Chapter 22 – Curse (6)

Translator: Yonnee

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Memorial rites.

Ordinarily, it’s divided according to the 49-day period as attributed in Buddhism, and during this period, the souls of the dead are being prayed over. There were many ways to do this.

Whether it was through exorcism or through ancestral rites… The method for sending spirits to the next frontier would vary depending on the type of resentment the spirit had.

Julia sighed and set down the scented candle she was holding.

In most cases, memorial services were held in the morning, but it would just be crazy to hold a memorial service for so many souls.

Julia would rather jump onto straw cutter blades. There was no other choice. However, even though Julia knew all that, the reason for doing this was simple.

It was to force the start of a conversation when the other party refuses to speak to her. To do that…

“Can you not do it instead…?”

Leo asked with a worried expression. His eyes were full of disgruntlement, with his forehead scrunched and his arms crossed over his chest.

After Julia drew a large circle with several large pieces of cloth stacked over on top of it. It’s a large space where ten people could be seated.

Julia took off her shoes and climbed over it, looking up at the sky. Then, she turned to Leo.

“Then, will you take them in yourself?”

Possession. It was an act of controlling the consciousness of a body by pushing the original soul away. The risk wasn’t high, but there were cases where the consciousness would come back twisted, or that the original soul wouldn’t come back at all.

“It’s dangerous if you haven’t done it before.”

“…But you don’t have to do it, Julia. Don’t you think so, Patrick?”

Leo asked him, compelling him to agree. But Patrick just shrugged.

“You just have to trust the Lady. Because she’s never done it wrong.”

“Ah, this is driving me crazy.”

Leo scratched his head and frowned.

“Aren’t you just going to talk to them and listen to what they have to say?”

“Yup. Simple, right?”

Julia knelt down and closed her eyes quietly. Then, Leo approached her and grabbed her shoulder, biting his lips with a concerned expression.

“What is it, Your Grace?”

Julia had already closed her eyes, but she opened her left eye to look at him. Leo licked his lips, then said bluntly.

“I’ll do it.”

“You?”

Julia only looked dazedly as Leo knelt down next to her.

“Even if something goes wrong, then it’s better if it happens to me. I can’t watch you get hurt when I’m here.”

“It’s not that dangerous.”

“Right, it isn’t. That’s why let me do it.”

Without even waiting for Julia to respond, Leo already closed his eyes. His sky blue hair fluttered in the light breeze.

The noon sun was warm despite the freezing weather. The Dean and other nobles around them had their mouths agape as they saw the Duke kneel down with his eyes closed, but Leo didn’t care.

“Is there anything I have to remember?”

“You can’t let go completely.”

Julia leaned forward and fixed his hair neatly.

“Don’t deny it even when you hear someone whispering in your mind. If someone else’s memories overlap with yours, you shouldn’t push it away. Possession itself is just like dreaming. In fact, it’s just like letting another person’s consciousness visit—that way, you’ll be able to see the spirit’s memories.”

Leo flinched as he felt her soft touch over his forehead, but he didn’t show any other reaction.

“Just be comfortable and try not to reject it. But, just as I said, you can’t let go of yourself completely. There are some spirits who would try to cause problems, but when that happens, just hold onto your own consciousness firmly. You’ll have to push that spirit out. Keep this in mind: no matter what anyone says, the most important thing is that you won’t lose yourself.”

He smiled quietly as he listened to her explain all this with a serious, worried tone.

“Just listening to you explain it makes me think it’s dangerous.”

“…Well, it isn’t totally safe.”

At this, Leo nodded and relaxed his body. Julia watched as his shoulders gradually relaxed along with his calm expression.

“That’s a relief.”

“What?”

As Julia placed both her hands over his neck, he closed his eyes and spoke.

“Because it’s not safe.”

“……”

What did that mean? Julia wanted to ask, but she chose to shut her lips. If she asked one question, so many would follow. She decided to just accept it as it is.

When Julia went silent, there was a sense of stillness around the area. People around the two people watched as they sat under the warm sunlight. In a way, it seemed like they were asleep.

However, Julia’s lips were moving.

There was a constant murmur that was so quiet that Leo could barely hear it. With his eyes closed and his body relaxed, he listened to her soft voice.

He heeded her reminders and opened himself to accepting souls.

How much time had passed?

It felt like he was asleep. He wasn’t tired, but he felt drowsy as he sat under a warm place and with Julia’s touch over him. As a result, Leo felt his consciousness slowly slipping away.

[ I want to live. ]

Leo’s eyes opened. But as he did, darkness had spread before him—except, there was one thing he could see.

A big mouth.

[ …AAAHHH!! T-That place is hell!! I… I don’t have a grudge! I’m just waiting for my next life!! But why am I here? And why did we become prey? Why? Why!! WHY!!! ]

Leo chased after the crazed people running away. Even though he continued to run after them, the loud mouth rushed along with a cracking sound.

