Chapter 83
Absinthe-colored eyes trembled violently.
“…What?”
Leoparte caught his breath for a moment, then looked up at Lavian with tearful eyes.
“Lately… Nina appears in my dreams every night. But every time, one of her hands—she has no fingernails there, and it’s wrapped in bandages.”
Nina, with one hand missing fingernails and wrapped in bandages.
Ravian’s anger-clouded mind was suddenly mixed with confusion.
Wasn’t that exactly the same image he saw in his waking visions?
What on earth was going on?
In Ravian’s dazed ears, he heard Leoparte’s pleading voice.
“You know about the Hamelin case, right? Even when I try not to think of it, it keeps connecting back to that. That’s why I begged you. If he’s the one who took Nina, I might… never get another chance…”
“Why wouldn’t you?”
“…What?”
“That noble came back alive, didn’t he? So why are you already certain the child is dead?”
A momentary hesitation flashed across Leoparte’s face.
Ravian bent closer, his sharp gaze glinting.
“Hm? You’re talking as if you know she’s already dead.”
“…Every night in my dreams, I see Nina dead.”
“What?”
“No matter how the contents change, the end is always the same. I see Nina dead. I don’t know who killed her, or how… I only know that it’s her.”
His ruby-colored eyes twisted in pain.
Ravian stared back at him, his own gaze violently wavering between fury and confusion.
For a moment, he wondered if this was all some malicious prank set up by someone.
But they were royalty.
No one in this world possessed the audacity—or the ability—to play such a trick on members of the imperial family.
Then what did all of this mean?
If this was some form of prophecy, there were still pieces of the puzzle that didn’t quite fit.
…Or at least, that’s how it had seemed until recently.
Just a few days ago, it hadn’t made sense.
Both Nina in his visions—and even himself—had felt far too unreal.
But now…
Now that he had learned everything Nina had been hiding so perfectly…
Ravian straightened up and swallowed a deep sigh.
Leoparte had collapsed helplessly onto the floor, staring blankly ahead with half-lifeless eyes.
He no longer looked like the dignified man who prided himself on decorum.
He looked pathetically wretched—yet Ravian felt no sense of satisfaction from seeing him like this.
“Why don’t you just live the way you’ve been living? You’ve had it easy so far. Your precious daughter who clings to you is still right there.”
“I…”
“Even if you get the child back, who says she’ll turn out the way you want? Do you expect she’ll suddenly cling to you affectionately just because you decide to treat her well now? And if she doesn’t? What then? If she acts in a way you don’t like, what will you do?”
Leoparte shook his head desperately at the words that pierced right into his core.
“Every night in my dreams, Nina refuses me. No matter how much I beg, she only laughs at me. She used to always smile whenever she saw me… but now she doesn’t want me anymore…”
His ruby-colored eyes twisted again in agony.
Ravian involuntarily made a pained expression as well.
Nina’s childhood had been nothing short of a twisted darkness no one could even dare imagine.
And yet, she had said that she always smiled whenever she saw Leoparte.
She had greeted him with joy.
That smile had been an opportunity.
A chance that a child gives a parent.
A boundless, merciful, and affectionate grace—one that only a truly kind soul could offer.
If it was human nature to throw away every divine chance given, only to regret it later…
Then the current Emperor of Sistania was, without a doubt, the most human man alive.
“…But I don’t care. As long as she comes back alive… even if she hates me, even if she curses me, I don’t care. If she just comes back, I’ll repay everything. Until the day she finds it in her heart to smile at me again…”
“…”
“So I’m begging you. Please find Nina. If you return her to me, I’ll give you anything you want.”
It was exactly what Ravian had wanted to hear—yet it stirred no excitement within him.
If anything, his insides twisted in revulsion.
“And what makes you think you know what I want?”
“…Tell me. Whatever it is.”
“You think you’re some genie from a lamp?”
Ravian scoffed, shaking his head.
His absinthe-colored eyes gleamed with bitter ridicule.
“Even a genie couldn’t grant me what I want.”
If there was one thing he wanted right now—it was to return to who he was before.
To go back to the man he was before he knew Nina.
To the version of himself who was unbound by any attachment.
But that would never happen.
He knew he could never go back now.
No matter how much he struggled, he would never escape that tiny girl.
Wasn’t that the real curse?
“And you’re the same.”
Nina was dreaming.
It was a familiar dream.
Once again, she was caught by Hamelin, reliving her final moments.
“I told you I’d come back for you.”
Heh heh heh. A low whisper came with a chilling laugh that pierced her ears.
“Aren’t you curious how I did it?”
Not really. I’d rather just die quickly. Just kill me already…
“You know, I probably know more about that place than you do. Want me to tell you something fun?”
Something was off.
Wasn’t his voice originally that of an adult man? But now he sounded like a child.
Could he switch at will? Like… that?
Also, was Hamelin ever this talkative?
*“Do you know how your father was able to **?”
Ah, so that’s how it was.
Of course.
How cowardly.
Fine. Then I’ll use that too.
I’ll use all of you.
Even if the price is a short life.
Even if the price is being thrown into hell.
Good night, mother, father, my little sibling.
“Ugh…”
Nina woke up with a splitting headache.
The room was brightly lit, and with Katya missing from her side, it seemed she had overslept more than usual.
What kind of dream was that…
It certainly felt like her usual recurring nightmare, but the ending was different.
No—completely different.
It always ended with Hamelin killing me.
“I told you I’d come back for you.”
That was always the last line.
But this time, Hamelin kept talking.
She couldn’t recall exactly what he’d said—but even after that, the dream didn’t end.
So… I didn’t die? What did I even do?
After Hamelin was gone in the dream, she remembered feeling furious.
Like she had done something in that rage—but she couldn’t recall what.
It was the first time something had been added to her recurring prophetic dream, and it left her a bit unsettled.
If only Ravian had shown up instead.
Maybe I’ve been thinking too much about Hamelin lately, and now everything’s tangled in my head.
“Nina, are you awake?”
Katya’s voice came from outside, and Nina turned her head.
She tried to answer—Yes, I’m up—but strangely, her voice didn’t come out.
“Nina…?”
Katya hopped into the room and then suddenly stopped.
Her dark blue eyes widened.
“Nina! What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
“…Huh?”
“Did you have a scary dream?”
What is she talking about? Nina reached up to rub her eyes—and felt wetness all over.
She blinked in confusion and looked down at her hand.
Tears were dripping onto the sheets.
