By Zephyria 
As if they could see Isaac banging his head against the blankets, the cats’ worried chattering could be heard through the gap at the head of the bed: 「Since he’s already thrown his head into it, is he planning to just toss the whole thing away?」, 「What if he becomes even more airheaded?」, 「That won’t do; it’s already overwhelming enough as it is.」
Isaac poked only the tip of his nose through the gap in the blankets and growled.
“Hey… honestly, tell me. Are you guys calling dream demons every night behind my back?”
Isaac seriously suspected that there was no other way he could have such strange dreams every single day, but the cats merely snorted.
「Do you think noble and elegant scions of a prestigious family like us would play with such lowly creatures?」
「And why would a dream demon come to a half-breed when there are so many humans available? It’s because you’ve been starving for so long that your lust has piled up.」
「Stop this and go sleep with a human somewhere. You can release your lust and gain vitality; it’s a win-win.」
“…As long as I live in the human world, I shall live like a human…”
Isaac muttered as if making a vow, clutching the blankets. The three of them meowed in ridicule, but he decided to ignore them. For one, the idea of sucking a human’s vitality felt unpleasant and repulsive, but he also didn’t particularly care for the idea of mixing bodies for a single night just to satisfy sexual desire. At this rate, I might stay a virgin until I die… Isaac let out a deep sigh.
Meanwhile, time flowed, and as he peeked at the clock through the gap in the blankets, he realized it was almost time to get up.
Since he wasn’t feeling well, being buried in the warm blankets made him truly not want to move. He desperately wanted to keep resting. However, knowing that the longer he lingered, the harder it would be to get up, Isaac forced himself to rise. As he did, he glared at the three creatures rolling around by his head, wondering why—despite both being in the same position regarding the full moon, and despite him only having half the blood of a witch—his body felt so heavy and lethargic while those three remained so perfectly fine.
「Why is Manbang looking at us with such a delinquent gaze?」
「It’s probably just useless, pointless jealousy and envy.」
“Why are you guys so energetic even on a full moon?”
「Energetic? I’ve been ailing since the day before yesterday. My joints ache so much I could die.」
In that case, hurry up and go make some goat meat porridge, Isaac thought, ignoring the nonsense they added. Looking closely, though their mouths were still active and chatting, the cats were indeed moving less than usual. They seemed to be feeling lethargic.
“I can be a bit relieved today. It’s a day when Lord Kaieon’s condition is exceptionally good, and the Witch of Roberny will likely stay quiet during the full moon.”
Isaac muttered as he heavily pushed himself off the bed.
Since the Witch of Roberny had vanished after possessing the body of a young mage, her whereabouts remained unknown. From her perspective, it would be best to keep a low profile and wait for the situation to settle, but Isaac had remained on high alert, fearing she might attack at any moment.
But today was the full moon. Since she was also a witch, her condition wouldn’t be great; he felt he could be at ease on a day like this. Despite his heavy body, Isaac’s heart felt a bit lighter as he walked toward the bathroom.
And after he entered the bathroom,
「Our Manbang truly has the qualifications of a Manbang. He’s so airheaded.」
「Mm-hmm, on a day like today, the witch’s consciousness grows quiet, which means the young mage’s own consciousness will swell even larger.」
「There are even spells that reflect the opponent’s power exactly as it is.」
「Mm-hmm, meaning the stronger the person is, the stronger the attack becomes.」
「Why does our Manbang have so many things he doesn’t know?」
He’s just too airheaded, what to do with that ignorant youth, the three of them chattered, heads huddled together, before falling into a brief silence. At the end of that silence, they let out a sigh that could have sunk the earth.
「Sigh… I suppose we won’t be able to rest.」
They dropped their heads in resignation.
Isaac stood blankly by the window, looking up at the darkening sky. Inside the room, the Prince was drinking his post-meal tea. Once he finished his tea, Isaac’s shift would begin.
The sky was still the dim color of evening, and a sharp, thin moon hung low over the distant mountains. It was a beautiful full moon.
Time truly flies. As the Dark Moon and the full moon alternate, the moon changes and time passes. It felt like only yesterday he had made a New Year’s wish, but the sweltering season had already passed, and the weather had turned cool. After two or three more cycles of the Dark Moon and full moon, the season where cold seeps deep into the bones would arrive, and then they would soon face the Great Dark Moon.
There really wasn’t much time left.
As the days passed, the cats seemed to grow anxious as well, and their nagging increased, asking why he wasn’t figuring out a way to find the flint jar.
The Great Dark Moon occurs once every seven years. Once this year’s Great Dark Moon passed, they would have to wait another seven years. That meant if he didn’t find the flint jar by then, he would have to suffer under those creatures for another seven years.
That couldn’t happen, absolutely not. Isaac shuddered, shrinking his shoulders and shaking his head. A few months of this discordant and chaotic life were more than enough for one lifetime.
Moreover,
“…”
Isaac glanced back at the three of them, who were fearlessly perched on the windowsill of the Prince’s drawing room. Three rounded bottoms were huddled close together.
The sight looked exactly like the times they would sit huddled like that on moonlit nights, chatting softly about their hometown. On leisurely nights, the cats would sit side-by-side looking up at the moon, sharing stories of the time they lived in the land of the new moon. Stories of parents, siblings, friends, and many other longing memories. Then, at some point, they would all fall silent and simply gaze at the moon.
Looking at their backs made his heart ache and feel heavy, and Isaac thought, Yes, during this year’s Great Dark Moon, I’ll send you back to your hometown.
The problem, however, was how.
There was very little time left until the Great Dark Moon. Considering it happened once every seven years, it was no exaggeration to say it was right before their eyes, and that remaining time was dwindling by the second.
Isaac felt anxiety rising up to his throat.
How on earth could he obtain the flint jar from the King’s treasure house in such a short time? There were no opportunities to achieve a great feat to earn it, no guarantee of success, and above all, time was desperately lacking. Even if he tried to devise another method, no matter how much he racked his brain, there was no clear way.
“Maybe I have no choice but to dig a tunnel and steal it…”
It was just as he let out a heavy sigh and glanced back at the three on the windowsill. Over the three rounded heads, his eyes locked exactly with the Prince, who was sitting inside the room.
