MBOMEN 54

Chapter 54. The Two at the Crossroads (7)

Eustar, who had been fiddling with the ends of his hair, glanced at Laila.

“I don’t know either.”

Laila repeated, questioning.

“What did you say?”

“Really, I don’t know what he took from me in exchange—or what he intends to take. I first became aware of his existence when I was seven. But back then… how should I put it? He was like an imaginary friend. Only I could see him, and he only appeared when no one else was around. When Tentinella was created, he demanded that I give him the soul I had captured. He himself…”

He paused for a moment, swallowing dryly. In his light green eyes, reminiscent of a barley field in early spring, shadows of light flickered.

“He said he needed… ‘prey.’”

“Prey.” Laila repeated the word silently in her mind, as if echoing Eustar’s words. Prey for a demon.

Laila asked,

“So he doesn’t demand anything else? Nothing unusual has happened to your body…?”

“No, Laila. Not once. At first, I was startled, but as I got used to it, it dulled. Always having a demon clinging to my shoulder… it’s like having an annoying salamander stuck to me. And the worst part? I didn’t even raise it!”

At his strange analogy, Laila couldn’t hide her expression of disbelief. Eustar noticed and smiled awkwardly before letting out a short sigh.

“And the mark?”

“The mark?”

Laila blinked. “When you make a contract with a demon, a mark appears somewhere on your body.” She stared at him suspiciously for a moment, then adjusted her posture, looking him straight in the eye.

“You didn’t… not know, right, Eustar?”

“Of course not. The mark… yes, it exists.”

“Where is it?”

Eustar looked momentarily confused, as if he had forgotten something. His lips moved soundlessly, and Laila pressed on.

“Show me.”

“What?”

Eustar asked again, but Laila, with an indifferent, almost carefree expression, repeated the request matter-of-factly.

“Show me the mark, Eustar.”

Flustered, Eustar rolled his tongue in his mouth. Until now, Laila had never embarrassed him like this, and he had no idea how to respond. He thought for a long while before finally asking,

“Why do you want to see it, Laila?”

Laila gazed quietly at his cream-colored hair falling in waves and at the back of his white hand. She remembered how that hand had touched her cheek—even if it had been a demon.

Her stomach churned with a strange sensation… and instinctively, she looked directly into Eustar’s eyes, trying to convey trust.

“Because… I might be able to undo it.”

Her voice was so calm that it sounded almost chilling and unbelievable. Eustar stared at her as if she had just spoken a foreign language he had never heard, then laughed quietly without realizing it.

“The mark made by the demon contract?”

Immediately, he regretted laughing, seeing the faint displeasure and hurt on her face.

“I didn’t mean to insult you,” Eustar hurried to say.

Laila replied instantly. Her fleeting emotion disappeared behind her thin, firm mask, and her usual indifferent expression returned.

“It doesn’t matter. I only learned this from my mother anyway; I’ve never actually undone a demon’s mark. And this is my first time seeing someone who has a contract with a demon.”

She paused, as if considering how to explain further. Eustar waited silently, feeling a twinge of guilt.

“All contracts have loopholes, I’ve heard. If you find and point them out, the contract can be changed or canceled—that’s the rule of contracts.”

“Really?”

“Really. Witches learn this from their mothers. Perhaps even non-witches like wizards know. But they don’t speak of it openly because…”

“Wizards strictly forbid contracts with demons,” Eustar finished for her.

Laila blinked knowingly.

“For an ordinary person to summon a demon… it’s nearly impossible. The head of that society you mentioned might have even been an exiled wizard. Eustar… your parents…”

She chose her words carefully, then said in a flat tone,

“I don’t know if I should call it lucky or unlucky.”

Eustar laughed again, his gaze moving leisurely.

“Well, probably fifty-fifty. Summoning was fine, but what came after wasn’t great. Anyway, the rules of contracts passed down to witches… basically industry secrets, things outsiders wouldn’t know.”

