Don’t Concern Yourself With That Book

‘When did he get here? What happened to everyone else?’

Where were the soldiers guarding the palace? I looked everywhere but I couldn’t spot a single soul.

“There’s no one else here.”

HIs low voice returned me to my senses.

“… Did you kill them?”

“Well.”

As though he had read my mind, Castor replied.

“I didn’t kill them. I merely placed them someplace else.”

Raising his head, he stared at the moon before turning to me.

“I’ve already killed so many. “

“…..”

“I no longer feel any stimulation from killing more people.”

The moon could be seen hanging behind his shoulders. A huge moon sitting above the horizon. It looked abnormally large.

The moon’s glow seemed to tinge with gold. It was something I would never think was real but I understood the situation I was in the moment I spotted the light.

“That’s why you’ve been so reckless when killing people and why you find joy in playing with lives. Am I wrong?”

“…..”

“The way you played with my life.”

Castor remained silent for a moment. Within a space where time stopped, though the wind had also stopped blowing , my hair continued to flutter.

“Do you really think that’s the case?”

When I opened my eyes again, Castor had descended from the pillar and was standing not too far away.

Flap. His black toga whipped around him roughly like a flag on a mast. His unusual golden eyes flitted in and out behind his long black hair.

“Do you think otherwise?”

I rubbed the caked blood off the back of my hand before saying.

“Well, whatever.”

Whatever he tried to say, I knew the truth remained the same. I was no longer going to be swayed by his words now.

The scabs falling off me one by one were the baggage I would have to carry.

“Tell me. Why did you stop time?”

I could feel new flesh growing over the wounds and torn skin I had received during my fight with Rusbella. I had realised it during the battle earlier but I now could heal whenever I willed myself to.

“Stopping time, huh. Well, I just learnt that this is something I’m capable of now.”

Castor, who had been standing as tall as a mountain, then parted his lips to the point where I could see what he was saying.

“Ashley.”

“That’s my name, you cannot say it.”

“…..”

“It gives me the creeps.”

Though the corners of his lips were raised, his eyes did not reflect his smile at all.

“Hear me out.”

I didn’t want to listen to him anymore. That creepy, enchanting voice that would entice me as though it was the devil’s.

“You said you wouldn’t be swayed by whatever I say anymore, didn’t you?”

He took a step towards me.

“Then that means I can say whatever I want now. Since you wouldn’t be swayed either way.”

“…..”

Instead of entertaining his nonsense any longer, I decided to do something else. A burst of deep blue divinity struck his shoulder.

“That’s a shame.”

But even as he surrounded himself with a golden shield, he didn’t lose his smile. As the divinity that protected him dissipated, the golden haze whipped around his arm like a gale.

“To think you wouldn’t be swayed.”

“…..”

Tch, the moment I stared at the bracelet around my wrist as I clicked my tongue. Shing, I instinctively took a step back. And before I knew it Castor was looking down at me.

“Don’t you think you should give me a chance?”

He stared at the bracelet that was glowing faintly in green. As though he wanted to tear it apart.

“You trash keep getting in my way even till this day. And I’m sick and tired of it.”

I twisted my lips into a smile before extending my wrist. Butterflies flew out of me like a whip.

Tang. Ta-ta-ta. Tang. A flock of butterflies clung onto him like mayflies to a light bulb. Then, there was an explosion.

Bang.

The butterflies that flew towards Castor’s blade had disappeared into a handful of ashes.

“The past. The present. The future.”

Within the thick smoke that billowed, someone managed to grab my wrist.

“During the times you’re unaware of. I will take over your cries and your laughter”

Castor, who grabbed my wrist, curled his eyes.

“Anything can be possible in a space where time has stopped.”

I raised my eyes at his strange remark. Just then, rose vines and stalks shot out of the ground on both his sides tied him up.

“What are you trying to do?”

Even though he was now bound by thorny vines, he still wouldn’t let me go.

“I’m going to ruin you, Ashley.”

I noticed that his blood was also red. Even while wrapped in thorns, he kissed my wrist.

“And make you love me.”

He licked the blood flowing from his fingertips with his tongue.

“I am the only one who understands you.”

The eyes of the madman looked feral.

“You are also the only one who can understand me.

“…..”

“I love you, Ashley.”

HIs wild, beast-like gaze had captured my body as though I had been placed under a spell.

“After some point, you will be ruined enough to stay with me forever, right?”

A brilliant burst of gold shot out the ground. The light burned the plants, smothering them one by one. This couldn’t continue. Clenching my teeth, I tried to resist being pulled in but I was helpless.

“Give yourself to me.”

His sweet voice enraptured my ears.

“I’ll give you the world.”

“…..”

“A dark world where there will be no regressions, no pain and no deaths.”

Just when our lips were so close to touching I could do nothing to stop it. A pale purple light burst out of my chest.

Shing–

The wind that tore him apart like a blade only dissipated after it turned his clothes into rages.

[Get back.]

Right before my eyes. I saw a wave of golden light swaying like a fish swimming in water.

“The diary?”

The wave took a vague humanoid form but I recognised it. It was the diary. When I reached out to touch the diary who was shielding me, I could feel something under my hand.

“Is this a remnant of a soul?”

Castor smiled languidly before grabbing his torn shoulders.

“It’s already too late.”

I realised what he meant and tried to get the diary to escape but a golden light had already appeared around her like a cage and trapped her. Gradually, her body sank into the ground like she was standing in a marsh.

