Chapter 21: Where the Eyes Linger, the Heart Rests (3)

[21]

At a distance where their breaths mingled…

But what flowed between them wasn’t youthful innocence.

Motionless red eyes, and

Trembling black eyes.

The boy averted his gaze.

“It’s nothing.”

“That’s a lie.”

The girl gripped his chin, forcing him to look at her.

“Those kids did this again, didn’t they?”

“No, they didn’t.”

“Don’t lie.”

“I’m not lying. I just fell.”

The girl let go of his face, as if she’d heard enough. Getting up from her spot, she muttered, chewing on her nails,

“I warned them. I told them nicely.”

The girl’s red eyes begin to glow, as if it’s burning.

“And yet, those bastards dared to touch what’s mine?”

The nails the boy had so carefully tended to are now being chewed up.

“This time, I’m going to crush their hands and…!”

“Don’t.”

The girl’s eyes snapped to the boy.

He was standing up, his gaze fixed on her, his face stern.

“I’ll be angry if you do.”

The girl’s red eyes trembled, and that trembling carried over to her voice.

“Are you serious? They…”

“They’re just fucking brats. Now, give me your hand.”

The boy skillfully sat the girl down on the bed. Supporting her fingers with his wrist to prevent her from chewing them, he frowned.

“Do you have any idea how hard it is to do your nails with just my wrist? Now look what you did.”

“…”

“You have pretty hands. And I’m the one who takes care of them. You should be more careful.”

“…”

The girl, with her lips tightly pressed together, looked at the boy.

Her intense gaze was proof that she wasn’t listening to him.

The boy, realizing that the tactic he had learned from a conman back when he was a beggar wasn’t working, sighed.

After a long pause, he finally mumbled,

“It’s just, It’s really not a big deal. To me.”

It was his honest feeling.

It’s not like he wasn’t angry about being bullied. Sometimes, he even wanted to hit them back.

But they never tried to rape him or kill him. They never took anything from him or beat him up so badly that he couldn’t move the next day.

Meaning, they didn’t cross the line that the boy couldn’t tolerate.

The boy’s rough life had raised his threshold that high.

“So, I don’t want you to worry about these trivial things.”

And it had made him never want to let go of this current life.

Love is limited. Hate is endless. He learned that from a young age.

Would those kids really stop bullying him just because the girl stopped them once?

The bullying would just become worse.

And the girl would try to stop them again and again.

Until, one day, she would grow tired of it.

She would grow tired of him.

And he knew that his current life was purely due to the girl’s favor.

The girl would eventually get tired of him, but,

He was going to delay that day for as long as possible.

And most of all…

The boy stopped thinking and looked up at the girl.

“Just… Don’t worry about…”

“Rem.”

The girl suddenly hugged him.

Resting her chin on his stiff shoulder, she stroked his hair.

“You’re the most precious thing I have.”

She tightened her embrace, burying her face in his neck, muttering.

“My favorite possession.”

Then, she pulled her head back and looked into the boy’s eyes. Her red eyes curved softly.

“So how can something that concerns you not be a big deal to me?”

A smile was now on the girl’s face.

It wasn’t her usual mischievous or playful smile.

A smile worthy of the word ‘angelic’.

The boy stared at her, captivated.

Then, he finally came to his senses when the girl continued,

“So, tell me who did this right now. I need to hold them accountable for scratching what’s mine.”

Suddenly, her smile transformed from angelic to demonic.

The boy knew full well just how far the girl will go when she smiled like that.

He desperately racked his brain, trying to escape this predicament.

Fortunately, this time, God was on his side.

*Dong- Dong-*

The sound of bells, ringing in the sky that had turned red, echoed through the air.

It was announcing the end of the workday.

The boy’s eyes lit up, and he jumped to his feet.

“T-Then, if you’ll excuse me…!”

“What? Hey! Rem! Don’t you dare walk away from me! Reeem!”

Ignoring the girl’s shout, the boy quickly shut the door and ran to his room before she could chase him down.

…

…

…

“Hah… Hah…”

After running for who knows how long, the boy finally stopped and looked back, panting.

The Crystal Palace, with the setting sun as its crown, was a small dot in the distance.

A distance that the girl, with her lack of stamina, wouldn’t be able to catch up to anytime soon.

Only then did the boy let out a sigh of relief, placing his hand on his chest.

“…Don’t tell me you were running down the hallway just now?”

…That is, until he heard a familiar voice from behind.

The boy turned around slowly, like a rusty wheel.

A middle-aged woman with a stern expression.

She stood with her hands on her hips, staring down at the boy with cold eyes.

“Priest Aini…?”

“And I heard that you weren’t even finished preparing the Would-be Saint before Bishop Ivan arrived today.”

The priest in charge of education.

Aini Clevens.

The boy realized that, in an attempt to avoid a fox, he had walked straight into a tiger’s den.

Aini glared at the boy and turned her back on him.

“Follow me to my office, Rem.”

The boy wanted to cry.

***

Aini’s ‘lecture’, which could also be called mental torture, ended in the middle of the night.

The boy, mentally exhausted, trudged back to his room.

The room was shrouded in darkness.

It was as small as a prison cell, with only a bed and a desk, but,

It was a space that had acquired a human touch after a year of use.

“Ugh…”

The boy collapsed onto the bed with a groan.

He was so tired that he didn’t even bother to take off his priestly robes, he simply rolled over and stared at the ceiling.

