Chapter 23

He had no idea how many days had passed since he was imprisoned in the village warehouse.

Each time he opened his eyes, the day and night had changed.

How long had he been sleeping and how long had he been awake?

There was no feeling in his arms and legs.

The smell of damp straw permeated the air, moistened by humidity rising from the floor.

His body, pressed against the hard, cold floor, complained of fatigue.

There was no blood flowing to his hands, which were tightly bound behind him, making it impossible to freely turn over.

Why had it come to this?

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't understand.

When he was first thrown into the warehouse, he thought Leandros and Arndt would soon come to get him.

Wasn't Arenheit quite important to those two?

So if they didn't come to rescue him, wouldn't that be contrary to their character settings?

But after sleeping twice and seeing the third day, something occurred to him.

Why had the two remained still when the villagers had dragged him away?

Leandros could have easily rescued Arenheit.

Why?

Something was strange.

Something had gone wrong somewhere.

From meeting the prince. From going to the royal palace. From heading east.

From hunting the Vormi.

No, from the moment he fell here...

From when he opened his eyes and saw those two.

From the very beginning.

Once he became aware of this fact, he couldn't think of anything else afterward.

What if his coming here was a mistake from the start?

What should he do?

That thought kept returning like a broken record.

As day came, night fell, day came again, and night returned once more.

And at some point, a streak of light leaked into the warehouse that had only been dark.

"Duke Arenheit. Pleased to see you again. I thought I would meet the Duke in the east... but life is full of surprises, isn't it?"

Red eyes gleamed ominously.

* * *

The incident that occurred in the small village spread like wildfire.

Within days, when people in the south met, they talked about the man-eating ghost.

That a fallen noble had committed an act betraying human morality and killed innocent people indiscriminately,

That upon investigation, he was actually some kind of monster impersonating a noble,

That while doing so, his identity was discovered and he was killed,

That dozens of people had disappeared like that until now.

Stories that were chilling just to hear.

No one verified the truth of the rumors.

After all, it was something that happened in a different region, and the culprit had long been captured.

Everyone thought that under a strict and just judgment, God willing, the culprit would have his limbs torn apart.

They just gossiped freely until then.

Because it was more entertaining that way.

* * *

However, contrary to people's expectations, Arenheit was not beheaded.

Yurik rushed all the way to the south and picked up Arenheit himself.

No one questioned Yurik's actions.

Everyone around him thought of Yurik as an absolute being and did not doubt him.

People who moved according to Yurik's wishes, without admiration, respect, or affection.

They acted as if they were extensions of Yurik's existence.

Among such people, Arenheit couldn't think of anything.

Yurik opened his mouth as he watched Arenheit looking down at the floor, his hands still bound.

"I thought you might make some excuse."

"It wasn't me."

"You did it. People saw you."

"It wasn't me..."

"You know well what punishment you'll receive."

There was no response.

As Yurik didn't have a hobby of talking to thin air, he decided to stop the question and answer session.

It would have been more entertaining if he had gone into a frenzy.

But it seemed unreasonable to expect that from the current Arenheit.

The carriage carrying the two traveled for a long time.

Neither Yurik nor Arenheit touched water or food.

Only a few knights that Yurik had brought moistened their throats and filled their stomachs with dried rations while on horseback.

Day and night were meaningless. Inside the carriage were only Yurik and Arenheit.

When the carriage, escorted by three or four horses, stopped, Yurik got out, and the knights also dismounted.

They dragged Arenheit, who was as limp as a water-soaked cotton ball, out of the carriage.

Arenheit, who could barely support his own body, suddenly looked around.

Seeing this, Yurik kindly answered.

"Familiar? How does it feel to return to the east?"

"..."

"Never mind, I didn't mean for you to speak."

Yurik put on fresh gloves and walked ahead.

Behind him followed the knights and Arenheit, being dragged like a prisoner.

The path was surprisingly short.

It didn't seem like the path that Arenheit and his companions had once wandered on.

The path that had once gone in circles ended cleanly after just a few minutes.

Yurik stopped at the end of the path where the forest ended and the trees disappeared.

The knights forced Arenheit to kneel beside him.

Arenheit raised his bowed head but was speechless at the scene before him.

The black mud he thought he had seen in a dream, the tall mound gurgling and overflowing from far away.

Because it wasn't night but day.

Because it was a clear day with the sun shining down, there was no way he could be mistaken.

This wasn't a dream.

"What? Does seeing this bring back some memories?"

Yurik looked down at Arenheit. Arenheit, in turn, looked up at him.

Brown eyes with abnormally dilated pupils met red eyes.

Yurik pointed to the pit spewing mud.

"Actually, I found the Duke inside there."

"N-no, no, it's not true."

"I thought the resurrected Duke would be severely shocked, but he doesn't remember anything. So I was a bit surprised. Was the Duke actually an idiot...?"

"No. That can't, can't be."

"Have you seen what's inside there? Do you remember what happened to you? Your whole body was melting. I personally carried back just your spine that was left dangling."

"Then, then I. No. That's not, no."

"Not? It wasn't a dream, was it? Then do you remember what you did in my bedroom?"

"No, no, no!"

Really not? Arenheit couldn't give a definite answer.

Yurik said he had rescued the unconscious Arenheit.

