Chapter 55: Fantasy in the middle of the night

For example, they say that it is darkest before dawn.

When you wake up in the early morning and open your eyes, you feel the same way.

You force your stiff eyelids open, and bright light pierces through the slits between your eyes.

You can’t help but frown as you take a moment to adjust. Hazy shapes spread chaotically, and the scenery melts into them.

Then, with a thud, the view suddenly opens up. The brightly decorated room comes into view.

The marble walls reflect the sunlight smoothly, and the large wooden desk exudes an antique atmosphere.

The chandelier hanging from the ceiling shines luxuriously.

Except for the absence of a bed, it looks like the room of a noble lady that would appear in a movie. The man slowly blinked his eyes at the familiar scene.

At that moment, he heard a voice from the other side.

He turned his head and his first impression was that she was very young.

“Are you awake?”

“…Who are you?”

He was certain he had been guarding the back gate of the mansion—but when he came to, he found himself seated in an antique-style chair, bound tightly.

The man looked directly into the face of the girl who had spoken to him.

Coincidentally, her eyes, as black as the bottom of a swamp, were also staring intently at him.

Though her face was undeniably cute, the situation made her feel eerie.

It was as if he were looking at a doll made to resemble a human being.

He swallowed a mouthful of saliva and cleared his throat. Only then did the man notice the heavy tool in the girl’s hand.

“…What do you want from me?”

“Do you know where Sia went?”

“I’m sorry, but I have no idea.”

He says it with a calm expression, but of course it’s a lie.

As a contact person in case of an emergency, he knows where his employer and the girl he’s completely infatuated with—Isia—suddenly went. After all, he holds a fairly high position in the security team.

However, the girl seems to know that it’s an obvious lie, and she casually spins the tool in her hand.

“Yeah… I see.”

“Wait, what are you doing!”

As if she were a dentist, the girl calmly stuck clear tape over the man’s lips.

His lips were forced open, and he tried to resist with all his might, but with his limbs bound, all he could do was tremble like a frog under anesthesia.

Finally, looking at the man’s pink flesh spread out sloppily, the girl shoved a dry towel into it.

“Every time you say you don’t know, I’ll pull out one tooth. Then I’ll ask again. Where did Sia go?”

“I don’t know—ugh!”

In the blink of an eye, the girl pushed the chisel into the man’s mouth.

He flinched at the sharp metallic sensation on his tongue, but as soon as the girl twisted her wrist, he let out a piercing scream as pain washed over him like a tidal wave.

His molars, like corn kernels, flew up toward the ceiling in a beautiful arc.

It was a surgical procedure that would have horrified a real dentist.

Blood mixed with saliva splattered everywhere.

The girl wiped her dirty face expressionlessly with her school uniform sleeve and opened her mouth again.

“Where did Sia go?”

“He, he said (you, you said)…”

Then she spun around again.

Seeing the man twisting his body as if he had seen a ghost, the girl mechanically pushed the blood-stained knife into the man’s mouth.

“I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

“Okay.”

“Ah, ahhh!!”

A servile voice flowed naturally from the man’s open mouth, and the girl finally pulled out one more fang before pulling out the blood-soaked towel.

“Chungcheong Province… grape farm… greenhouse, there…”

*

*

The sight of her eagerly explaining with blood dripping from the three missing teeth was suddenly comical.

If this were a Charlie Chaplin silent film, one might have managed a wry smile.

Still maintaining her emotionless expression, the girl pushed the chisel into the man’s mouth again without hesitation.

And then, as promised, the fourth tooth flew out forcefully.

“Sia, where are you?”

“Kruk, kuhk…”

Her mouth throbbed in the merciless hand, but this level of pain was bearable.

The man spat the blood pooled in his mouth onto the girl’s face.

The sticky liquid stuck to the girl’s delicate nose, but she did not move.

Eyes like sinkholes, filled with darkness like hair, quietly gaze down at the man.

The colorless blackness shimmers opaquely. On that glass-like surface, the man suddenly sees a vision of his own disheveled appearance.

“Sia, where are you?”

“Would you say that if you were me, you idiot…!”

Is this truly a human eye?—For a moment, his body flinched, but he quickly hid his fear.

Though his body was bound and his mouth was in a pitiful state, the man did not back down and stared into the girl’s black eyes.

As an employee, he knew how formidable his employer’s power was.

Ishikawa Paul Heidrich—there may be people in Germany who don’t know his name, but there’s no one who doesn’t know his surname.

A powerful family that controls Germany’s pharmaceutical industry and the underground drug distribution network.

True nobility that has survived into the modern era, even after the king’s authority has fallen and the caste system has been abolished.

Though he had never seen the girl before today, there was not a trace of pity in her eyes.

She probably thinks she will die here. But if that’s all, then so be it.

Even if she betrays them and survives, who knows what will happen. It’s obvious that it would be more cruel than death.

“I won’t say anything even if you torture me… Go ahead and torture me… You b*tch!”

He continues to speak viciously, still not turning his head away from the girl. For a moment, her eyebrows twitch as if in anger. The man, drunk with unnecessary pride, curls the corners of his mouth upward.

What can I say? I don’t want to lose to this young girl.

