care, as long as I’m with you.”
I’d probably be fine even if we were standing in a vortex of divine energy. Not that Dogeon would ever take me somewhere like that. Just saying, of course.
“I see. But still, don’t you have a preference? Like… do you like the sea, the mountains, the plains, or cities? I’m kind of curious about that.”
Ah. So that’s what you wanted to know. If that’s the question, I could answer right away.
“Home. Or indoors. Anywhere that’s not outside—I like those kinds of places. It’s not like I hate the outdoors, but I don’t particularly want to go out either. That is… unless you ask me to.”
People don’t really change. Even if I were reborn, I’d still be a homebody. When I was little, I ran around outside because I couldn’t control my energy—not because I liked being outside.
Though, to be fair, I did have fun. Still, that’s how it is.
“Oh… really? Then maybe we should look for things to do indoors from now on…”
“No, you don’t need to adjust to me. Like I said, as long as you’re there, I’m happy.”
As we bickered back and forth over who should accommodate whom, I couldn’t help but laugh. It was silly—fussing over something so trivial while trying to be thoughtful toward each other.
“Why are you laughing? This is an important matter.”
“Ahaha, sorry, khmph… You’re right. It is important… pfft, hehe…”
I hadn’t expected him to take something so minor so seriously—it was cute. And I could feel how sincere he was, which warmed my heart. I knew I could never expect this kind of relationship from my mother or father.
Not that I disliked either of them, but…
They weren’t the type you could have these kinds of pointless conversations with.
Father was warm, but always busy. Mother was philosophical and always asked me difficult questions.
So it was these mundane, unimportant moments that felt all the more precious.
After spending some time arguing over nothing at all, Dogeon finally sighed and gave up.
Too bad—it was fun. I thought about teasing him a little more, but decided against it. No point in risking a bad mood just for that. After a while of chatting, we fell into silence. Maybe that felt awkward, because Dogeon suddenly asked me something.
“…Hoyeon. Yesterday—you held back for my sake, didn’t you?”
Why’s he bringing that up outside? Even if no one’s around, I’d prefer he ask those kinds of embarrassing things indoors.
Still, he wasn’t wrong. I’d gone too far last time, so this time I paced myself to match his tempo. I even pretended to give in to boost his confidence… Maybe that was a little too obvious?
“…Yeah. Last time, you almost di—”
I was about to tell the truth when I felt something strange ahead of us, and I cut myself off. Dogeon must’ve sensed it too—he was looking in the same direction as me.
Standing there was Iris. But she didn’t look normal in the slightest. Her eyes were bloodshot, her legs trembling, yet she stood there, staring blankly up at the sky like she was possessed.
Then, as if she’d sensed us, her head twisted toward us in a motion far too unnatural. Her eyes, swollen and red, and her cracked, dried lips looked like she’d been like that for quite some time.
“…Lady Iris? Are you alright?”
Dogeon stepped in front of me to assess her condition, but to me, that wasn’t Iris anymore. Not really.
Her eyes had gone pitch black—like my mother’s—as if they were staring into the night sky itself.
“Who are you? You carry my presence… but who are you?”
Then she started spouting nonsense. I couldn’t make heads or tails of what she was saying, nor who it was even directed at.
“…Iris? Is that you?”
Dogeon, too, must have sensed that this wasn’t Iris. He surrounded himself with mana and tried to get an answer from her again. But, of course, there was no way that would work.
“I speak to you from afar, through this small vessel. I sense my presence within you. Yet I did not create you. Then what are you? There exists no record of interference. What are you? Who are you?”
Her lips didn’t even move. Her mouth just hung open, yet somehow the words echoed directly in my head in Korean, which made me doubt whether it was even spoken aloud.
Her movements were erratic. Blood was now trickling from her eyes, but her heart was still beating. She wasn’t in danger of dying.
Still, judging by the sounds coming from her body, she’d collapse from exhaustion before long.
“…Hoyeon, step back—Hoyeon? Wait, this is dangerous!”
“No, it’s not. She’d probably collapse if you so much as touched her.”
There was nothing swirling around Iris. Her appearance was unsettling, sure, but that alone wouldn’t scare me. I’m the type who doesn’t even flinch at horror games or ghosts.
…Honestly, people talking while alive is scarier. I’d prefer they stay dead.
“I am Baek Hoyeon. And you—what are you? How dare you claim to carry a presence like mine?”
No way Iris had gone insane. She’s terrified of me—she could lose her mind out of fear, but if she had, I doubt she’d fail to recognize me.
“I have no name. Only a mission. To observe, not to interfere. Then what are you? Why do you carry my presence?”
As Iris staggered toward us, Dogeon tried to stop her. But I held him back. He looked like he still wanted to intervene, but… he must’ve trusted me enough to step aside.
I could still tell he was ready to jump in the moment something went wrong, but sure—stay ready like that.
I knew it was dangerous. But I wanted to know what that was.
It stopped right in front of me and stared into my eyes. I stared right back. Not that doing so would tell me anything.
It looked like there were constellations inside its eyes… but that was about it. I wasn’t some technician or a magic researcher or anything.
“…Was it created by a fragment that broke off from me? I thought it was destroyed.”
With those final words, the thing possessing Iris left her. I mean, she lost consciousness and collapsed right after saying that.
“She seems to be alright. Still, I’d prefer if we didn’t have heart-stopping moments like that again. More importantly…”
Once Dogeon confirmed I was unharmed, he turned his attention to Iris. Unlike the church types, he had his priorities straight.
He lifted her with concern in his eyes, but to me, she didn’t look that bad. If I were being objective, I’d say she was in the kind of condition where you could just drag her by the hair.
…Well. That’s just the kind of person Dogeon is. I couldn’t really fault him for it. I already knew what he was going to say, so I simply walked ahead to where he was headed.
It was also my way of silently protesting how excessively he was coddling Iris.
***
When Iris came to, it was already midday.
The last thing she remembered was looking at the stars from her room window—so waking up in a place filled with elves left her bewildered.
“Ah, you’re awake? Honestly, when they brought you in, we thought you were dead. To summarize, Lady Iris, you collapsed from severe fatigue. According to their testimony, you were standing outside, staring at the stars until dawn. Do you remember anything?”
She shook her head at Cecilia’s explanation. The only thing she remembered was one particularly bright red star. But then, a memory she didn’t experience suddenly surfaced in her mind.
“…‘They,’ you said? Wasn’t Lady Hoyeon the only one there?”
In her memory, she’d had a strange conversation with Hoyeon. But “they”? Was someone else there?
“Dogeon brought you here. Didn’t you see him?”
But in her memory, there had been only Hoyeon. No one else.
“No… I only saw Lady Hoyeon.”
Cecilia tilted her head in confusion.
“Hmm… that’s strange. After you collapsed, maybe Lady Hoyeon called for Dogeon and had him bring you here…?”
They put their heads together, but without the people involved to explain, they could only conclude that they didn’t know.
Not that it really mattered much. It wasn’t especially dangerous. And since Iris was technically a patient, she lay back down on the bed.
Outside seemed oddly noisy—but that, too, was none of her concern.