Laila didn’t laugh at his joke. In fact, she seemed indifferent… She was intently observing Eustar’s face and body, pondering where the mark might be.

—Listen carefully, Laila. If you ever summon a demon and make a contract, remember this: no one knows where the mark will appear. Its size depends on the contract. A small mark is easy to hide. But if it’s large…

—Everyone will know I’m a witch who contracted a demon, Mom.

—Yes, that’s right. But if the mark is that large, you probably…

What did her mother say next? Laila tried to recall, but it was futile.

She felt as if her memories of her mother were gradually fading… bit by bit, but at a rapid pace. Like an hourglass.

One day, she might wake to find all memories of her mother gone.

“Laila?”

Eustar’s call snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Show me the mark, Eustar. Let me see it and interpret it.”

“You can interpret it right away?”

Laila stared at him as if he’d asked a ridiculous question.

“Of course not. If I had my mother’s book, it’d be easier… but I don’t have it. Until I can get it back, I’ll have to rely on memory.”

“What book?”

“It’s a witch’s book, actually only readable by witches. That’s not important now. Where is the mark?”

If he hesitated or refused to show it, she seemed ready to pull at his clothes herself.

Eustar smiled wryly, a little helpless. He didn’t distrust her words, but he wasn’t keen to reveal the mark so readily.

‘It’s like showing my shame.’

He thought. Even if it wasn’t his fault, still…

“Do you really need to see it? What if it’s on my butt?”

Laila furrowed her straight, pale eyebrows.

“I still need to see it.” She lifted her legs from under the bed, speaking firmly.

“Come on, Eustar. Take it off.”

Seeing her insistence, Eustar could no longer resist. He didn’t want to hurt her by saying he didn’t need such help, and he wasn’t the kind of shameless man to do so.

He also felt a quiet gratitude for her stubbornness, enduring trouble she didn’t need to take for his sake. A warmth spread softly in a corner of his heart.

“You’re quite a bold lady, I didn’t realize,” Eustar said playfully, beginning to unbutton his shirt.

Laila watched his long fingers move gracefully. Many thoughts passed through her mind, but Eustar would never know. Fortunately.

“Don’t be surprised.”

He finished unbuttoning and swiftly removed his shirt. For the first time, Laila saw a man’s bare torso, feeling a moment of awe. So different from her own body.

His shoulders appeared broader, and his bones and muscles were sharply defined, forming curves that exuded power.

Small shadows fell across areas untouched by light, making him look mysterious. If touched, his skin seemed like it would feel solid and smell faintly of stone and rain.

Eustar observed Laila looking at his bare body, cleared his throat lightly, and slowly turned.

The mark was on his back. Starting from both shoulder blades like wings, it ran down along his spine to just below his waist.

It ended precariously at the top of his trousers, and the portion from the right shoulder blade to the center was broken.

The skin was irregular, as if violently scratched and then healed haphazardly.

Laila frowned, placing her fingertips over the scar. At that moment, Eustar’s fists, resting on his knees, twitched slightly.

“Why is it like this here?”

Tilting his head, Eustar shrugged.

“I… don’t know. It was like that originally.”

“Originally?”

“I had a nanny who took care of me since I was young. Around age thirteen or fourteen, I got sick, and she stopped working. She was the only one who knew my body, and she said the mark was damaged from the time I survived that chaos. She didn’t know why either.”

“That demon… Deceptor, right? Did you ask him about it?”

“Of course. But he didn’t tell me. Actually, it’s hard to distinguish what he says that’s trustworthy from what isn’t. He claims to ‘oversee lies,’ so he could lie to me. Or he could speak the truth in a way that seems like a lie.”

Laila’s eyebrows drew together again. She slowly traced the ominous mark on Eustar’s back.

It was definitely a mark made through a contract. Even touching it sent an unpleasant shiver through her.

“…Ticklish, Laila,” Eustar muttered softly. She withdrew her hand. The faint scent of stone and rain, cool but warm, receded slightly.

Laila said,

“I need to copy this. May I?”