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Chapter 18
Knock knock—
Kalid lightly knocked on Heendungi’s door, but no sound came from inside.
Feeling puzzled, he carefully opened the door and stepped in. When he saw the empty bed, he became startled.
Soon, however, he found a transparent figure standing under the sunlight pouring through the window, looking down at her hands and turning her body this way and that. Only then did he let out a relieved sigh.
Even though she was still transparent, Heendungi no longer looked anything like the white lump from before. She clearly had the shape of a human now.
He had expected it, but seeing it in reality still filled him with both worry and questions.
Why was Heendungi wandering around in this form? Was he still the only one who could see her like this?
And how long would this condition last? If they continued exchanging mana, could she eventually gain a physical body?
Questions with no answers kept appearing one after another.
Kalid frowned deeply as he sank into serious thought alone, but when he saw Heendungi simply marveling at her own appearance, some of the tension left him.
“Are you still fascinated by that form?”
“Huh? Oh, Kalid. Good morning!”
“Yes. Good afternoon, actually. You woke up fairly early today. What were you doing?”
“Mm. I think I’ve gotten somewhat used to the mana exchange now, so I was just checking how much clearer my body has become.”
Irene clenched and unclenched her hands again while examining how much more distinct her body had become compared to the first day she received mana.
“That day really shocked me so much….”
Irene recalled the first time she received Kalid’s mana.
For a moment, she was amazed by the unbelievable fact that she could receive mana.
But then she received her first shock after suddenly seeing her appearance change.
And her second shock came when she saw Kalid staring at her as if it were completely normal.
People always say that when you’re too shocked, words stop coming out.
That day, Irene froze completely and could do nothing at all.
She simply moved however Kalid guided her, and only after a long time had passed did she finally regain her senses.
“N-No… what is this?”
“Were you surprised?”
“Of course I was surprised! Why aren’t you surprised, Kalid?”
“I had my suspicions already. I only needed confirmation, so I asked.”
“What? Since when? You clearly said I looked like a white lump.”
“I did. You truly looked like a white lump. However…”
“?”
Kalid moved his lips as if hesitating over something.
“However what?”
“…For a moment, I wondered if you might actually be human.”
“Why?”
“That’s…”
After hearing the full story of the previous incident from Kalid himself, Irene was stunned all over again.
This sly Grand Duke…! He hid something like that!
“S-So you’re saying that on the day I rammed into you, I collided with your mana, and because of that aftermath, I materialized for a moment—and you happened to see it?”
“That’s about right.”
“Then at that time, you thought I might be human?”
“…Not exactly.”
Irene followed the gaze of the expressionless Kalid as he subtly avoided eye contact.
Her silent attitude clearly demanded a proper answer.
“Not exactly? So even then you still thought I was a monster?”
“…I had no choice. I could only see your form, but I couldn’t touch you. How could I think you were human? And after that as well…”
“I materialized again?”
At her question, Kalid met her eyes with a serious look, as if measuring something.
“On the night my mana became unstable.”
The more Irene listened to Kalid’s story, the wider her eyes became in shock.
“T-Then when did you become certain?”
“From the moment I could hear your voice. That was when I finally became sure.”
“When you heard my voice… then it really hasn’t been that long.”
“……”
Kalid silently looked at her without answering, and suspicion slowly rose inside Irene.
“Wait… don’t tell me you could hear my voice even before that?! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
Instead of answering her accusation, Kalid stepped closer.
The dark golden eyes before her and his close breathing made Irene slightly flustered.
“And you also have things you’re hiding, don’t you?”
“T-That’s…!”
Irene became speechless at Kalid’s words.
But there was no way she could explain that she had experienced death twice, remembered her past lives, that one of those lives had been inside a book, and that she possessed strange abilities different from others.
He would definitely think it was some ridiculous story impossible to believe.
“When I heard your talk about past lives and worlds inside books, I was surprised. But aside from that, the things you muttered about—electric fans, hand warmers… those aren’t objects a non-human could possibly know.”
“Huh?! Wait, you actually believed that?”
“Could it be that it was all a lie?”
“No!! It’s all true, I really experienced those things myself… I just didn’t expect you to believe it so easily….”
Irene was completely dazed by the situation unfolding before her.
Even she herself sometimes found it hard to believe her past lives despite experiencing them personally.
That was why she believed no one would ever trust her story even if she told them.
But Kalid had apparently been listening to all her muttering from long ago, remembering it, and even believing it.
The realization both shocked her and made her heart feel strangely warm.
“There are certainly surprising and strange parts, but it’s not impossible to believe. After all, I’ve seen how you’ve been all this time, Heendungi.”
Though there was still a trace of doubt, sincerity and trust were clear in Kalid’s voice and eyes.
The moment Irene met those eyes—
Those deep, sorrowful eyes that seemed to hold an indescribable longing…
Flare—
Irene suddenly felt warmth spreading across her face and the pounding of a heart that technically should not exist.
Of course, because her body was still transparent, Kalid could not notice it.
Irene had no idea what to do with her racing emotions.
“Mmm—right. I’m always reliable Heendungi. Ah, but why does it suddenly feel so hot in here?”
Pretending to be calm, she fanned herself with her hand, trying to cool her burning face, but the heat would not go away easily.
“Hot?”
At Heendungi’s quiet muttering, Kalid looked puzzled as he alternated between glancing outside the window and looking back at her.
The wind entering through the open window was so cold that no one could possibly call it warm.
And the fireplace in one corner of the room had long gone out, leaving the room itself chilly.
Kalid, being someone from the North who barely felt the cold, could live comfortably in such a room. An ordinary person, however, probably would not last even an hour.
“It seems something may have gone wrong.”
“Huh? What problem?”
“Didn’t you say you were hot? Feeling hot in weather like this… we should stop the mana exchange for now.”
“Huh? No, it’s not because of that…”
“For now, I’ll search through more records regarding mana before trying again.”
“No! It’s okay! We can still do it!”
“No. What if something happens to you? I have no intention of risking your safety.”
“T-Thanks, but I’m really okay?”
What kind of nonsense was this?
She had finally found a clue that might let her truly become human again!
And now he was saying they should stop exchanging mana.
Seeing the firm determination in Kalid’s eyes, Irene grabbed her forehead.
To persuade Kalid not to stop the mana exchange, Irene desperately tried to prove with her whole body that nothing was wrong with her, but Kalid did not budge at all.
After many twists and turns, she finally mixed half-truths and half-lies into her explanation, and only then was she able to continue the mana exchange.
More than anything, Irene felt embarrassed realizing that Kalid had heard every single thing she had muttered to herself when she thought nobody was listening.
“Seriously, I said I was fine. Why is he so stubborn? Right, the reason I felt hot that day wasn’t because of Kalid… it was because I was embarrassed. Yep, definitely that.”
Remembering those embarrassing memories again made Irene feel like she was exposing her own shame with her own hands, and she became irritated at Kalid for no reason.
Still, over the past few days, Irene had diligently received Kalid’s mana, and each day she happily watched her body become more and more distinct.
At this rate, she might really become human again soon.
That was what she thought today as well…