[ AHHHH!! ]

When Leo looked back, he saw one person being grabbed by the mouth, and that person’s body was cut off until it disappeared.

Leo could only stare at the astonishing sight, but his shoulder was shoved when someone ran by him in a hurry. Surprised by this, Leo ran as well and followed the young student.

[ T-This is hell!! I didn’t do anything wrong!! Why do I have to suffer and go to hell!! Why!! ]

While Leo went after the running people, this time, another mouth appeared in front of him and began swallowing people. Leo followed the student, but Leo doubled back and turned around—only to find another mouth.

At that moment, Leo gulped and felt the chilling atmosphere. But soon, the mouth turned away from him and began to devour another mouth.

Seeing the two mouths trying to dominate the other, the student quickly ran away when the mouths returned to eating people again.

Leo quickly ran after the student, but this time, a person blocked the student’s way. This student looked at that person with a strange expression, and Leo watched their exchange.

[ Where are you going? ]

[ I-I have to run away. Everyone’s being eaten up! ]

The person who blocked the student’s way tilted his head to the side and smiled.

[ Let’s eat together. ]

[ What? ]

[ Why? Aren’t we allowed? Everyone’s eating anyway, so let’s eat, too. Who cares? ]

[ T-That’s…! ]

[ Ah, I got it! Then let’s do this. ]

The man grabbed the student’s hand, then opened his mouth wide, his eyes gleaming.

[ I’ll take a bite. ]

[ W… what? ]

[ Thanks for the food! ]

Crunch! The student’s right arm was torn off, and the man smiled grotesquely with the limb between his teeth.

Leo’s eyes were transfixed on the ghastly sight, but as he felt an extreme pain in his arm, he looked behind him. There, he saw his own bleeding limb torn from his body.

‘What is this?’

At that moment, Leo was rendered speechless. Then, as the excruciating pain settled into his bones, he was about to scream—but he felt something tugging on his consciousness.

“…Duke! Duke Epesia!!”

A voice was calling to him. Leo silently opened his eyes, hearing the voice that he missed, even though her tone wasn’t kind. There, he saw Julia’s white face looking down at him with a worried face.

Leo gently closed his eyes again, but opened them once more as he felt her concern behind those wide eyes.

“…What happened?”

“It went well thanks to you. But… Are you alright? If you’re having a hard time, then please…”

“It hurts.”

“Huh?”

When Leo moved a little, he realized that his head was on Julia’s lap. He smiled wordlessly and reached up so that he could touch her cheek.

As he felt her warmth, he spoke.

“I watched my own limb being torn from my body.”

“That’s why I told you I’ll do it…!”

“But when I saw that, I thought ‘What a relief’.”

“What?”

Julia looked at him perplexedly, into his caring eyes that shone under the light of the sky. His eyes somehow made everything else bright, even as Julia was used to seeing the darkness of the shadows.

Leo stroked her cheek with a faint smile on his lips, then he caressed her nape.

“…I’m glad you didn’t go through that.”

“……”

A low sigh escaped his lips, as though he felt an insurmountable amount of relief. Julia stared blankly at him, then reached forward to cover his eyes gently.

“Thank you.”

Because she felt that doing her duties as a shaman was something naturally expected out of her, she never felt this way—that someone else was worried about her as she worked, that someone else would tell her they’re lucky to have gone through a difficult ordeal in her stead.

And the feeling of someone’s concern… and to have those eyes looking at her…

In a way, she didn’t like it. This was just a request that she had to work on, so it felt like she was being surveilled. And it could have been difficult to follow through with it when he asked to take her place.

The work was clearly quite difficult, so it was also true that it would be hard to solve it right away.

However… It’s been more than forty years. She’s been living as a shaman for that long, but it’s still new to her to hear that someone was worrying for her well-being, to the point that he’d shoulder the difficult work… It was the first time in both her lives.

A gentle smile, a serious gaze… A voice that said it was a relief…

‘I made you go through a lot. I’m sorry.’

She wanted to apologize to him.

But now, it didn’t matter. Her previous life and her present life. Had she ever felt this way in more than forty years of life?

She had only been looked down upon. People would tell her that she was a fool who only saw imaginary things, that she was avoiding the real world, pointing fingers at her and calling her a scammer.

As she was being degraded as a swindler, she only drove herself to work harder in more dangerous situations.

Many years passed by with other people’s attention constantly on her, even buying her own clothes became a topic of interest for them.

Why then? Why did she keep feeling sentimental every time she saw this person? It’s as though something that she thought she lost forever within her sad, sorrowful heart… was rising to the surface.

As he smiled at her, why did his eyes resemble the color of the sky?

She wondered where else she could feel this.

Julia smiled. Her red eyes curved in the shape of crescent moons, and she opened her lips to speak.

“If you say it like that, then… Thank you.”

Leo, dazzled by her smile, soon erased his blank expression and closed his eyes, his own lips curling up in a similar way.

“You’re welcome.”