Chapter 77
Carlton’s eyes flickered briefly with anguish as he looked at Rene like that.
“…Thanks.”
At the completely unapologetic remark, Carlton sighed and turned away.
Vellia grinned as she caught sight of those red eyes that always seemed displeased.
“You too…”
“What.”
Seeing how her clothes were a mess and her delicate skin already bruised, Carlton stifled another sigh.
“What’s so great about getting beaten?”
“They picked a fight first.”
“You could’ve just ignored them.”
Vellia pouted.
“You should go in too. I need to get going.”
“And that guy?”
Carlton glanced around, then finally let out the sigh he’d been holding.
“If someone hears you—he’s gone from the manor for two days.”
“So he’s gone somewhere?”
The young Vellia smiled cheekily.
“Alright. Then first, help me walk.”
“What?”
Vellia silently pointed to her own feet.
“I can’t walk.”
“Figure it out yourself. I’m busy.”
As Carlton turned to leave, Vellia grabbed the hem of his clothes.
“…Take me.”
Carlton stared at the faint tug on his sleeve for a moment, then stepped back.
“Carlton!”
“I’m not going. I’ll carry you.”
Carlton picked Vellia up.
She beamed widely, clearly pleased.
Even though time had passed, the interior of the manor was still chilling and desolate. Yet Vellia, still in Carlton’s arms, chattered away as if in high spirits.
“Want me to tell you something fun?”
“What.”
“Today’s actually my birthday.”
“Birthday?”
Carlton, who usually showed no interest no matter what she said, reacted for once. Delighted, Vellia nodded eagerly.
“Mm-hmm! I roughly calculated the date, and I think today’s my birthday. My 14th birthday!”
“A birthday, huh…”
“So, don’t you have a gift?”
“A gift?”
“A birthday present!”
“What’s a birthday present?”
“Huh?”
The old wooden door creaked open, revealing a small attic.
Carlton set Vellia down on the bare floor—there wasn’t even a bed—and dusted off his clothes.
“Birthday means the day you were born, right?”
“Yeah. When’s your birthday?”
“Don’t know. Stuff like that.”
Carlton dropped down beside her with a thud.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Vellia, who had been expecting a present, thought for a moment, then opened a small drawer in the corner of the room.
“Then let’s use this to celebrate.”
“You…”
Seeing what the young Vellia held in her hand, Carlton froze.
“No way… Don’t tell me—”
“Yep. I stole it.”
Carlton rubbed his forehead.
Seeing his headache, Vellia giggled and shook the object in her hand.
“That bastard Bain left me alone in his room the other day, so I stole it. This year’s birthday gift is a mana orb!”
“Are you insane?!”
Carlton lowered his voice.
“Why? Stuck here against my will—I deserve at least this much. It’s my birthday and I can’t even go home…”
Vellia’s eyes welled up.
“…Don’t cry.”
“I want to go home. I want to see my mom and dad. It hurts. I don’t want to be here. I want to see my big brother. I want to see my nanny too…”
The young Vellia sank to the floor and burst into tears.
Carlton silently moved closer and looked at her.
Watching her quietly wipe away the streaming tears, Carlton carefully asked,
“You like family that much?”
“Of course. My mom and dad must be desperately looking for me…”
“Is it nice to have parents?”
“Yeah. Really.”
Vellia blinked, and an especially large tear rolled down her cheek.
“…Don’t you remember?”
“Remember what?”
“You said you vaguely remembered before coming here. So…”
The young Vellia paused.
“You said they weren’t your real father… Those kids, and you—you were all kidnapped. So don’t you remember? At least why you ran away from the temple…”
“Not really.”
Carlton sifted through faint fragments of memory.
He remembered some people, but though it wasn’t painful, that place had been just as bleak and dark as here.
That’s why he never told the others, including Rene.
Their origins, their pasts.
He feared disappointing them—but more than that, he feared himself.
Because regardless of intention, he was the one who had dragged those children into hell.
