Chapter 73
Ethan hurriedly covered his mouth and glared sharply.
This won’t do. If things go on like this, there’ll be trouble.
“…Let’s just go eat.”
I pushed Heraith’s back and glanced over my shoulder.
Lucas stood frozen in place like a statue, though he kept sneaking glances this way, unable to let go.
“…Still hasn’t come to his senses.”
When I lifted my head at the faint voice, I saw Heraith glaring at Lucas with frightening eyes.
‘What do you mean nothing’s wrong?’
You just half-killed him with your eyes.
Sensing my gaze, Heraith quickly relaxed his expression. His eyes softened as though he hadn’t been glaring at Lucas at all.
“You…”
“What? Did something happen?”
At his insufferable act of innocence, I clicked my tongue.
Clang.
The doorbell chimed as we pushed open the restaurant door.
The noisy chatter that had been spilling outside ceased as if it had all been a lie.
I paused, unsettled by the strange and heavy atmosphere the moment I stepped inside.
‘…Why are they staring like that?’
Was it suspicion, or were they sizing us up? I couldn’t tell, but the gazes were far from pleasant.
“Welcome!”
Perhaps aware of the mood, the owner hurried over to guide us.
Handing me the menu, Ethan asked,
“What would you like to eat?”
“Just order whatever you want.”
I quickly added, lest Ethan misunderstand as I handed the menu back.
“It’s not that I can’t eat common food or anything. I just don’t really have an appetite.”
So many things were weighing on me that my appetite had vanished.
“Then let’s order this, this, and this. For Sisi, something healthy.”
I wasn’t exactly keen on health food, but since nothing else appealed either, I just nodded for him to go ahead.
The rest were all best-sellers, so no one objected to Heraith’s selections.
“Yes, I’ve taken your order. I’ll bring it out quickly, so please wait just a moment.”
Once the server left, I pulled back the hood I’d been wearing.
At once, I felt all the eyes in the room on me.
“…?”
When I looked up, my gaze met someone’s across the room. He stared fixedly at me, then slowly turned his head away.
The whole sequence left a bitter taste in my mouth.
“What the hell…”
“What’s wrong?” Heraith asked.
“They’re staring at me weirdly,” I muttered with a scowl.
“Perhaps they’re just stunned by your beauty, my lady?” Rina suggested.
I shook my head.
No, those weren’t the eyes of someone startled by beauty.
They were closer to the eyes of surveillance.
“It’s unpleasant.”
As I swept my eyes around with a frown, Heraith rose and patted my back.
“Move further inside.”
I didn’t refuse his consideration, shifting inward as I asked Ethan,
“Ethan, is this odd atmosphere normal here?”
“Yeah. You could say they reject outsiders. Doesn’t seem like they’re very welcoming.”
That didn’t make sense. This was the only place where red plum fruit grew—surely merchants came and went often.
“That’s why the priests rarely leave the lord’s castle unless it’s for work. The moment they step outside, everyone gawks at them like they’re circus monkeys.”
Having arrived in Mendel a few days earlier than me, Ethan already seemed used to such stares.
“We missed the mealtime today, so we didn’t have a choice, but usually it’s better to eat at the castle. Or at least get food packed to take back.”
Otherwise, Ethan warned, we’d have to endure these eyes every time.
I grimaced hard.
The only real solution was to find my father quickly and leave.
“Ethan, how’s the purification going?”
“Not well. It’s been raining for days, so we couldn’t even enter the forest. The rain should stop by tomorrow, though. That’s when I plan to start.”
“Why couldn’t you go in?”
“The fog was too heavy. The young master insisted if we went in, we wouldn’t make it out.”
“Him?”
“He seemed level-headed enough, actually.”
Then Ethan earnestly asked me not to beat him up, saying aside from his womanizing, he wasn’t truly bad.
“What do you take me for?”
“A violent lady.”
“Want to try getting hit by one?”
As Ethan and I bickered—
“Your food has arrived.”
The server came just in time with our dishes.
I caught him and asked,
“Has any outsider come by recently?”
“Outsiders? The priests are the first…”
He trailed off, tilting his head.
“The Duke of Winter…”
Flinch. His hand shook as he set down the plates.
It was subtle, but I saw it clearly.
“…Has he not come here?”
“There’s no way someone as important as the Duke would visit such a small village.”
He shook his head with a painted-on smile, as if he’d never faltered.