Isaac froze reflexively. The Prince looked at him indifferently, then shifted his gaze to the clock on the desk. Following the gaze, Isaac realized it was time to work and hurriedly stepped inside.
Today, the Prince’s physical condition was excellent, and his mood didn’t seem too bad. A lightning bolt wouldn’t strike just because he entered a few seconds late, but it was always better to be cautious. Was Byeokyeong Palace not a place where one never knew when or why they might be struck by lightning?
Hurrying into the drawing room, Isaac swapped places with the Byeokyeong Palace guard and stood by the pillar. He faced the Prince, who he thought had almost finished his tea—only to see him pouring another cup.
This position isn’t great… When the Prince sat at the desk, Isaac stood to the side, so they didn’t face each other so bluntly, but since he was sitting on the reception sofa, they were directly opposite.
It was uncomfortable. Very. Especially now, when a servant was kneeling at the Prince’s feet, burying his face in the Prince’s crotch.
Occasionally, the servant, who had swallowed the flesh deep into his throat, made gagging sounds while diligently performing oral sex, yet the Prince’s face remained utterly indifferent, almost bored. Isaac thought that the Prince would look more pleased even while receiving a foot massage. Just as he was thinking this,
“What did you say you were going to steal?”
The Prince asked abruptly. After blankly responding with a “Pardon?” without thinking, Isaac recalled the words he had just muttered outside the window—and flinched, amazed that the Prince had managed to hear them.
“Ah… there are many things in the world one desires. But I have no actual intention of stealing.”
He could see the cats rolling their eyes in dissatisfaction and tapping the windowsill with their tails, but regardless, Isaac answered with a serious face. The Prince, looking at him askew, spoke again.
“What is it you want?”
“I don’t know, well, a pretty house, or pretty chickens, or a pretty wife… just some small things necessary to lead a peaceful life…”
The Prince gazed intently at Isaac’s face as he muttered mechanically with a serious expression. The Prince quietly stroked his chin and said,
“Is your salary so low that it’s difficult to obtain those small things?”
“Officials are meant to have low salaries.”
Isaac replied, still maintaining his serious expression. Those blue eyes that scrutinized him in detail were very distracting, but he steadfastly met his gaze. Only his face. He didn’t want to accidentally let his gaze drop lower.
“I see… come to think of it, you also tried to achieve a feat to receive a reward.”
The Prince muttered as if talking to himself. Even while quietly drinking tea, his gaze did not leave Isaac; he couldn’t tell what he was thinking. The cold sweat that had been soaking his nape felt as if it were about to reach his forehead.
However, the Prince said nothing more, and eventually placed the empty teacup on the table. Then, he grabbed the head of the servant who had been buried in his crotch and pushed down hard. The servant let out a sound akin to a groan, likely because he was pierced deep into his throat.
The Prince gripped the servant’s head and shook it relentlessly, and the servant, despite making suffocating sounds, began to move his tongue diligently.
Thump, thump, thump. Every time the Prince pushed the servant’s head, a squelching sound mixed with the servant’s choked groans flowed out. The pace gradually increased.
Isaac, holding his head stiff, had the scene fully in his view, but he struggled to blur his focus and avoid seeing it clearly. The Prince’s piercing blue eyes, which were staring intently at Isaac, helped by pinning Isaac’s gaze.
Today was a full moon, and the Prince’s condition was exceptionally good. The servant had already been licking the Prince’s member since Isaac arrived at Byeokyeong Palace, and although it seemed the Prince had ejaculated several times, the servant had long been struggling to soothe a desire that remained swollen and unyielding. Isaac sent deep sympathy in his heart to the servant, whose entire face, neck, and chest were drenched in saliva, physiological tears, and the Prince’s semen, his jaw likely paralyzed from the numbness in his mouth.
At the same time, he felt fear at the Prince’s stamina, which did not subside even after such a long time despite it being the full moon, and he remained frozen, unable to move a finger under that piercing gaze.
It had been like this lately.
He thought things had quieted down for a while, but not long ago, the Prince had returned to releasing his sexual desire almost every day, choosing a reasonably handsome servant. That in itself wasn’t strange, as he had done it often in the past, but there was one problem.
Every time he did, Isaac was subjected to the Prince’s gaze.
Whenever the Prince satisfied his desires, he always looked at Isaac with that indifferent face. He did not permit Isaac to quietly leave his post or turn his back. Isaac was forced to stand tall in a position where the scene entered his field of vision directly.
He felt that this likely played a part in why he dreamed every night.
“Ggh…!”
At that moment, the Prince pushed the servant’s head deep into his crotch, and the servant shrugged his shoulders, making a sound like a strangled animal. Even as the servant’s Adam’s apple bobbed several times in swallowing, the semen he couldn’t fully swallow surged out of his mouth.
And in that moment, facing the Prince’s gaze, which narrowed ever so slightly, Isaac tasted that strange sensation again. A throbbing heat deep within his body, a bizarre chaos—whether it was excitement or a sense of humiliation—as if he were the one kneeling in that spot.
It was because of that look. Because of the dreams.
This is troublesome. If this keeps up, things are really going to get troublesome.
Before the agonizing Isaac, the Prince finally pushed the servant away, as if deciding to end the act for today. In contrast to the servant, who retreated stumbling with his face drenched, the Prince stood up and tidied his clothes as if nothing had happened.
He thought this every time he saw it, but it was truly fascinating. How could he have such a calm and nonchalant face just seconds after releasing his desires? Then again, he was expressionless even at the moment of ejaculation, at most only frowning his eyebrows slightly, so there wasn’t much more to say about it.
The Prince glanced at the sky, which had suddenly grown darker and closer to the color of night, picked up an object from the desk, and approached the window. The cats, who had been lying side-by-side on the windowsill, jumped up and sat, their hips wiggling in anticipation.
What the Prince indifferently placed in the cats’ mouths was softly dried jerky. Made from goat meat. Isaac watched the three of them, who were overwhelmed with joy, their eyes wide with fervent affection, with a complicated heart.
For some reason, the Prince had been frequently giving food to those three lately, and in the process, he had even learned their preferences, giving them goat meat jerky or grilled meat. Not long ago, after they ate goat meat marinated in wine, they became so excited they rolled around on the floor like cats that had entered a silver vine forest; the Prince had muttered, “Their appetite is just like a witch’s,” and occasionally poured them a bit of wine as well.
