episode_0027

“Aeil Chloe and I have something to discuss together.”

At those words, Lager glanced at me for a moment. It felt like he was asking if it was okay to leave the room.

On the other hand, Dakota seemed to be even more displeased with that sight, furrowing his brows slightly.

“Why is he looking at her when I’m the one who asked?” His expression seemed to ask.

It was awkward. In many ways.

I grimaced and gestured towards the door. Lager nodded silently and left the room.

Thud.

The sound of the door closing.

In the room, only Dakota and I were left.

The sounds of the humidifier and the refrigerator running seemed incredibly loud.

Dakota let out a deep sigh.

His chest, which seemed even more fragile today, rose and fell once.

“Please have a seat. This might take a while.”

“I have a lot to say.”

I deliberately tried not to show any signs of tension as I approached the bed, pretending to be nonchalant.

“It’s an important conversation.”

But maybe I should have shown some discomfort. Dakota, sitting in the chair, seemed to add more weight to the situation.

Should I have looked more burdened, as if I was about to cry?

From Dakota’s tightly closed lips, I could sense a deep struggle.

What is he trying to say?

Is he trying to start a serious conversation because he’s jealous of Lager and me getting along well?

Or is he trying to ask about what happened between him and Lager while he was hospitalized?

Unable to grasp his true intentions, I could only speculate.

Then Dakota nodded.

He lowered his head.

“I’m sorry.”

His unexpected apology left me momentarily stunned, unsure of how to react.

“Um, ah, well…”

I tried to gather my thoughts for a moment, stumbling over my words.

It was futile.

So I asked, “I’m sorry, but I’m not sure why you’re apologizing to me.”

Avoiding eye contact, Dakota confessed while gripping the bed sheet covering his legs with both hands.

“I sincerely tried to kill you back then.”

“Oh…”

“It’s an action that cannot be justified by any excuse. I am ashamed of myself for not being able to control myself. Please apologize to Godin as well.”

For a moment, Dakota seemed like a different person.

He remembered everything that happened back then.

“Then, what about trying to undress Lager?”

“Don’t mention that.”

“Oh, okay…”

“Don’t ever mention it, no matter where you go.”

“I won’t.”

Dakota’s face turned bright red, as if he wanted to pull the covers over his head.

He remembers everything vividly.

But it seemed like there was something more important to Dakota at the moment.

“If I were only going to talk about this, I wouldn’t have sent Godin out.”

Dakota looked serious and raised his hand.

He pointed to the tail swaying behind my coccyx bone.

“What is that tail, exactly?”

That was the main point.

Embarrassment washed over Dakota’s face as he looked at the tail, replaced by worry and caution.

“You can’t control that tail yourself, can you?”

“Huh?”

“Or did you know something and deliberately stabbed me back then?”

Dakota’s words struck like a dagger to the heart, making me hold my breath for a moment.

“Which one is it?”

How did he know?

Well, there was no point in hiding it now that he knew, but…

“It’s the former. The tail sometimes moves on its own beyond my control.”

“I see.”

“How did you know?”

However, I was not like that.

More precisely, my tail did not move like that.

“I thought about it when I saw that. Perhaps, although the tail is attached to your body, it may be an independent entity that moves on its own judgment.”

Dakota’s deduction was accurate.

And that was the point Dakota was concerned about.

“Chloe, I apologize for speaking about your body like this, but…”

After taking a deep breath, Dakota looked at me with a serious expression and said,

“That tail is too dangerous.”

I was aware of that.

However, Dakota was speaking with the worst assumption in mind.

“Your tail is a dangerous item that can change a person’s personality and incite aggression. But if you cannot control it yourself…”

A terrible bloodbath could occur.

The air in the hospital room seemed to chill at Dakota’s words.

It was not just a simple threat or coercion.

I also thought it could really happen.

So I thought I should share some of the information about the tail’s settings with Dakota.

Maybe she could come up with a better solution.

“It doesn’t seem to apply to everyone in such a dangerous way. In fact, both Lena and I were stabbed, but nothing happened that would harm others.”

“Can you be sure that even if you were stabbed again, you wouldn’t harm others?”

“Yeah.”

“On what basis?”

The ultimate goal, the phrase was too difficult.

I pondered for a moment on how to explain this concept without telling the character, “In fact, you are a character.”

The word I finally came up with was…

“If you get stabbed by the tail, it allows you to temporarily achieve your ‘life goal,’ like Lena and I did, without harming others.”

“…Life goal?”

“Yeah. It’s not just about making people violent…”

Ah.

I stopped talking there in a hurry.

I cautiously glanced at Dakota.

Seeing her dark purple eyes looking confused and wavering, I sensed that I had spilled the beans.

Why did I have to use that expression, ugh.

“My life goal…”

Dakota muttered in a confused tone as if she were possessed by something.

“My life goal is to ‘prove my love to Lager Godin with my life’?”

What?

This time, I furrowed my brow in confusion.

“When I was stabbed by the tail, I heard that in my head.”

“Heard?”

“Dakota Kale’s ultimate goal. ‘Proving my love to Lager Godin with my life’ is immediately realized…”

It was a surreal feeling.

That message was not only heard by me, the possessor, but also by anyone stabbed by the tail.

Come to think of it, Dakota didn’t even flinch or change her expression when she was stabbed with a fatal blow.

Her crimson face, which seemed indifferent to death, was actually a movement based on her ultimate goal.

Her sudden embrace of Lager and her attempt to attack me were probably reactions to the command to prove love.

“Could loving someone deeply eventually lead to killing them?”

Dakota seemed most fearful of that possibility.

Looking at it this way, I felt fortunate to have used the expression ‘life goal’.

Anyway, as long as Dakota didn’t know that this goal was ‘set by someone else’, there would be no more shocking events for Dakota.

I placed my hand on Dakota’s trembling hand, still holding onto the sheet.

Her hand was very soft.

“Dakota, don’t worry too much. What’s important to you is proving your love, and hurting someone is just a matter of the process.”

“So, it doesn’t matter how much someone gets hurt in the process?”

“No. It means you can avoid that process as much as you want with your will.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I said so.”

I, too, was in a position where I had been stung, and it might be impossible to avoid my ultimate goal completely.

Still, I could control myself to prevent more embarrassing incidents during the process.

“You’re stronger than me. In terms of combat power and mental strength.”

“That’s…”

“So you can do it. What you’re worried about won’t happen.”

I comforted Dakota by stroking her hand.

The anxiety in Dakota’s eyes softened.

She was afraid.

The thought of possibly killing a human, not a monster, regardless of her own will, made her chest tight, which is why she may have sought a conversation with me, who might know her best.

Still, I was relieved that she didn’t suffer any more emotional wounds.

“But…”

She held my hand, which she had been stroking, tightly and asked.

“What is Chloe Yang’s life goal?”

“Why do you ask?”

“You said it can be controlled. What kind of goal allows you to control the process? What does the process specifically mean…”

I stared into her earnest eyes, genuinely curious, and said,

“You don’t need to know.”

Even if it meant saying ‘My life goal is to become a female tarot’, I couldn’t say it.