By Zephyria 
One of the nurses who had been smoking a cigarette a moment ago crawled into the car. Then, groaning, she pushed something out. The others received it from the outside.
Soon, what was in the car revealed itself.
It was a man. His age was impossible to tell. Not only his face but his entire body was covered in blood. However, it was clear at a glance that his condition was not good. His right arm had been torn off. Not just the arm, but the shoulder socket was also ripped off in a circular shape.
‘We should take a look too. We’re always patching up torn people, so the blood under our fingernails never gets a chance to dry.’
The nurse’s words came to mind. Torn people. The man was in a state where that expression was not an exaggeration.
Fortunately or unfortunately, he was unconscious. Perhaps he was already dead.
The nurses and doctors put the man on a stretcher and rushed into the hospital. The man’s limp body swayed strangely. Their footsteps left a trail of blood.
The group passed by Father and Ho-eun. The sight was so gruesome and disgusting that Father squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away, unable to bear to look.
“Myriad Calamities (meaning ten thousand misfortunes, the scientific name for Devouring Ghouls) are gathering near the capital again……” Father murmured with a sigh.
“……”
Ho-eun did not answer.
The acrid smell of blood enveloped him. His fingertips grew cold, and goosebumps rose on the back of his neck. It was a sight he could hardly bear to watch.
Just as the man was swallowed into the hospital’s maw, another car stopped in front of them. The black car gleamed without a speck of dust, and it was glossy. The plum blossom attached to the front of the car shone especially brightly.
This state-of-the-art car was a gift from the Emperor to Father earlier this year. Father cherished it greatly, personally wiping it down every morning.
The passenger seat door opened, and Deok-woo got out. He opened the back door. Father gestured to Ho-eun, indicating that he should get in first. No son would get into the car before his father, but this subtle act of filial impiety was repeated every day in Ho-eun’s home.
He carelessly took a step forward, but Deok-woo stopped him.
“Oh, young master! Please be careful. There’s blood in front of you.”
Before Ho-eun’s feet, in a circularly hollowed-out puddle, blood was soaking instead of rain.
“Ah, yes.”
Ho-eun avoided the blood puddle and got into the car.
Sitting close to the car window, Ho-eun admired the scenery of Hanyang. The four-story modern buildings that seemed to pierce the sky, the colorful signs, and the countless people walking among them were all very fascinating.
Everyone was so colorfully dressed, some in hanbok, some in Western-style clothes, some in school uniforms, and some with short hair, which was said to be popular among young people these days.
They were all moving busily. He wondered where they were all going in such a hurry, but he also felt a strange sense of alienation, thinking that everyone had a destination and something to do.
He was living in this world but had never belonged to it, watching it from afar.
“Ho-eun.”
Father, who had been silently staring ahead, called Ho-eun. Ho-eun quickly looked at Father.
“Yes, Father.”
His eyes were sparkling yet somewhat dazed. His mind was already in the outside world, not in this car returning home. The outside world where he would be with his God of War as a Bondmate.
But.
“Let’s forget about it.”
Father said something out of the blue. Ho-eun’s head tilted slightly.
“Forget about what?”
At his question, Father turned his gaze to Ho-eun. His eyes were different from usual. Even though his eyes were slightly drooped due to his age, they were always clear and full of determination, but now they were strangely scattered.
“I can silence that doctor.”
“Silence? What do you mean……”
“I helped him go to school, gave him a house, and fed him until he became a doctor, so he will listen to me to that extent.”
“……”
“If he says no, I can give him money, or if that’s not enough……”
Father trailed off. Perhaps sensing something, Deok-woo, who was sitting in the front, turned his head halfway and looked at Father. Then, as if he was ready to do anything, he closed his mouth tightly.
“……”
Ho-eun stared at the two of them with a blank face. Then, he belatedly realized what Father meant. His face turned pale in an instant.
“Are, are you saying you’re going to hide the fact that I became a Bondmate?”
“Yes.”
“But…… all Gods of War and Bondmates must fight for the country. That is His Majesty’s command and the law of the land.”
“Commands and laws differ depending on the person.”
“Father!”