They are witches, though… and to give such expensive things to those ill-tempered cats… Isaac couldn’t bring himself to say it and only watched with a complex expression. Perhaps feeling Isaac’s gaze, the Prince suddenly turned around.
“Do you have something to say?”
“… …No. Nothing.”
No matter how spitefully they act, we’ve shared the same meals for a few months now, so I can’t kill them… well, even if they die, they wouldn’t die alone… As Isaac shook his head, the Prince continued to look at him with a gaze that urged him to speak if he had something to say. Meanwhile, Isaac forced his gaze away from the loathsome cats, who had devoured the jerky and were now licking the Prince’s fingertips to get another piece. After mumbling and hesitating for a moment, he accidentally blurted out,
“Um… I’d prefer it if you didn’t look. Could you please not look?”
The Prince gazed at Isaac. Isaac shrank inside, wondering if he had spoken needlessly. The Prince asked,
“What?”
“… When you are satisfying your desires. I’d prefer it if you didn’t look my way.”
“Why.”
“It’s embarrassing.”
“Why.”
Isaac thought he had made a perfectly reasonable request, but he was momentarily speechless at the way the Prince asked back so nonchalantly. Why? Well, because…
Because it makes me feel strange. Because I have dreams every night. It feels threatening. …He couldn’t readily say any of those things. So, the answer that escaped Isaac’s lips as he hesitated was,
“I feel like my face might dampen your mood, Lord Kaieon.”
He felt wounded by his own words. Seeing Isaac pouting sullenly, the Prince nodded as if accepting the explanation.
“Your face certainly isn’t my type.”
That he agreed so readily was, on one hand, a relief, but on the other, it left him with complicated feelings. As Isaac could only blink, unable to find a response, the Prince looked at him with narrowed eyes and muttered,
“Your reactions are somewhat interesting, though.”
Lightly dusting off his empty hand after giving out the jerky, the Prince turned and sat on the sofa. Isaac was momentarily flustered, not knowing how to respond, but the Prince didn’t seem to expect one as he picked up a book.
Once he started reading, Isaac could finally relax. Seeing the Prince begin to turn the pages, Isaac felt a bit more at ease. The servants also seemed relieved that the Prince had started reading and returned to their respective duties.
Standing straight with his head facing forward, Isaac shifted only his gaze slightly to look at the Prince. Sitting obliquely on the sofa with his eyes cast down on the pages, the Prince seemed to possess more luster and radiance than usual, perhaps because it was the full moon.
The Prince was a more generous master than those outsiders feared. While he was ruthless when administering punishment, he was not a bad master as long as one paid sufficient attention to their speech and conduct. Even a moment ago was proof of this. Though the Prince rarely spoke with his subordinates, once a conversation began, it could be conducted with a surprising degree of freedom. In an era where authoritarian nobles who demanded nothing but an unconditional “Yes” were commonplace, the Prince—the object of everyone’s terror—was conversely lenient in such matters.
Furthermore, Natasha and the Chamberlain had mentioned recently that he seemed to have softened. They said he had become more lenient since passing the Dark Moon nights with relative ease. Indeed, he felt more stable than in the past, when he was always shrouded in a murderous aura and slaughtered the beasts of the forest every few days. Although serving him still felt as precarious as walking on thin ice, it felt as if that ice had grown thicker by perhaps the width of a hair.
…Yes, if they feel that way, then it is a relief. Even if I, who have become a medicinal ingredient every Dark Moon, live each day with a heart that feels like the most fragile of ice. If someone else can be happy through my sacrifice, then it is a good thing, indeed.
Isaac let out a quiet, sorrowful sigh.
It was then. Perhaps hearing that sound, the Prince lifted his gaze.
Isaac, who had not expected him to suddenly look up while reading, had been stealing glances at him with only his eyes lowered. He found himself locked in direct eye contact, and after a few seconds of agonizingly embarrassed silence, he slowly shifted his gaze away. Cold sweat poured down his face, and his cheeks grew hot.
“Are you unwell?”
“No. My body feels a bit languid, but I am not sick.”
“You seem to fall ill periodically. Last time, you also mentioned your condition was poor for no particular reason.”
“…Uh… I’ve never been particularly healthy… and I didn’t sleep well last night. My condition doesn’t actually fluctuate that periodically.”
Fearing that avoiding eye contact would seem suspicious, Isaac answered while staring straight at the Prince. The Prince looked at Isaac in silence before speaking.
“If your body is that frail, you are unfit to be a guard.”
“Yes, I am fortunate that the person I serve is Lord Kaieon. I can feel at ease even if my condition is poor, and since you even said you would save me once if I were in danger, I find great strength in that.”
Half of the remark was mechanical flattery, but the other half was sincere. Isaac looked up at the full moon hanging round in the sky and added after a short pause.
“However, if the situation is too reckless, you do not have to save me.”
If he were to be put in danger because of Isaac, that was something he absolutely did not want. As he spoke calmly and looked back, the Prince merely faced him in silence without answering. Wondering if he had said something unnecessary, Isaac felt a bit awkward. Thus, he quickly changed the subject as if brushing it off.
“A full moon like today makes the heart feel at peace. On a day like this, even a witch would keep a low profile, and Lord Kaieon’s condition is good.”
The Prince, who had been watching Isaac, gave a light nod instead of an answer.
Since the day the Mage Guild Master died, the days had continued to be quiet and uneventful, but Isaac had spent them with a corner of his heart constantly tense, unable to fully relax. Moreover, the young mage who had vanished still left no trace.
“While I was organizing the books Lord Kaieon was reading a while ago, I noticed that if one has a witch’s heart and eyeball, it seems possible to track another witch…”
As Isaac brought this up with a feigned air of indifference and glanced at the Prince’s reaction, the Prince nodded without any particular expression.
“A witch’s heart and eyeball can be obtained. I will have them by the next Dark Moon.”
“…”
Those heart and eyeball must be my own, then… Isaac could not say a word. The Prince added, “One problem is,” and frowned slightly.
“The trouble is if the Witch of Roberny keeps a low profile until the Great Dark Moon.”
