The sound of unwavering footsteps approached quietly.
When you lose what you can see, itâs easy to have too many thoughts. Therefore, even in the brief moment when the sound of footsteps approaches, I get distracted. Even though I spent days and days immersed in the dark, seeing that I could hear a sound so close and not see anything, I guess the saying that humans adapt easily to any environment is not necessarily true.
â Bye!
Then, at some point, the sound stopped.
My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden bright light illuminating the abyss-like space. The person who was lost in idle thoughts tightly closed his eyes that had been open in a daze. Because of this, he could not confirm who the person who approached him was.
I felt like I could give up half of the rest of my life if I could see even a ray of light, but when I actually faced the light, I felt pain. Without realizing it, I raised my hand and covered my eyes.
âMayrin Ronds.â
The person who approached in silence and illuminated the previously dark place like broad daylight made a low sound. The person who had summoned Calian, who was the head of the Magicians Association of Secretia, and the Zeon warriors who attacked Plants and tried to steal Louiseâs data that Arianne had, opened his mouth instead of his eyes.
âWhoâ¦â
âSomeone you will be very happy to see.â
The fine singing voice is unfamiliar.
A voice that didnât sound young enough to be called a boy, but didnât sound old enough to be called a young man either. An unfamiliar voice that I had never heard up close. I wanted to open my eyes out of curiosity, but I could barely move my hand away from covering my eyes. I still couldnât see in front of me because of the blinding bright light.
Itâs natural.
Meilin was arrested and brought here immediately after interrogation. I spent an unknown amount of time alone in a place completely blocked from light.
âLightâ
I got choked up after saying it for the first time in so long. Meilin opened her mouth, cleared her throat, and spoke again.
âCould you turn down the light? Itâs too bright.â
âThis is a torch, so I canât control it. You know you canât use magic here. And itâs not my place to ask for something like that. You.â
âThen please tell me who you are.â
âI answered. Already.â
Meilin said, recalling the unkind description of âa person you will be very happy to see.â
âItâs a voice I donât know at all, so Iâm not happy to hear it.â
âYou donât have to know to be happy.â
Meilin didnât answer for a moment and kept her mouth shut.
Puzzling words were exchanged, but I didnât feel any irritation. Thatâs because even that conversation was nice. I didnât want to admit it, but it was true. While we are bringing light and talking to each other like this, wouldnât it be nice if an evil spirit came instead of a god of death?
I waited for a while and opened my eyes to see if I would get used to it as time passed, but I couldnât bear the light that filled my blurred vision and closed my eyes again.
The only thing I could see at first glance was a pure white face, jet black hair, and bright red eyes.
âAre you⦠the third prince of Kairis?â
No answer came back. Instead, I briefly heard the sound of the collar rubbing against each other. It was the sound of walking on a floor covered with old straw.
Maylin, who understood the unspoken words as positive, opened her mouth again. A voice that sounded like scraping sand continued to flow from a mouth that had been opened for the first time in a few days.
âI donât know what brought the Prince of Kairis to this place, but I have nothing more to say.â
âI guess you forgot what I said.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âAh⦠Iâm the type of person who doesnât like saying things twice.â
A sound of laughter that could not be guessed was heard, and then the conversation continued.
âI told you I would be happy to see you. I thought you would have something to say as much as I am happy to see you. I.â
âWhy are you saying that I am happy to see the third prince of Kairis?â
âBecause I can help you.â
âYou canât help meâ¦â
âYou canât get out of here on your own, even if you die. Never.â
Meilinâs neck twitched involuntarily. I couldnât tell if it was because Calianâs voice was cold or because it was something that came to mind due to Calianâs words.
âYou know where this place is. You do.â
Where is this place?
Meilin, with a suffocating face, slowly opened her eyes.
okay.
know.
