The man forcefully turned X’s body around. X smiled, his mouth was red with blood.
Watching the grotesque scene, I had a premonition that X was going to disappear, so I called him out urgently.
“Hey!”
X turned to face me as I called out. I got a look from him that said, “If you want to say something, just say it.”
I could tell he didn’t want to be in the same room with this man for another second, so I quickly asked him.
“Do you know Tia Blue?”
X’s expression loosened at the mention of Tia Bluea.
He staggered to his feet and approached me, cautiously reaching out his hand. Rex brushed his hand away as I flinched.
“Oh, I’ve turned into quite a comic sight.”
X stared at his hand in disbelief as Rex swatted it away, and then he let out a puff of laughter. It was his signature gleeful laugh.
He was struck like that, and he still laughed? I wasn’t sure if it was because he had been hit too hard, if it was a provocation, or if he had simply regained his true self again.
“To be humiliated like this by such a kid.”
Despite the ‘humiliation’ as he called it, there was no displeasure in X’s gaze as he looked at Rex.
Instead, it appeared as though he was gazing at something he desired to possess. Now I wanted to swat his hand away.
After briefly looking at Rex like that, X opened his blood-stained lips.
“You’ll find out soon.”
Of course, I’ll find out! What use is it to tell me something that I already know? However, X disappeared, leaving only those words behind.
The drawing room where X left was now filled with silence. The man exhaled heavily.
“So many obstacles…”
He uttered a tiny curse as he said it. He then collapsed back onto the sofa.
Then, as if his head were throbbing, he pressed firmly against his forehead. Rex knocked on the door as he watched him.
“What’s the matter?”
The knight opened the door right away after waiting outside.
Rex asked softly, “Oh, could you make tea for us?”
Just as the knight was about to close the door, saying he would bring it right away, Rex grabbed the door and asked again.
“Did you hear anything?”
“Not at all. And it hasn’t been long since you two entered the room…”
I was puzzled by the knight’s words. X appeared, Baron Bruno suddenly collapsed, an unknown man appeared and fought with X, X was defeated, and then he disappeared. How could that be not a long time?
“Oh, well, I’d like four cups of tea, please.”
“Four cups……? Is there anyone else here besides Baron Bruno?”
This time, the knight looked at us in wonder. Rex smiled.
“Yes, please.”
As Rex and I carried Baron Bruno to the couch, the knight served tea.
The unidentified man was staring at the ceiling, in contrast to Baron Bruno, who was bowing his head, as the knight was about to leave after setting the tea. He queried.
“You don’t happen to be in any trouble, do you?”
“Oh, not right now.”
We used to be, but that is no longer the case.
“Well, if anything happens, please call me.”
The knight advised me.
Something has already occurred, but you weren’t aware of it outside. But to reassure the Knights, I nodded kindly.
The knight’s gaze, staring at the unfamiliar man, was filled with suspicion.
“By the way, this is…….”
“Oh, he is..”
What am I supposed to say?
“I’m with him.”
I was unable to respond to the knight’s question regarding the man. The man then beckoned Baron Bruno and replied that he was with him.
The knight’s eyes remained suspicious, but seeing Rex and me sitting comfortably, he cautiously left, believing the man wasn’t a dangerous person.
The man used a teaspoon to gently stir brown sugar into his tea. I took a moment to admire the poised behavior before asking with caution.
“By the way, who are you?”
“You know me.”
No, I know you? Rex looked at me with a face asking if I really knew that person. I just shrugged my shoulders. I apologize, but I have no idea who he is. The man drinking tea said, as if noticing my confused state.
“Well, for now you can call me Y.”
X, and now Y.
Is he really Y? Rex rolled his eyes and appeared to not get the joke.
I sighed. I pronounced the question as if I were chewing the letters one at a time.
“Who are you?”
“Well, let’s return to the Castle of Conler for now. There’s probably good news waiting.”
‘Well, there could be some bad news as well.’
Still not answering my question, the man stood up and looked at me and Rex with an expression asking why we weren’t getting up.
I have no idea what good news and bad news the man is talking about, but…….
“He hasn’t gotten up yet…”
I cautiously raised my finger to the Baron Bruno, who was still asleep. The man sat back down, appearing to comprehend. What exactly is the good news that this man is referring to?
“What’s the good news?”
“You heard it earlier.”
The man replied sourly. What did I just hear? I heard the agonizing scream of X.
I remembered the man grabbing X like a mouse and demanding that him to break the curse, so maybe the curse was broken.
“Hmm.”
Just as I was about to ask him about it, Baron Bruno opened his eyes. He looked around the room for a moment as if trying to confirm where he was, and then he suddenly stood up, startled.
“What happened?”
“Oh, X showed up.”
“That bastard…”
When he heard that X had appeared, he clenched his teeth as if he had finished grasping the whole situation.
He probably knew X very well. I had a lot of questions to ask, but I offered him tea first.
***
X was still in pain. He couldn’t muster enough strength and barely managed to take refuge in a nearby place.
The man let go of X as soon as he felt the curse lift. Perhaps he could have really lost his life if he hadn’t lifted the curse.
‘When did he become so strong?’
The look in the man’s molded eyes was haunting him. Yes, that’s right. The man always appeared like a savior whenever Mary needed him.
He had clearly gained her trust by always being there for her. So Mary thought of him whenever she had a hard time. Knowing that she was still thinking about him and looking for him must have given him a lot of courage.
It was a simple fact that he overlooked.
‘I need to go and tell him about this.’
His god had been in a pretty good mood lately. It was because the long-awaited event had been much more successful than expected. His power was also progressively growing as more and more followers entered the underworld.
Everything was fitting together nicely. Both Duke Bluea and the child were doing good, their interests aligned like gears.
But if ‘he’ were to learn that he had regained his power, he would undoubtedly be incensed.
“Still, he said that if there was an emergency, I could break the curse.”
Because the person who had cursed Estin was his brother, his alter ego, this was possible.
He had the thought that perhaps the ’emergency’ his god had in mind was that man regaining all of his strength.
His God has predicted the worst.
Eventually, X fell to the ground exhausted. The bright sun was blinding.
He had exerted himself too much to make the barrier. He had no other option if he wanted to avoid the Knights of Conler’s eyes and ears.
He was unable to fight him because it took all of his energy to create a powerful barrier.
He wanted to.
He might not have fully recovered his strength at this time. It would be a tiny fraction of the power he once possessed. Even so, that much alone gave him chills.
X wiped his face dry.
He always enjoyed it when obstacles appeared while working. It was thrilling, even. If everything was easily resolved, it wouldn’t be interesting.
But this…obstacle was different. Arsene had regained some of his power.
Honestly, it was an incredibly tiring situation. His mouth tasted bitter and sour.