If he failed to encounter the Witch of Roberni—or a phantom sent by her—even once, he could not cast the spell to track her, no matter if he obtained a witch’s heart and eyeball. If he missed this Great Dark Moon, he would have to wait another seven years—to massacre them all at the gathering of witches, as he desired.
Isaac remained silent for a long time. He didn’t know what to say or how to say it, as it was unclear whether he wanted the Prince’s wish to be fulfilled or not.
“…She will likely appear at least once before then. Or perhaps that witch will try to eliminate Lord Kaieon first…”
“That would be better.”
Hearing the Prince’s casual response, Isaac fell silent again.
His mind was incredibly cluttered. There was what the Prince desired, and then there was the problem immediately before him.
The Prince had promised to save Isaac’s life once, but currently, ‘Isaac’ and the ‘Witch of the New Moon’ were separate entities. It seemed the Prince was determined to take the heart and eyeball from the Witch of the New Moon, even if it meant enduring the agony of the Dark Moon again. If he were to say, ‘Actually, that was me,’ would the Prince really spare him? Deceiving a Monarch alone could be grounds for having one’s head chopped off. Yet, even if he tried to hide it, the Prince would kill Isaac to take the heart and eyeball once the Dark Moon arrived.
…What on earth should I do…
Isaac tore at his hair internally. His expression must have been quite bleak. The Prince suddenly looked at Isaac and arched an eyebrow.
“Do you have something to say?”
“… …About you saving my life once.”
Isaac began to speak, feeling as though he were clutching at straws. The Prince looked at Isaac in silence for a moment, then gestured with his head for him to continue.
“Would it be alright if I asked you to save another life instead of mine…?”
If he asked to save the life of the witch who visits on the Dark Moon—though complex problems would follow, such as how he knew that witch—he decided to figure those out later, as they were secondary to the matter of life and death. Isaac spoke with a sliver of hope that perhaps, just perhaps, there was a way.
The answer did not come immediately.
“… …?”
Enough time had passed for either an affirmation or a denial, yet no word was heard. Isaac, who had been mumbling with his head bowed because he couldn’t bring himself to face the Prince, slowly—very slowly—raised his gaze after a long silence.
His eyes met the Prince’s.
In that moment, Isaac flinched.
That expressionless face looked very strange—as if he had heard something completely unexpected, yet simultaneously chilling enough to freeze Isaac’s heart.
“Another life,” the Prince murmured softly. His calm voice was not much different from usual, yet the temperature was strangely lower.
“Is there someone you wish to save in your stead, to the point of throwing away the chance to save your own life?” the Prince asked. A face more languid than usual, a pace of speech slower than usual; Isaac didn’t know why it felt so unfamiliar and chilling.
“Rather than in my stead, there is someone whose situation seems more desperate than mine…”
“Who?”
Isaac was at a loss for words. He could not readily answer who it was in this place, and his chest felt cold under the gaze of those blue eyes. This feeling of anxiety was, for reasons unknown, a sign of warning.
“Tell me. I will decide after hearing it. Who is the person you wish to save?”
The Prince asked again. Unable to tear his eyes away from those blue pupils, Isaac’s lips merely trembled. It was an unexpected pressing of the issue. Isaac thought the Prince he knew would have answered concisely, either allowing it or forbidding it.
“Who is it?”
The Prince’s voice dropped. When the faint killing intent embedded in that question reached him.
Something unexpected happened.
A maid, who had been clearing the teapot and teacups from the table and stepping back behind the Prince, suddenly collapsed toward him.
No, she didn’t just collapse. She threw her body toward the Prince.
The moment he saw her approaching while staring at the Prince with vacant eyes, he felt something was wrong. The Prince moved his body as soon as he sensed the presence closing in from behind, but he was a step too late. A small, sharp blade held in the maid’s hand sliced a long gash across the Prince’s arm. The blade, which would have pierced his back had he not dodged, instantly turned pitch-black upon touching blood. It was poison.
“…!”
Isaac leaped from his seat at almost the same moment the Prince drew his sword and severed the maid’s neck.
The body, which remained standing upright even after being decapitated, took a step toward the Prince, and at that moment, black blood surged from the severed neck. As the Prince quickly lifted the tablecloth to block the spraying blood, the cloth instantly sizzled and burned away into smoke where the blood touched. The maid’s blood—the body itself—was a massive lump of poison.
Hiding hurriedly behind the sofa, Isaac clicked his tongue as he saw a hole burn through his clothes where a few drops of blood had splattered. Simultaneously, his heart sank heavily.
She has come.
The Witch of Roberny.
He hadn’t expected her to come today, but she had come on this full moon night to claim the Prince, who had not yet secured a witch’s heart and eyeball.
Just then, the door to the drawing room opened. Looking over, the person entering the room was the Chamberlain of Byeokyeong Palace. He was the man who had served the Prince at Byeokyeong Palace ever since the Prince returned to the capital from the frontier.
“You shouldn’t come—”
Isaac tried to shout urgently, but he fell silent upon seeing the Chamberlain’s vacant eyes, his head turning in a grotesque, mechanical direction as if searching for something. …My god.
The Chamberlain’s glass-like eyes saw the Prince. The footsteps approaching the Prince were like a creaking mechanical device. Seeing the Chamberlain, the Prince tore down a curtain to cover him and slashed his sword. The Chamberlain’s neck was severed along with the curtain. The curtain burned black from the surging blood.
“What… this hideous…”
Isaac murmured unconsciously. The Chamberlain’s head, protruding from beneath the sprawled curtain, shuddered painfully for a long time as if still alive before finally stopping.
It was then.
The entire building shook as if an earthquake had struck.
The ground surged so violently that he nearly fell over, yet the objects on the table and bookshelves did not fall a single one, remaining fixed in place. The sound of glass shattering rang out, yet the wildly shaking windows remained intact without a single crack.
The earthquake stopped as abruptly as it had begun, and in the sudden, heavy silence, it seemed as though nothing in the room had changed. However, Isaac soon realized the greatest change.
He could not see outside. As if mud had been smeared over them, the windows had become pitch-black and blurred, obscuring the view. The garden outside and the full moon in the night sky were all crushed into blackness.
A barrier.
