Episode 12
Why I Was Cursed
“What are you doing, do you want to die?”
“Don’t say things you don’t mean. You said yourself you wouldn’t kill me.”
I wasn’t sure where the confidence came from, but I surprised even myself by talking back. Huz frowned deeply, but I ignored it and continued questioning him.
“Why doesn’t it say in the book that you also have a red mark?”
“……”
“So, do you just kidnap women with the red mark for fun? Or…”
I clenched my teeth and asked,
“Does a woman with the red mark somehow help with immortality?”
Huz had kidnapped me to break his curse.
I tried to be understanding. I had no choice—if I could break my own curse by killing someone, I might do it too.
‘But… what if he lied?’
What if he didn’t want to break the curse—what if he kidnapped me just to keep his immortality?
“Immortality…”
Huz chuckled darkly.
“You’re wrong, Snow White. I hate being immortal.”
“What?”
“Living forever is a nightmare.”
“…But isn’t that an amazing power?”
“Having endless time sounds nice, but it’s far more terrifying than you think.”
“……”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
He was right. I wanted to live a long, healthy life. I couldn’t understand why anyone would hate immortality. Huz smiled bitterly and touched the red mark on the back of my hand.
“Like I said… you’re the one who will lift my curse.”
He gently traced the mark with his finger.
“Curses of the same type can react to each other. When the right conditions are met, they can break.”
“…The curse can be broken?”
“Yes. That’s why all the murderers before me kidnapped women with red marks. The curse can only be broken by someone who also has it.”
Ah, that made sense.
“Wait a minute—‘the murderers before you’?”
I was shocked.
“Arc Rodfell and Catema Antonio had the red mark too?!”
“Didn’t I tell you? All the murderers had it.”
Huz shrugged like it was no big deal. He was so calm that it made me feel guilty for not knowing.
“There was nothing about that in the book!”
“That’s because it was hidden by magic.”
“But I thought you couldn’t hide the red mark with magic!”
“You can—if you’re not using normal magic.”
“But you’re not hiding it now.”
“It’s tiring to keep breaking God’s rules, so I’m taking a break.”
“…Ugh.”
So they were strong enough to even hide a mark that was supposedly permanent. It sounded absurd, but it also made sense.
“Then… what about the rule that lovers with the red mark will die?”
“That rule still applies,” Huz replied with a faint smile.
“Even if we’re not really lovers.”
I finally felt like I could breathe again.
‘…So I was brought here just to break the curse.’
That was a relief.
Wait—what am I saying? Relief?
Huz was still a murderer who kidnapped me. I shouldn’t feel anything—not relief, not sadness, not nervousness.
I shook my head and picked up a book I had dropped.
“There’s a study room over there.”
“Really?”
“Let’s go.”
I grabbed Huz’s hand without hesitation. He flinched, surprised, but I ignored it and walked on. I felt eyes watching us, but I didn’t look back.
Cursed or not, I needed a place to sit and think.
＊ ＊ ＊
The Royal Library had study rooms on each floor.
I tossed the book onto the table, flopped into a chair, and buried my head in my arms.
Then I laughed.
“…I’m a witch who can break a curse? And the red mark is how the curse connects us?”
It was ridiculous. But the truth of it still hit hard.
“Damn it!”
I slammed the table in frustration.
‘Why was I cursed?’
Did I do something wrong? Did I hurt someone?
No. I didn’t need to think hard to know the answer. I had never done anything bad. If anything, I was always the one being hurt.
‘Then why…’
Suddenly, a horrifying thought hit me.
‘…It doesn’t matter whether I did anything wrong.’
The red mark appears at birth. That’s right—from birth.
How can that be fair?
Think about it—what crime could a baby in the womb possibly commit? What, causing morning sickness?
If that’s a sin, then most babies would be cursed.
So what did I do to be punished by God?
Surprisingly, the answer is simple:
Nothing.
There was no reason. God just cursed me.
Like a child pulling a prank for fun.
‘What the hell… This is complete nonsense.’
I was stunned.
According to the book, the people with the red mark didn’t hurt anyone.
(Except for the immortal murderers, of course—but even they were cursed too.)
