Chapter 84
She, caught in a trap, would have been secretly sold on the black market. Quite literally, both her body and soul would have become the possession of whoever had bought her, wielded like a tool, and in the end, butchered like meat and sold off in pieces. Just like her kin are now.
She could offer her soul for Theogrim. That prayer had saved Arzeletta’s life. Thanks to a single prayer, Arzeletta was able to love Theogrim. Like a flower raising its face toward the sun, even while gazing at someone she could never touch, she could understand herself.
She was grateful that she could pray for, love, and not be sold off because of the person she had chosen herself. If she thought of all the humiliation she endured in the domain as the price for loving him, then to Arzeletta, even that humiliation wasn’t disgrace—it was ecstasy.
She could never have imagined that her love, that prayer, would one day throw her toward the one who stood closest to God.
“……”
Arzeletta’s bare white feet touched the floor of the slaughterhouse. She walked in silence toward the beasts. Toward those dark, gentle eyes that would lose their lives by her hand come tomorrow.
She lifted the knife and let the cut finger be taken into the beast’s mouth. The warm, moist, and rough tongue of the herbivore licked Arzeletta’s wounded finger.
“It tickles.”
As the beast’s tongue licked the back of her hand, Arzeletta let out a small laugh. But only for a moment—then, Arzeletta cried. She knew full well what she was doing, for the sake of her love.
“I’m sorry… for making you do this.”
The beast, its tongue stained with her blood, brushed its chin against her hand again as if in response. She couldn’t understand why these creatures pitied her, why they seemed to love Arzeletta more than themselves, who were about to have their throats cut.
It was then.
“……!”
Arzeletta’s pale green eyes blinked.
…Someone was calling her.
Soon, she turned around as if entranced by something.
In the darkness, her black robe shimmered like an afterimage under the moonlight.
Guu—
The beast that had been rubbing its chin against her hand let out a low cry. The clear eyes that had only moments ago met its gaze now looked dazed, as if her spirit had departed.
The gentle beast blinked as it watched Arzeletta quietly open the wooden door. In a world filled only with death, her white bare feet walking across the black stone floor seemed like a scene from a dream.
The hem of Arzeletta’s robe fluttered through the open doorway. Click—the door closed.
Arzeletta was walking toward an unknown place.
‘Where… am I going…?’
She couldn’t tell whether this was a dream or reality. It felt as if her body were moving separately from her own will.
The thoughts, emotions, and pain of Theogrim flowed into her without resistance.
…Theogrim-nim?
It was the middle of the night. Darkness surrounded her. Arzeletta felt dizzy with the unfamiliar sensation, but allowed herself to be led in the direction her body moved.
Without realizing it, she had thought of Theogrim’s name, and the burning pain in her heart began to settle little by little.
The scorching ache turned into a subtle, steady thrum.
‘…Perhaps, perhaps truly.’
It might really be Theogrim.
The one who was calling her on this night.
The one who had taken her soul and heart. The one who had become the master of her vow with just a single oath.
Perhaps her body was moving because he was calling her.
Thinking that, Arzeletta felt no fear. She walked in the direction her body led, outside of her control. Her steps were elegant, like a dance. Though the rough stones wounded her bare feet, she didn’t even feel the pain.
The moon, the stars, and the clouds of the midnight sky drifted behind her as she followed fate.
“…….”
After being led for quite some time, she arrived at a place she knew well.
A place where ripples shimmered gently, a place overgrown with white wildflowers and pale green grasses.
It was so beautiful, and yet no one ever came here.
It was the lakeside.
And there, Arzeletta came face to face with someone. As she recognized the person, Arzeletta inhaled sharply.
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