The wooden ceiling, shrouded in darkness, looked like an old CRT TV with faint scan lines.

It was even more so because several images started to appear on it.

The girl’s face that had come so close to his.

The soft feeling when she hugged him.

The angelic smile she’d shown him in the end.

Today’s summary, brought on by silence.

*Thump-*

The kicked-off blanket almost touching the ceiling as it flies up.

The boy, feeling his face burning, jumped out of bed. He paced around the room like a madman, muttering.

“Crazy bitch…! She’s fucking crazy…! What the hell was she thinking, just…! Argh!!”

…And then, stubbing his pinky toe on the corner of the desk, he collapsed to the floor.

Unable to scream because it was the middle of the night, he simply covered his mouth with his blunt wrist.

After wallowing in self-pity for who knows how long.

The boy laid on the floor, staring at the ceiling once more.

But this time, along with his blunt wrist.

A girl chosen by God, and an orphan abandoned by God.

And the orphan didn’t even have a hand.

“Haah…”

At best, he was just an amusing plaything.

At most, a living teddy bear.

The boy sighed and sat up. Lighting the magic lamp on the desk, he opened the desk drawer.

The drawer was filled with hard rye bread.

A small awl was placed among them. (TL Note: An awl is a small pointed tool used for piercing holes, especially in leather.)

The boy put the awl in his pocket and attached the magic lamp to his blunt wrist.

He needed insurance.

Covering the magic lamp with a cloth, the boy left the room.

***

“When are you going to fix Rem’s hand?”

It happened towards the end of the lesson.

The girl, dangling her legs, looked at Bishop Ivan with dissatisfaction.

But even so, Bishop Ivan didn’t frown.

“Why are you suddenly asking about that…”

“You said you’d fix it. When Rem came to the Crystal Palace.”

The girl frowned.

“It’s been a year already. Just how long does my personal servant have to live without a hand?”

Bishop Ivan lowered his gaze and shook his head.

“I apologize, but ordinary holy magic can’t…”

“I know, I remember. You can’t restore limbs that have been gone for too long with holy magic. That’s why you need to transplant one.”

The girl puffed out her cheeks.

“But do you really think it’s a valid excuse that you haven’t been able to find a suitable hand for a year?”

Bishop Ivan simply bowed his head even lower.

“We’re trying our best to find one, but there are no donors…”

“If there are no donors, then just cut off one from the cultists or heretics who are imprisoned in the Vatican.”

The girl said irritably, tapping on the armrest of her chair.

However, Ivan’s answer to this was unusually firm.

“That goes against the principles.”

And it was also something the girl had already expected.

“Principles this, principles that. Don’t you think it’s okay to make exceptions sometimes?”

“There are no exceptions to principles.”

Ivan looked up at the girl.

“As I’ve told you time and time again, humans are inherently flawed and easily lose their way without principles. Therefore, for our own sake, we must place principles above ourselves.”

Ivan’s tone was flat, but a strange light flickered in his eyes.

But the girl didn’t notice.

And so, she simply rolled her eyes in boredom.

“Fine, fine. Just hurry up. I don’t need the dessert I asked for last time anymore.”

Then, she rested her chin on her hand and looked out the window with a grumpy expression on her face.

Ivan stared at her for a moment, then bowed his head.

“I understand, but… Is there a reason why you’re in such a hurry?”

“…!”

As if he had hit the nail on the head, the girl flinched slightly. Then with a gloomy expression, she said.

“It’s just… those idiots keep looking down on Rem.”

Especially the kids, the girl added. Confusion appeared on Ivan’s face.

“Again? I’m sure I gave them a warning…”

“I guess they were born stupid and can’t understand what they’re told.”

The girl, with deep anger, spat out her words. Then, as if she had suddenly remembered something, she turned to Ivan and said,

“Ivan, can’t you tell them to stop? You’re a bishop after all.”

“Even a bishop can’t just order people around.”

Ivan shook his head with a troubled smile. The girl let out an irritated groan.

“But still…”

“And even if I were the Pope, I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.”

The girl’s frown deepened at his words, the meaning lost on her.

Ivan smiled kindly and added,

“After all, Rem’s bloodline is too lowly to become a priest.”

Ivan intertwining his fingers as he continued,

“The fact that such a lowly being is here, in the Crystal Palace, the most sacred place, might be offensive to some.”

The girl’s eyes narrowed.

“So I can’t be a saint either? Because I’m the daughter of a prostitute?”

The smile instantly disappeared from Ivan’s face.

He knelt before the girl, his head bowed, and said,

“Please, never say such a thing, not even in jest, Lady Clara. You are the one and only daughter of God, chosen by God.”

And then, Ivan carefully took the girl’s hand.

A murky light emanated from Ivan’s hand, flowing into hers.

Then, in an instant, the murky light turned into a beautiful golden light, flowing down the girl’s arm.

“If you weren’t the daughter of God, could someone with such immense divine power even exist?”

The girl looked down at Ivan.

He had that same ‘stupid’ look on his face, the one he sometimes gets.

An expression like a dog relentlessly chasing after meat.

Looking away, the girl muttered under her breath,

‘Idiot…’

And then, pulling her hand away, she said, without even looking at him,

“Anyway, fix it quickly. He won’t get into as much trouble if he has both hands.”

Ivan bowed his head.

“As you wish.”

“Oh, and…”

The girl said, as if she had just remembered something.

“I want you to find a child in the Crystal Palace.”

Her red eyes gleamed coldly.