Chapter 60, “The Home I Want to Return To (2)”:
I checked the messy documents scattered on the desk.
“Meeting with Director Lee Ju-hyun. Organize the delivery list in Excel…”
It was a familiar work log.
Now that I thought about it, I remembered being unusually busy because of a new project. Three months ago, I’d been pulling multiple late nights because of it.
I let out a small laugh at the reminder of my reality. After checking the documents, I put them in my bag and went looking for my phone.
My eyes landed on it lying on the bed.
The screen didn’t turn on—probably because it hadn’t been charged. Since I wasn’t running too late, I figured I should grab my portable battery and started rummaging through the drawer.
When I held the power bank in my hand, it finally sank in—this really had all been a dream.
“…This is my reality.”
Not the only daughter of a marquis.
Not a beauty who could topple kingdoms.
Not a kind heroine loved by everyone.
Just an ordinary person scrambling to live a normal life.
That was me—Ahn Jin-ah.
When I plugged the portable battery into my phone, the familiar notification sound played and the screen lit up.
Opening the app I’d last used before going to sleep, I saw the familiar title of a novel:
On the Palm That Plucked the Flower.
The cover showed a stunning beauty on the verge of withering, and men’s hands reaching out as if to devour her.
Had I really fallen asleep while reading and dreamt all of this?
I could still vividly feel the touch of Vaizen’s hand as he patted my head and told me to get some good rest.
“Unnie! You’re going to be late!!”
Just as I was lost in the bittersweet memory, Ji-won’s voice called from outside my room.
It was almost 8 o’clock. If I dawdled any longer, I really might be late. I got up quickly.
I put the portable battery and my phone into my handbag, opened the door, and stepped out.
To shake off the strange lingering feeling, I lightly slapped my cheeks, but it didn’t really hurt.
Probably because I still wasn’t fully awake.
Bzzt—
Just as I stretched and stepped out of the room, a strange static-like noise reached my ears.
The crackling sound made my head throb with a short burst of pain.
I figured it was just one of my chronic migraines and pressed my temples.
The pain was always worse when I was swamped with work. This was probably another case of that.
“Another migraine?”
Ji-won, who’d been sitting on the sofa, stood up and asked.
“Yeah. Maybe it’s the thought of going to work that’s making my head hurt?”
I smiled jokingly and walked to the kitchen.
The table was set with a typical Korean breakfast I knew well—my favorite doenjang jjigae packed with tofu, grilled mackerel, a few vegetable side dishes, and homemade kimchi.
Whoever their mother was, they sure raised a good cook.
“It’s not from working too late?”
“Want me to give you a ride? Taking the bus is tiring.”
Soo-hyun shoved Ji-won away with her foot, sighing in concern.
I chuckled at their familiar warmth and looked up from my seat.
“Thanks. But what about your plans with Ji-eun—”
But I never finished my sentence.
“Pla—ans? We—ll, after— lunch—”
“Th—en let’s— eat— out— togeth—er—”
Their familiar voices warped and stretched like broken audio, while gray static began to spread over their faces—where their features should have been.
Like a TV screen with the cable unplugged, their faces dissolved into noise.
“What… what’s wrong with your faces?”
They simply shrugged, as if it wasn’t a big deal.
“Wh—at’s wr—ong? My— face— is pre—tty—”
“Heh— sor—ry—”
But their voices stayed garbled, impossible to fully understand.
I could tell they were speaking cheerfully, but the scene itself was unnerving.
I shot to my feet in panic.
“No! I’m saying I can’t see your faces!”
“Wha—t?”
“No—i—se?”
The distortion spread further, and the noise began to engulf the entire space.
Even Nabi’s crying in the background was breaking up into static.
It was like I’d been dropped into a completely different, warped reality. I grabbed Ji-won’s arm in fear.
“Stop messing around! I hate jokes like this!”
Had I lost my mind? Was this just another dream?
I cupped Ji-won’s face in my hands.
But there was nothing there to touch—just a cold, inorganic sensation, like I was holding a glass sphere.
“Wha—t are you— doing—”
Soo-hyun propped her chin on her hand, looking bored, as if telling me to get a grip.
It was as if I were the only strange one in an otherwise peaceful scene.
The alien feeling made me back away from the table. Ji-won reached out to grab my arm.
Her touch was stiff, like grabbing wood.