Since they were obviously locked up, there should have been someone guarding the front of the prison, but there was no one here. At first it was a little strange. Then I realized that no one even brought meals. Food had come tumbling down from somewhere connected to the corner of the ceiling. As I fumbled around the room, following the smell of food, I suddenly realized something. Where is this place?
â⦠The abyss.â
âYes. I know.â
The Herund River flows outside the outer castle of Secreta.
Somewhere beneath it is a dungeon with endless depths said to have been created by King Secretia. People called that place Hell.
It is said that if there is a tower above ground, there is an abyss underground.
The felons of Kairis were sent to the Tower, and in Secretia they were imprisoned in the abyss. They cannot kill themselves and all magic is blocked, so not a single person has ever escaped.
It was hell for the living.
It is said that in the abyss, all sinners are completely isolated and locked away so that they cannot even share their voices with each other. It was said that there was not even a knight guarding the front of the iron bars. That was the case here.
âOnce you lock them in here, we donât even check if theyâre alive or dead. But we always send them food. They have to die of old age, not starve to death. Even if they survive for decades like that and die, they canât get out of here. Just let them rot and disintegrate and disappear. âI leave it alone. Thatâs why itâs an abyss.â
Maylin covered her ears.
What Calian said was not wrong. Meilin knew that it was a place from which they could not escape, even if they lived or died, although there were those who were locked up, but there were no people who came out.
âEven if Lord Castrin couldnât do it, I can do it. Let me get you out of here.â
Palm A new word I heard.
Meilin opened her eyes without realizing it. A shadow fell on Calianâs face in front of the bright light. Because of the shadow, red eyes that looked like those of a snake were watching Meilin.
Creepy eyes.
That was by no means the look in the eyes of someone who had come to rescue someone.
âDead⦠are you saying?â
âI guess itâs because heâs a person who used magic. Itâs good that he understands the words well.â
Calian smiled slightly and continued.
âDevlan said he killed you. He said he interrogated you and summarily executed you. But here you are. Why? Why did you hide it here instead of killing him? Was it because he instigated the death of the princes of other countries and was trying to hit Devlan in the back? Or was there another reason? â¦.. Is it possible?â
The snakeâs cool gaze follows the meaningful words.
âI am.â
I wanted to swallow my dry saliva, but it wasnât possible. Kalian, who saw this, took out his pocket watch and checked the time and said.
âI donât have time. My brother is sleeping a bit deep and I donât know when he will wake up. So I have to go quickly. Donât do anything stupid while Iâm gone.â
â⦠Zeon. I know how to contact them. We communicated with them through Jeon Seo-gu. I didnât tell them, so Devlan kept me here. They thought he would probably tell me if I asked him, so he locked me up. Seems to.â
Anyway, just thinking about it.
How identical.
Calian, who muttered in a low voice, nodded.
âI canât come to see you, Devlan. Now is not the time to worry about you. Thereâs a ghost.â
Meilin, who did not understand, quietly looked at Calian.
âJust tell me. Everything.â
âIf you let me know, I willâ¦â
Perhaps they will let me out alive. Calianâs smile deepened as he paused to make a deal.
â Jabak.
Calian turned his back without hesitation and walked away. It wasnât something to think about. The turning of the feet did not stop.
âIâll tell you.â
There was no way Devlan would get Meirin out of here anyway.
I felt like I could give up half of the rest of my life if I could see even a ray of light. So, if I could get out of here right now, wouldnât it be better to give up the rest of my life?
âIâll tell you all.â
Calianâs feet stopped.
Meilin began speaking. And then he stopped too.
After a while, the red light of the torch shines on the small silver blade. After that moment, everything sank deep, deep into darkness again.
* * *
At the end of the dark sky, a light shines.
When the time came when the birds, who had opened their eyes early after crouching in the cold wind, were touching their beaks in their feathers, those who had been sleeping here and there were bound to fall asleep late in the end.
Is it worry, thought, or anger?