This space—likely the entirety of Byeokyeong Palace—had been enveloped in a giant barrier, severed from the outside world.
Isaac looked back at the Prince. The moment he saw the Prince’s arm, which was shaking blood off his sword, Isaac’s face contorted. The arm cut by the maid’s blade was swollen and black.
“Lord Kaieon…!”
Isaac rushed to him and tied around his shoulder whatever he could grab—a string from the torn curtain. Before the Prince, looking down at him, could say anything, the door to the drawing room opened again. And people began to enter in a line.
As if everyone in Byeokyeong Palace was gathering, they crossed the threshold with grotesque, slow movements. Every single one of them looked around with vacant eyes, and upon discovering the Prince, they began to approach him.
They were all familiar faces.
They were all people who worked at Byeokyeong Palace.
Some had started working there only a few days ago, while others had served the Prince for a long time. There were those who merely passed the time day by day, and those who offered their sincere loyalty to the Prince. There were those Isaac had only greeted a few times, and those he knew well, having shared long conversations whenever they met.
All of them were gathering here with faces like soulless mechanical dolls, their bodies filled with poison instead of blood. Among the girls with tender skin, some had poison seeping through their flesh like discharge, unable to withstand the toxicity of their own blood.
The sheer misery of it.
“—.”
Isaac grit his teeth. Clamping his jaw to stop it from trembling, he whispered to the cats with their fur standing on end atop the window frame.
“What must I do to bring these people back?”
「Impossible. It’s too late.」
「Their blood has been entirely replaced with poison. Their internal organs must already be pickled in it; there is no way.」
Isaac was speechless.
All those people. All those people who worked for the Prince at Byeokyeong Palace.
No longer possessing reason, they lunged toward the Prince, and the Prince, watching them expressionlessly, raised his sword. Droplets of blood, turned into poisonous liquid, fell. Just as the Prince was about to swing his sword.
“—I will do it.”
Isaac grabbed the Prince’s arm. While the Prince, having stopped his movement, looked at Isaac, Isaac plunged his sword into the first servant to reach them. The moment the blade sank deep into the heart, the servant convulsed, staggered a few times, and collapsed. From the place where the sword was withdrawn, clumps of black, hardening blood pushed out, burning the servant’s own body.
Isaac stood as if blocking the Prince, beginning to cut down the people approaching slowly, one by one. He slashed, stabbed, and cleaved. Each time, the people collapsed like rotten straw.
“Move. You aren’t even a threat.”
The Prince spoke from behind. The faintly cold tone was because he did not appreciate someone else taking the portion he was meant to slay. However, Isaac did not move. He did not even look back.
“I will do it. Please do not touch them, Lord Kaieon.”
“Move. I will not say it a third time.”
“Are they not the people who worked for you, Lord Kaieon?”
Isaac’s determined voice was low and suppressed. As if he were on the verge of crying, wailing, or screaming.
The Prince fell silent. Isaac also kept his mouth shut, continuing to cut down the swarming crowd over and over.
It was not difficult. Most were servants and maids. There were guards mixed in, but they were not overwhelming opponents. Without using any great magic or powerful attacks, they merely swung daggers or clubs clumsily before being cut down by Isaac and falling easily like straw.
They simply died. He was simply making them die. The people who had served by the Prince’s side, dying by the Prince’s hand.
The horror of it.
“—.”
Isaac clamped his mouth shut to keep a groan from escaping. He tightened his grip on the sword.
Cutting through the people continuously flooding into the drawing room, he advanced and locked the door. Outside, those who hadn’t made it in pounded on the door as if to break it, but those sounds gradually faded. They were dying outside the door, unable to withstand the poison in their own bodies. Black blood seeped through the gap under the door, smelling foul.
Isaac lowered his head, blocking the firmly locked door with one hand as if guarding it. At his feet lay the person who had entered the drawing room just before he closed the door, the last person he had slain—a middle-aged woman, Natasha. The corpse, which had turned dark and was emitting a foul smoke from every single orifice, had become something entirely different from the kind-hearted woman Isaac had spoken with just a few hours ago.
The only people left in the room were the Prince and Isaac. And the numerous corpses strewn across the floor.
The Prince slowly looked around and finally looked at Isaac. Isaac, leaning his back against the door in a hunched posture, had a face that looked as if he were about to cry.
It was just as the Prince, gazing at Isaac, was about to open his mouth.
Nine Palaces—the ground seemed to vibrate like a heavy tremor. Smoke rising from the corpses, charred by poison, began to gather and clump together. The smoke grew larger and denser, swirling in the air until it formed a shape. It was the size of a person, the shape of a person. The mass of smoke slowly descended from the air and stood three or four paces in front of the Prince. As it took on a more distinct form, the mass of smoke eventually assumed the appearance of a human.
Standing face-to-face with the Prince, it looked exactly like him, as if reflecting a mirror.
The Prince’s features, his attire, and even the shape of his arm, swollen from the spreading poison, were identical. It was as if it had been modeled exactly after the Prince standing in this spot. The only difference was the faint smile on its face.
That smile grew deeper. Pulling up the corners of its mouth as if distorting its face, the Prince’s likeness burst into a mad laugh filled with ecstasy.
『Wonderful, absolutely wonderful…!』
A voice that seemed to hum inside the ears laughed maniacally.
『To think a witch was such a wonderful thing. To have this much power! Mana is overflowing beyond control!』
The Prince’s likeness looked down at its own body. It was as if his original body were doing so from somewhere far away. With eyes gleaming with frenzied joy and the corners of its mouth curled up, the face was certainly that of the Prince, yet the expression overlapped with someone else.
It was that man. That young mage.
『If I had known the power of a witch was this incredible, I would have done this sooner. I should have killed that old man faster and transferred this woman into my own body. To think I left such a good thing to that old man until now.』
Thinly trembling lips tore open wide in a state of rapture. Then, the figure suddenly looked at the Prince standing before him. The smile vanished from its face as if washed away.
Looking at the Prince with a desolate and grim face, he suddenly grinned, distorting his features, and bowed exaggeratedly.
『It has been a long time, Your Highness. I trust you have been well?』
The Prince looked expressionlessly at the figure that looked exactly like himself. The bowing figure raised its head and smirked.