And then—the noise stopped.
“What? Do you like it here so much you don’t even remember our faces anymore?”
“No!!!”
I screamed at the sight of clear blue eyes through the static—and woke up.
Cool air. The sound of rain tapping at the window.
This time, I was definitely in Odelia’s room.
Looking down, I saw my sweat-covered hands. The long flowing hair, the pale, beautiful fingers—they were all Odelia’s.
This time, it was real.
But the final memory from the dream was so vivid, I couldn’t stop trembling.
That firm grip on my arm.
And, in the midst of shapeless gray static, the glint of golden eyes staring at me.
And…
What? Do you like it here so much you don’t even remember our faces anymore?
The only words uncorrupted by noise.
That voice still seemed to echo in my ears.
“No… no…”
I curled up and murmured, as if answering Ji-won’s question.
No. It wasn’t because I liked it here that I’d forgotten them.
Even now, when I closed my eyes, my siblings’ faces came to me vividly.
Even now, I was desperately searching for a way back.
No matter how happy I was here, no matter how much I loved it, there was somewhere I had to return to—so I told myself not to cling to this place.
I’d been trying so hard…
“Why… would you say that…?”
Tears rolled down my cheeks, soaking the back of my hand.
Even if it was just a dream, how could they say something like that?
For my own family to ask if I loved this world so much…
It felt like they were telling me not to even try to come back.
It was heartbreakingly cruel.
“I want to go home too… so much…”
I wanted to sit at a table with tofu-filled doenjang jjigae and grilled mackerel, telling them about my hard days and my happy moments.
I wanted to go back to my family.
I cried and cried for a long time.
The raindrops beating against the window felt like God Himself was crying in my stead, and it only made the tears flow harder.
“I!!”
With Rudolf’s roar, part of the Magic Tower shattered.
An explosion shook the earth, followed by the screams of mages.
But Rudolf ignored it all, shouting at the blue light.
“I told you not to touch her!!”
The blue light floated idly through the air, as if to say it was innocent.
Its leisurely movements were followed by another explosion somewhere in the tower.
Soon after, there was a knock on Rudolf’s door.
“Tower Master! The tower’s mana is unstable—ugh!!”
The voice vanished abruptly.
Rudolf could no longer contain his emotions.
He’d warned them over and over.
Don’t touch her.
He’d promised them anything they wanted in return—but they had ignored his warnings again and again.
He slammed his fist on the desk, trembling, biting his lip so hard blood welled between his teeth.
Then, from the blue light, came a giggling voice.
“If you want something, you should know how to be obedient.”
It was the language of the fae.
Rudolf understood every tongue in the world, and the words only fueled his fury.
“I’ve only ever wanted one thing from the start!!”
“And what’s that?”
The blue light’s voice was strangely androgynous, teasing.
Rudolf sank to his knees—not in submission, but because he was thinking of the one person he would protect with his very soul.
He knew there was only one person he would ever kneel to.
“Jin-ah.”
“If you want her that badly, just take her.”
The blue light’s reply was flippant.
But it didn’t understand—Jin-ah was not someone who could be claimed with mere words.
In a world where power and status dictated all, women were expected to submit and bow their heads.
Even the exalted princess of the Holy Nation was no different—bowing to Ian because she might have to form a bond with him.
“Jin-ah is different.”
Rudolf pictured her green eyes, shining in his memory.
No matter her outward beauty, she was a dazzling existence.
He recalled the day Odelia had given gold coins to a child—pure, beautiful, deserving of love.
But Jin-ah was different from Odelia.
Strong. Resolute.
Not strength on the surface, but a deep-rooted fortitude radiating from her core.
It was breathtaking. Brilliant.
“She mustn’t go back. She mustn’t realize.”
He couldn’t let her fall into despair.
He couldn’t send her somewhere that might shake the very foundation of her being.
The blue light nodded as if it understood.
“Alright, then we’ll help you.”
Its tone implied that help came with a price.
The formless sphere seemed to extend an invisible hand, demanding something in return.
Rudolf immediately scowled.
“Then promise me one last thing.”
He grabbed a handful of his long hair in one swift motion.
He already knew what the blue light wanted.
“Never harm Jin-ah.”
“…Alright.”
Snip.
The blue light smacked its lips at the sight of the severed silver hair, then smiled faintly in satisfaction.
