Chapter 8
The World Is Full of Colors (2)
Bel pointed at the dragon’s clear, translucent eyes and shouted,
“Payang-saek!” (Blue-color!)
Next, she pointed outside the transparent glass window.
“Payang-saek!” (Blue-color!)
The clear sky was blue. The warm sun was golden.
“Hayang-saek! Guru! Hayang-saek!” (White-color! Cloud! White-color!)
“Yes, yes. Clouds are white.”
Bel stomped her feet up and down in the air.
Understanding the child’s intent, the dragon set her down on the ground, and she quickly ran over to hug the Emperor’s leg tightly.
“Igo! Ppa-a-saek!” (This! Red-color!)
Bel pointed at the red on the Emperor’s garments.
“Boo-saek!” (Purple-color!)
Next, she pointed at the cufflinks attached to Ethan’s shirt sleeves.
“Jju-saek!” (Orange-color!)
And then at the color of the carpet on the floor.
“Ooh-ooh eol-lul!” (A smiling face!)
Pointing at the Emperor’s smiling face, she felt pure happiness.
A colorful world seen for the very first time.
The faces of people encountered for the very first time.
Slipping right out through the crack of the open door, Bel wandered around the hallway, taking in every single person passing by.
“Annong!” (Hello!)
When Bel greeted them with her palm placed right beside her cheek, people nodded their heads and smiled back.
“Hello there.”
Smiling faces and warm greetings returned to her. She could see their expressions and emotions so clearly.
‘Pretty.’
The world had changed. Once the black smoke was driven away, the achromatic world transformed into a colorful one.
And to think, this was all thanks to Bel’s power.
‘I want to see more.’
Did the director and Sister Lily smile this warmly, too?
What kind of faces did the other people at the orphanage have?
Is the forest really green?
How colorful is a flower garden?
Curiosity blossomed dynamically inside the child who had finally encountered a proper world. It was the moment the child formed her very first dream.
She wanted to see a clean, transparent, unblemished world. She hoped everything she was destined to encounter would sparkle in its complete and true colors.
‘I can see it!’
And Bel possessed the power to make it happen.
“Look at your bedhead.”
Bel pointed at the tie of Ethan, who had quietly approached her side.
“E-This! This! Moos color?” (W-What color is this?)
Lifting the completely excited child smoothly into his arms, Ethan answered nonchalantly,
“Purple.”
“Jau-saek!” (Purple-color!)
“Pur-ple.”
“Ja-jjuu.”
Seeing Bel beam brightly while repeating his words, Ethan let out a faint laugh.
“Do you really like it that much?”
Facing Ethan’s smile, Bel grabbed his face with both hands.
“This! Ooh-ooh eol-lul.” (This! A smiling face.)
She liked it so much—to the point she wanted to keep looking at it forever.
“Oung!”
Her belly let out a loud, rumbling growl right after her energetic response.
“Let’s go get some food.”
Ethan swooped Bel up and tucked her under his arm.
And a short while later…
“Bokko! Choo!” (Broccoli! Green!)
Bel’s color-matching game continued right through the meal.
“Broccoli. Green.”
“Ko! Moos color?” (Kidney bean! What color?)
“Haaa. Kidney bean. Kidney bean-colored.”
It had been a full two hours already. Exhausted by the never-ending color game and mealtime, Ethan answered half-heartedly.
“Ethan. Try to have some patience.”
If you’re like that now, how do you plan to handle it when she starts asking ‘Why?’ later on?
The Emperor, looking equally a bit worn out, nagged Ethan weakly.
Regardless of their fatigue, the thrilled Bel pointed at the Emperor’s hair and shouted in excitement,
“Ppu-oo-saek!” (Pink-color!)
“Yes. My hair is pink.”
Lightly touching his fine-textured pink hair, the Emperor smiled, narrowing his green eyes.
“What color do you think kidney beans look like?”
Approaching Bel naturally, the Emperor lifted the child to sit on his lap.
“Ooung. Ppa-a-saek?” (Umm. Red-color?)
“That’s right, you got it. Shall we see if it tastes like red, too?”
“Oung!”
Bel opened her mouth right away. Skillfully placing two kidney beans into the child’s mouth, the Emperor made sure she chewed them thoroughly.
“How is it? Does it taste like red?”
“Oung!”
“Then what taste do you think this yellow egg yolk has? Want to try it?”
“Oung.”
“It seems someone with prior experience really is different, Your Lordship.”
Aspe, who had entered the palace early in the morning, whispered directly into Ethan’s ear. Startled, Ethan reflexively threw a punch at him, but Aspe dodged it with practiced ease by ducking his head.
“Please watch and learn a little.”
“Ah, shoot, you scared me!”
