Episode 108 – Ed

*

As the day darkened, I thought clouds were gathering, and sure enough, raindrops began to fall one by one.

But Mella didn’t stop walking.

Because the Baron was waiting at the appointed place.

Even when Mella wrote a letter this afternoon and sent it to the Baron’s mansion, she honestly thought she might not get a reply.

The letter Mella sent contained a sincere apology to the Baron and an inquiry as to whether that doctor was the same person as the Baron.

Considering the conflict that had occurred yesterday, she knew that it was only natural to send an apology, so it was entirely possible that she would not receive a reply to a letter containing an unpleasant inquiry.

But Mella couldn’t stand Tess’s words that the doctor might be the Baron.

The doctor’s divine power was the divine power of a Saintess, her own divine power, and the identity of that person was the Baron?

What on earth is the Baron hiding?

How does he have my divine power?

Mella didn’t hide her growing questions.

In the first place, it was difficult for Mella to scheme or probe, and she didn’t have the time to find out slowly.

Now that there was a conflict between the Baron and Robin, there would be no more interaction with the Baron as before after Robin returned.

The best Mella could think of was to contact him now that Robin was gone and pray for a reply.

Surprisingly, the reply to the letter sent to the Baron arrived in just two hours, not the next day.

However, the reply only contained the time and place, not the answer to Mella’s question.

The appointed time was 9 PM.

It was night, after the sun had sunk beyond the horizon and darkness had fallen.

Mella couldn’t hide her doubts.

It was very strange to make an appointment at such a late hour as nine o’clock, as it was rare to walk around outside at this late hour in this Empire.

Moreover, what was even more strange than the time was the meeting place.

A graveyard located in a corner of the Imperial capital, Sioland.

It was one of Mella’s least favorite places.

How many people would like a graveyard on a dark night, but for Mella, the reason she avoided graveyards was not because of fear.

The reason she didn’t come near the graveyard, let alone the graveyard itself, was because of a great sadness that would probably remain in her head forever.

Losing a loved one would be a terrible thing for anyone.

That’s why there are graves, and people visit those graves on special days to commemorate those who have passed away.

But Mella had never visited this place again.

Because his body wasn’t under that tomb anyway.

Mella tried very hard not to remember that day, but there was no way to block the thoughts from coming to mind, so she had no choice but to watch the harsh scenery of that day pass through her head.

Was it because her body was wet from the sudden rain, or was it because of the memory of that day?

Mella hugged her trembling arms and slowly moved her feet.

She couldn’t know where the Baron was in this vast graveyard, but she could find a man holding a lamp far away in the deep darkness that had settled all around.

Mella led her trembling body and slowly moved her steps toward the light.

With each step, her rain-soaked body trembled more and more, and the passing wind and raindrops became chillingly cold.

Of course, the temperature wasn’t dropping as she approached the light.

For some reason, as the light got closer, Mella felt the blood draining from her body and her body temperature dropping.

As she got close enough to see the face of the man holding the lamp, Mella’s breathing became rough.

The red light of the lamp illuminated the mask on the man’s face.

Of course, it was Salvie Baron.

The Baron didn’t even look at Mella and was looking down at the tomb in front of him.

Mella saw the tombstone that the Baron’s face was facing and swallowed roughly.

She could finally understand why her body felt so cold, and why she felt a chilling and terrible feeling that the blood was draining from her body.

It must have been an instinctive rejection sent by her body before she even realized it.

This was Ed’s grave, where she had collapsed in tears twenty years ago.

Mella’s teeth chattered as she slowly opened her lips and said.

, Baron-nim. Why did you ask me to meet you in a place like this?

“…”

The Baron still didn’t say anything.

The Baron, who was looking down at the tomb without even moving, looked like a Baron-shaped scarecrow.

Mella squeezed her eyes shut to avoid looking at the tombstone.

, Go somewhere else… and talk… Wouldn’t that be better…?

“…”

, Baron-nim…?

“Mella.”

The Baron called Mella’s name, omitting honorifics.

But Mella didn’t think of pointing out the Baron’s attitude.

Rather, Mella felt a strange fear at the Baron’s appearance and looked at him with trembling eyes.

She couldn’t read his expression behind the mask, but she didn’t want to take off the mask.

The goosebumps rising on Mella’s skin and the cold that permeated and tightened inside her skin were telling her.

Don’t look at that face,

If you look at that person’s face, you will find out a terrible truth.

“That’s right. I’m that doctor.”