Ho-eun shouted, unlike his usual self. His scream-like voice echoed sharply in the enclosed car. Laws that differ depending on the person. It was absurd. It was something that the Father Ho-eun knew would never say, and at the same time, something that should not be said.
As Ho-eun stared at Father with flashing eyes, he turned his upper body towards Ho-eun. His white eyebrows were lowered as if they were about to slide down at any moment.
“You cannot be a Bondmate. How can you, Ho-eun, go to the battlefield? How terrible that place is. You, a child as delicate and weak as you, in a place swarming with Myriad Calamities……. It’s impossible. Your mother would collapse if she knew.”
“That doesn’t mean I can’t do what I have to do. Gods of War and Bondmates are chosen by heaven.”
“No. You don’t have to. The will of heaven? There’s no such thing in this world.”
“Father.”
“Remember. You just had a bad fever.”
Father turned his body forward as if he would not talk anymore. Then he said to Deok-woo.
“Deok-woo, let’s stop by the herbal medicine shop on the way. Ho-eun needs to get some medicine. Park the car in the middle of the road so that others can see.”
“Yes, Lord.”
Deok-woo nodded quickly. He tapped the driver’s shoulder and pointed to the road. The driver smoothly turned the steering wheel. Everyone in the car leaned to one side. It wasn’t that big of a movement, but Ho-eun felt like the earth and sky were turning upside down.
And when the car started driving straight again, Ho-eun dared to ask Father as if he was arguing.
“Then why are the others on the battlefield? Why are they protecting the country, killing Devouring Ghouls, and saving people?”
“……”
“Why are they getting hurt, bleeding, and separated from their families, rolling around on the battlefield?”
“……”
“Aren’t you sorry for them? Aren’t you ashamed? Aren’t we all alive and well thanks to them? We owe them for the rest of our lives.”
“You know how much grain and money I send to the battlefield.”
“That’s a different matter!”
Ho-eun, who was shouting again, coughed, “Cough, cough.” His white, slender neck heaved as if it would break soon. Father’s brow furrowed painfully at the sight.
“Stop. Stop it. Take care of your body first.”
“You said that human life is more precious than anything else in the world. You taught me to value people’s lives more than gold and silver. I can finally save people-.”
“I was wrong.”
“……Father.”
“The most important thing to me is you. Your life.”
Father took Ho-eun’s hands in his own. Ho-eun looked down at his hands. The wrinkled hands were heartbreaking and felt like the sky was falling every time he saw them, but today they felt a little…… grotesque. They didn’t feel like Father’s hands.
Ho-eun clenched his teeth and pulled his hands away. He saw despair seeping into Father’s eyes, but Ho-eun was not mature enough to soothe his despair.
Right now, his disappointment was the most tragic thing in the world.
The car stopped in the yard of the house. Ho-eun got out of the car without saying a word. He smelled a familiar scent. The smell of soil, the smell of trees, the smell of firewood, and things like that.
Ho-eun inhaled them carelessly and looked at the high walls surrounding him. The walls with sharp spears at the end were made in preparation for the Devouring Ghouls to rush into Hanyang, but they were not very beautiful to look at.
In the afternoon, the shadows of the spears embedded in the walls would endlessly lengthen, driving bars into the entire house, and Ho-eun really hated that. It got to the point where the house felt like a prison.
“……”
Ho-eun glared at the bars as if they were his enemies, when he heard busy footsteps in the distance. The sound of rustling skirts. It was Mother. Today, the elegant and beautiful Mother was running as if being chased by something, clutching one side of her skirt tightly.
“Lord, what did the doctor say? What’s wrong with our Eun? Is it not a serious illness?”
She, who lost her composure without hesitation when it came to matters related to Ho-eun, asked urgently.
“He said it’s just a fever, so don’t worry.”
Father said, gently stroking her trembling arm. Ho-eun scoffed at those words. It was the first time in his life that he knew that Father was someone who could lie so nonchalantly.
“Ah……. That’s a relief.”
Mother sighed in relief, stroking her chest with her hand. She belatedly straightened her clothes and reached out to Ho-eun.
“Eun-ah, let’s go to your room. I’ve lit the fire.”