IATAOTHKG | CHAPTER 09

chapter 9

To reach Lennox Castle from Gillingham Square, one had to pass through a forest path.

It was called the Forest of Time.

From newly sprouted buds to thousand-year-old giant trees. The name came from the belief that all time since the Empire’s birth gathered there.

In the middle of that forest road, the carriage carrying Mayna had come to a stop.

She watched the tall coachman (pretending to be one but clearly not a real coachman, that despicable man!) walk closer and thought to herself.

This is my grave.

From common trees like willows, cypresses, acacias, and eucalyptus, to rare sacred ones like the Elladrin, which glowed softly year-round under the protection of elves, and the Rune-wood, which produced water of life.

It was a forest she often visited, because just stepping on its soil felt like it purified the soul.

Especially when she had free time in between Kalif’s schedules, she would come alone and shout things like:

“Kalif, you bastard, clean up your own clothes!”

“Get smacked by a monster while hunting!”

“Appreciate what you have while you do, you awful man, don’t regret it later!”

She had yelled her unspoken feelings there.

Step, step.

Seeing the man approach, radiating a dark aura, Mayna whispered silently.

No last words. Just scatter my ashes somewhere pretty…

Creak. The window slid open.

“Mayna Winslet.”

It was a voice she had already heard, whether yesterday, a few minutes ago, or maybe in some illusion.

The sound was chilling, like claws scratching glass.

She couldn’t see his face under the hood, but he was a head taller than Kalif.

And the corpse-colored wrist visible beneath the sleeve was the same.

“Did you enjoy the show?”

What nonsense!

She was too terrified to shout, trembling in her seat when suddenly the man shoved his head inside the carriage.

“Choose.”

“……”

“Will you be eaten by me? Or abandoned by your people?”

“Ah…!”

Mayna gasped.

The scene where Kalif abandoned her in front of everyone must have been the illusion he created.

He was offering her a horrifying choice.

First. Be eaten here and now.

Second. Be abandoned by Kalif, Kurden, Adonis, Hodge, and Magia—all of them.

I don’t want either. I don’t want it!

Tears streamed endlessly down her cheeks.

Then.

“……!”

Severed wrists with exposed flesh and bone reached into the carriage.

First the left wrist.

Then the right.

The blunt stumps groped blindly in the air.

Terrified, Mayna tried to scoot away, but—

Grab!

Her shoulder was seized.

“I’m hungry. Slurp. Slurp, slurp.”

A bluish tongue drooped out.

Foul saliva dripping with stench soaked the seat.

Thud.

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

The monster’s wrists drummed against Mayna’s body, fumbling as if desperate to strip her, though for some reason, it wasn’t working.

“I’m hungry. So hungr—ugh!”

Its body, half inside the carriage, suddenly froze like stone.

“Ugh! Ghhk!”

It screamed and thrashed violently.

What’s happening?

Startled, Mayna peeked outside through the window crack, just as the creature’s body was yanked out.

A sharp scream echoed, then silence fell as if nothing had happened.

Shaking too much to dare look outside, she finally saw a familiar face at the window.

“Are you okay?”

It was Kalif.

“Hhngh…”

She tried to hold it in, but tears burst out from relief after returning alive from death’s door.

Leaning in, Kalif extended his hand into the carriage.

A living, human-colored hand with all five fingers intact!

Overwhelmed with joy, Mayna grasped Kalif’s hand and climbed out.

The forest was full of the scent of rain-soaked wood, mingled with the stench of rotten meat.

The monster lay defeated at Kalif’s feet, cut down.

Its tattered robe sprawled across the ground, revealing a hideous face.

Its bloodshot eyes bulged with madness, nose rotted to bone, and mouth stretched grotesquely across half its face.

“Da…mn it.

Damn. Slurp!”

Even dying, it licked its blue tongue and muttered.

“I couldn’t eat her because I couldn’t unwrap the packaging. Slurp…”

As if leaving a final will, the creature melted into liquid.

“A clever move.”

Kalif muttered, staring at his jacket that he had left with Mayna.

“What just happened?

That was a monster… right?”

Mayna, trembling so hard her teeth clattered, sank to the ground.

Kalif grabbed her wrist and helped her up.

But pain flared in her stomach. Her dress was soaked with blood.

“Damn.”

Kalif cursed harshly.

“Lie down.”

“Whe—…”

She couldn’t finish asking before he pressed her onto the ground.

The rain-soaked forest floor was like muddy seashore.

Kalif’s hot hand slid along her calf, lifting her skirt.

“What are you doing!”

Mayna grabbed his wrist, but he only glared with a terrifying expression.