『Do you like this face?』
As he spoke, the figure pointedly scratched his own face with his fingernails. Five deep scars were carved into the face identical to the Prince’s. The Prince merely watched him with indifference, and the figure burst into laughter like a madman, as if he were dying of amusement.
『Do you know who I am? No, surely the noble Your Highness cannot remember someone as lowly as I?』
The figure drooped its eyebrows in a feigned air of misery. Even so, the corners of its mouth were curling in a smile. The Prince, who had been watching him without expression, spoke languidly.
“Is it because you lack an arm that you do not appear in your own form, even while asking if I remember you?”
In that instant, the smile vanished from the figure’s face. For a moment, its face distorted hideously like a demon, and its bulging eyes turned pitch-black as it glared at the Prince.
Then, the figure suddenly bared its teeth. A face, indistinguishable between a smile and a grimace, muttered gloomily.
『Yes, you cut off my arm. You turned me, who was perfect and flawless from the moment of birth, into a laughingstock. But thanks to that, I gained something better. The will to curse you… and this witch’s power…!』
The figure let out a violent laugh. The air rang out so loudly it felt as if the eardrums would burst. The entire room filled with a wicked laugh.
Suddenly, the figure stretched its neck. Its neck lengthened like a snake, thrusting its face right in front of the Prince’s nose. The figure whispered softly.
『I heard you were searching for a witch? Did you want to break the Curse? Oh, how pitiful.』
The figure, feigning a sorrowful look, tilted its head and sighed.
『A life cursed from birth; what a miserable and pathetic existence. Moreover, from now on, for all eternity, no matter what means you use, you will never escape the Curse—』
The low whisper turned into a gloomy laugh. The neck that had stretched like a snake returned to its place, and it laughed long and loud, emitting a chillingly evil aura.
Just then,
“How tedious.”
The Prince, who had been watching him in silence, muttered.
The moment that low whisper, like a monologue, escaped, the figure’s laughter stopped abruptly. Facing the figure who glared with a terrifyingly hardened face, the Prince spoke languidly.
“Unless it is a day like today, when the witch’s consciousness sinks, the ramblings of a wretch—who is worse than an insect, unable to use his own consciousness, let alone his body, by his own will—are utterly tedious. Is that all for such a cliché story?”
Then there is nothing more to hear, the Prince muttered, and swung his sword down. Though it seemed slow, the blade was terrifyingly fast, as if it were impossible to avoid, looking as though it would slice the figure in two. However,
Clang!
With a grating metallic sound, the Prince’s sword stopped mid-air.
The figure—the one with the same appearance and attire as the Prince—had drawn a sword and blocked the Prince’s blade.
The Prince faintly arched an eyebrow. Seeing the hint of surprise, the figure smirked.
『Are you surprised? You must be! This body is a form that perfectly mimics the opponent it faces. Not only the appearance, but the strength and abilities are all identical to the opponent. The stronger you are, the stronger this form becomes; the faster you are, the faster this form becomes. How is it? It won’t be tedious now, will it?』
Immediately after those words, the figure attacked first. The Prince, reacting quickly, managed to block it—which was unlike him. But as soon as he blocked, the figure unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks, and the Prince blocked them in succession. The sight of the Prince seemingly driven into a defensive position was surprising and unfamiliar. The figure was pressing him with strength and skill perfectly equal to the Prince’s own.
Wounds quickly increased on the Prince’s body. They were at a similar level to the strikes the Prince was dealing to the figure.
It was a sight that made one’s heart grow cold just by watching, as if two terrifying beasts, who should have never met, had encountered one another and were biting and tearing at each other.
For the first time, a light resembling surprise appeared on the Prince’s indifferent face. And that surprise gradually changed into something else. It was excitement.
『You are pleased.』
The figure suddenly spoke.
『You are pleased to have met an opponent to whom you can fully pour out your madness-fueled bloodlust. Since you enjoy the scent of blood and wish to keep pain and screams by your side, what is this if not a monster!』
The figure shouted loudly.
『O cursed one from birth, you should never have been born into this world. Without kin, friends, or followers, you will live a lonely life and die in exhaustion. Look around you. Is your side not piled high with nothing but corpses!』
The figure was laughing. Its mouth, torn open to the ears, laughed while spitting out words like a Curse, as if they were poison. It was no longer human. It had become a being where the demonic nature had overwritten the human nature, assimilated with the witch.
On the Prince’s body and the figure’s body, deep and shallow wounds were carved one by one every time they clashed. A perfect stalemate. As time passed and the tip of the Prince’s sword grew slightly duller, the tip of the figure’s sword grew duller by the same amount. A desperate struggle ensued where neither side would win or lose, and eventually, the Prince’s entire body was covered in wounds.
『You cannot defeat this body. This body cannot defeat you either, but there is still a long time before the night ends. Enough time for you to lose your life, collapsing in a wretched state as your strength is spent.』
It was then, as the figure bared its teeth and laughed with gleaming, pitch-black eyes.
“Then you can fight me.”
The one who lunged in, swinging a sword from behind the figure, was Isaac.
Though the figure turned with composure to block the sword despite the sudden attack, the moment their blades clashed with a loud ring—, the sword held by the figure shook slightly. The defense, which had balanced with a strength equal to Isaac’s, became incomparably heavier and slower than the movements from just a few seconds prior. The figure, realizing this, distorted its face, and the face of the figure facing Isaac instantly crumpled like clay, half-transforming into Isaac’s likeness.
『You are—』
As the figure shouted roughly in confusion, Isaac swung his sword in succession. The figure blocked those attacks with a bewildered look and countered Isaac, and Isaac blocked it in return. With strength where neither was superior or inferior.
“It would be better to deal with me. If you are at a level to fight me as an equal,”
Isaac muttered bluntly. Isaac’s gaze was directed over the figure’s shoulder, toward the Prince who was closing in right behind it.
“You won’t be able to handle Kaieon-nim.”
At that exact moment, the Prince’s sword fell upon the figure’s head. From the crown of the head to the groin, the blade sliced precisely through the figure’s torso vertically.
The sound of glass shattering echoed from somewhere.
The air swirled as if exploding, and the room shook violently. The windows rattled and trembled, and in an instant, the blackness that had covered the windows vanished, revealing the night sky with a full moon once more. The barrier had been broken.
