Chapter 13
As I reached Room 333, a sinister energy was seeping out from behind the door.
It was so intense that every hair on my body stood on end, but apart from the instinctive fear, I felt no fear at all.
‘Randolph once said this, didn’t he?’
No matter how monstrous something is…
Click. I loaded the rifle I had prepared, muttering to myself,
“There’s no match for a gun.”
Bang! With a forceful kick, the door burst open.
Beyond it was a shocking sight.
…With “Edward” inside Henry’s body watching, Miss Melbourne—her consciousness under control—was chanting in a strange tongue.
“Ph’nglui mglw’nafh…”
Just hearing it felt like my mind would be corrupted. The oppressive air made me instinctively step back.
—I shall protect your mind…
It was the blessing of the Yellow King. Thanks to it, I regained my composure and took a step into the room.
I fired a shot toward the ceiling—Bang!
—Who’s there?!
Maybe the sound worked. Sally Melbourne snapped out of the possession and fainted on the spot.
Seeing this, “Edward” let out a groan and drew a dagger.
He must have intended to offer her as a sacrifice, but I couldn’t let that happen.
“Don’t move.”
Click. I reloaded and pointed the muzzle at him.
Edward’s eyes widened when he saw me.
“Don’t move unless you want a hole in your body.”
He looked flustered for a moment but quickly regained his composure and tried to threaten me instead.
—You don’t mind your lover getting a hole in his body, huh? Keh keh keh… Go ahead, shoot me. If I die, he dies too—not just my soul, but his body as well.
Even though he was a trash of a father, using his own son’s body to threaten me was…
I was speechless, but my aim didn’t waver.
Just as Edward smirked and raised the dagger again—
Bang!
—Ugh…
The bullet hit him squarely in the chest.
He looked down at his chest in shock and then seemed relieved when no blood spilled out.
‘Of course, I never intended to kill Lord Henry.’
Though the Yellow King had demanded Edward’s death…
Strictly speaking, what he wanted was Edward Hyde’s death, not Henry Jekyll’s.
‘In other words, I just need to expel the evil spirit of Edward Hyde that’s taken over his body!’
That’s why…
Instead of a regular rifle, I had used a tranquilizer gun meant for sedating animals.
No matter how powerful a spirit, if the host body faints, possession cannot be maintained.
Soon, I could see the connection between “Eddie” and the host body weakening.
—Ha ha! Hahaha! You’ve made a terrible mistake!
Edward laughed maniacally, but then Lord Henry collapsed unconscious, and the spirit that had possessed him spilled out into the air as a formless will.
‘It’s an overwhelming malevolence that corrupts the mind on contact.’
Even as this terrifying presence radiated in every direction, I remained unaffected.
—I shall protect your mind…
Thanks to the Yellow King’s blessing, but the spirit seemed quite shocked by my unaffected state.
Perhaps because of that, its momentum faltered for a moment—
Wooooooosh!
Then it erupted like a violent storm.
Whooosh! A sudden gale blew through the sealed room, even though all the windows were shut.
Items on the table rose into the air and started spinning around me menacingly.
‘This is the power of a poltergeist!’
Along with the spirit’s attacks came distant, untraceable screams from nowhere.
—I shall protect your mind…
That voice echoed endlessly in my ears and my head.
As my mind began to cloud, I had to dodge the flying debris.
“Enough!”
I smacked away a flying hand mirror. It shattered against the wall with a loud crash, and several books began to pummel my arms and legs.
I frantically searched for The Book of Eibon.
That was the only way to neutralize the spirit now.
‘Where is it?’
Junk flew through the air, obscuring my vision.
A storm of spirit energy raged around me.
And then—I spotted it.
…Next to the fainted Miss Melbourne, a single book lay on the floor, carelessly dropped.
‘She had been performing the ritual just moments ago. That must be the book.’
I had already prepared a weapon to destroy it, tucked into my coat.
I rushed toward it—
But suddenly, a chill ran down my spine.
