CH 50

What’s in the box was a doll’s clothes made of wool.

It looked like it was handmade. 

The ribbon along the neckline of the dress was very delicate.

Hugo’s expression brightened as if he was satisfied with my reaction.

“Do you like it? I made it to fit the size of your favorite doll.”

‘I think he’s talking about the cabbage head doll.’

I had always carried that with me, so when the hell did he figure out the measurement?

It was kind of creepy, but I tried to ignore it and changed the topic.

“You made it, did you knit it yourself?”

“It’s because knitting is my hobby.”

Hugo nodded as if it was nothing.

“When I got stuck while studying black magic, I used to make things like blankets for peace of mind.”

As well as carrying herbal teas that were good for the body, Hugo was sometimes like an old man who would leave the world anytime.

“Did you bring this to the Imperial Palace?”

“No, I’ve made it, from after dinner till now.”

He said he finished the doll’s clothes in this short amount of time?

After all, Hugo often did things that normal adults couldn’t.

‘His tone of voice is mature too…’

Hugo cherished me more than anyone else, but rather than being a child, he was closer to treating me with respect as a person to person.

At worst, he would use the title ‘you’ for his younger sister. 

(T/N: she means ‘당신’, which is a formal way of ‘you’. I might not have mentioned it before, but the way Hugo talks to Lily is very formal (different from Alan and the other 2 brothers) and it’s uncommon to use between families, except for married couples.)

“Would you like to dress the doll up?”

Hugo politely requested. It was very unfamiliar to me because no one had ever treated me like this in the ant cave.

“Yes.”

I went back to bed with Hugo and pulled out the doll I brought from the Duke’s Castle.

When I took off it’s green silk dress and put on the white wool dress, somehow, it seemed that the doll had become even more fluffy.

“Thank you, Brother.”

“Thank you for accepting my apology.”

Hugo bowed his head politely. 

I let out a faint laugh. 

“Are you so worried that I might be angry?”

“Yes, I even prayed to Goddess Flora.”

Praying, it seemed like he was worried quite seriously.

“Brother prays really hard.”

“Sure. I haven’t missed a single day of prayer since you disappeared.”

Come to think of it, Hugo was the only person who prayed at the dinner table.

Hugo must have been only five years old when Lily disappeared… 

Has he been praying to God since he was a child?

“Prayer is part of the culture of pure-blooded spirits, but I have become like that too.”

Hugo shrugged lightly, ironically.

At first glance, self-mockery stood out in his sapphire-colored eyes.

‘He seems to really hate being a pure-blooded spirit. He said that he was bullied because he was born into a family of beasts.’

Suddenly, a question crossed my mind. 

‘Why is Hugo obsessed with me?’

“…Does brother hate all pure-blooded spirits?”

“Except for special cases.”

Hugo nodded, as if he had waited.

“First of all, don’t they hate me? I don’t want to get along with people like that either.”

“Then… Are you close with any spirit who was born into a beast family like Brother?”

“Currently, there are no other mixed-race spirits but me and Lily in the entire empire.”

Hugo looked at me and shrugged lightly.

I was confused as to what exactly he meant.

“What do you mean there are no…”

“It is a very rare phenomenon. There was one, one of our distant relatives, but he died from an illness when I was young.”

This was the reason why Hugo paid attention to every little thing I did.

I was the only one of his kind in this world.

“In other words, Lily is the only person who can spend many years with me.”

Hugo added bluntly, as if he had no doubts that he still believed that I was a spirit.

I looked at him carefully.

“…Even if we are not spirits, can we not be together for a long time? I heard that Bauner lives longer than other beasts…”

“But it’s still shorter than spirits.”

Hugo said sternly.

“People close to me will leave me one day. Father and older brother… literally everyone.”

Hugo looked at me gently. His long, straight hair hung down like a curtain and tickled my cheek.

“Except for you.” 

Hugo smiled softly. That smile made me feel as if my heart was suddenly stabbed with a needle.

“…Brother.”

“Yes.”

“How long does an evil spirit live?”

Hugo tilted his head, perhaps because it was an unexpected question.

“Why did you ask that all of a sudden?

“…I’m just curious.”

Right. Why did I ask this question all of a sudden?

I did not know either. 

No matter what Hugo thought of me, the moment I ran away from the Duke’s Castle, my relationship with him would end.

If Alan doesn’t kill me, how old can I live? But that’s not what’s important right now…

Hugo still had a puzzled expression on his face, but he answered my questions graciously.

“It is presumed that evil spirits are immortal.”

“…What?”

His answer was truly shocking. 

