~Chapter 24~
“I know you brought that wildcat here on purpose. The animal isn’t to blame, but you are.”
Alexei said to the trembling Rotten, his eyes curved in a smile.
“Close your eyes for a moment, Ria.”
Alexei used a spell so Solia wouldn’t hear their conversation.
“If you were so scared, you shouldn’t have kidnapped me. At least you could have found out who I was before doing it.”
“…If I’d known you were a shaman, I never would have! They say shamans eat people!”
Alexei laughed at Rotten’s words.
“I don’t eat people. The spirits I control sometimes do. The ‘Wolgwi’ is a spirit filled with a thousand years of resentment…”
Rotten stepped back, looking even more scared. Alexei just smiled.
“I told Solia it was a sickness of the heart, but really, I’m leaving because I can’t fully control my shaman powers yet. It’s too dangerous—I could lose control.”
It was hard for four-year-old Solia to understand, so Alexei had called it a sickness of the heart.
“Listen carefully. If you ever lay a hand on Solia again…”
At that moment, a red butterfly pattern appeared in Alexei’s eyes.
Red flower petals rained down like cherry blossoms.
A single petal landed softly in Solia’s outstretched hands. Feeling the softness, she opened her eyes for a moment, then closed them again, remembering Alexei’s words. She smiled happily, caught in his illusion.
She imagined holding hands with her healthy mother at the market and visiting the salt lake.
As Solia hugged Alexei, she saw Rotten screaming with two of his fingers cut off. But the happy dream soon covered the real memory.
“Aaaah! My hand, my fingers!”
“You know, you ran away when you woke up from your nap. I let you go that time.”
“Ah, ah!”
Rotten limped away from the old house, running in fear. Solia was left alone.
It took time for Solia to wake from the dream. Alexei stroked her hair with great affection.
“It’s time for me to go, Solia. Don’t miss me too much…”
With the flower rain falling behind him, Alexei left.
Before he left, Alexei hugged Solia one last time and whispered,
“I’ll come back for you, my Ria.”
She wanted to believe those words until the end, but Solia couldn’t wait for Alexei.
It was a carriage accident. It happened in the summer, when she was five and sent out to beg as usual.
Bang! Solia’s body was thrown into the air, and she lost consciousness.
‘…Sei, big brother.’
Her body was small and weak from not eating well. She couldn’t withstand the shock.
Solia didn’t think she could endure any more pain. She actually felt glad to die.
At least then, she’d escape her sick mother and the monster who hit her and forced her to beg.
“Here, Ria. Take this mirror. Use it if you’re ever in danger.”
“What is it?”
“It’s Wolgwi’s mirror. Wolgwi is the master of the moon and controls the gates between worlds…”
Three months earlier.
Just a few days before Alexei left, he gave her the mirror. Solia smiled as she accepted it.
“If you make a wish to Wolgwi, he’ll grant you just one.”
“Why only one?”
“Because I paid a price to the stubborn Wolgwi. He said he’ll only grant one wish, and you have to risk your life for it…”
As Solia was dying, she remembered Alexei’s words.
The five-year-old, dying child cried. She felt thankful and sorry for the precious gift Alexei had given her.
‘At least Alexei cared for me. Thank you for letting me realize it, Sei…’
She hoped Alexei wouldn’t be too sad when he heard she’d died.
‘I couldn’t hold on. I was too weak and too young. I just want to rest now.’
“And… please let Solia live happily.”
The child’s body was covered in blood. As her consciousness faded, Solia made a wish.
She wished for an angel who could understand her.
Someone much stronger than a weak, always-crying girl like her.
Someone who wouldn’t be sad to come here, even if they hadn’t found what they cherished yet.
Someone bright like the sun and gentle like the spring breeze… A kind angel to shine on Solia.
That’s how Solia died, and a new soul entered her body.
A soul bright like the summer sun, and gentle like the spring wind.
Twelve years later.
Alexei was the first to notice that Solia had changed.
“Haah, haah!”
Solia opened her eyes. It took her a moment to realize she’d woken from a dream.
“Cough, cough! Water…”
She started coughing. Even though her treatment was finished, her body still ached.
“…Miss, are you okay?”
Edel helped Solia sit up in bed and put a cup of lukewarm water to her lips.
“Here, drink slowly.”
“Haah… thank you.”
Solia wiped her mouth with her hand. Seeing the strange boy Alexei in her dream didn’t feel like a coincidence.
“Let’s pack and run away, miss! I’m so scared something will happen if we stay here…”
Edel hugged the still-dazed Solia. But Solia could only think about her dream.
‘It felt so real… Like I actually lived Solia’s memories. Why did they come to me now?’
“Ugh…”
Solia held her aching head. The more she thought, the more it hurt.
‘The original Solia really died. It was an accident. She died in a carriage crash at five!’
Maybe the shock was just too much. Solia kept recalling the dream’s events.
‘Alexei Kansha… The older brother, seven years older.’
He was the only child of the Mercenary King from the western continent, stolen away by Rotten.
‘Alexei pretended to be Solia’s brother for seven months…’
She wondered why. Was it just a whim? Or was it to please Rotten, his kidnapper?
After Alexei left, Solia died in the carriage accident. Those memories had returned to her as a dream.
“A brother with a sickness of the heart…”
Solia muttered weakly. She found herself lying in bed.
What had Alexei said before he left…? Oh, yes.
“I’ll come back for you, my Ria.”
Solia shook her head at the memory.
‘But I’m not the Solia he once knew. He’s probably forgotten me by now. We only spent a short time together in childhood. It wasn’t enough to form a strong bond.’
‘Besides, I’m the daughter of his kidnapper. If anything, he should hate or despise me.’
‘It was strange—seeing the original soul’s memories like that…’
She shivered. Solia gripped her blanket tightly.
‘There’s no way I’ll ever see Alexei again. I have way too much to do.’
‘Besides, he’s famous. I’d know about him even without searching.’
‘Yeah… Someone as great as the Mercenary King wouldn’t have time to show up here.’
Alexei Kansha… Unless he came to her directly, they’d never meet.
Across the vast sea, on the western continent.
In a bedroom as grand as a palace, a deep voice spoke.
“So, where do you think you’re going?”
A handsome man, lying among wolves, slowly sat up.
His name was Ryan.
The former Mercenary King, known as the “Lion King,” once ruled the western continent.
His messy blond hair looked like a lion’s golden mane, and that’s how he got his nickname. He was also lazy and loved to eat, just like a real lion.
He used to have many women, but his son’s shaman spell forced him to live in abstinence.
Now, he just enjoyed food and kept animals.
His son, Alexei, was all grown up and had started raising wolves. People called him “Wolf Papa.”
Ryan smoked a cigar and ran his hand through his blond hair. Even though he had a grown son, he looked like a man in his early thirties.
He looked at his handsome son, who looked just like him—except for those deep red eyes.
“You’re going to the Bastia Empire?”
Alexei, with purple hair, nodded politely.
He was twenty-four, with looks as beautiful as a fresh salvia flower.
Ryan looked at his son’s pretty face and asked in a bored voice,
“Isn’t she already dead, Sei? Didn’t you even hold a funeral for her?”
“I did. Back then.”
Because I was the only one to look after that young soul.
One day, Solia’s spirit disappeared without a trace. The child who always looked at him was suddenly gone, without even saying goodbye…
