Chapter 24
Seniel’s room was visited by dim moonlight. His eyes, which looked as fragile as if they might shatter at any moment, twitched faintly. Not long after, they snapped open.
The faint presence that had been like pale moonlight sharpened into something clear and intense, like the blazing sun.
The moment Kid awoke, he ran a hand through his disheveled hair. Then, as if by habit, he checked the vase. Tulips, freesias, ranunculus, anemones.
‘Nothing new added.’
Kid brushed his fingers over the petals of the last flower that had been placed there—the anemone.
“So much for proving it with actions, not just words.”
Strangely enough, seeing that the flowers remained unchanged from yesterday didn’t make him feel bad. He couldn’t understand why. Shouldn’t he be irritated instead? He asked himself, but no answer came.
His moods had never been something he could explain properly anyway, so he simply let it go. He withdrew his hand from the flowers and walked slowly across the room. Just before opening the door, a thought crossed his mind.
If no new flower had been added, didn’t that mean she had run away entirely?
The slightly lifted mood he’d felt moments ago turned sour.
‘After all those warnings, this is how she responds?’
As he entered the main building, he found himself questioning his emotions again.
‘If she ran, I could just catch her. So why am I this annoyed?’
In truth, there was no need for him to be angry at all.
Kid usually enjoyed giving his prey some leeway when they tried to escape. Like a cat toying with a mouse—letting it go, catching it again—he relished that kind of game.
Giving someone hope only to snatch it away at the last moment… there was nothing more thrilling than seeing that expression of despair.
But yesterday, when he sensed that she might welcome him and then try to run, an inexplicable discomfort had crept up from the soles of his feet.
That was why he had personally searched her room—a trivial task he would normally never bother with. Judging by the lack of results, she hadn’t actually been planning to flee.
Then why had she smiled at him?
To that question, the woman had offered a flimsy excuse—that she had been happy because Seniel gave her a gift.
He would have preferred it if she’d simply admitted she was planning to run.
Bibi’s excuse only worsened Kid’s mood.
‘So she saw Seniel and me as the same. How dare she.’
When someone looked at a murderer, they were supposed to be afraid. Yet she had overlapped him with Seniel and smiled in delight.
His mood completely ruined, Kid had remained in the room under the ridiculous pretext of “keeping watch,” even though there was no longer any reason to stay.
Thinking of Bibi pretending to sleep with her eyes tightly shut, Kid raked a hand roughly through his hair.
Even now, he could go there calmly and crush everything if he wanted. He didn’t understand what was making him so impatient.
Lately, he’d become aware that he was doing more and more things he didn’t understand himself. But he had no intention of stopping. As always, if he felt like doing something, he simply did it.
‘Doing what I want should always feel refreshing and enjoyable.’
Yet today, it only felt unpleasant.
He hated complicated thoughts. So he decided to settle on a simple conclusion.
‘She must have some talent.’
After all, she’d managed to charm Seniel—and she played the piano, too.
With that reasoning, Kid opened the door to Bibi’s room.
* * *
The moment Kid entered, he forgot even to light the lamp and searched for Bibi with his eyes.
He saw no one—only a blanket bulging on the bed. For a moment, he wondered if she had used such a pathetic trick to escape, and his expression hardened sharply.
Thud. Thud.
Each heavy step he took toward the bed echoed against the floor. As he got closer, he heard faint breathing and saw the blanket rise and fall intermittently.
There was someone inside.
His expression relaxed ever so slightly—a change so subtle even he didn’t notice it.
The corner of Kid’s mouth lifted. Thoughts of how he would drag her back if she’d fled disappeared. Now all he could think of was the vase he’d seen earlier.
“Done with your flower games?”
There was no response from beneath the blanket. Normally, he would have asked again just to enjoy her reaction.
But his patience had already run thin getting here. Without waiting any longer, he yanked the blanket aside.
The crooked smile vanished from Kid’s face.
Bibi was curled up tightly, eyes barely open as she looked up at him. Tear tracks covered her cheeks.
She stared at him with watery eyes for a moment, then squeezed them shut again. Her fever had worsened, and she hadn’t been able to fall asleep. Hearing Kid’s footsteps had been the final blow—her fragile resolve shattered, and tears streamed down her face.
Kid froze at the unexpected sight. Then the irritation he’d suppressed began to crawl back up.
Yesterday she’d greeted him happily. Today she was trembling as if he were about to kill her.
