Odely returned to her room and stared at the ring for a long time, her thoughts in turmoil.
It was the ring he had worn every single day without fail.
She had always believed it was a token exchanged with the woman he loved.
Then why is my name engraved inside it?
There wasn’t a single reason for that…
Not one.
“I didn’t care who it was.”
“You just happened to be the one who fit the conditions best.”
“Is that everything you wanted to say?”
He had rejected her so mercilessly that not even room for lingering feelings remained.
If it wasn’t because of another woman,
then why had he sought out Odely Cardel?
Her thoughts were completely consumed by him.
The cold gaze he had looked down at her with.
His back as he walked away after opening the underground prison door.
Their kiss at the wedding.
Even his final words—
We won’t meet again.
As those tangled emotions swirled together,
Odely absentmindedly ran her thumb across the ring.
And then—
A brilliant light suddenly flashed through the dim room.
Looking down, she saw blue light bursting from Ludville’s ring.
More precisely,
the blue gemstone set into the ring was shining.
She had always assumed it was an ordinary sapphire.
So it wasn’t just a normal gemstone?
If that was the case…
After hesitating for a moment, Odely slipped the ring onto her finger with trembling hands.
It was far too large.
The moment she barely managed to fit it over her thumb…
His memories came rushing in.
***
Her vision blurred as white mist slowly spread around her.
As the fog gradually cleared,
an unfamiliar scene unfolded before her.
No…
It wasn’t entirely unfamiliar.
This is…
Odely instinctively stepped back.
Drawing in a sharp breath,
her entire body stiffened.
It was none other than the Cardel estate.
The underground laboratory connected to the Secret Room where she had spent her entire life imprisoned.
Just then, the faint rattle of chains caught her attention.
Turning her head, Odely froze.
A boy sat slumped in a chair, restrained by heavy chains.
His skin had been corrupted by miasma,
turning pitch black as cracks spread across it.
His blond hair was soaked with so much blood that its original color was almost impossible to recognize.
And beneath those bloodstained strands,
a pair of beast-like violet eyes glowed brightly.
…Ludville?
Odely’s eyes widened.
Why is he…
Confused, she carefully studied the boy, who looked to be around fifteen years old.
Of course, Odely hadn’t been the only one imprisoned in this underground laboratory.
House Cardel regularly brought slaves here as test subjects.
Clinical testing was essential if they wanted to continue forcing “impurities” into Odely’s body through the Purification Process.
But if Ludville had spent his childhood in House Cardel’s laboratory, there’s no way I wouldn’t have known.
Odely had first met him six years ago,
on the Day of Protection.
Before that, she had known him only through the infamous reputation of the Iron-Blooded Grand Duke that had spread throughout the Empire.
Still unable to understand what was happening,
she suddenly heard the researchers talking.
“His body can’t withstand the contamination any longer. Prepare the next subject.”
The cold voice echoed through the laboratory.
The researchers referred to Ludville as RU-39.
The thirty-ninth experimental subject scheduled for disposal.
The boy remained silent.
He didn’t scream.
He didn’t beg for his life.
He simply opened his eyes…
and quietly closed them again.
Just then—
“What about the Rowendil family’s curse?”
“It’s continuing to spread. If we delay much longer, House Rowendil will begin questioning the ancient barrier.”
“Then it’s time to use the Purifier.”
Following the researchers’ gaze,
Odely turned her head.
There, curled into herself in the corner, sat a small, frail little girl.
It was unmistakably… her younger self.
The Rowendil family’s curse… I remember it.
Odely had always been used as a Purifier, someone who erased everything considered impure.
The definition of impurity covered many things.
Curses.
Disease.
Miasma.
Madness.
Seeds of disaster.
Everything harmful in the world.
Back then,
the curse had been injected directly into her body,
forcing her to purify it from within.
Among them, the Rowendil curse remained the most unforgettable.
Its agony had been unlike anything else.
Whenever she awoke from the burning heat that felt as though her entire body were on fire, she always found herself somewhere different.