The cursed ones always die young, often in ridiculous ways—like slipping on bird poop in the street.
There was no real reason for their suffering. Just God being cruel.
‘This doesn’t feel like a god at all…’
Then all my frustration exploded.
“You bastard! Even if I tore you apart limb by limb, it wouldn’t be enough! Go to hell!!!”
I pounded the table and screamed.
Because of this mark and my strange body, I was called a devil, a monster, a witch. I was beaten and abused constantly. I even started to believe I was a witch.
But I wasn’t. I was just a normal human.
It was the curse that made me this way.
My whole painful life rushed back to me. I started sobbing.
I’d gotten used to the beatings and cold. I’d stayed quiet and smiled through it all. I thought that was just my fate as a cursed person.
But now I realize: I wasn’t guilty of anything.
‘Don’t dismiss my pain. Don’t treat me like a witch.’
I’m a person who deserves happiness.
No one deserves to suffer like that.
“A fair and just God? Ha… What a joke. It’s not justice—it’s cruelty. I was stupid for ever praying to him for help. Always being polite and kind, never complaining… What an idiot I was! Damn it all!!!”
“Stop yelling. It’s annoying.”
Huz sighed and frowned. I sobbed harder.
“I can’t help it! What did I do to deserve this? Why… hic… why is my voice trembling, hic, huaa…”
Eventually, the tears just poured out.
Even if he’s a god, how could he be this unfair?
‘Whatever. I hope someone curses him back.’
Whether God is good or bad—I don’t care. Someone needs to blame him. I cried even harder.
“Hic, hic, huaa… Why do I have to suffer so much?! It’s not fair! Huaa!!”
I cried like a bear, ugly and loud. Huz clicked his tongue and handed me a tissue.
“Your face is a mess. Tears and snot—you look like a crushed steamed bun.”
What?! You jerk! I’m already crying my eyes out and now I’m a steamed bun?
I wiped my face and blew my nose. The tissues piled up.
Finally, the crying slowed down. I sniffled and fanned my face. I felt dizzy from all the emotions.
‘…Actually, none of this is new.’
Even as a kid, I used to say, “If God is fair, then why is my life so bad?” But I never really believed it.
Now I know. God was being cruel.
I let out a bitter laugh—then remembered something strange.
‘Wait a minute… how did Huz know I had resilience?’
That was something I’d missed while crying.
Most women with the red mark have quick healing—but not all of them. So how did Huz know for sure?
—“You won’t die even if I do that.”
He knew without even checking. How?
And come to think of it…
—“Then we’ll look up information about the curse.”
—“Maybe.”
He always acted uninterested. Like he already knew everything.
Even in the library, he was just yawning, not helping me look anything up. Just standing there watching me.
It made my stomach twist.
Was it because… he already knew the answers?
Or… because he didn’t care about breaking the curse?
Either way, that’s not good.
Even though Huz knows the red mark is a curse from God, he acted like it wasn’t a big deal. Like it didn’t matter.
I tried to calm my nerves.
‘Don’t panic, Inea. Huz wants to break the curse. That’s why he hasn’t killed me, right?’
I took a deep breath and asked:
“Huz… how did you know I have resilience?”
A heavy silence filled the room. The second hand on the big clock ticked loudly.
Huz tilted his head and rested his chin on his hand.
“Your clothes had holes, like you were shot with arrows. There was dried blood, but no wounds. I figured it out from that.”
“……”
“That’s why I brought you new clothes.”
It was a perfect excuse. No holes to poke in it. But still, I frowned.
‘Something’s weird…’
Those clothes already had holes in them. Was he just using that as an excuse?
Maybe the arrow marks looked different. Or maybe the signs of resilience were obvious.
‘But where did Huz learn about the curse…?’
He knew someone with the mark wouldn’t die even if their heart was pierced. That’s a pretty specific detail.
What book told him that?
As I thought about it, something clicked.
—“You’d rather forget everything, wouldn’t you?”
He hadn’t been surprised at anything in the library. He barely cared about finding curse information.
What if the reason Huz was so relaxed… was because he had already read everything in this library?