He knew well that fear was a natural reaction—after all, he threatened her daily. But just like yesterday, when he’d acted in ways he couldn’t understand, now too he felt anger without a clear reason.
Seeing her avoid his gaze entirely, he asked in a low voice,
“Why are you crying?”
Bibi wanted to answer honestly—Because I’m scared you’ll kill me.
Since she felt like she might die soon anyway, part of her thought provoking him might be satisfying. But she had a dreadful feeling that if she said that, he really would tear her apart painfully. So she swallowed the truth.
“…Because I’m sick.”
It wasn’t a lie. Her head was spinning so badly she could barely stand, and her entire body ached as if she’d been beaten.
At her answer, his irritation eased slightly.
Without thinking, Kid placed a hand on her sweating forehead. Bibi flinched and instinctively tried to pull away. Even with her eyes closed, she sensed the warmth approaching and covered her face with her arm.
Like a wounded herbivore, she trembled in an attempt to protect herself.
Kid didn’t force his hand further. Instead, he decided to be unusually kind and explain first.
“I won’t hit you. I won’t kill you. Just stay still.”
Bibi glanced at him. Her feverish eyes were full of distrust.
When Kid slowly reached out again, she hesitated, then finally gave in—not because she trusted him, but because she feared him.
His large hand covered her small face and pressed against her forehead.
The burning heat made his brow crease.
So she really wasn’t lying about being sick.
“Tch.”
Kid clicked his tongue.
Seeing her cry weakly from illness displeased him. He preferred her usual expression—afraid, but stubbornly refusing to back down.
Looking at Bibi trembling like a baby rabbit, Kid considered what to do.
In truth, there was nothing to consider. If he wasn’t planning to nurse her, he could simply leave. Better yet, he could shove her off onto Seniel and give them more time together.
Even knowing what would benefit him most, Kid couldn’t decide.
‘Why does this bother me so much? Why?’
His gaze lingered on Bibi.
He hated seeing her like this.
If he didn’t want to look at her sick, he could use divine power. He wasn’t as skilled as Seniel, but he could still wield it.
But Kid had only ever used divine power to kill—never to heal. He’d never even considered it, and he was sure he never would.
In the end, there was only one solution.
Kid turned away from her and stepped back from the bed.
“Wait here quietly.”
Bibi glared weakly at him as he left as abruptly as he’d come.
‘I can’t even get up anyway,’ she thought rebelliously before sinking back into hazy breaths.
* * *
Kid returned to his room and rummaged through the drawers.
“For someone called a High Priest, there’s not a single medicine in this house.”
Of course there wasn’t. A High Priest never got sick. Medicine was unnecessary.
Cursing, Kid searched every drawer he could find. Finally, tucked away in a corner, he found a bottle.
He picked it up and skimmed the label. It wasn’t expired, and it looked fine.
What he didn’t know was that it was an old concoction mixed with hallucinogenic narcotics. He had no interest in medicine—there was no way he could have known.
When he returned, Bibi was still lying exactly as before, moaning weakly.
“Tch. Seniel must have done nothing while you got this bad.”
“……”
Bibi stayed silent. She hadn’t seen Seniel at all today, but saying that might cause trouble, so she chose not to speak.
Kid opened the bottle, then slipped an arm beneath her back.
Bibi flailed weakly like a startled fish.
“Stay still.”
At his sharp command, she went limp, giving up. Fine. Do whatever you want.
He pulled her up with one arm, holding her like a lover cradling his partner.
Then he brought the bottle to her lips.
“Open your mouth.”
Bibi was convinced it was poison. She thought, So this is how I die—but she had no strength left to resist.
Resigned, she opened her mouth.
The liquid flowed in slowly—far gentler than she expected.
“Swallow.”
Certain it couldn’t possibly be medicine, she swallowed anyway. It was sweet and bitter at the same time.
When some of it spilled at the corner of her lips, Kid wiped it away with his sleeve.
After confirming she’d swallowed everything, he laid her back down and even pulled the blanket up to her chin.
Then he turned to leave.
In her dazed state, Bibi murmured without thinking,
“…Are you leaving?”
“Yeah.”
So he was going. And she would just die here alone.
Images filled her mind—dying by herself, vomiting blood, writhing in pain with no one around.
Suddenly, a primal fear of death gripped her.
In her previous life, at least medical staff had been present. Dying alone like this was terrifying.
“W–wait….”
Kid stopped and returned to her side.
“What.”
“I….”
Tears spilled from her eyes. Kid scowled.
“I–if I’m going to die… could you stay with me until then? I’m scared….”