“Please enjoy your meal.”
Before I could ask further, the server slipped away.
Ethan lowered his voice.
“He definitely knows something.”
“And he definitely doesn’t want to talk about it.”
Heraith nodded.
After that, conversation died. With so many eyes and ears around, no one dared to speak freely.
“My lady, please eat first.”
Rina pressed a spoon into my hand.
I stirred the steaming food absentmindedly, then set the spoon back down.
‘Those eyes…’
Just mentioning Father had made the server’s eyes flash so darkly it gave me goosebumps.
This village really was strange.
Oppressive, sticky, unpleasant.
I wanted to leave as soon as possible.
The next morning.
As soon as the sun rose, I pulled up my hood and stepped outside, gazing at the sky.
“Thankfully, it’s clear today.”
The relentless rain of the past several days had finally stopped.
Which meant we could enter the forest.
After finding out the departure time from Ethan, I slipped in quietly behind the priests at just the right moment.
‘I hadn’t planned on setting foot in the corrupted forest, but there’s no choice.’
There really wasn’t.
No matter who I asked, no one admitted to seeing the Duke.
Their reactions proved they knew something, yet the villagers all feigned ignorance to the end.
That could only mean they were hiding something. And the only thing worth hiding here… was that forest.
“Sisi, over there.”
I followed Heraith’s finger and spotted the Duke’s knights preparing to enter the forest.
And at the front, that silver hair could only belong to Noah.
I quickly ducked low and poked Heraith in the side.
“You’re too conspicuous. Bend down a little.”
He was the tallest among the priests, sticking out like a sore thumb.
“If my brother spots us now, it’s over. If he finds out, it has to be after we’re inside the forest. Got it?”
Otherwise, knowing Noah, he’d drag me straight home.
‘After all the effort I put in to get here? No way.’
Luckily, Noah at the front didn’t notice me trailing at the very back.
Relieved, I thought I’d successfully slipped in—
“Priest! Priest, wait a moment!”
Lucas came running from the castle, waving his arms.
‘What is wrong with him? He’s going to get me caught by my brother!’
Thank goodness he didn’t know my name.
If he had shouted “Sienna” just now, Noah would have caught me instantly.
Even as it was, Noah’s eyes were already sweeping the area sharply at the slightest disturbance.
“Sisi, what do we do? Should I take him out?”
“Leave him. Just ignore it and go.”
I yanked Heraith’s arm, pulling him quickly into the forest, disregarding Lucas’s calls.
And in that instant, the air changed.
Something damp and sticky seemed to coil around my ankles.
‘…This feels less like corruption and more like a curse.’
The sky, blue just moments before, darkened in an instant. Thick fog rolled in across the forest, blotting out sight.
The whole place exuded a vile, chilling aura that made my spine crawl.
And I wasn’t the only one to sense it.
“This just got troublesome.”
Even Heraith wore a rare, troubled expression, brows furrowed.
“Sisi. Don’t leave my side.”
“…Is it dangerous?”
“There’s black magic laid over this forest.”
“Black magic?”
Black magic—vile, yet powerful.
It bent the natural flow of the world, unlike the elemental magics of fire, water, earth, or wind.
But such power always came with a cost.
Black magic consumed life itself.
Because its practitioners always met terrible ends, the Mage Tower had long since banned it strictly. These days, it wasn’t possible to learn through any legitimate means.
“And it’s cast over this forest…?”
Maybe the forest’s decay wasn’t just corruption after all.
“Can you tell exactly what kind of spell it is?”
“Not until we experience it firsthand.”
That was the problem. The spell covered the entire forest, so even Heraith couldn’t pinpoint it immediately.
“Rina, don’t stray either. Don’t let go of Ban, no matter what.”
“Yes.”
At Heraith’s warning, Rina clutched Ban tightly, face tense.
“I’ll trust you, Sir Ban.”
“Ahem! A master protects his servant! Just leave it to me, Rina!”
Unlike the rest of us weighed down by dread, Ban flapped his wings excitedly at the rare chance to prove himself.
‘Well… if you’re happy, I guess that’s something.’
I glanced around for the others who had vanished into the fog, but the mist was so thick I couldn’t make out a path.
Just then—
Heraith grabbed my hand. Then, as if that weren’t enough, he laced his fingers through mine.
“This way, you won’t get lost.”
…Somehow, it felt like there was a bit more than practicality behind that gesture.