『You are—』
The figure murmured. Though it still maintained a human shape, it had returned to the form of a clump of smoke, its eyes, nose, and mouth all blurred. Those hollow eye sockets were staring intently at Isaac.
『You… yes, you are the one who was beside me when my arm was cut. The one who is the Prince’s guard. But why… why were you not affected by my magic even though you were inside the barrier? Why did the blood in your body not turn to poison and kill you?』
“You are a being more wicked and cruel than a witch. You should never have been released into the world.”
Isaac spoke calmly. Then, he sliced through the figure with his sword.
The figure seemed to scatter, split in half, but it wavered as smoke and gathered back into a single mass.
“Since you have already caused so many to die, I must find you before the harm grows any greater.”
Isaac said, looking at the figure. At that, the figure’s face gradually distorted and curled upward like a demon. It was a hideous, smiling face.
『You? Me?』
A mad laugh burst forth. The sound, shaking the entire air, continued for a long time. Then, abruptly, the figure stretched its neck and thrust its head in front of Isaac. Its eye sockets curved thinly in a smile.
『Will you be able to find me? No one will be able to find my whereabouts. Even today, I only appeared because this witch fell asleep; normally, this witch’s consciousness keeps me suppressed. And this woman does not intend to appear until the Great Dark Moon has passed.』
The figure chuckled. Mocking and ridiculing Isaac, who was merely watching it in silence, the figure whispered thinly.
『Besides, you are about to die now.』
Simultaneously with those words, the figure collapsed. The smoke, which had lost its human form and begun to scatter in clouds, instantly enveloped Isaac and seeped into his eyes, nose, mouth, and every single hole in his body.
『Hahaha, guard, I have now borrowed your body, so let us show the final loyalty to the Prince you have served until now. Since he is one who enjoys blood and flesh, this time you must offer yours.』
The figure laughed from within Isaac’s body. With a sound that thundered in his head, Isaac looked back at the Prince. The Prince was looking at Isaac with a faint frown. On his face, which was sunken and expressionless as usual, only the furrowed brow stood out as different.
“Do not point your sword at me.”
The Prince said.
If the opponent points a sword, he will undoubtedly cut them down.
Had that man ever warned him in advance, as he always does? Isaac looked at the Prince in silence and then lowered his gaze. He then turned his eyes to the surroundings.
People dead, filling the wide drawing room. He scanned the corpses draped over the sofas and sprawled across the floor one by one. After that, Isaac spoke to the Prince as if sighing.
“I do not point my sword at you. …As it was in the past, it shall be so in the future.”
At that fading whisper, the Prince faintly arched an eyebrow. Just then,
『What a truly touching guard. Such a deeply loyal person must surely enjoy the honor of dying by the Prince’s hand. Is that not so, Your Highness?』
A voice full of sarcasm leaked from Isaac’s mouth. Along with it, Isaac’s hand gripped the sword, raised it, and stood facing the Prince.
The Prince looked at Isaac expressionlessly. Isaac also looked at the Prince. The expression of Isaac, with the sword in his hand, was heavily sunken, making the giggling laughter flowing from deep within his throat feel extremely alien.
『Now, go, guard. You, who only watched as my arm was cut, shall now see your own neck be severed.』
A voice full of manic joy shouted. Someone who could never die or be hurt was laughing while looking into this wretched scene from a far-off place.
After creating this horrific sight.
And now, once they escape from here, there is no knowing when they will return or if they can even be found.
『Go! I said go already?!』
A hint of bewilderment mixed into the voice urging Isaac. As if his own body were not moving according to his will, the puzzled voice turned vicious.
“I will find you. …Even if I cannot find you myself, I will seize a clue so that I may know where you are.”
『You—you—are—』
The voice changed grotesquely. High tones, low tones, thick and humming sounds, thin and shrill sounds—these mixed together, sounding from near and far as if rummaging through every corner of Isaac’s body. Then, suddenly, the voice cut off. Eventually,
『You… are not human.』
A terrifyingly fierce voice murmured. The voice resonated thicker and thicker, as if coming from the bottom of hell.
『Not human. Something not human was living mixed among humans. You—something not even human, why do you stand beside a human?! You witch’s child!』
The voice rang out loudly, as if echoing in a cave.
And—while still looking at the Prince, and while staring straight at the Prince who was gazing at him with eyes shimmering with a cold blue light and faintly arched eyebrows, Isaac gripped the hilt of the sword in his hand in reverse.
Seeing that, and watching the Prince’s face freeze coldly, Isaac pushed the blade into his own heart as if cutting through hesitation.
Thuck.
The feeling of the sword piercing through thick muscle was extremely unfamiliar. A chilling sensation of something terrifyingly cold digging into the body. Simultaneously, a suffocating pain followed.
『—.』
The smoke that had seeped into every corner of the body surged. In an instant, the smoke erupting from the entire body like a mist took on a reddish glow.
Thump. Thump. It was the first time he felt the sensation of his own heart beating so vividly. Feeling his heart thumping even louder, appealing against the pain as if it did not want to stop living, Isaac gripped the sword hilt, dripping with cold sweat. Then, closing his eyes tightly, he pulled the sword out.
Blood sprayed from his heart. The smoke continuously flowing and writhing from Isaac’s body grew denser. The sound the figure let out hummed, but it was unintelligible. Meow— the sound of a cat screeching sharply was heard.
Isaac raised his head. For some reason, his eyes felt very hot. Perhaps because of the cold sweat, in his blurred vision, he seemed to see a beast lunging at him, casting a shadow as huge as a tiger. Pushed over by the beast that lunged with gleaming large eyes, Isaac’s gaze caught the man standing a few paces away.
It was the Prince. The Prince was looking at Isaac. His exceptionally deep blue eyes looked at Isaac without a single movement, as if frozen in place. That face, still expressionless, was however different from usual in some way, though he did not know what it was.
His heart beat violently. I don’t want to stop. I don’t want to stop like this. It felt as if it were pleading. But more than that heartbeat, it was the eyes that stole Isaac’s consciousness. His eyes felt burning hot. Isaac groaned, clutching his eyes as if he would tear the eyeballs out.
Something flickered beneath his eyelids. As if seeing something through another person’s eyes, overlapping visions shimmered.
