~Chapter 119~
The Devourer looked at me with a bored expression.
“Why are you even asking something so obvious?”
She uncrossed her arms and rolled her neck until it cracked. Then, before I realized it, she was suddenly right in front of me.
Her big, blood-red eyes stared into mine.
“I used to tell you I’d never leave unless you died, just to mess with you.”
That was back when I was younger, about five years ago, during the worst of my fights with the Devourer, when I often lost control of my own body.
“But I’m not staying here because I want to.”
The Devourer stepped back, then sat on the floor, her long white hair covering her waist.
“Honestly, this body is really uncomfortable. It’d be much better to be in a big body. That way, it’s easier to eat curses.”
Now that I thought about it, it was strange the Devourer stayed in my body—a small, weak human—when there were plenty of other better options.
“I don’t know why I ended up in your body, either. When I woke up, I was just here. Part of your soul and part of mine have mixed, so there’s no way to separate us.”
Since the Devourer is a curse, that meant my soul was cursed. That’s why the soul contract and the curse were in conflict.
“Then why does my death mean you disappear? Shouldn’t you just leave my body?”
“Technically, you’re giving your life to me.”
She corrected me.
I tilted my head and asked again,
“Giving my life? To you?”
“Yeah.”
The Devourer rested her chin on her knees and spoke lazily.
“So why do you disappear if I give you my life?”
It made sense that I’d die, but why would she disappear too?
“Because I’ve done my job.”
The Devourer twisted her white hair around her fingers as she answered.
“You know I always eat curses or blood, right?”
I nodded.
“Life is the best thing I can eat. It’s probably as tasty as the strongest curse.”
She licked her lips with a smile.
“Once I eat that, my job is finished.”
Her blood-red eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Then, I throw up everything I’ve eaten and disappear in a spectacular way.”
She looked delighted, almost dreamy, her hands on her cheeks, eyes shining like a little girl.
“All the curses, magic, and even the curses you’ve erased—everything you’ve collected!”
“What?”
I was shocked.
“What do you mean, the curses I erased? What’s that?”
The Devourer stopped smiling and turned to me with her arms wide.
“Ah, so you didn’t know. You never knew how you got rid of curses.”
She pointed to her throat and explained.
“You got that power because of me. The curses you erased didn’t actually disappear—they got absorbed by me.”
“…But no one ever sensed any curse inside me.”
If the curses I erased just got absorbed by the Devourer, shouldn’t there be a trace left in my body?
But even Damien, who had so many curses, never sensed anything from me. I didn’t feel anything either after erasing curses.
“That’s because I’m special.”
The Devourer grinned.
“I’m like a special glass jar. From the outside, you can’t see anything inside, but it’s actually full.”
So that’s why she was called the Devourer.
She didn’t actually destroy curses, but just swallowed and stored them.
No wonder that nickname fit her so well.
“So if I give you my life, does that jar break and spill everything out?”
“Yeah, but…”
The Devourer rested her chin on her knees and asked quietly,
“Are you really going to give it to me?”
I knew exactly what she meant.
“Are you really going to let me taste your life?”
Of course, curses are curses—her hungry eyes looked strange and greedy.
“If you can, hurry up and do it. I want to try something that good, too.”
“No way.”
I replied flatly. The Devourer clicked her tongue.
“What? You sounded like you would, but now you say no.”
“I still want to live for a few more years.”
If destroying the Devourer was the only way to finish the soul contract, and if my death was the only way to destroy the Devourer, I had no plans to choose that option.
‘If I die, what’s the point of the soul contract?’
I wanted to stay by Damien’s side for a long time.
At first, I just wanted to help Damien for getting me out of the Aristia family.
But now, I was greedy.
‘I want to be with him for a long, long time.’
If possible, for decades, until I was old and gray, right up to the end of my life.
Seven years wasn’t enough. I wanted to stay with him longer and grow old together.
‘But at least now I know my death is the only way to destroy the Devourer.’
If I could figure out exactly how my death and the Devourer’s destruction were connected, maybe I could find another way to make the Devourer disappear.
‘The purple moon will be around for a few more months.’
That should be enough time to find a solution.
“I’m leaving.”
As I turned to go, the Devourer ran up to me.
“Hey, leaving already?”
She actually sounded disappointed.
“If you’re leaving, at least eat a lot of good energy. It tastes good.”
I just nodded quickly and opened my eyes. I was back in my room.
It was already 3 a.m.
“I should sleep for now.”
I decided to think about everything else tomorrow.
“Yaaawn.”
Because I went to bed so late, my eyes felt heavy in the morning.
But I had things to do, so I forced myself to get up.
‘I have to draw illustrations, finish my commission, and prepare for the soul contract.’
Today was going to be busier than ever.
‘First, I should go see Damien.’
I wanted to have breakfast with him and talk about the latest ghost stories.
I knocked on Damien’s door.
“Damien?”
But there was no answer from inside.
‘Is he still sleeping?’
Damien was never a late sleeper, so this was odd.
Maybe he went to bed late last night and was tired. As I thought that, the door slowly opened.
“Huh?”
Through the open door, I saw his bed—completely empty.
‘What’s this?’
It looked like nobody had slept there at all.
Maybe Damien woke up early and made his bed himself, but there wasn’t a single wrinkle.
‘Don’t tell me he didn’t come back to his room last night?’
Maybe he spent the night somewhere else.
Something urgent must have come up for Damien.
I started looking for him right away.
If it was something important, I wanted to help.
That’s when I came to the library, the door slightly open.
I just knew Damien was inside.
“Damie…n?”
Papers and books were scattered all over the floor.
Piles of parchment that looked like they had been written and thrown away over and over.
Mountains of old books.
In the middle of it all stood Damien, with his messy silver hair.
“Ah, Ruby.”
He looked at me and smiled brightly, even though dark circles showed he hadn’t slept at all.
“I think I found a way.”
