Crown of Thorns

I pulled myself up to close the curtains, making it dark inside the tower again. As if I was falling, I crouched down in front of the window. The places where Evan’s hand touched, the ears that had heard Evan’s voice, and the eyes that had contained Evan’s brilliant colors, seemed to have become strange.

Evan tried to persuade me as I kept pestering him to go back, but he eventually left the tower as if he had given up. As a boy, he went down the stairs and got hurt by the thorns. But now, as a young man, he didn’t leave through the forest but disappeared with a white Light. As he said, he has succeeded in handling Light. Maybe he used that power to come to me. Just like I did for him.

Once used, his power will become more adept and will never be forgotten. That means I can’t stop Evan from coming here. It means I don’t know when or how he might appear. If he shows up when I’m not here, there’s a chance that he’ll notice the witch’s plan too soon. Or if my tail is too long, I’ll get caught, and people might follow me.

‘Don’t ever come here again.’

There was no doubt about it; before he went back, his gaze looked hurt, only for such an insignificant thing such as this. His future wounds would be even bigger. The more he forgets me, the farther away he stays from me, and the less involved he gets with me, the less hurt he will be. Evan still didn’t understand me, and I just felt sorry for him.

And I didn’t know that the more he did, the more painful it was for me either. He still did not try to understand the witch.

Why the hell did he come here? Did Evan want to be praised by me? Did he want to brag about how much he’s learned?

Or was it that he felt too bad for me being alone in the tower?

He was too soft and pure. He tried to understand the witch and felt pity for her. He may have felt sorry for me who would be alone in the future, as he has done so far. That must be why he came here like this.

I closed my eyes tightly and buried my face between my knees. If anyone knew Evan had come to the Witch’s Tower or even the Witch’s Forest… If it becomes known to the emperor who knows that witches exist… And to the believers of Umbra who believed in and followed the witch…

It was terrible. It was so terrible that I didn’t want to think anymore. I hurried myself and teleported somewhere.

The surrounding landscape has changed. And in it, Ruadhan, who was sitting in front of a small candle, stood up in astonishment.

“Ny- Nyx.”

He looked at me with his eyebrows knit and his eyes dimmed, perhaps because he had been resting for a while, with his glasses on the table. He was groping on the table with his hands, but I didn’t want to prolong this chaotic situation, so I hurriedly asked him without giving him a chance to wear glasses.

“This must not be a dream, is it? Is this the present or the future? Can you explain what’s going on?”

“Nyx, did you dream again?”

“I don’t know. Whether that was a dream or a reality. No, I don’t even know if this is real now.”

Ruadhan knew about my dreams. I let him know of the future that I saw. I also explained about the past dreams in which I had failed, and what made things how they are now. He looked at me, unable to conceal his confusion, and soon carefully put his hand on my shoulder.

“Calm down.”

I felt a little soothed, looking into those warm, cool eyes. Previously, I used to wander for a long time because I couldn’t distinguish between dream and reality. But now, someone was around me. It certainly was a great help. To me, Ruadhan was always a man whom I was grateful and sorry to.

“Ruadhan… Evan, the warrior, came to me.”

Ruadhan looked very surprised. His expression was shaking for a while. But soon, he calmly nodded. It was as if he had already expected it.

“What happened back then?”

Then, with a hint of surprise, Ruadhan asked.

“Seeing as you don’t know about this, did something happen?”

“I was attacked by a monster and lost my consciousness for a while.”

Only then did Ruadhan’s eyes thin as if he were convinced of something. He must’ve been a little flustered since I had disappeared when I was the one to give the signal for the monsters to retreat as things went normally.

“I see. Are you all right now? Where did you get hurt…?”

“It’s all right. Tell me what happened.”

“I was just trying to sort it out. How this would affect your plans…”

Did I stay passed out for a long time? I couldn’t have possibly been distracted by Evan. After the Shadow was shattered, I lost my consciousness, and there was no way for me to know what was going on afterward. Usually, it would take a while for me to get back to my senses whenever I took my own life. Maybe it was the same this time, too. Moreover, after I came to my senses, I felt so well. It was like getting hurt was but a dream. When I thought so, I felt anxious.

As if he had noticed my impatience, he continued, frowning again and trying to have me focus.

“The monsters there were wiped out. I almost got caught up in it.”

“What does that…?”

No matter how many people joined in on the fight, it was almost impossible for them to get rid of all the monsters. All my doubts died down at the words of Ruadhan.

“It was the Light. The Light you were talking about turned the situation upside down. The Light apparently emanated from the warrior Evan’s body, quickly wiping out the monsters, and then disappeared. At the same time, the wounds inflicted on everyone there were healed, and Evan, likewise, disappeared without a trace, leaving the people there in utter chaos.”

Light. I covered my mouth with my hands. Otherwise, it seemed like a groan would have escaped out. Evan’s use of light is welcomed, but not like this. Otherwise, while the Emperor and the witches are looking for the warrior, there’s no doubt that if he shows off his strength so grandly…

“E, Evan probably went back there by now. I’m going to see him.”

“No, I don’t think you need to be in such a hurry if you are to go back there.”

“But…”

His eyes glistened like a poisonous snake’s, the gaze that seemed to want to bite Evan with his mouth wide open soon caught me. He nodded as if he knew what I was worried about.