His look said: Don’t you get the situation?

She reluctantly let go.

Kalif yanked the skirt up past her waist.

Her wet under-skirt clung to her thighs, and once pulled away, her pale, thin legs were revealed.

His gaze faltered for an instant.

“……”

He quickly regained composure, focusing only on the task.

He slid his hands under her back, undoing her dress ties with practiced skill.

Swish.

The silk fabric loosened.

Her half-naked body in only white undergarments was exposed, revealing a small knife wound across her pale stomach.

“They aimed to stab, but missed.”

“When…?”

Mayna asked in confusion.

“Don’t you remember? How it happened?”

“…The carriage stopped. I thought a day had passed, but when I woke up, I was here again…”

She rambled.

“An illusion.”

“What was?”

“Everything that happened after we left the forest.”

It was a clear explanation.

From waking in the bedroom, bathing, to what she experienced in Kalif’s room—it had all been an illusion.

Kalif added flatly.

“The moment I got out, it began.”

Looking around now, the spot where he had stopped for a second round was nearby.

Right. My clothes.

As Mayna tried to fix her undone dress, Kalif seized her wrist.

He leaned closer, inspecting her stomach.

His gaze carried no lust, only professional assessment.

But Mayna, not knowing what to do, bit her lip nervously.

His warm breath brushed her skin.

“Luckily, it’s only a surface wound.”

He finished his examination, then adjusted her clothes.

After pulling her skirt back down, he slipped his arms around her, tying the waist again and lifting her.

“On my back.”

He turned, offering his back.

Mayna hesitated. She knew refusing was pointless.

“Excuse me then.”

Her overly formal tone made Kalif chuckle faintly.

She gently placed her hands on his shoulders, then felt her body lifted with ease.

Like carrying a child, Kalif carried her along the forest path.

“There’s probably no poison, but just in case, have the physician treat it once we’re home.”

As she answered, she noticed his neck wound dripping blood.

“The monster attacked you too.”

Kalif nodded.

“I’ll drop you off, then head back to the square.”

His tone was casual, as if talking about going out for coffee.

Mayna’s heart churned with tangled emotions.

Lowering her gaze, she saw his back soaked with blood and sweat.

“You can put me down. I’m not that hurt.”

She tried, feeling guilty, but he didn’t respond, only tightened his grip beneath her.

“What did it mean, about not being able to unwrap the packaging?”

She asked about the monster’s unsettling words.

“You were wearing my jacket, so it couldn’t touch you.”

“Ah…”

She whispered thanks, and he shrugged it off like nothing.

February’s winter rain kept falling.

Mayna stared at the blood on his neck mixing with raindrops, flowing down.

His pain seemed far worse than hers.

“You didn’t use the portal to the castle?”

Her voice faltered.

“Can’t open one now.”

“Why?”

“Mana’s gone.”

“….”

“I need to recover a bit, then save it for returning to the square.”

Her throat tightened painfully.

“Recharge me, then.”

His light words pierced her chest.

She couldn’t heal his wounds, nor restore his drained strength or mana.

All she could do was prepare his meals, book dinners, and collect the coins he tossed to pay carriage fares.

The illusion’s scene resurfaced.

“You can quit.”

“I don’t need you anymore.”

If he ever really said that.

Seven years of being his aide, enduring like the hand and foot of an arrogant star, living each day as if clutching a resignation letter to her chest.

But if she were forced to lose that job, she couldn’t imagine how it would feel.

Tightening her grip around his neck unconsciously, she thought she heard him laugh faintly, but the rain drowned it out.

***

The soft light of early morning filled the room.

Waking up, Mayna touched her face for a long while. Even in the illusion, she had woken like this.

Pulling back the blanket and lifting her pajama top, she found a tiny bandage stuck to her stomach.

“As Sir Lennox said, thankfully the blade wasn’t poisoned.”

“Still, be careful not to let water touch it for a while.”

Last night, she had collapsed into sleep after the doctor’s instructions.

After bathing, she headed to the kitchen.

The cooks had already prepared Kalif’s breakfast. He must have returned from the square overnight.

“I’ll make the stew myself.”

“Please do, Ma’am. Sir Lennox is groaning from a hangover, says his head is splitting.”

Head chef Babrad relayed Kalif’s condition.

Following her plan, Mayna made a spicy mussel stew and poured twice the usual amount of health juice into a glass.

Carrying the heavy tray herself, she went to Kalif’s room.

“Sir Len—”

“Come in.”

Before she finished, his weary voice answered, sounding half-dead from hangover and fatigue.

Mayna smiled faintly and pushed the door open.