I was so caught up in the unknown that I couldnât sleep easily. It hasnât been that long since the sleep scent that helped me have good dreams for nearly half my life disappeared. Thanks to this, the sleep that had been rushing in was often knocked away by even the slightest sound.
It was like that that morning too.
I couldnât fall asleep because I couldnât let go even for a moment. Then, I felt the sky getting brighter and I felt a little relieved and quickly closed my eyes.
â Drip, drip, drip.
Itâs only been five minutes since I fell asleep like that. Or maybe ten minutes have passed. A person woke up from a light sleep when he felt something running down his face.
Something thick that still feels warm.
An unpleasant scent vaguely emanating from it.
At first glance, it seemed like a shadow of something was shining in my slightly opened eyes, and my eyes, which were about to fall into sleep, blinked open.
âDonât get up. I havenât seen you in a few days, so thereâs no need to welcome me like that.â
Besides, if I wake up, Iâll probably be dead.
The whispering voice is very kind. To the point where I was confused for a while as to whether the words I knew had different meanings.
If it werenât for the short dagger held between the eyes and the blood dripping from the tip, I might have been really confused. I wonder if these were the sonâs loving words toward his father.
âThey said they would come every day. I didnât know they would come every day.â
âI thought you would have realized by now that I am not good at lying. So I thought I would trust you and wait, but I was almost disappointed because you were sleeping.â
âI waited. It seemed like he wasnât coming today, so I just laid down.â
âYouâre upset. Iâm scared that Iâll come again today.â
âIt wouldnât be wrong to say that.â
I heard a laugh that sounded like rain running down the window. So Devlan suddenly became curious. Not the obvious things like who owns the blood on the tip of that knife, or whether that knife will now be covered in my blood.
âWhy are you smiling?â
Whatâs fun?
âI sleep a lot in the morning. But now, itâs quite funny that itâs the other way around. Now that youâre experiencing the feeling of falling asleep peacefully only when the sun rises, how could it not be fun?â
Even as he said that, the tip of the sword did not move. There were no blood drops anymore, but it was difficult to cool my mind because of the warmth of other people flowing down the corners of my eyes. Thanks to that, contrary to my pretending to be fine, my fingertips were getting cold.
Devlan did not lie.
I really couldnât sleep out of fear. Calianâs whisper that he would come visit me every day became a ghost and I couldnât close my eyes. Even if it really came, it was still a ghost, and even if it didnât come, it was still a ghost.
âBesides, I got to see King Secretiaâs face so frightened. Itâs been a long time since I last saw him.â
âArenât you worried about having ears to listen? If it were known that the Prince of Kyris said something like this, it wouldnât be a very nice thing to say.
â âThere is no one here who will listen to me and tell it to other places.â â
I didnât use any magic, but I am making excessive claims. âEven though I see myself falling apart so quickly when I
let my guard down.â âI believe in the ears of my sword. âI wasnât letting my guard down.â
Calian said and gestured with his chin.
A knight with an expressionless face was standing straight where the end of the fine line pointed. Although he didnât know his name, Devlan had no choice but to nod in the end. Calian couldnât lie now. Because I knew it was also true that there was no one here.
âAnd Iâm saying this because I feel like youâre still pretending not to know. What is happening today is not a tower that collapsed due to your carelessness, but a tomb that you have been steadily creating with your own hands for a long time. Donât you already know that?ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
A person who would not reflect even when the last moment comes anyway.
A person who would not blame anyone else, but would not blame himself either. That was Devlan. Calian knew that kind of person better than anyone else.
Devlan laughed . .
Kyrie realized that the end of that laughter was a little different from what she had heard on the first day she arrived at the palace. So, without realizing it, she looked towards Calian and then turned her head again. Calian already had the same expression on his face. âI will come visit you today
. There will be a lot of people. So, why should you be so disheveled? Itâs the day your world ends.â
The sweet whisper that had been telling Devlanâs end since the day we first met finally stopped. Drop.
The
last drop of blood fell on Devlanâs head. fell off.