――Ah. The capital. The night view of the capital looked down upon, as if stars had been laid out neatly upon a pitch-black cloth. It was as if he were looking out from some towering skyscraper on the outskirts of the city. In the distance, the spire of Atone Square was visible. If so, then this place is…….
『Witch’s child, what are you looking at!』
It was then. A thunderous shout tore through his eardrums. Before he knew it, Isaac snapped his eyes open, and what he saw before him was the ceiling of the Byeokyeong Palace drawing room where he lay. Blood-red smoke circled above Isaac’s head, incessantly shifting its form.
And next, he saw small beasts perched upon his chest, thrusting their heads deep into the wound where he had been pierced by a sword, licking it fervently. The beasts paid no heed to the blood staining their faces and whiskers, plunging their tongues deep into his heart, lapping away. One might have expected them to chatter, “Manbang-a, you pathetic thing,” but they were too preoccupied moving their tongues to utter a single word.
“……It’s near the West Gate. Not far from Atone Square…….”
Isaac murmured intermittently with lips that had lost all color. In that moment, the smoke seemed to stop moving. Immediately after,
『Be cursed……!』
The smoke shrieked violently and swelled up like crazy. Watching the smoke growl as it took the form of a hulking giant with blurred eyes, Isaac spoke.
“I will find you. No matter where you are, I will surely find you and hold you accountable for your sins.”
『A wretch whose breath is about to cease and who is about to fall into hell spouts delusions!』
“Even if my breath ceases, you will be reflected in my eyes, showing me where you are.”
『Then I shall simply pluck out your eyeballs and take them!』
The smoke roared. Taking the form of a horned demon, the smoke lunged at Isaac. Long, jagged claws like hooks rushed forward to gouge out Isaac’s eyes.
At that moment.
『――.』
Suddenly, the smoke stopped as if struck by lightning.
The Prince stood between them.
Standing directly in front of Isaac as if to block the smoke, the Prince was shoving his fist into the smoke’s wide-open mouth. As he opened his fist, which had penetrated deep into the smoke, something round and glossy like a pearl remained within the smoke. That brilliantly shining, dazzling object was something Isaac had seen before. A sacred silver crystal that had been consecrated for a long time. A holy relic that repels all the wicked things in the world.
The smoke screamed. The entire air shook, and it felt as if his head would split open from the ringing. The smoke began to scatter like mist.
The smoke, which had been as massive as a giant, shrank in an instant, eventually leaving only a lump the size of a fist. The blood-colored, tightly condensed lump wavered in the air, fading slowly, very slowly.
『I shall curse you. I shall curse you both. You shall never escape the curse for the rest of your lives and must live within it.』
A voice filled with resentment echoed and hummed. As the sound seemed to grow distant, the lump of smoke grew even fainter. The thing was escaping.
“This time, I shall be the one to seek you out. I will find you soon, so you won’t have to wait long.”
The Prince spoke.
A roar that seemed to tear through the eardrums shook the air once more, and with that, the sound vanished. The lump of smoke also lost its light completely and melted into the air.
And then, only silence remained.
A void of silence.
Outside the window, the full moon hung brightly in the night sky as if nothing had happened, and inside, there was no ominous presence or sound. All that remained were Isaac and the Prince, lying in the midst of the silence of those who had died in blackness.
The Prince looked down at Isaac. Isaac was staring at the ceiling with blurred, unfocused eyes. The heart that had been thumping and beating violently was slowing down. Was it because death had drawn near, or…….
Isaac, who had been sprawled like a broken doll with his eyes vacantly open amidst his fading consciousness, was suddenly jerked up because the Prince grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up. Isaac, blinking as he tried to force his consciousness back, trembled at the pain of his neck being bitten.
The Prince was biting into Isaac’s neck. And he swallowed the blood flowing from the neck. Sip after sip, continuously. As if confirming a taste from his memories. And then,
“……Indeed.”
Slowly pulling away, the Prince wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and looked down at Isaac.
“Now the pieces finally fit.”
……Ah.
In the end.
Isaac forced his blurred eyes open to look at the Prince. Even through his wavering vision, the one thing that came clearly into view were those blue eyes looking down at him. It was a gaze from which one could not tell what he was thinking, but one thing was certain. The thing Isaac had not wanted him to know, he now knew.
“……Since the blood of the heart has covered the witch’s wraith, you will now be able to see with your own eyes where the witch is.”
Isaac whispered, closing his eyes. He no longer had the strength to keep his eyes open; squeezing out his last bit of energy to say those words was all he could manage.
Now, when his breath stopped, the Prince would pluck out his eyeballs and through them, see the place where the witch was hiding. Then, he would finally find the witch. Though the life he had so desperately wished to preserve ended here, if he could be of help in this way.
Ah, so this is how suddenly death arrives. Without getting a pretty wife, a pretty house, or even a pretty chicken. If I had known, I would have at least tried raising a pretty chicken first…….
As he closed his eyes, a distant unconsciousness washed over him. Through that unconsciousness, a voice suddenly rang out clearly.
“Yes. You shall see.”
It was a command. At the same time, it was an assertion that he would make it so.
“You shall see with your own eyes and convey it to me. Since you, who deceived and tricked me, are no longer free even from death, I shall decide when you die. And today is not the day you die.”
The hand that had been holding Isaac slowly set him down. Lying flat on the floor once again, Isaac felt his consciousness rapidly slipping away. Within the pitch-black unconsciousness that rushed in like a changing of the guard,
“You lot must be those large beasts. Yes, I shall let you live for now as well. Therefore, finish healing this man’s heart. Only half has barely attached, so the other half remains. If you fail to save him, you lot shall die as well.”
He heard the Prince’s low voice. The beasts let out a threatening rumble in their throats. It was because of the chillingly cold murderous intent imbued in the Prince’s low tone.
While bristling their fur and making threatening sounds toward the Prince, the beasts hurriedly rushed back to Isaac, and their rough tongues swept over the heart that was still thumping and spurting blood.
By that time, Isaac’s consciousness no longer remained.
With his consciousness gone and his face devoid of color, he was no different from a dead man.
Above such an Isaac, a whisper like a monologue fell.
“You cannot die. ……I will not let that happen.”