But was that really the end of it?

Arenheit slowly ran both hands over his face.

Something, before waking up in that castle, something more, pushed into a corner of memory...

A scream.

A plea for help.

Small fish fled in droves, wailing.

Red fluid staining the blue-gold floor and carpet.

Cleanly cleared debris and a sense of deep satisfaction from the pit of his stomach.

Squirming flesh and blunt hands slowly returning.

Red eyes watching it all.

"No..."

"It's good if you remembered. When you woke up, you couldn't eat at all, so I wondered if you had already eaten your fill."

Arenheit's fingers clawed at his face.

"No."

"Is that how you're made each time you die? It's natural to take what you need from outside."

"No, no."

"Your body took the elements it needed. So there's no way it could be supplemented by ordinary meals people eat."

"No, I didn't. I didn't do that."

"It wasn't just once, was it? How many times have you died? Did you conveniently forget each time you opened your eyes again?"

I didn't do it.

Why would I do that? That wasn't me. I lived normally. I had no intention of hurting anyone.

I didn't want to do that. There was something else. It wasn't what I wanted to do.

"I, I didn't do it. I never did that."

"Then who did?"

Yurik looked over his shoulder.

One of his knights nodded.

At the sound of a sharp blade being drawn, Arenheit cried out convulsively.

"It wasn't me! Really, I, I just came here by chance! I don't know who you are, I'm not originally from here!"

"Not from here?"

"Believe me! I came from another world. This is inside a novel my brother wrote!"

Yurik looked down at Arenheit.

Arenheit shook off the hands of the knights holding him and crawled on his knees, clinging to Yurik's legs.

"It's true, really. My brother wrote this novel. This is a world inside a novel. It doesn't really exist. I, I wasn't from here either."

"Go on."

"You're all characters. This, this body is also a character. Arenheit, the last descendant of a fallen noble family... but when I regained consciousness, I found myself as Arenheit."

"Then who were you originally?"

"Yu, Yu Yesung! My name is Yu Yesung. Being inside Arenheit was an accident."

"An accident."

"I can't kill people. I can't even kill bugs because they're gross. Really. How could I do that to a person? It wasn't me. That was..."

Incoherent words spilled out in confusion.

Arenheit was dirty and filthy.

Gleaming cold sweat flowed from his forehead to his cheeks, creating clean paths.

Yurik watched this quietly and then smirked.

"There have been rumors that the young Duke suffered from madness since long ago... now it seems he can't even distinguish reality."

With those words, Arenheit's head was forcefully slammed to the ground.

A chillingly cold blade touched the nape of his neck.

Arenheit screamed, but his body was no match for the robust knight.

Above the body crawling on the ground, a gentle voice was heard.

"Since it would be troublesome if you come back to life, we'll do it this way. If you die here, your head will remain here."

The tip of Yurik's shoe scraped the ground right in front of him.

"Your limbs will be distributed evenly across each region of the empire. I didn't expect to be taking care of the Duke in this manner, but that body has many useful purposes."

"!"

"Burn the remaining torso completely. Make sure it's completely reduced to ashes in case it comes back to life."

"No, no, no!"

Arenheit let out a tearing scream. Yurik's knight didn't miss that moment.

With a single final groan,

Arenheit ceased to exist in this world.

* * *

"...Haack!"

His heart was beating madly.

His chest pounded as if it would come out of his mouth, and cold sweat was sticky all over his body.

His head spun, and the world turned from yellow to black to gray.

Someone entered his unfocused field of vision.

"Your Grace, are you alright? Are you conscious?"

"Wh-who."

"It's Arndt. You collapsed inside the carriage on the way to the castle. Then you suddenly developed a fever."

"Arndt?"

Upon hearing the name, he reflexively sat up in bed.

Arndt grabbed his shoulder and supported him.

"I'm worried you might collapse again if you get up so suddenly, Your Grace."

"Arndt? Is it you?"

"Yes, Your Grace. Is there something you need?"

No.

No way.

Why are you here? You were with Leandros in the east.

You looked at me with those eyes and were afraid. You didn't help me and turned away.

But Arndt's tone contained a faint concern.

Pure worry without any trace of fear.

"...Where is this?"

"Pardon? This is Hartmann Ducal Residence."

"The east?"

"I don't know what you mean..."

"The merpeople, the south! Yurik!!"

Various events mixed confusingly in his head.

Arndt flinched when he suddenly shouted.

"Your Grace, if you would let go of this first, I will explain slowly. Is that alright?"

Only then did he realize that he was tightly gripping Arndt's forearm.

As he slowly released his hand, distinct wrinkles remained on the crumpled sleeve.

Arndt spoke articulately, as if explaining to a 5-year-old child.

"Your Grace, you inherited the ducal title through the reinstatement promoted by Crown Prince Yurik. However, your assets are still confiscated, and the status of your territory is unknown."

"Then we are."

"Yes, we have just returned to Hartmann Ducal Residence from the royal palace. We could have stayed in the capital, but the townhouse probably isn't in good condition either..."

The carriage returning from the royal palace.

The Hartmann Ducal Residence just returned to.

Cobwebs everywhere.

The wretched appearance unchanged.

He had returned.

To that moment when he was possessed.

To the very beginning of the story.