The laboratory.
The Secret Room.
The laboratory.
The Secret Room.
She remembered the lab coat soaked with cold sweat,
and the countless days when even moving a single finger had been unbearably difficult.
But…
Why don’t I remember Ludville at all?
Before she realized it, the two of them had been imprisoned in separate rooms,
divided by nothing more than a single wall.
Odely had absolutely no memory of that.
Yet aside from his existence, everything else unfolded exactly as she remembered.
The curses she was meant to receive.
The diseases she was meant to endure.
The miasma she was meant to absorb.
Every experiment that had been performed on her…
Was Ludville really here when he was a child?
For now, she decided simply to watch.
Ludville and Odely were aware of each other’s presence through the wall.
By listening to each other’s breathing.
Some days, the breathing remained calm.
Other days, it became ragged.
Whenever the breathing grew especially strained,
they both knew the day’s experiment had been particularly horrific.
Then one day—
Tap.
Curled up on the floor, Odely absentmindedly tapped the wall with her fingertips.
A meaningless gesture.
One with no purpose whatsoever.
Naturally, the sound should have ended there.
Tap.
A knock came back from the other side.
Odely froze.
Then she pressed her ear tightly against the wall
and knocked again.
This time, a little harder.
Ludville, who had also been leaning against the wall,
answered with the same rhythm.
Tap. Tap.
Before long, their silent exchange became a daily ritual— proof that the other was still alive.
Tap.
The slave knocked.
Tap.
The sacrifice answered.
They never spoke face to face.
They had never exchanged names.
Yet every day, through that single wall, they felt each other’s presence.
It was the only connection they were allowed.
The only way they could tell each other, I’m still alive.
One day, while the researchers were temporarily away,
a different sound followed their usual knocking.
“…Don’t die.”
It wasn’t a plea to survive.
Nor was it a promise that they would escape together.
Just…
Don’t die.
It was the first sentence Ludville had ever spoken.
Leaning weakly against the wall, struggling to breathe, Odely let out a faint laugh.
“You’ll die first.”
“…”
“You’re the experiment they brought in for me. They dragged you here just to keep me alive a little longer… You didn’t know that, did you?”
Her quiet murmur sounded almost like a confession.
Silence lingered for a long moment.
“Then that’s a relief.”
For an instant, Odely froze.
She had been biting her lip tightly,
wondering if he hated her.
“…What’s a relief?”
“It means you’ll live longer than I will.”
She answered in disbelief.
“What’s the point of living longer in a place like this?”
“I don’t know… But you should live.”
There wasn’t the slightest emotion in the boy’s voice.
As though the life of a lowly slave held neither value nor reason to protect.
Those days continued.
Sometimes Ludville laughed loudly.
Sometimes he quietly cried, careful not to let Odely hear.
After they had begun talking, the boy expressed more and more emotion with each passing day.
Separated by a wall, they relied only on each other’s breathing and the occasional whispered words.
Just like that, ten years passed.
Twenty-five years old.
Odely could feel that her time was running out.
One night, after enduring yet another round of experiments.
A night when the researchers’ guard happened to be unusually lax.
That night, Odely opened the laboratory door to Ludville’s room.
“…Odely?”
It was the first time they had ever truly seen each other’s faces.
But her face was already so stained with blood
that it was difficult to make out her features.
“Odely!”
At that moment, Odely staggered.
As she collapsed, Ludville instinctively caught her in his arms.
Her lungs had already been destroyed.
With every breath she took, blood spilled from her lips, and her breathing grew weaker and weaker.
Even so, Odely did not stop.
“Just… stay still.”
Resting her forehead against his chest,
she gently placed her fingertips over his heart.
Golden light shimmered from her hand.
The poison flowing through his veins.
The damage left deep within his body by countless experiments.
The fractures in his mana circuits.
The injuries to his nerves.
Every trace of suffering he had carried with every breath…
was purified away in an instant.
Ludville stood frozen where he was,
staring at her in stunned silence.
Comments (0)