Chapter 25 - The Beginning

“Wh, what?! What is that?!”

“Gregg, Did Gregg just die?”

“What’s going on?!”

She heard men’s cries. Other boots approached. Someone’s hand lifted up the man’s broken head, trembling. Some burst into tears and some shrieked.

“Dude, he’s really dead, shattered into pieces! What is this? This is insane!”

“There’s nobody around us. It’s just us and that b**tch! How did this happen?”

“That thing must’ve done something.”

Someone grabbed her by the collar and lifted her up, who was frozen. Some stepped backward in fear. “Did you do this? Did you kill Gregg, you b**tch?!”

“Magic? Is this some sort of magic?”

“Hey, don’t touch her. What if you get killed, too?” The man violently shook her who he had lifted with one hand. He growled sounding like a beast. “I’m asking if you did this! Do it to me, too, you b**tch!”

“Stop him!!” Another yelled. The girl could not think at all. In her empty eye, the image of the man shattering was stuck. She did not have any strength to move a finger. The man threw her after shaking her frantically and began trampling on her and kicking her. She crouched as a reaction. Gasp, gasp. She made a choking sound. The boots turned red with her blood. Her broken tooth bounced and rolled on the floor.

“What do we do? How are we going to report this?”

“It’s because of this b**tch!”

“Is this some sort of a curse? Dude, stop it!”

“Nothing happens when you beat her!”

“Then why did Gregg die?” The men quarreled with each other. The girl vomited blood. With her blurred vision, she saw a snowflake melting into her blood. She passed out just like that.

*

What the girl saw when she opened her eyes was the dark night sky. She smelled the smell of rotting flesh. Above her sprawled limbs, as if they were not her own, she felt something crawling. She rolled her eyes to see her side. The face of a corpse showing the whites of the eyes and with its mouth open was right next to her. It was a corpse half dipped into foul water. She knew that she was abandoned at the moat outside the castle wall. Bodies without connection were used to be thrown into the moat. In the filthy water where filth and worms floated, she was half submerged, mingled with other corpses. The water in midwinter was hideously cold. She did not move. Even if she crawled out of this hellish swamp, there was no one waiting for her anyway. Her parents did not love her from the beginning. Her brother, who was her only family, died. She had no one now. 

‘I might be able to see my brother if I just die.’ Stars were splendidly scattered in the clear sky. It was the most beautiful scenery as far as she knew. I’m lucky to see this beautiful night sky when I die. She genuinely thought. At the moment she gave it all up, he appeared like a god. His long hair glowing in silver cast like a fog. Pale face and spotless white robe, everything about him was white. He was shining on his own. The girl thought he was an angel or a god. Standing in the air, the man distantly looked down at her.

“Do you want to live?” He asked. 

She looked up at him without a reply. The eyes of the man looking at her was grey, the same as the snowy sky. He stretched out his hand to her. “Would you like to come with me?”

She blankly looked at the clean hand. It looked the noblest among what she had ever seen. He was a completely different being than herself. Thus, she did not understand the meaning of his hand right away. After quite a long time had passed, she realized that the man was reaching out his hand so that she could follow him.

“Me?” The cracked voice after getting very hoarse was small as the sound of the wind. The man who was paying attention to her understood that voice. “You inherited the greatest legacy among all humans I’ve seen so far. You may be able to see the same things as me. Would you like to come with me?” The girl did not understand half of what he said. However at this moment, she intuitively realized that an opportunity like this would never come to her life.

She tried to move her arm. Her arm, which was half submerged in the filthy water and pinned under a corpse, did not move well. As if something was broken, pain overwhelmed her whenever she tried to move. In spite of that, she lifted her arm with all her might. It was a dirty arm with many cuts and bruises.

While trying to reach out her arm to the man, she felt embarrassed by her arm, which was a mess compared to the man’s flawless hand. It felt like she should not touch him. To the moment that she stopped right before she touched him after struggling to lift her arm, the man was watching her silently. There was no disturbance in his pure sight. He just waited, until the girl took his hand on her own. 

Cold wind blew. The tip of the girl’s hand shivered. She swallowed her saliva mixed with the blood welled up in her throat. The texture of the blood scratching down the injured throat was sharp. She could not take her eyes off the man’s eyes. In his eyes like the mirror, her awful image was reflected. There was no sympathy, disgust, or affection in his eyes. They were emotionless like glass beads. That was rather relieving.

The girl finally placed her hand on the man’s hand. It was a small hand only half the size of his. The man’s fingers were gently intertwined, wrapping her hand.

“My name is Rhema Reshith. What is your name?” The girl did not receive a name from her parents. The one who named her instead of her parents was her twin brother. He was the only one who called her by that name. So, when her twin brother died, her name died as well. Nobody called her by name anymore. Therefore, she had no name. She shook her head without a word. The man gazed at her golden eyes, the only clear part among her dirty body covered in the mixture of filth and blood.

“Azriel Esthera.” That sound rang around the girl’s ears like a tune. “Let this be your name.”

Not caring about his sleeve getting messed up, he reached out his arm into the filth. He scooped the girl out of it. She flinched seeing that dirty spots were forming wherever she touched. He held her in his arms. As if by magic, she did not feel cold at all as soon as she was in his arms. Although he looked snowy white and cold, he was warm. The girl slowly closed her eyes while still being held in his arms. He thought the girl was overly light. Compared to the vast possibility hidden inside her, it was a body too small and weak. The girl, who fell asleep before one knew, was completely relying her body on him. A faint hint of smile appeared on his face. Just like that, everything began.