What did he mean immortal? Didn’t that mean I wouldn’t die and would live forever?

“It’s just speculation. When it comes to research on evil spirits, the Imperial House has been leading since ancient times…”

Hugo suddenly stopped talking and stood up.

“Lily, if you can’t sleep, would you like to go out with me for a while? Since we came to the Imperial Palace, I will tell you about the evil spirits in detail.”

There was no reason to refuse.

As soon as I nodded slightly, Hugo grabbed my hand and hurried on me.

“Let’s go.”

A smile did not leave Hugo’s lips as if he had suddenly remembered a very good plan.

***

Hugo brought me to a tower built in the woods.

The tall, black tower was similar to the place where Alan and I went to watch the moon in the Duke’s Castle.

According to Hugo, both were magic towers. 

The magic tower of the Imperial Palace was called the first magic tower, and the magic tower of the Duke Castle was called the second magic tower.

Hugo said he was going to cast a hidden magic, so he chanted a spell then proudly walked past the front door.

The guards seemed unaware of our existence.

I wondered if we could come in without permission, but Hugo calmly went down the stairs, saying it was okay as long as we didn’t get caught.

There was a huge well in the basement of the tower.

It didn’t seem like a normal well.

The puddle as wide as a lake was shining brightly like the white moon. And in the water…

“That’s…”

I was speechless at the sight in front of me. 

Hugo whispered in my ear as if it was insignificant.

“They said it has been alive in that form since ancient times.”

An evil spirit was bound inside the deep well. A heavy chain wrapped around the black and slender body of the evil spirit from head to toe.

I had goosebumps all over my body as if I had seen a soaked rotten corpse.

“Is it… alive?”

“Yes, surprisingly. Even the spirits don’t live that long, except for the World Tree.”

Hugo walked, rolled his robe and abruptly put his hand into the well.

I was startled and grabbed his sleeve.

At that moment, a strange cry rang out.

Whoo, whoo. 

The evil spirit, which had been quiet as if it had died, suddenly twisted its body and cried out.

Hugo gently pulled out his hand and raised his eyebrows as if looking at a disgusting insect.

“Even in the midst of this, the will to kill people remains. It’s ridiculous.”

“……” 

“You get it now, right?” 

“What?” 

I was dumbfounded, observing the evil spirit, and reacted a bit late to Hugo’s words.

Hugo clasped my hand with his dry hand.

“As you can see, that’s a monster. Even after living for a long time, it has no choice but to kill someone.”

Light from the well lit Hugo’s face up.

The bright blue eyes that resembled his father seemed to stab me.

He spoke with a voice as cold as his eyes.

“The same goes for Benimus. I don’t know how he got human skin over him, but there’s no need for someone like you to sympathize with a monster like that.”

Someone like you… 

I smiled vaguely and turned my gaze away. 

His intention was probably to divert my attention from Benny, but frankly it backfired.

‘So in Hugo’s eyes, I must be a monster, too.’

Maybe it was because I didn’t readily agree with his words. Hugo looked at my complexion nervously.

“…Are you okay?”

He seemed afraid of receiving even a little bit of hate from me. 

At that time, from the entrance of the tower, I heard the sound of footsteps.

I hurriedly hid behind a pillar, and Hugo followed me slowly.

“Duke, have you ever heard of an ancient fairy tale?”

A familiar female voice was heard. The male voice that followed was more familiar.

“That’s not the answer I want to hear.”

Hugo slipped his head next to the pillar and peeped at the place where we were at just now.

The people who entered the tower were Emperor Igdrasil and Alan.

“Listen to this first. Once upon a time, there lived a lonely monster.”

Igdrasil laughed at Alan’s crumpled expression and continued the story.

“The monster was a failure in the process of creating the perfect child. So as soon as it was born, it was buried deep under the ground.”

Igdrasil sat on one knee and looked into the well.

“The monster that could not die on its own just believed. The one who created it will one day bring it out of the deep, cold darkness…”

“…..” 

“But that day never came.”

As if looking at the sky rather than the water, her gaze turned to a distant place.

“In the end, the monster crawled out of the ground on its own with all its might. And it saw.”

Igdrasil slowly raised her head and looked at Alan.

“Perfect brothers who are so different from its ugly self.”

Saying so, she tapped the well with her index finger like it’s a pillar.

There was a ripple in the still water. 

Whooo, whooo. 

The evil spirit cried again. The atmosphere was different from when Hugo put his hand in the water.

Even I, who listened to the scream that seemed to tear the area, was devastated.

Igdrasil turned back her hand and muttered to herself.

“It was only then that the monster realized… that God had never loved it.”