Chapter 121
“Fortune Cookie”
‘As expected.’
I looked at Roitz again, but it was the same.
Thump. Thump.
This was bad. I thought using an extreme method would make things easier, but it only made things harder.
Yesterday, no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t imagine kissing Roitz. So I believed even if I really kissed him, nothing would happen.
And if I confirmed that, it would be the strongest reason to give up on him.
But the problem was that moment.
The moment his lips were about to touch mine—
Suddenly, I could imagine it. Everything that would happen after our lips met rushed into my mind.
And it felt too sweet.
‘No… this isn’t right.’
I had no choice but to realize it.
Even without my will, I had already fallen for him. And no matter how much I willed it, I couldn’t stop liking him either.
I propped my chin and stared at Roitz, then quickly looked away before my heartbeat grew too loud.
“About the new sword aura… I’ll think more about it. But I think the matter of the Flame Aura comes first.”
We talked like that until Roitz was called by the temple and had to leave.
I sat a little longer, wrapped in the blanket, before returning to the quarters.
‘Did Roitz reach the temple safely?’
On my desk sat the pink box Roitz had given me on Madeleine Day.
I opened it and took out the last Madeleine.
‘Might as well eat this too.’
I just wanted it out of sight. It was only leftover sweets he had meant for Lusike anyway—so why treasure it?
Edible gifts should be eaten quickly. That’s what’s best for them too.
I popped the Madeleine into my mouth.
I thought about swallowing it whole, but out of respect for good food, I chewed.
Then—
‘Huh?’
There was something inside.
‘A stone?’
…No. It felt like paper.
I pulled it out. It really was paper.
‘Like a fortune cookie?’
On it was written:
“I hope the day you read this paper will be a happy one, Serdin.”
It was Roitz’s handwriting.
“…”
It looked like a charm letter, but I read it again and again.
What my eyes stopped on wasn’t the message itself—
It was the name at the end.
“…Serdin.”
My name.
That meant this Madeleine wasn’t just a leftover gift.
This one, at least, had been made only for me.
A present just for me.
That meant—to some degree—I might be special to him.
I sat down slowly, clutching the note.
“….”
To be somewhat special.
But strangely, only at that moment did I realize something clearly.
Even so, even if it felt like he had left his door wide open—
‘There’s still a wall.’
The wall Manon had spoken of, one that only a single person could pass.
How tall was that wall?
I hugged my knees and pressed my cheek against them.
“….”
Up until now, everything—my actions, my future—felt like things I could change if I worked hard enough.
‘But this…’
No matter how firmly I resolved, no matter what plans I made—I couldn’t just “decide” to stop liking him.
‘And I only realized it after going through it myself.’
It was frustrating.
‘If only it hadn’t been Roitz.’
But thinking more, I hated that idea too.
Liking someone other than Roitz would be worse.
Like if I liked Reisher instead?
“Ugh.”
Just imagining it made my whole body shiver.
“Phew.”
I sighed miserably, clutching the fortune cookie note tightly in my hand as I sat by the window.
Nothing had changed.
Only my awareness of my own heart.
And yet, why did it feel like everything had changed?
“….”
Then something dropped in front of the window.
‘What’s that?’
I opened it. A cream-colored slip of paper.
The handwriting was unfamiliar.
“Mansion Eona. 9 p.m. Come alone.”
No sender’s name, no reason.
But the moment I read it, I knew who it was.
The one who threw that strange glass orb that stole my aura.
It was them.
And honestly, I wanted to move, to clear my head. So I grabbed my jacket immediately.
At 9 p.m., no one appeared.
Whoever it was, they weren’t punctual.
‘A world where only the diligent lose out, huh.’
I leaned against a wall inside the lobby of Mansion Eona, scanning the empty space.
It was an abandoned mansion near the plaza. Rumor said it once belonged to the Count of Leiona, but that was only rumor. No one lived here, and it wasn’t maintained.
‘Why meet in a haunted place like this?’
Probably because no one came here.
I had gone to see Roitz first after receiving the note, but he was already attending the temple’s ceremony.
Anyway… when would they come?
‘Was this a trap?’
I turned toward the door.
‘Might as well head back.’
Better to gather more people if I wanted to catch and question them properly.
‘Let’s go.’
I grabbed the doorknob.
‘It won’t turn?’
Locked.
Not surprising.
I could break it, or go through the window if I had to.
But then—
“…Alone… she came alone…”
A faint voice echoed somewhere in the mansion. Reporting to someone.
It was so quiet I almost missed it.
But my ears, sharpened in the darkness, picked it up.
Which meant—they weren’t alone.
‘Better get out now.’
I stepped back carefully, then ran straight for the window.
I was ready to smash through with my body.
But just before I reached it—
A sword flew straight at me.
“…!”
I twisted aside, crashing shoulder-first into the wall, then fell to the ground.
“Ugh.”
It hurt, but no time to complain.
‘I need to get up.’
As I pushed myself up, a hand grabbed the back of my neck and slammed me down.
“…!”
In the dark glass of the window, I saw the reflection of the one holding me down.
A mask.
Just like Aron wore.
So it wasn’t only one.
There was more than one mask. And if they were connected to stealing my aura—then Aron’s reason for doing that must also be tied to this.
“Read it.”
The masked man dropped a paper in front of me.
I tried to push his hand away, but it didn’t work.
“Read it. If you want to get your aura back.”
Get my aura back? By reading this?
I skimmed it quickly.
‘Implant heaven’s mercy in me, under the sole and absolute power… What is this?’
I didn’t know the exact meaning, but I could guess.
It was basically a bad contract. More like a slave contract.
‘Ah.’
Now I was starting to understand.
“Hurry up!”
So, if I read it and made the contract, I’d get my aura back. But I’d also be bound to obey them.
The masked man pressed my head harder against the floor.
“Without it, you’re nothing. You’ll take off that knight’s uniform, rot away in some back room, unable to ever use a sword again.”
“….”
“So easy. Just read it, and your aura will return.”
They were trying to crush my pride, forcing knights to sign away everything.
But—
‘They don’t know I awakened another aura.’
I reached back, my hand brushing his mask.
At that instant, golden light flared—burning it away.
“What—what is this!”
He screamed and staggered up.
I kicked his leg, tripping him hard.
Thud!
He hit the ground.
I grabbed his sword, then pressed him down, forcing him still.
The mask crumbled under my aura, revealing his face.
‘He looks familiar… who was he?’
But whoever he was, he was just another pawn. Like Aron.
There was a greater mastermind.
“Where is he?”
“…What?”
“The one behind all this. Where is he?”
I pressed the sword against his neck.
I didn’t like these methods—but I had no choice.
He struggled, and a lock of his hair was sliced strangely short.
Oops. That wasn’t on purpose.
I pressed the blade back against him.
“Not talking?”
“….”
“But whether you die now or later makes no difference.”
A bead of blood formed on his neck. His eyes shook at the threat.
“Fine.”
I raised the sword as if to strike—
Then suddenly, he pointed desperately to the left.
“….”
I followed his gesture—
And there, at the edge of my sight, a shadow vanished into the darkness.
