Chapter 822 – #172_Purple Rose(2)
#816
1.
“This is freaking hard.”
I’ve never properly learned how to draw.
All I got was a little bit of teaching from Amelia, who acted as my guardian when I regressed to my boyhood.
That’s probably why, unlike Rapi’s landscape paintings that could be put up in a gallery right away, Siwoo’s paintings were awkward in many ways.
Especially those lavender petals.
They were so tiny that dabbing each petal with the tip of the brush required an immense amount of patience.
“Haa…”
A sigh escaped me for no reason.
Actually, I knew.
The frustration and impatience that came over me weren’t just because the lavender petals required extremely precise fine motor skills.
I didn’t know where to even begin with this.
It was an extension of the worry I had when I entered Amelia’s dream, but it felt even heavier.
It felt like a lead weight had settled in my chest.
Elroa, who had approached sometime, wrapped her hand around Siwoo’s.
“You have to stroke it from top to bottom. Use the elasticity of the brush tip.”
“Ah, Master. Thank you.”
“You’ve improved a lot, though.”
The petals that were added with the Master’s help were much more beautiful than the ones Siwoo had painted.
When I turned around, I saw my Master smiling brightly.
“Where did Rapi go?”
“Siwoo, it seems Rapi has noticed.”
“Yes?”
“That you and I are in a romantic relationship.”
“Ah.”
“Isn’t she really quick-witted? She’s a smart child.”
“Yeah, my junior sister is a bit… I thought it would be hard to hide anyway.”
She twisted her body shyly and then squatted next to Siwoo.
Siwoo also kissed her, for now.
“She said she would cheer us on and then left to give us some space.”
“Seriously… I’m grateful, but it’s kind of embarrassing.”
“I feel the same way.”
As expected, my Master is my Master.
Even though her appearance had changed and her vibe was a little different, the way she was chattering away was the same Master that Siwoo knew.
“I was always the one taking care of you, but you’re thinking about me now, and I wonder when you grew up so much…”
“……”
Regardless of Elroa’s pleased smile, Siwoo’s heart grew heavier.
Should I just make happy memories like I did with Amelia and comfort her when she’s in pain later?
Or should I reveal the truth now that Rapi isn’t here?
Siwoo had become stronger.
Mentally, physically, and magically.
At least the days when he was miserable because he was weak were long gone.
But even though he had become stronger, there were things he couldn’t solve clearly.
“Siwoo.”
At that moment, my Master’s hand reached out.
She stroked Siwoo’s cheek and then fixed his head.
Her lips gently overlapped his.
Her soft tongue tapped between his lips as if asking him to open up.
I didn’t have the mental space for a kiss, but this was a problem that only Siwoo had, so there was nothing I could do.
“Chuu…”
The sweet saliva with the lingering scent of bitter black tea flowed into my mouth.
Her slender tongue wriggled in Siwoo’s mouth as if tying a knot.
When the long kiss ended, my Master let out a sweet sigh.
Then, as if making an excuse, she added.
“Haa… Ra, Rapi told me to put a lip stamp like this.”
Kissing a loved one has a great calming effect.
Siwoo was able to smile a little.
“I think I’m greedy.”
“You are.”
Her hesitant fingertips and slightly lowered eyes.
It was hard to tell at first glance, but it was my Master’s appeal to want to share love.
She was trying her best to show it.
“Every day, three hours. Didn’t we promise? You’re being mischievous, making me say it.”
Every day, three hours?
That’s a promise I don’t know about.
But as far as Siwoo knew, my Master wasn’t the type to be devoted to physical relationships.
She would subtly ask for it about once a month, and that was it.
Is it different in this world?
My Master’s hesitant hand reached Siwoo’s shirt collar.
She was about to unbutton it.
“Here?”
“Isn’t the weather nice? Rapi will be in her room for a while, so…”
As Elroa was taking off Siwoo’s clothes, her hand suddenly stopped.
What caught her eye was the black brooch hanging on his chest.
At that moment, Siwoo felt a chill run down his spine.
The spring breeze that had been fluttering between the two of them turned cold.
“Siwoo, what is this?”
The ticklish atmosphere of my Master changed drastically.
Her bloodshot eyes were filled with confusion, and a refined ferocity dripped from them.
“Ah…”
Siwoo was flustered.
This brooch was a safety device that Gretel had given him in case Siwoo got caught up in a dream.
Since I hadn’t yet clarified my actions in the dream, I wasn’t planning on telling her yet.
Also, my Master wouldn’t recognize this brooch unless I gave her a separate explanation.
“Answer me. Where did you get this?”
However, the two eyes of Elroa, who was fiercely urging Siwoo, showed an unusual level of obsession and rejection.
Even as Siwoo was babbling, Elroa’s eyes reflected the shape of the brooch like a clear glass bead.
“Ah, this?”
“……”
My mouth was dry.
I didn’t know the details, but I could tell by instinct.
