Chapter 13

I didn’t just lose my appetite, it vanished completely. Looking ragged, I put the key back in its place. This is insane. What on earth was the author thinking when they made this place?

I went back to my room and flopped limply onto the bed.

‘Why would Kid leave something like that hanging out in plain sight all this time?’

That experiment, I mean. There’s no reason to just leave it like that.

The experiment records were displayed like they were some kind of decoration. There’s no way Kid didn’t notice them. He must have gathered them up and posted them on purpose. I couldn’t begin to guess what he was thinking.

Maybe it was like chewing gall to never forget his grudge. Something like that.

I buried my head in my arms in the empty dining room.

I wished Seniel, or anyone, would come quickly. I was too scared to be alone.

Then it hit me: in horror movies, people who can’t get a grip always sit around like idiots and get taken out in one go.

I had to snap out of it. I slapped my cheek hard.

‘If you’re gonna lose it, then lose it on the smuggling ship! You can’t do anything unless you survive!’

A little while later, Seniel came in. I forced a stiff grin as I greeted him.

“Here already?”

“Did I keep you waiting? I’m sorry.”

“No, I just got here too. Sit down.”

That “sorry” sounded like a habit.

I stared blankly at Seniel the way I had at those experiment records earlier. My gaze naturally dropped to his long, straight fingers. Right, those fingers…

“Vivi, you don’t look well. Are you sick?”

Me? Wouldn’t his fingers hurt more? Considering they were once cut off…

“……No, no. I get like this sometimes. Don’t worry. Anyway, you say my name properly now. I like that.”

His anxious, restless eyes landed on me. I brushed it off with a laugh. Suddenly, I started doubting whether my own fingers were still attached properly and rubbed them nervously.

When the meal came, I shoveled food into my mouth with clumsy hands.

‘He’s really pitiful too.’

Kid was pitiful in his own way, but he was the one threatening me. I couldn’t just feel sorry for him. Seniel, he just looked too pitiful.

‘Hurry up and meet the heroine so you can be saved, you poor guy.’

“Do I have something on my face?”

I must’ve been staring at him without realizing. He fumbled at his face, self-conscious.

“No. You’re just handsome, so I was looking.”

“What?”

“What?”

What did I just say? My brain had been foggy for a while. I couldn’t even remember what words I let slip. I just nodded vaguely, like, “take it however you want.”

Seniel looked at me dumbly, lips moving soundlessly, before he calmed down again.

The meal ended in silence, since I didn’t start any conversation. Only at the end did Seniel speak.

“Is there anything I need to do today?”

“Oh, right. This.”

I took out a single flower from the chair beside me. Even with my shredded nerves, I’d made sure to prepare one.

I picked a different kind this time, just in case Kid complained I was giving the same flower again. I didn’t know what it was, just something I plucked from the garden.

“Put it in the vase like yesterday.”

“Okay.”

He accepted the flower with a solemn expression. What a good boy. What a credit to himself.

I couldn’t eat much, so I stood up. My stomach just couldn’t handle it. As he had yesterday, Seniel rose too, following behind me.

I stopped mid-step, turned back, and held out my hand to him. He only stared at it in confusion.

“Let’s shake hands.”

“……What? Oh. Okay.”

Suspicious and cautious as he was, Seniel still did everything I asked without complaint. Poor thing. His big, firm hand clasped mine.

Holding it, words slipped out before I could stop them.

“You’ve really worked hard at life.”

He looked at me with a baffled expression. I shook my head like it was nothing. I tightened my grip slightly and gave his hand a small shake.

“Let’s both keep working hard at life, okay?”

I patted his shoulder lightly and walked away. He was as pitiful as me, no, more pitiful than me.

Climbing the stairs, I wondered if cheering on Seniel, cheering on Kid, had been the right thing to say. But I didn’t take it back. By now, I saw them as separate people.

* * *

When night fell, a chill settled over the room. I wanted to light a candle, but I didn’t dare upset Kid.

