Side Story 3-3
Outside, it definitely looked like an abandoned house, but inside, it was not. No matter how much Diy thought about it, she couldn’t understand, so she asked Kyle.
“Why on earth did Sian make this space?”
“How could normal people like us understand that trash?”
“That’s true.”
Diy looked around at the vast space, so different from how it appeared outside, and suddenly sensed something. She quickly spoke to Kyle.
“Kyle, my master says illusions can never beat the truth.”
“What do you mean by that…”
Before he could finish his words, Diy, with a childlike expression, said,
“Wow… this is like an amusement park!”
Her tone turned completely like a little kid, and Kyle furrowed his brows, looking at her. Diy cheerfully grabbed his wrist.
“Let’s go in and play too.”
“What?”
Kyle hesitated at her tugging hand, but the green eyes looking up at him were irresistible, and he followed her. Diy ran ahead lightly.
“It’s so pretty here.”
“It really is.”
They went toward a carousel in the middle of the park. The stationary ride lit up brilliantly and started moving with music the moment they approached. Diy said,
“They had something like this in the fairy world too. Amazing.”
She happily climbed onto one of the carousel horses. As soon as she settled in, the ride started spinning to lively music. Kyle watched Diy enjoying herself and smiled without realizing it. He began to think, “Maybe Sian just made this to make Diy happy.”
But Kyle’s thought was quickly interrupted by the carousel that wouldn’t stop. Diy was still enjoying herself, but another problem arose: she was waving her hands and laughing at nothing.
Startled, Kyle ran alongside the carousel and asked,
“Diy, who are you waving at?”
“There’s a staff member over there!”
Kyle looked where she was pointing, but there was nothing. Clearly, something was wrong. He rushed to the carousel, pulled Diy off her horse, and recalled her dream.
“There’s no staff here. If you see one, it’s not a person.”
“Oh… really?”
Diy nodded, accepting his words. Fortunately, she gave up on the carousel, but soon, something else caught her attention. Diy seemed entranced, walking toward a huge pile of dolls.
“I want a doll.”
“This is crazy,” Kyle muttered, grabbing her to stop her from going near the dolls. Now he finally understood why Sian made this space: to let the obsessed Diyana Enfer run and play here forever.
“Why can’t that crazy bastard let someone else’s wife go?”
“I’m going to play with dolls.”
“I’ll buy you anything in the world, just don’t play with that.”
Diy pouted and kept hitting Kyle for holding her back.
“Move, stingy!”
“Not bad. You really do act like my wife.”
“Do you know how much I wanted dolls when I was little?”
“I didn’t. Sorry. I can fill your temple with dolls now. Rides, gold, jewels… I can give you anything.”
“Give me anything?”
Diy mimicked his words, and Kyle answered firmly:
“Diyana Enfer is scared of hundreds of dolls with just moving eyes. She prefers running with sheep in nature over rides. Gold and jewels? She pretends to like them, but she doesn’t. So you’re not Diyana Enfer.”
The illusion that had been captivating Diy slowly broke. Diy asked,
“Then what do I like?”
“Me.”
“I don’t like you though.”
“How much you like me is….”
Kyle remembered a few days ago when they were relaxed, sharing wine together. Diy, a little drunk, had started embroidering her name on his clothes.
‘Because it’s mine, I need to write my name on it.’
Recalling how happy it made him to watch her do that, Kyle said to Diy,
“You embroidered all your names on my clothes that day.”
“You don’t have many clothes, stingy.”
“I have enough to wear.”
“Such a waste of your face! You never think of dressing nicely for me.”
Kyle’s truths slowly brought Diy back to reality. As she regained her senses, she muttered in complaint, making Kyle laugh. Once all illusions were replaced by truth, Diy exclaimed in shock:
“Wow, Kyle! I was just possessed by a ghost!”
“Yeah, I could tell.”
Kyle released Diy, who now marveled at regaining control of her body, moving around curiously. Then her eyes lit up, and she said,
“Being possessed makes ghosts less scary. It’s nothing.”
“…You’re not actually brave, are you?”
“Nope, I’m a coward.”
She let out a big sigh.
“In the fairy world, we do rituals at times like this.”
“Rituals?”
“My master didn’t teach me.”
Diy grumbled, and Kyle asked in surprise,
“Didn’t teach you? The one who taught you to make charms and even how to win card games with sleight of hand?”
Diy recalled her master, Kim Seonnyeo.
‘Grandma, why don’t you do rituals? Other fortune-tellers do them.’
‘I sell charms instead.’
‘But I heard rituals can bring in big money. Let’s try one!’
‘You’re thinking about money already? Work honestly, you kid.’
‘No, I just want to know why you don’t do rituals.’
Kim Seonnyeo had answered with a faint expression:
‘Well, Diy, rituals summon ghosts.’
‘Right?’
‘And they’re… scary.’
Diy nodded and told Kyle,
“My master said summoning ghosts is scary.”
“…Is it okay for a shaman to fear shamanic rituals?”
“Of course not. If a fortune-teller is scared of rituals, they seem like a complete scam.”
Fear of ghosts was hereditary. Diy’s father had been afraid of them, and so was Kim Seonnyeo, who raised her.
‘Learn to use charms, Diy. They’ll come in handy.’
Anyway, because she feared ghosts, Kim Seonnyeo usually recommended charms instead of rituals. Rituals were too expensive and risky.
Kyle asked Diy,
“Thinking of your master?”
“How did you know?”
“When you think of her, your expression changes. You really miss her.”
Diy giggled and nodded.
“Yes. I miss her. She was such a funny scammer.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“No, it’s fair criticism. She would even admit it.”
“Everything I learned was from Kim Seonnyeo. And that’s why….”
Diy walked past the amusement park toward stairs leading to the second floor.
“The only ghost I wouldn’t be scared of is my master’s.”
“And my grandma will protect me from other evil spirits. Compared to that funny scammer, this haunted house is just child’s play.”
Diy walked confidently, and Kyle silently thanked Kim Seonnyeo for raising Diy so bravely and kindly.
They climbed the stairs to the upper floor, where a shrine awaited. Diy, suddenly scared, clutched Kyle’s arm.
“Someone… someone’s here!”
A woman stood, hair loose, looking toward them. Kyle clicked his tongue.
“Ah, that person.”
“Do you know her?” Diy asked with wide eyes.
“My mother.”
“Ah…”
Even Sian Clayce, as messy as he was, Kyle would sometimes mention by name, but his mother’s name rarely left his lips. That was how much he disliked her.
And now, her ghost stood before them.
Holding a sword.