“Ah-ssi. Cca-tta.” (Ah, shoot. Scared.)
“Don’t teach her weird things.”
Seeing Bel immediately pick up and copy Ethan’s words, Aspe criticized him.
“Indeed, Ethan. Speak more gently from now on.”
“Look at that. Even His Majesty, who has prior experience…”
“Do you want to get spanked?”
Though his words threatened violence, Ethan held onto a steak knife; seeing this, Aspe quickly shut his mouth.
“Ttechi!” (Spank!)
In just a short span of time, only Bel’s vocabulary had expanded significantly. Now that she could see people’s mouth shapes clearly, copying words had become much easier.
“Now, eat up the orange carrot too. Yum, yum.”
“Nyam, nyam.” (Yum, yum.)
The Emperor popped food into the child’s mouth with practiced skill.
While Ethan was scowling at that scene, the dragon returned after taking a thorough look around the Imperial Palace.
“Only the Imperial Palace grounds have been purified.”
“Does that mean her power is weak?”
“No.”
The dragon refuted the Emperor’s question.
“It is far too strong.”
If it’s strong, isn’t that a good thing?
The dragon’s expression was quite dark.
“Those Who Dwell in the Dark Night may have already noticed.”
It meant Bel’s life was being targeted. Understanding that implication, the Emperor and Ethan asked almost simultaneously:
“Is there no way to prevent it in advance?”
“Is there a way to kill them?”
“There is no way to prevent it. But there is a way to kill them.”
Somehow catching both questions distinctly, the dragon’s gaze landed on Bel.
“It is possible with the Guardian’s power.”
“You’re telling this little pebble to fight those bastards?”
Ethan’s eyes turned instantly fierce, prompting the Emperor to hold him back.
“Calm down a bit.”
Ethan was overly sensitive regarding such matters. Knowing the reason behind it, the Emperor could only do his best to soothe him.
Meeting Ethan’s sharp glare head-on, the dragon asked,
“Do you know the identity of Those Who Dwell in the Dark Night?”
“We are tracking them, but we haven’t uncovered anything.”
The Emperor answered in his stead. They knew almost nothing about the calamity—neither the purpose nor the identity of Those Who Dwell in the Dark Night. They didn’t even know how the calamity had retreated in the first place. As a result, they were forced to merely observe the minor calamities left behind like scars across the empire, unable to do much as they caused trouble.
‘However, if we have a member of the Star Clan, we can resolve the calamity.’
The dragon’s curse was also one of those lingering calamities. Bel’s power, which had resolved it in a single moment, would serve as the only key to resolving future disasters.
However, Bel was only two years old. Time was needed for her to grow sufficiently.
‘It would be even better if we could resolve it before then.’
Information was necessary to solve it. The Emperor briefly explained the events that occurred during the calamity, the incidents that followed, and the current situation facing the empire.
“Currently, there are five confirmed remaining calamities. We do not know where or what else might occur.”
“I see.”
Having listened quietly to the situation, the dragon nodded heavily.
“…They are…”
And finally, his mouth opened.
“…Stars.”
“Stars, you say?”
Ethan reacted sharply.
Bel, who was diligently munching away, couldn’t understand the situation and merely blinked her eyes. Ethan gently covered Bel’s ears with his palms as she stared blankly at him.
“Why would stars try to kill the Star Clan?”
In his deeply lowered voice, a sense of dark suspicion resonated.
“Because they are the undiscovered stars. They hate humans more than anyone, curse the world, and harbor a deep murderous intent toward the Star Clan.”
The dragon, Argares, recalled the events from three years ago. Nameless stars that appeared out of nowhere alongside black smoke surrounded him and chanted a ‘reversed incantation.’
“If ether disappears, the world loses its balance and collapses.”
Countless stars would turn into meteorites and plummet to the ground. The uncooling heat of the sun would melt human skin and burn their bones, creating a hellish landscape filled with horrific screams.
“They intend to erase the very beings that maintain the balance of ether.”
The beings that maintain the balance of ether:
Dragons.
Spirits.
And humans.
Among them, humans—the weakest entities—would vanish like dust from even the slightest crack in the balance.
“They polluted our minds and forced us to kill you. Because if two of the balances break, the world cannot be supported by a single pillar alone.”
However, there was another reason why ‘Those Who Dwell in the Dark Night’ targeted only dragons and humans.
“Once we vanish and you humans go extinct, the spirits will lose their power immediately.”
Losing power meant losing their light. Spirits would be buried in eternal darkness, and nature would shatter into pieces without a trace left behind.
And once that happened…
“The undiscovered stars will become the new spirits.”
Becoming spirits themselves, they would re-establish the balance of ether and recreate a world strictly for themselves.