The Baron slowly opened his mouth.

Mella was trembling so much from a feeling she didn’t know whether it was cold or fear that she couldn’t even ask back.

Why was she suddenly caught up in these strange feelings?

Mella couldn’t be sure whether it was because of the place, the Baron’s attitude, or both.

“It’s as written in that letter. I’m that doctor. I didn’t think you’d notice.”

The Baron said the fact without any emotion.

Even though he was revealing a fact he had been hiding until now, he rather burst into laughter.

“But, even in the midst of all that, I couldn’t have imagined that you wouldn’t remember who I was.”

“… Baron-nim?”

His gaze was still toward the tombstone.

Mella slowly lowered her eyes toward the tombstone, following the Baron’s gaze.

For a moment, her head spun like dizziness and her vision flickered.

I guess this is when you say you’re dizzy.

When the name written on the tombstone came into Mella’s eyes, she felt like she was about to cry and vomit.

‘Edward’

Instead of burying an empty coffin, she chose the most expensive tombstone, so the moment she saw the name written on the platinum tombstone, Mella felt like she was suffocating.

The Baron couldn’t have known Edward, so Mella couldn’t understand why he asked her to meet him here.

The Baron finally took his eyes off the tombstone, turned his face toward Mella, and said.

“Do you know whose tomb this is?”

“…I know. I know it very well.”

“…Who is it?”

Mella stammered at the Baron’s question.

It was the question Mella wanted to ask.

Who the hell are you, Salvie Baron?

But Mella answered obediently.

She knew so many aspects of Edward that she could say differently about who Edward was dozens of times.

But the answer she chose to give to the Baron was about what kind of person Ed was to Mella.

“…The person I loved the most.”

The Baron flinched slightly at those words.

Mella stroked her arms as if hugging them and slowly continued.

“And the resentful person who broke his promise with me to protect this world… I can say thank you, sorry, and I love you over and over again, but he’s someone who can’t hear anything anymore.”

“…”

“He was the reason I lived and the reason I tried to die.”

“…”

The Baron slowly raised his head toward the pouring rain.

Mella asked the Baron.

“Now, answer my question. Who are you? Baron…? Who are you, and how do you have my divine power?”

“…You still don’t know?”

“I’ve never seen anyone like you, Baron-nim, or a rich man like you.”

“…”

The Baron slowly dropped the hand holding the lamp.

The red light gradually moved away from his face.

His face wearing a black mask looked very dark and painful for some reason.

The Baron kept his head up and said.

“I received the divine power from someone a long time ago.”

“…Wh-Who are you talking about?”

The Baron hesitated for a long time and then slowly said.

“…The person I loved the most.”

The Baron dropped the lamp he was holding.

As the lamp broke with a clanging sound, his figure disappeared into the pitch-black darkness, but his body, wet with rain and glistening with moisture, was still visible in the faint moonlight hidden by the clouds.

The Baron then slowly raised his arm and put his hand on his face.

With a clicking sound, the mask was held in his hand and slowly fell from his face, and his head was slowly coming down.

“…”

“…Huh?”

Unable to bear the cold, Mella finally froze.

From the tip of her hair to the tip of her toes, Mella couldn’t move and couldn’t even breathe.

The only thing that moved was her pupils, which were fixed on his face and shaking like crazy.

As time passed and his face gradually disappeared from her mind, there were countless days when Ed’s eyes, nose, and mouth blurred one by one like paint smudged in water, and she screamed and strangled her own neck.

Even after recovering from her madness with everyone’s help, she couldn’t clearly remember Ed’s face, so she secretly covered herself with a blanket in bed, buried her face in a pillow, and cried silently.

But at this moment, the fog in her head cleared and Ed’s face quickly became clear as if peeling moss off a brick.

He was looking straight at me.

“Huh…?”

“…”

Mella wondered if she was dreaming.

Rather, she thought it couldn’t be a dream.

What was even more confusing was that she didn’t know whether this was a happy dream or a nightmare.

A chillingly cold raindrop falling on Mella’s nose and flowing down the wrinkles of her mouth made her realize that this was not a dream,

Unfortunately, it was reality.

Why?

Why? Is Ed’s appearance an unfortunate thing?

Don’t worry.

Because he’ll tell you soon.

Mella had a brief conversation with her instincts, which had given up on everything.

An unknown chill, an unbelievable passion, and a deep longing flowed down her spine, and a cracked voice, as complex as the emotions she felt, burst out of Mella’s mouth.

“Ed…?”

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