SIWALL Ch 35

“Huh? What did you say?”

The reddish sphere of Darlin was gradually swelling down toward his lower body. Looking across at that sight, Elliot calmly continued speaking.

“I’m a person, originally. Even someone who always smiles kindly is a person, you know.”

“My, my, Elliot, you’re angry.”

“It means you don’t have to display a hideous, twisted nature strictly like yours to be considered a ‘person’.”

Elliot walked step by step toward Darlin. Toward Darlin, who looked as though he was about to be completely swallowed by the red sphere at any moment, Elliot said:

“Aren’t you curious about why I did this to you?”

Elliot grabbed the iron bars with both hands. It was the exact same spot Darlin had been holding just a moment ago.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not curious at all. Whatever the reason is, the cause is probably your own problem.”

Elliot was a man tempered over many years in K-service industries. That meant he had encountered people who harbored malice and hurled abuse or exercised physical violence without any reason, relatively more often and in greater numbers than others.

It wasn’t because he had done something wrong. Or even if he had made a mistake, its weight was very small. People had their own problems. Because of those problems intruding into their lives, they would direct their anger at complete strangers or pick unnecessary fights. There were even people who attacked with unbelievable malice.

Elliot had already experienced countless such humans. So Darlin was simply one of many common, ordinary people whose own lives were difficult.

“Magician or whatever, I’m not curious. Don’t drag me into your problems. I have no intention of getting dragged into that.”

At Elliot’s words, Darlin let out a huff of disbelief, as if it were absurd. However, Elliot’s gaze had already left Darlin’s face and drifted down to his feet. Toward the red sphere that had completely covered even the tips of his toes.

“Goodbye, Darlin. I genuinely hope you live a proper life, please.”

With Elliot’s final words, the red sphere went pop and burst. And in the space left behind, nothing remained. Darlin had vanished off to somewhere just like that.

“Ha….”

Elliot simply squatted down right there on the spot. As he rested one knee against the cold stone floor of the underground prison, the chill crept up his knee.

I’m exhausted.

Elliot thought quietly.

Truly, it was an exhausting day.

Turning back time just a bit, around the time Elliot was thinking of his Korean studio apartment down in the dungeon, someone knocked on the door of Arzen’s bedroom.

“What is it?”

At Arzen’s query, the one who opened the door and entered was Henderson. And behind Henderson stood attendants, footmen, and maids in a cluster. Nearly ten servants had dared to barge into the Grand Duke’s bedroom in the middle of the night.

Arzen, who rarely showed any change in expression, raised one eyebrow. Right now, he wasn’t wearing his mask and his hair color was platinum, but none of the servants showed any surprise. Working at the Teron Grand Duchy meant that such composure was demanded of them.

“Grand Duke, I have something to tell you.”

Henderson started off.

“Dave says he saw something earlier today during the day.”

Dave stepped forward one pace and bowed. As Arzen gave a sharp nod of his chin telling him to speak, Dave spoke in a trembling voice.

“Your Grace, the culprit is not Elliot. I saw it.”

“Then who is it, pray tell?”

“A-A ghost!”

At Dave’s out-of-the-blue statement, Arzen thought to himself, Has this fellow caught it from Elliot Brown, too? However, Dave’s expression was serious, and the servants standing behind him also stood solemnly and nodded.

“Th-That is…”

According to Dave, earlier today he had been walking up the third-floor staircase where the Grand Duke’s bedroom was located. The moment Dave entered the third-floor hallway, he saw Elliot disappearing down the other end of the corridor holding withered lilies.

Right at that moment, as Elliot rounded the corner, the bedroom door opened once more. Dave instinctively hid his body behind the wall, wondering if someone was about to come out. However, the door opened and closed all by itself.

Could the wind open and close door handles, too? Or had Elliot accidentally left the door slightly ajar?

Standing there pondering that thought, the door suddenly opened again. This time, Dave clearly witnessed the door handle turning. Yet no one came out from inside. What was even more bizarre was that the door closed once more. As if someone had opened and shut it.

“What else could it be if not a ghost! A ghost put the poison in!”

Dave’s complexion had turned bluish.

“I see. It certainly wouldn’t be Elliot Brown, then.”

Surprisingly, Arzen accepted Dave’s absurd claim.

It wasn’t that he believed in ghosts. Rather, it was because he knew the fact that magical potions capable of making a body transparent existed. Or else, it was a magician who genuinely knew how to wield magic.

“G-Grand Duke.”

A certain tall pregnant woman standing in the corner bowed and stepped forward.

“I-I am Rachel, gardener Benny’s daughter. I have something to say as well.”