Elroa’s immersion, that is, her desire for an ideal world, was at a level where it recognized even Siwoo’s touch as a threat and activated its autonomous defense.
Siwoo’s existence was so precious that it was indispensable in her ideal world.
She must be feeling a subconscious rejection towards the device that would make Siwoo escape from the dream.
If I had known it would be this bad, I should have hidden it sooner…
“I found it by chance. I was going to give it to Sharon as a gift later.”
“……”
After a long pause, she slowly asked again.
She looked somewhat sad.
“To Sharon?”
“Yes.”
The tension between the two eased.
The spring breeze that had stopped also tickled my ears again.
“I see, I was being greedy again. I’ll be able to give it to her someday.”
Elroa smiled bitterly and hugged Siwoo again.
2.
Elroa showed off her skills after a long time.
After the picnic, she immediately started preparing dinner and brought out a wonderful feast.
It was a meal in a palace-like mansion, but the table was filled with the warm laughter of an ordinary family.
Siwoo, Rapi, and Elroa laughed and talked while eating, and they also drank a lot of alcohol.
By the time the meal was over, my cheeks were sore from laughing so much.
Elroa stepped into the library.
Outside the window, sleet that didn’t match the warm spring was falling.
The warmth of the fireplace pushed away the cold and damp chill.
Rapi was a genius of the sword, but she also liked to read.
Naturally, the master and disciple spent a lot of time together in the library.
A curtain of light created by the candlesticks.
I could see Rapi’s back as she looked out the window in the shadows.
“Rapi, what are you looking at?”
The moment Rapi turned to look at Elroa, Elroa was shocked as if her heart had dropped.
A pale complexion with no blood.
Purple veins protruding on both wrists.
The waist of her white dress was stained dark red.
“Master!”
But that was just a momentary illusion.
When Rapi turned around as if dancing, the superimposed illusion disappeared like a phantom.
Rapi, who had run over with her clothes fluttering, hugged Elroa.
Elroa hugged Rapi as if she would break her.
“Piiyaaa! M, Master… Rapi’s arm is gonna break…!”
“I’m sorry.”
Elroa unconsciously smiled and let go of Rapi, and Rapi grumbled while stroking her arms.
“Master, come on. That was a long time ago. I’m fine now. I’m here now.”
Like an endless nightmare, the memory of that time when she lost the most precious person due to arrogance and complacency stuck to Elroa’s mind.
“I’m sorry, Rapi. I really… did something terrible to you.”
“Master, it’s okay. I’m really okay.”
Rapi gently stroked Elroa’s back.
Elroa had stolen the lotus from the Cowardly Witch.
The lotus, which contained the lives of tens of thousands of people, once again sucked the souls of innocent humans and bloomed a red flower.
That was karma.
An unwavering sin.
Elroa, who had turned her back on Gehenna to save Rapi, and Siwoo, who had followed Elroa.
This peaceful daily life was all built on the foundation of Elroa’s betrayal.
“I will never lose you again.”
Happy Pig guides people to the most ideal world they dream of.
However.
There are wounds in the world that cannot be covered even by a daydream.
Elroa could not forgive herself.
No.
She had never forgiven herself even once.
3.
Siwoo quietly wandered the mansion’s hallway.
It was because there were some suspicious parts.
Siwoo came here to get Elroa out.
I can understand why my Master is wary of the brooch.
But I remember that when I mentioned Sharon’s name, her expression darkened in an instant.
And the words that followed.
“I’ll be able to give it to her someday…”
Wasn’t she saying that she couldn’t give it to her right now?
Extending the inference from that, I couldn’t find any traces of another lover anywhere in this mansion.
Judging from my Master’s words that she remembers Sharon, it’s not that the existence of another lover has disappeared.
It could be that they were temporarily excluded, like in Amelia’s dream, which only dealt with the main characters.
But there is a fundamental distortion.
Siwoo sensed it and was sure of it.
This isn’t just a simple dream.
Just as Amelia’s cabin, where she decided to stay with Siwoo after sending Malika away, had a symbol, this mansion also has some kind of symbol.
It must be leaving hints about the current situation or the world.
As Siwoo walked down the hallway, he went up, up.
It was my first time entering the mansion, but strangely, the structure of the mansion was imprinted in my head like a map.
If you go up the winding staircase, you’ll find my Master’s research workshop at the very top.
Even though I’ve never heard it directly, my Master’s request, ‘There are many dangerous things there, so please don’t go in,’ also remained in my head.
-Creak
The wooden door turned slightly roughly.
As soon as I opened the door to the research building, I saw a crystal lotus that seemed to be filled with bright red blood.
It was an evil artifact that the ‘Cowardly Witch’ had created in the past to revive her disciple.
Siwoo swallowed a breath and looked at the scenery outside the window where the clear moonlight was pouring in.
It was a clear bird’s-eye view because it was a very high place.
“This is…”
It’s not Gehenna.
An endless field of purple lavender swaying in the sleet stretched to the horizon.