“Didn’t I already say that anything is possible here? This is a space where time is tangled.”

Right as he finished his say, Castor disappeared in front of my eyes. For a moment, I was flustered by the sudden darkness before pale white hands grabbed me.

[This is a space where time is tangled. It is just as he says.]

“You…”

[If you get lost here, you won’t be able to return to the present forever.]

The diary, who now looked like a child, said.

[I’ll be your guide out of here. Follow me.]

Her cheeks were plump. The colour of her eyes were golden and there was no scar on her cheek.

“What happened to you? Were you always able to change your appearance like this?”

The diary bit her lips.

[… I typically cannot do so as it takes up an enormous amount of energy. This is only possible because of the space we were in.]

Before she could say more, the diary pulled on my hand.

[We have to get out of here quickly. We have no idea what else we’d face here.]

“…..”

[You don’t want to be trapped forever, do you?]

From her urgency and expression, she didn’t seem to be lying. I didn’t know what was right anymore at this point but I didn’t think she had any ill intentions. As I was being mindlessly pulled around by the diary, she paused.

[Are you uncomfortable because I look like this?]

“What?”

What did she mean? When I stared back at her because I didn’t understand, the diary averted her gaze before lowering her head.

[I asked if you were uncomfortable since I look like a child now.]

“If that’s what you were wondering, no.”

I didn’t think this was the time to be asking that after she had already showed herself as me countless times now.

[Alright.]

The nodding diary looked happy for some reason.

[We will be looking for an exit now.]

I tried to inspect our surroundings but the diary turned to face me.

[But you’ll never know what you’ll find while searching for it.]

“What can I find?”

[I don’t know either. This is a place where all time is tangled up. That’s why I’m telling you to be careful.”

“How do I be careful?”

[Time has probably spread all across this space. Do not touch anything, especially any holes you come across.]

“Really?”

[Yes. If you fall into one, call for me. Because the holes do not affect me.]

I furrowed my brows.

“… You could have said something earlier.”

I had been walking while staring at the diary so I didn’t manage to notice the hole that had suddenly appeared in front of me.

Like a swamp black liquid poured out of the hole as it grabbed onto one of my feet to pull me in.

Bubble bubble. I tried to talk but nothing could be heard as my head dipped into the liquid. I closed my eyes as I sank deeper.

Within seconds, I could feel my body being thrown someplace else.

“Ha…”

I wasn’t hurt but despair was sinking into my chest.

‘I’m not even dealing with Castor at this point, what the hell is this?’

But I quickly swept my face down before shaking my head.

‘Let’s get it together.’

If this space itself was the trap Castor laid out for me I should be careful.

I looked everywhere around me. I spotted a distant wasteland. But it wasn’t a desert. I could see dry trees, tall yellow grass and cracks spreading across the ground.

‘Is that a tent?’

Moreover, the tents did not look so foreign. It looked a lot like the tents they used as homes back in Mongolia. But they looked simpler in structure. I furrowed my brows.

I’d better leave this small crack I was stuck in and check the situation out first. The moment I started crawling out of the crack on my stomach.

“You there. Who are you?”

As I crawled out of the crack, I was faced with a shining blade in front of my eyes.

“Are you an intruder?”

Looking up, I couldn’t see the other’s face against the sunlight. But from his physique alone, I could tell he was an adult man. But why did he sound weirdly familiar?

“What’s going on?”

Behind the unknown man, another appeared behind him. And the moment I saw him, I was certain.

“Is it an intruder, Ray?”

“… I’m not sure, I cannot make anything of her.”

“Why?”

“I wouldn’t really consider a thin woman without a blade an intruder.”

“Hahaha. Since when did you turn so soft?”

The familiar voice. But I didn’t recognise it right away since I never knew I would be meeting him here of all places.

‘Dane?’

Right in front of my eyes, there Dane was, smiling. Though he might be smiling like that, I could tell it was Dane.

“Hello, little miss.”

The sword pointing at my neck disappeared.

“What brings you here?”

I pursed my lips.

‘… But he doesn’t recognise me?’

A strange sensation poked my ribs. Come to think of it, I was told that Dane was seriously injured and close to death. But the Dane in front of me was wearing a turban wrapped around his head, making him look like a character straight out of the Arabian Nights, as he wrapped a long fabric around his neck that covered his lips as well.

“Can you not speak?”

It was all so unfamiliar. Even those red eyes that constantly stared at me without a shred of kindness. Even that smile on his lips.

“Or, do you not want to?”

“…..”

“If you’re a spy sent by the emperor, you should be able to cross the border.”

The eyes that bloomed like camellia flowers in a snowy mountain were as cold as winter.

“Stop it.”

It was Ray that stopped him.

“Look at what she’s wearing. It is definitely not something you would see in the middle of the wasteland. Why is the man more knowledgeable than me not noticing that?”

“Ha, are you siding with a woman you’ve never met before? Disregarding the countless nights we’ve spent together?”

“… Please stop saying things anyone could misunderstand.”

The Lord might look fed up but he didn’t step away from me.

“Well, alright. It’s clear this lady must have fallen out of the sky. But I have reason to doubt everything. Don’t I?”

“…..”

Dane, who slowly squatted down, removed Ray’s arm before staring at me.

“Hello, strange suspicious lady. This might be unusual but you don’t feel like a stranger. Who are you and why are you here?”

“… Dane.”

Just then, Dane widened his eyes to an unbelievable size. Ray, who stiffened his expression, quickly turned to look at me.

“How, my name…”