Like the first night, I wrapped myself tightly in the blanket and shivered.

I thought about the many ways Kid had killed and about the things so many people had done to him. Cold sweat ran down my back.

‘He won’t find out, right?’

I was terrified that Kid might realize I’d been in that room. With how sharp he was, he’d notice anything odd immediately. I regretted going there so badly.

‘Mom…’

I almost wished Kid would just show up already, threaten me, and leave quickly. Sitting here trembling, not knowing when something would happen. That was torture in itself.

Time ticked by.

‘Ha… haha…’

A sliver of dawn sunlight slipped through the half open curtain.

Kid never came. I had shaken with fear all night and ended up staying awake till morning. I was utterly exhausted.

Knock, knock. Someone tapped at the door.

‘Kid? This early?’

But I dropped that thought immediately. Kid would never knock politely. I shoved the holy shock device aside and weakly called for them to come in.

Of course, it was Seniel.

His tall, lanky frame looked so mismatched with the tears glimmering in his eyes as he approached me. Though honestly, his handsome face and tears went surprisingly well together.

Anyway. Oh, good boy. The moment I saw his face, the strength drained from my body.

Are you glad to see me too? Well, I’m really glad to see your face this morning.

Seniel is Kid, and Kid is Seniel, so technically I shouldn’t be glad. But I was. I had survived another day.

* * *

Unlike yesterday morning, when his hair had been a wild mess, today Seniel had it neatly tied back. Kid must not have surfaced all night.

Seniel had to know that, but still, he came running, crying like this. Pitiful.

I almost patted his shoulder like I had the day before but stopped myself. Comforting him wasn’t my role.

If, by some chance, Seniel started feeling fond of me, that would be a disaster. This was the exact level of relationship we needed to maintain.

“Now that you’re done crying, you should get going. Don’t you have work?”

“Sorry for my rudeness.”

“Truly sorry for making such a scene.” Seniel muttered softly as he raised his head.

My cold words didn’t hurt him at all. On the contrary, he even gave me a faint smile, like he was relieved.

Knowing everything he’d been through but pretending ignorance pricked at my conscience. Pity welled up inside me, but that didn’t change anything.

“You know about tonight, right?”

“Yes. I’ll make sure we have dinner together. Thank you, Vivi.”

Not like there’s anything to thank me for.

I waved him off. Seniel left quietly, unlike when he’d come in. Watching his retreating back, I let out a small sigh.

* * *

Staying up all night was one thing, but trembling with fear the whole time. I hated that. I just lay on the bed, blinking blankly.

‘Tomorrow’s the late Marquis’s death anniversary…’

The late Marquis, the High Priest, Seniel’s father. A cruel man who coveted his son’s power and experimented on him in pursuit of honor

If only someone had stopped him, Seniel might have grown up as nothing but a good boy without Kid ever being born.

I let my thoughts wander down that impossible path before stopping myself.

It was a hypothesis that could never be true. This was a novel. If the author hadn’t written it that way, this world wouldn’t even exist.

So I forced myself back to realistic thoughts.

‘On the anniversary, Kid will show up and cause chaos before leaving again.’

I was terrified. How badly would he rampage? If he didn’t, that would be even stranger. After all, it was his father who had run those insane experiments. No way he’d stay quiet.

‘It’s weird Seniel turned out kind at all, after all that.’

Now, sure, because of the experiments, good and evil were split, and Seniel was left as the good side. But before that, why hadn’t he rebelled harder? With his power, shouldn’t he have wiped them all out and escaped? Oh wait. Just the thought of killing must’ve stopped his holy power from working. But still, I’d heard even priests fought in wars.

Was there some kind of restraint that made his power useless?

Ah. My thoughts had drifted again. Whether Seniel was kind or not had nothing to do with me.

Dragging my tired body up, I decided I needed more defensive gear, just in case Kid went on a rampage. A neck guard, for one. And I should buy more holy shock devices too.