Episode 8
The Man Of Unknown Origin, Deoki (2)
Even though he warned me it would be my last supper, Deoki still didn’t kill me.
If he had told me from the start that he wouldn’t kill me right away, I wouldn’t have spent all that time trembling in fear.
Anyway, thanks to that, I’ve been able to learn a bit more about him while living in the tower.
Of course, to do that, I had to pretend to be asleep when I wasn’t, or act distracted while secretly observing him.
Here’s what I found out:
First, despite his tall height, he moves as quietly as a shadow.
He sleeps very little—less than a normal person.
He almost never lets his sword leave his body.
And lastly, he doesn’t seem to own much.
Everything he has looks like tools for his missions rather than personal belongings. They’re kept on a high shelf, far out of my reach.
For example…
There are bottles neatly labeled with handwritten tags, empty containers filled with seeds, and liquids of unsettling colors.
There are also throwing stars and daggers with tiny serrated edges, as well as ropes and blades whose purpose I couldn’t guess.
It really did look like the room of a professional assassin.
I thought he mainly used a sword, but it turned out that the bottles of strange liquid took up much more space than the weapons.
Maybe those liquids were…
Even though we were eating, I couldn’t hold back my curiosity any longer.
“Deoki, you seem to know a lot about poison.”
He stopped eating. The silence that followed didn’t last long.
Outside, the winter wind struck the window harshly, making a sound that chilled me to the bone, like the wailing of ghosts.
But that wasn’t the only thing that made me shrink back.
Under his straight black hair, his lifeless triple-pupil eyes gleamed faintly. His gaze felt as cold and bottomless as a pit.
Ugh, what’s with that look? So scary… Did I say something wrong?
Trying to sound calm, I continued,
“I mean… last time, you asked me if I got sick after being poisoned. You talked like you knew what you were saying, so I wondered…”
“Oh, that.”
When Deoki finally looked away from me, I could breathe again.
Sometimes, he gives off killing intent like it’s a habit, so I always have to be careful not to provoke him.
While I was quietly sighing in relief, he bit into an apple with a loud crunch and said,
“I rarely use poison myself. But when people ask, I lend them some.”
“So you can make poison yourself?”
“Yeah, you could say that.”
“I thought you only used a sword, but turns out you’re an expert in poison too.”
“I had a teacher a long time ago who taught me medicine. I wasn’t the only student—there were others. Maybe…”
“Maybe?”
“Maybe the poison you took was made by one of those other students.”
At that, I quickly lifted my head.
“It’s made from aconite and belladonna. In high doses, it kills instantly. In smaller ones, it damages the nerves.”
My voice trembled as I asked,
“Is… there an antidote?”
The Duke had searched for every kind of herb and medicine to cure me, but none had worked.
So I thought an antidote didn’t exist—but still, I wanted to know.
Deoki’s lips tightened as if he didn’t like the question. Then his eyes shifted over my shoulder toward the wall.
“Not sure. It’s made with a different method from mine.”
Even though I was pretending to be blind, living with only one eye was still very inconvenient.
I hadn’t really expected an answer, but hearing that hopeless tone again still made my heart sink.
Seeing my shoulders droop, Deoki spoke as if to comfort me.
“Don’t get your hopes up. Too much time has passed. Even if you find an antidote now, it probably won’t matter.”
“…Yes. I know.”
I wasn’t sure if that was really meant as comfort.
The mood turned heavy, and Deoki stood up to clear the dishes. Then he said,
“By the way, I went down to the village earlier and picked out some clothes for you.”
He took out neatly folded clothes from his bag—a safflower-colored cloak and a rabbit-fur dress.
He took my hand and guided it to the fabric. It felt soft and warm under my fingers.
Compared to the dresses I used to wear in the Duke’s mansion, the quality was poorer, but I was still delighted to have something new.
I hugged the dress and waited quietly for him to leave the room.
But he just stood there, not moving. In the end, I asked first,
“What are you doing?”
“…Hm?”
“Why aren’t you going out?”
“Can you dress yourself without a servant’s help?”
He said it so casually, with no sign of embarrassment. I couldn’t tell if he was teasing or being sincere.
He scratched his neck awkwardly.
“If you need help, I can…”
“N-no…! I’ve done it before, I know how.”
I cut him off before he could finish.
“Alright. I’ll wait outside. Knock when you’re done.”
I nodded, and he closed the door behind him.
Once I heard his footsteps going down the stairs and no more movement from outside, I went to the opposite wall near the window.
“He looked this way earlier…”
When I asked about the antidote, Deoki had looked somewhere over my shoulder.
On the wall-mounted shelf, the bottles were arranged in alphabetical order. I hesitated, then dragged a chair closer to reach them.
“A.D.”
I read the label on one of the bottles and grabbed it—it looked like it could be an antidote. I carefully hid it in the inner pocket of my new dress.
“The others look too suspicious…”
After checking that there was nothing else worth taking, I put the chair back in place.
Then I held up the dress to my body. It was simple and a bit large, but soft and warm enough for the cold weather.
But when I finished dressing, something felt off—the back of the dress was still open.
There were several buttons I couldn’t reach by myself.
In the end, I just threw on the cloak to cover it.
Then I sat on the bed, worrying.
“Will it look too easy, like I didn’t struggle?”
After thinking for a moment, I turned the dress around and wore it backward.
It looked awkward and loose at the neck, but at least I could fasten the buttons myself.
I messed up my hair, wrinkled the dress a bit—trying to make it look like I struggled alone.
Finally, I put the cloak back on and sighed in relief.
Sweat beaded on my forehead and back.
I suddenly missed the maids in the Duke’s mansion who used to help me dress so easily.
I fidgeted with the hidden bottle in my pocket, waiting nervously for Deoki. My heart thumped so loud I could almost hear it.
I wasn’t sure if this liquid was really an antidote, so I thought I should test it first…
Knock, knock.
Then came a familiar voice from the door.
“Took you long enough. Are you done?”
Startled—like a thief caught red-handed—I quickly answered,
“…Yes! You can come in.”
The door opened, and Deoki entered. His eyes widened slightly as he looked at me sitting on the bed. The closer he came, the more his expression hardened.
Did he already notice one of his bottles was missing?
If anyone would, it’d be someone as sharp as Deoki.
I lowered my head and swallowed nervously.
Then, his snow-covered boots stopped right in front of me.
