Side Story 3-4
Dii grumbled.
“That Sian… he must’ve been working his brain hard. Even until the moment he died, he tried everything to annoy us!”
“You don’t hate it. You hate me instead.”
“I think I hate him too.”
“Actually, you like him. But that guy’s trash from birth, so even the way he loves is trash.”
“Hmm, that could be true.”
Dii’s answer made her notice how Kyle’s mood had instantly sunk after seeing the ghost of his mother. She grabbed his arm.
“Come on, Kyle, look at me first.”
“Okay.”
As Kyle obediently turned to her, Dii smiled at him, locking eyes. Kyle couldn’t help but smile back and asked,
“What are you doing?”
“Making you feel better by looking at my face.”
“It’s really effective. Is this fairy power?”
“Of course, of course.”
“It makes me feel better… and even gives me courage.”
Kyle said this as he looked toward where his mother’s ghost lingered. He really didn’t want to face her, but it was clear that simply avoiding her wouldn’t dispel this spell.
Meanwhile, Dii spoke up.
“Hold on a second. I’ll use a talisman.”
“Can you really do that now?”
“Sure, I saw it in a dream and brought it with me.”
She rummaged through her bag and pulled out a pencil case and good-quality paper.
“Ta-da. Talisman materials.”
“You’re well-prepared. I’ll keep her busy, so go ahead and use it.”
Kyle saw his mother, holding a sword with both hands, resembling Sian exactly. Dii flinched at her movements and whispered to Kyle,
“Kyle, why does your mother… hold the sword like a baseball bat? Is she a hitter? Does she swing it instead of cutting?”
“I don’t know what a baseball bat is, but my mother preferred tearing with the sword rather than slashing.”
“Come to think of it, Sian is weak compared to her.”
“Kind of. He’s nothing compared to her.”
Kyle grabbed a sword as well to give Dii time to make her talisman.
It had been a long time since Dii had seen Kyle hold a sword, and she found it fascinating. Unlike her, Kyle slept early and woke early, training even at dawn. Dii had always been asleep during those times and had only heard about his training, so seeing him now with a sword felt novel and amazing.
She slapped her own cheeks to regain focus.
“This isn’t the time to be impressed. Okay, make the talisman… ah, old habits!”
Old habits die hard. Dii almost carelessly tried to nibble the talisman before snapping out of it and picking up a pen.
Using the red ink Stephanie had given her, she swiftly wrote the talisman on the yellow paper infused with energy and called to Kyle.
“Kyle! Can we stick this on your mom?”
“Yes, we can.”
Kyle forcefully parried the ghost’s sword as he spoke. Every clash of their swords sounded thunderous, almost like lightning flashing. Their swordsmanship mirrored each other perfectly; neither yielded. Clearly, there was almost no chance to place the talisman.
“They look busy!”
“Not as busy as they seem.”
“Oh, still have time to answer?”
Dii teased, and Kyle chuckled involuntarily. Fortunately, the ghost didn’t seem likely to win. Kyle realized early on—before even recognizing Sian’s evil—that his mother was far more malevolent. The former empress had no trace of kindness. Pure evil.
If she thought destroying the world was necessary for what she believed in, she wouldn’t hesitate at all. Kyle’s sword clashed again.
“Dii!”
At his shout, Dii tossed the talisman from her pencil case near Kyle. It bounced once on the floor, opened, and fell between Kyle and the ghost. As the ghost tried to stab the talisman with her sword, Kyle snatched it first.
The ghost, standing before Kyle with the talisman in his hand, said,
“My son.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“How did you come here? How can you deny and try to erase me, who gave birth to you!”
The ghost’s form twisted. Kyle, enraged, seized the opportunity as her sword faltered and struck again.
Finally, when the ghost’s sword flew past, Kyle answered her.
“It’s for the world.”
He attached the talisman to the ghost.
“To do good in the world. Luckily, only my father taught me that. He’s just a funny old man now anyway…”
The ghost slowly vanished, and even the sword that had been distant disappeared. Dii ran up and hugged Kyle tightly.
Kyle smiled, knowing that Dii pitied him even though he had personally made his mother’s ghost disappear. He felt nothing about his mother—no longing—but Dii’s embrace was deeply felt.
He stroked Dii’s golden hair and kissed her forehead.
“Our shaman is really skilled.”
“Maybe because I practiced drawing talismans so much in my dream…”
“That dream was an incredible prophetic vision.”
“Right? I had forgotten how to make talismans from not practicing for so long, but the dream reminded me of everything.”
Dii buried her face in his chest and chattered cutely. Even though Kyle had nothing to be consoled about, he quietly enjoyed Dii’s comfort.
After hugging for a while, the two entered the final, third floor.
Unlike the first two floors, the third floor was just one small room: with floor mats, traditional windows, and very old furniture.
Dii noticed someone sitting in the room and stopped.
“It’s the master.”
“Oh, so that’s him.”
“See, I told you our master would be here. He’ll chase away all evil spirits.”
“You were right.”
Dii ran to Ms. Kim Seonnyeo, sitting on the warm ondol floor, and snuggled under the blanket next to her.
“Grandma!”
Ms. Kim gently patted Dii’s face like handling a baby.
“Oh my, when did you get so big?”
“Too big, right? Oh, do you know Ana? Hanna and Eugene?”
“Of course, I do. I see everything from the afterlife, you know. My powers don’t stop here.”
“Aren’t they cute?”
“Even if I put them in my eyes, it wouldn’t hurt.”
Dii giggled at Ms. Kim’s words. Kyle watched from a distance.
He wondered if Sian Clayes might have, in his twisted way, wanted to make Dii happy—even if he caused her suffering before death by bringing her mother’s ghost. If Sian truly cared for her, it would have been terrifyingly intense. That was the normal Sian Clayes. He would always be trash, but Kyle acknowledged that Sian, in his own trashy way, did love Diana Enfer. Well… even that love was trashy.
In any case, Sian’s one good deed before dying—creating this haunted house—was benefiting Dii now.
“So that damn fox… met that Amila… there’s also this Whirril Island… ah, did I tell you that?”
Dii spent time clinging cutely to Ms. Kim, whining, lying on her lap, snuggling, and munching on tangerines the grandmother peeled for her, all while chattering about everything that had happened. Kyle patiently watched Dii enjoy herself without rushing her.
After playing for a while, Dii said,
“Oh, right. The person I married.”
She gestured for Kyle to come quickly. He ran over.
“Nice to meet you.”
“From what I can tell looking at your face…”
Ms. Kim poked Kyle’s face and continued,
“You picked a decent one.”
Dii, sitting arm-in-arm with her grandmother, said,
“Grandma’s always generous to handsome men.”
“Because of his looks?”
“Only because of his looks.”
From there, the three of them talked as if they had been family from the start. Eventually, Ms. Kim even shared a blanket with Kyle, which he realized meant she accepted him as family.
Still, all meetings must end. Dii, with teary eyes but smiling, told Ms. Kim,
“We should go now.”
“Yes, busy people need to leave.”