A foreboding dread made me look up at the ceiling.
The massive chandelier that had been teetering precariously—
CRASH!!! —came crashing down directly on top of me.
The world shattered into blinding fragments.
My entire body disintegrated into pain and chaos—
—I shall turn back your time…
The Yellow King’s blessing activated.
As a bright light filled my vision, a familiar sensation returned.
The sense of returning from death, of rewinding time—resurrection.
‘…Huh?’
At that very moment—
A memory long buried in the depths of my mind resurfaced.
…Emmy.
Emily.
Emily, can you hear me?
A voice carried by the wind drifted in.
Unfamiliar, yet nostalgic—so familiar it tugged at my heart.
“Emily?”
I snapped my eyes open. When I came to, the place I was in was…
‘My room?’
Not the small rented house I was living in now in London.
But a cozy little honeymoon cottage Randolph and I had bought just after we got married ten years ago. The bedroom he had always decorated with wildflowers he picked daily.
‘So this is… a forgotten memory.’
The cost of resurrection.
As I mentioned before, it’s either a memory forgotten or returned. This time, it must be a memory I had lost.
‘Then…’
Could I see Randolph?
I wanted to move, but the body didn’t respond. It seemed I could only observe the memory, locked inside the body of “the past Emily Carter.”
“Emily, where have you been?”
At that voice, “my” head turned—and I saw someone both familiar and unfamiliar.
Slender like a deer, with long limbs.
Fair skin with noticeable freckles, refined aristocratic features, tousled hair giving him an eternal boyish charm…
‘Randolph!’
Randolph, my Randy. The only man I have ever loved—and still love.
To see his face so clearly again—it made me want to weep with joy.
‘Why did you leave me?’
Why did you go? The grief, the longing, the resentment surged like a wave.
But despite my emotions, the “past me” answered coldly.
“Where have I been? What are you talking about?”
“Don’t you remember? Last night, you vanished without a word and only just came back.”
Randolph wasn’t accusatory—he looked worried.
But “my” mouth shot back sharp words of blame.
“Are you out of your mind? Where would I have gone? You’ve been saying strange things lately, and now you’re lying—”
“Look at your feet, Emily.”
At those words, “I” looked down. My slender, pale feet were caked in mud.
‘Did I go somewhere barefoot?’
“I” lifted my head in shock, and Randolph continued with a sorrowful expression.
“You really… don’t remember?”
Not only didn’t I remember—it was the first time I’d heard of such a fight with Randolph.
‘When exactly is this?’
Trapped in my past body, I searched my surroundings.
Then I saw a calendar hanging on the wall, and today’s date was…
‘Three months before Randolph disappeared?’
Suddenly, I remembered what Helena had said:
“You and Randolph fought a lot three months before he vanished.”
…If that was true, why didn’t I remember this at all?
And I had left home without notice and stayed out all night? I couldn’t believe I would have done that.
Then—
“Emmy.”
Randolph approached and knelt before me.
He smelled like spring—wildflowers in the breeze.
In his eyes, as green as summer foliage, my reflection shimmered.
“This is all… my fault.”
“What do you mean?”
He took my hands and kissed the backs of them.
Just feeling his warmth again made my heart flutter.
“Even if this was what you wanted… I shouldn’t have let it happen like that. I should’ve tried harder, found another way. If only I had…”
He mumbled as he held my mud-covered knees.
“What are you saying?”
“I’ll take responsibility for everything, Emily.”
With those words, Randolph kissed my knees.
His velvet-soft lips left faint marks on my bare skin, sending shivers down my spine.
The tickling, indescribable sensation made me try to push his head away, but his eyes were serious.
His lips slowly trailed down my legs to my muddy feet.
“Randy, stop…”
My voice came out breathy. When he finished kissing my toes, he looked up at me.
“Don’t worry, Emily. Even if it costs my life…”
His green eyes shimmered with tears as he gazed up at me.
“I’ll protect you.”
His expression was solemn—almost mournful.
As if he were preparing for a final goodbye.