“That’s not it.”
The young Vellia grabbed Carlton’s hand.
Shaking off her warmth, Carlton briefly covered his face.
“What’s not.”
“You don’t know, because you won’t say anything. But whatever it is, don’t make that face.”
As Vellia sniffled while trying to console him, Carlton slowly exhaled.
“Anyway… I don’t think I had parents or family back then either. If I did, I’d remember.”
Vellia reached out toward his indifferent-looking face again.
“Are you sad?”
Carlton shook his head.
“Why don’t you ever cry?”
“Do I have to?”
“You don’t cry even when you’re hurt or treated unfairly… Have you never cried before?”
“No.”
“Liar.”
“Why?”
“You must’ve cried when you were born.”
Carlton fell silent.
“You’re like… a tree.”
“A tree?”
“You don’t show any emotion.”
“You’ve got too much.”
Carlton said it with absolute seriousness.
“So I’m annoying…?”
Seeing Vellia shrink, Carlton turned his head away with an indifferent expression.
“No. You’re not annoying at all.”
Vellia burst into laughter.
“Really? Then that’s fine.”
Still smiling widely, she continued,
“Someday…”
She pulled her knees up and rested her head on them as she looked at Carlton.
“When we get out of here, you won’t have anywhere to go, right? So come to my house. I’ll introduce you to my mom and dad, and my brother too.”
“That’s not—”
“Why?”
Her innocent smile made Carlton swallow his reply.
“…Never mind. More importantly, what are you going to do with that?”
He pointed to the mana orb.
“This? I’ve got a use for it.”
“I’ve told you over and over—don’t provoke them. The more you do, the more you’ll suffer.”
“I’m already suffering.”
“It’ll get worse.”
“It already hurts.”
“Worse than that.”
“Same difference.”
“You’ll die.”
Vellia buried her face in her knees.
Silence settled over the room.
“…Hey.”
“What.”
“Is there any meaning to this?”
“Meaning to what.”
“Living like this. If we can’t escape, wouldn’t it be better to just die?”
Carlton looked at her, slightly startled. Vellia raised her head and gave a sad smile.
“I’ve been thinking… Maybe my mom and dad are desperately looking for me. Or maybe… maybe they aren’t.”
Remembering what Rene had said earlier, Vellia’s eyes reddened.
More than anything, the most infuriating part was that she couldn’t immediately deny it.
“If I die, at least I could go to their dreams and tell them. Tell them I’m dead.”
“You…”
Carlton had seen Vellia cry loudly, laugh brightly—but this was the first time she had spoken of death. He was taken aback.
“Lately, I’m in so much pain that… I just wish my breath would stop.”
Vellia gave a bitter smile.
“I can’t even remember their faces anymore.”
She looked into the mirror hanging on one side of the room.
Her long, silver hair was beautiful, but it didn’t suit her frail, starved body.
“I can’t remember what I looked like before I came here, or what my family looked like… It feels like everything’s changed.”
Carlton’s eyes trembled as he watched her.
Every child here had their own way of rotting from the inside.
The reason he stayed close to Vellia was because she was different from the others — different from himself.
Unlike the children born unwanted and unloved here, Vellia was of a different kind.
The way she thought, the way she expressed emotion, the way she gave affection — she was different.
Yet now, even she had begun to rot.
Rot to the point of wishing for death.
“Carlton… have you ever wanted to die?”
“…What?”
Carlton quickly erased the startled look on his face. It was something he never wanted to hear from Vellia.
No—he had never even imagined words like that coming from her.
“Sometimes you seem so composed about everything…”
“I do too—ow!”
Vellia poked Carlton’s left arm. He reflexively grabbed it with a groan.
“You said you got that wound trying to escape, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“What were you trying to escape for?”
“Just. Because it hurt.”
To a question he normally would never answer, Carlton spoke.
“I wanted to run away. Not to live—just to get away from the pain.”
“Dying is also a way.”
At that, Carlton paused.