“What did you see?”

The poor woman bowed her head, her body trembling with fear and anxiety.

“I… I didn’t see anything, but…”

Fumbling and hesitating for a moment, she soon brought up the main point as if she had made up her mind.

“Actually, a man named Darlin, Benny’s new assistant, has been hitting on me lately… but that’s not what’s important, and while that was happening, I remembered him constantly saying things out of jealousy toward Elliot.”

Trembling though she was, Rachel told the story step by step.

How much Darlin hated Elliot, cursing him at the drop of a hat, and sometimes even uttering words of cursing. And even down to how he used to pull rose꽃s (roses) out of his hands claiming he knew how to perform magic. Darlin’s past tracks tumbled out continuously from her mouth.

“So, so I think Darlin might just be that ghost.”

“Darling… is that a person’s name?”

“Pardon? Ah, yes. Though it’s not Darling, it’s Darlin, Grand Duke.”

At that, Arzen let out a short “Ah” sound. Rachel felt that, for some reason, his expressionless face looked remarkably more at ease.

“It certainly makes sense. There’s a motive, too. It’s highly likely that wasn’t magic, but sorcery.”

Saying that, Arzen stood up from his seat.

“Everyone withdraw.”

Stepping out of the bedroom, Arzen added:

“I am going to fetch Elliot Brown.”

It was an hour after he had locked Elliot away in the dungeon.

Though Arzen didn’t realize it, his stride was wider than usual, and his pace was fast. His heart was filled with anxiety, and inside his head, Elliot kept appearing with tears welling in his corners, clinging to his legs.

Furthermore, learning that the fellow who called him “darling” wasn’t actually a literal darling, but a fellow with the lovely name “Darlin,” made him want to see Elliot a bit sooner.

Arzen strode purposefully into the underground prison, which was pitch-black without a single window. However, he soon had no choice but to halt. Because a reddish glow was shimmering inside the prison, which ought to have been dark.

“Aren’t you curious about why I did this to you?”

Elliot’s angry voice rang out. It was the first time he had heard Elliot’s voice imbued with such emotion. Arzen concealed his body in the darkness and watched Elliot.

Standing in front of Elliot was a chubby young fellow with a familiar back. A fellow whose mud-colored hair stuck out wildly in all directions.

That fellow must be “Darlin.” Right when Arzen instinctively reached his hand toward the scabbard:

“I’m sorry, but I’m not curious at all. Whatever the reason is, the cause is probably your own problem.”

Filled with conviction and anger, yet tinged with a degree of sorrow, Elliot spat out every single word precisely and clearly.

“Magician or whatever, I’m not curious. Don’t drag me into your problems. I have no intention of getting dragged into that.”

And Arzen… the moment he heard those words, he felt the sensation of his heart sinking down beneath the floor.

“Goodbye, Darlin. I genuinely hope you live a proper life, please.”

Unlike usual, the current Elliot had backbone, and was genuinely angry.

On top of that….

‘For that weak-minded fellow to say such words…’

He even felt a sense of pride welling up for some reason.

The trashy magician called Darlin or whatever vanished as if he had teleported away along with the red sphere.

He should have grabbed and locked Darlin up right then and there, but Arzen pushed him off his priority list. A fellow like that could be caught anytime he put his mind to it. Capturing Arzen’s reason and soul at this very moment was Elliot Brown.

Arzen walked slowly, very quietly, toward Elliot, who was left alone. Elliot, who had been squatting on the floor of the dungeon that had grown dark once more, lifted his head with a rather fierce look when he heard footsteps. He seemed to think Darlin had returned.

“Elliot Brown.”

“…G-Grand Duke?”

“Come out.”

“It’s not me. I didn’t try to poison the Grand Duke—”

“I know. So come out.”

Arzen effortlessly ripped the prison door right off without a key. Elliot stared blankly at the prison door that had swung open futilely, then stood up swaying.

“Just a moment.”

Elliot picked up the jacket that had fallen on the floor, and scooped up the miscellaneous items piled thickly in the corner of the cell. He seemed to hesitate for a moment in front of a certain dirty handkerchief, but quickly stuffed that too into his jacket pocket.

“Then where am I going?”

Elliot’s tone of voice lacked energy compared to usual and was a bit cheeky. However, Arzen felt that this kind of Elliot was much closer to the real Elliot right now.

“To my bedroom.”

He wanted to examine Elliot’s face in a slightly brighter place.

As Arzen took the lead, he heard the sound of Elliot trudging along behind him. The sound of those footsteps was so faint that Arzen had to walk while holding back the urge to check behind him.