“You won’t be able to reach Evan.”

“How come?”

“Yohan, the commander of the Knights’ Order, had a strange object. As soon as Evan disappeared with the Light, he cleared his surroundings and took something out. I couldn’t even go near him after that.”

I need to look into what kind of object it is, but if what Ruadhan said is true, I would not have to be impatient. If Ruadhan Couldn’t get in, then other witches wouldn’t be able to either.

I heaved my chest up and down. However, as the Light’s whereabouts had been revealed, the Son of Heaven had probably already made his move. It was in the hands of Yohan whether to hide Evan or send him to the palace. I couldn’t figure out his plan, so I had to wait and see what would happen.

“His powers were revealed too soon, creating a bit of trouble. As to how this will affect your plans…”

“Maybe it’ll be fine.”

If Evan were to enter the palace, there would be no great danger for him. No, rather, it was a good thing that would get him out of the witches’ threat.

The witch had yet to show herself properly, and the emperor was not an adventurous character. He wouldn’t risk coming to the Witch’s Forest nor the Tower. There was a high possibility that he would only take a little leisurely look at the situation, gauge my plans, and entice me to come instead of moving in person. As it was full of traps, the palace is a very safe place for the Emperor and a very dangerous place for witches.

Above all, Evan must have just awakened his powers; he would still be clumsy handling it. The emperor would not yet fully trust Evan. He would more likely force him to heal him and maintain his surroundings instead of confronting the witch whose involvement he was unsure of.

If Evan had safely entered the emperor’s arms, the witch’s plans would not be disrupted. The original order she issued for her witches was to find the warrior; this was to make the emperor aware of his existence and keeping him by his side. Not to doubt the Light that came out of the blue.

I sat down in a chair, heaving a small sigh. And as I covered my face with my palms, I could hear Ruadhan’s worried voice.

“Are you all right?”

The words I most frequently heard from him seemed to be exclamations of worry. I felt bad to keep worrying him, so I nodded and put my hands away. The candle in front of me shook as I moved, creating a glimmer of my movements.

“By all means, I’ve come to realize what you were saying. Evan has the power to drive out the Darkness. I’m sure you’d have been surprised had you seen it. As soon as the Light spread, all the monsters turned into powder and were blown away with the wind. And those who were hurt came back to their original form, praising this strange and wonderful thing.”

I had already seen it before, so I listened, recalling what it was like back then. He was sure to become a great force for the Son of Heaven and a great threat to the Witch.

Sitting in front of me, Ruadhan finally found his glasses. He groped for the cloth he had next to him, grabbed it in his hand, wiped his glasses off, and said, fixing them on his face.

“But why would he visit you? In fact, I was surprised to see him suddenly disappear. So, I didn’t know he’d really go there. At first, I was going to wait a little longer and then go to Nyx’s…”

I was also curious about that. Why did Evan come to the Witch’s Tower? After all that trouble. Moreover, it was also strange that he had come to realize his strength at that time. Perhaps after I had disappeared, he was in great danger and unwittingly used his powers? Usually, in an emergency, one uses as much strength as one can. If that were the case, then I could only say that my presence had kept Evan from awakening his full potential.

And I was thinking that, if Evan had used Light when I was there, then I might have gotten even more hurt by his Light than by the sword thrown by the monster. There was another thing to wonder about. Listening to Ruadhan, I realized that it hadn’t been that long since I passed out. When had my body been able to recover this fast?

I inadvertently pressed against my chest muscles with my palms, and when I became aware of Ruadhan’s gaze, I raised my head. Before I knew it, he was staring at me with his glasses on. He still had a calm, dry face, but he was mysteriously absent-minded with embarrassment in his eyes. And because I was embarrassed, I also asked him, since it was the first time I had seen such a disconcerted expression on his face, other than when we met for the first time.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, that, that’s.”

Ruadhan stammered, so unlike himself, and hurriedly avoided making eye contact. He lowered his head a little, making the glasses run down his nose, but he seemed so distracted that he could not even notice it.

He insisted on the posture as if he had been sober for a while, and soon raised his glasses as usual, and said,

“Nyx, did you not notice?”

“What does that mean?”

Ruadhan answered, pointing his index finger at his cheek.

“All your scars are gone.”

“What? What do you…”

I inadvertently put my hand on my cheek and stopped. The feeling of my skin has changed. The skin, which was all rough and patched up, has become smooth and seamless. I brushed my cheek down without hesitation. I felt like my hand was slipping as soon as it touched it.

My forehead, nose bridge, lips, and neck, which were full of regrown skin, had all softened. When I rolled up my sleeves in a hurry, my arms looked white and smooth. I jumped out of my seat and wrapped my face in both hands. Everywhere I touched felt different from before.

“The light has healing powers… Was it done by the warrior, too?”

To Ruadhan’s question, I remembered the dream I had before I woke up. It was a white world. A world of warm light enveloping me. It was snowing all over, but it was very warm and soft. It disappeared, stroking my face, forehead, nose, and cheeks.

I closed my eyes tightly. Otherwise, tears would have flowed down. The young man in my memory had found the woman inside a hideous, gross witch. And now, Evan had pulled her out. That was what happened.

“…Evan.”

Similar to a groan, a voice had escaped out of my mouth. And in a heartbreaking whisper, it had formed into his name and scattered into the air.

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