Ah, at this point, my pride is rising. I don’t know what kind of woman she is, but if she survives here, I won’t let her die peacefully.

And even if I die here, even if I am tortured, I will never open my mouth.

“… I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I’ll talk… Everything… I’ll talk…”

It was too painful to make such a promise. The man looked up at the girl, Si-hyun, with tears welling up in his eyes.

It’s not like a grown man becomes a puppy just because he looks up at her like that.

Anyway, it wouldn’t hurt for it to end quickly.

Right now, every second counts. Si-hyun wrote down the address the man gave her on her cell phone and calmly lifted the wooden handle of the axe, which was already soaked with blood.

At the same time, the man’s pupils contracted in fear.

Trembling, he desperately flicked his tongue. His teeth had fallen out, exposing his bright red gums.

“Wait… please spare me… This is different from what you promised! I don’t even know if you’re telling the truth!

(I don’t even know if what I’m saying is true!)”

“I’ve already asked another guy the same question using the same method.

And both of them gave the same answer, so it must be the truth,

right?”

“Huh, huh…”

“Then, good night.”

“Sleep.”

He must have sensed the crisis of his fading life.

Without caring about the desperate pleas, he struck the man’s back of the head with the sword, making a loud thud.

The man fell forward like a puppet with its strings cut. Sihyeon brushed off the blood on the hammer,

then turned away from the man whose business was done.

The red carpet was stained red where the man’s face had hit the ground, but he was probably not dead. Probably.

Sihyeon grabbed the door handle decorated with sparkling gold and flung it open.

“Ugh…”

At that moment, the stench of blood rushed into her nostrils. Sihyun paused and looked around.

The marble floor was polished so smoothly that it reflected the ceiling, thick purple curtains covered the windows, a sculpture that looked like a replica of Michelangelo’s Pietà, and someone’s portrait hung on the wall… All of it was covered in red blood.

Without exception, everything was stained a vivid red that was so unpleasant it made him lose his sense of reality.

Without realizing it, he scratched his right cheek, wondering if he had fallen into hell, but fortunately, his sense of touch was still intact.

He could say with certainty that he did not have a hobby of enjoying murder.

Unless I have a split personality, there’s no way I would do something psychotic like this… Even without asking such a rhetorical question, it’s obvious who the culprit is.

Si-hyun calmly called out the culprit’s name.

“Kang Sun-ah.”

“Is it finally over? If it were me, I would have made you talk in five minutes.”

The sound of footsteps echoed behind her.

The smell of blood grew stronger, and Si-hyun gently turned her head.

Her red hair had turned slightly black, and her pure white dress was covered in red stains.

As expected. Seon-ah’s hand was holding a Chinese knife.

It was also stained with blood, but it seemed to be well maintained, as the tip was still sharp.

“You’re too stupid. You might kill him before you can get any information out of him. It’s better if I do it.”

“This b*tch… If it were any other time, I would have killed her right away.”

“I got the address. Let’s go.”

With that, Si-hyun walked forward confidently. Seon-ah silently followed behind him.

In truth, she wanted to stab him in the back right then and there, but unfortunately, now was not the time.

“Hm, where is it?”

“Ansan.”

“…How are we going to get there? This is the heart of Seoul.”

“How else are we going to get there? We have to drive. I told you to prepare the car.”

“Well, that’s true… but do you really know how to drive?”

“Yes.”

“Really…?”

…What was the age limit for a Class 2 driver’s license again? The question popped into her head and grew larger, but Seona quickly shook her head.

No, there’s no way that b*tch would lie about something like that.

And right now, time is of the essence. There’s no way that unlucky Yankee girl would kidnap that child.

What’s wrong with her head?

Of course, Seon-ah isn’t without such desires. In fact, if she had the chance, she would have done it long ago.

But what’s romance for me is adultery for others. It’s okay for me to torment that child, but I can’t stand it when other girls torment him.

“…Help me.”

“???”

The other day at dawn, I was so surprised when I suddenly received a call from a woman I had never even seen before, asking for help.

It’s been several weeks since I last saw that child’s face, but even now, I can still picture it clearly whenever I close my eyes.

Jet-black hair, a delicate forehead, a straight nose, lips that seem to hold a hint of cherry juice, healthy, rosy skin, and eyes as clear as a deer’s.

I imagine drawing that child’s face on a blank canvas.

Even though there are already countless similar drawings around me, I can’t help but try again.

Ah, ah, but imagination alone is not enough.

Imagination alone is not enough to calm the passion rising from my lower abdomen.

I’m not a high school boy obsessed with s*x, but I’m shallow. I laugh nervously, wondering if I’m really going to get aroused.

I open my eyes again.

The reality that is clearly recognized, the corridor stained with blood.

It’s clear that the girl came and went, but she’s not there. Not only is she not there, but there’s no trace of her either.

Then where did the only princess who could ease this emptiness disappear to?

Without realizing it, I hum Maurice Ravel’s Bolero.

I’ve already stamped it several times. But it’s still not enough. I want to engrave her scent, her face, that child’s body, once again into this

body. Besides, maybe she’s become even more beautiful in the meantime.

It doesn’t matter. Even if she’s not beautiful, even if she’s become as worthless as scrap metal, I just want to see that face

one more time.

“I’ll come visit soon—Sia.”