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Chapter 34
“Ah… right. Yes, I remember.”
The landscape was still thick with trees and lush grass. They must have walked far in from where the knights were stationed.
Kali glanced sideways at Leonhart, who remained silent as they moved.
“Do you remember the answer I gave you back then?”
“What did you say?”
“That ‘the stars guided me.’”
“…The stars.”
“I still remember it. My mother gave me that answer.”
A sudden chill ran down Kali’s spine—because of the thought that had just struck her.
No. No, it can’t be. Surely not…
Her lips parted, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak.
If her suspicion was right… then…
“By any chance… Leon. I just have to ask.”
“What is it?”
“Well…”
Nervously, she clutched the fabric of Leonhart’s clothes. He gave a soft, amused laugh, as if wondering what was wrong.
His slender fingers brushed against Kali’s neck, making her flinch. She grabbed his hand with both of hers as if to stop him.
“Leon, your mother’s name… is it…?”
“My mother?”
Leonhart’s eyes grew distant with a trace of longing before he answered.
“Rita. Rita Spencer.”
Kali’s eyes widened and she inhaled sharply.
How…
…could this be?
Her mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. She simply rested her head on Leonhart’s shoulder.
Her strength drained away. Her thoughts tangled in confusion. She shut her eyes tight and opened them again. It was still reality.
“Could I… ask one more thing?”
“Mmm. What is it?”
“What color was your mother’s hair?”
Leonhart stopped walking and looked down at her.
“Kali. Why do you ask?”
He’d realized she wasn’t just curious.
Though he kept a faint smile, his golden eyes fixed on her with sharp intensity.
This is bad. Maybe I asked too much. I can’t avoid telling him now.
She lowered her gaze to the ground and whispered, almost too quietly to hear:
“Maybe…”
“Maybe?”
“I might learn something about the Cursed Bride.”
“Tell me first, Kali.”
“I’d rather hear your answer first. Then I can decide…”
His eyes narrowed slightly, their golden color turning cool.
Kali peeked up at him, then quickly looked down again.
His gaze felt like it burned into her back, but she stubbornly held her ground. She would not speak first.
“…Ha.”
A sigh escaped Leonhart.
He was a man who never acted to his own disadvantage. He always spoke only when it benefited him. Information was power, and he never gave it away first.
Why, then—why was Kali so different? He raked a hand through his hair.
“Fine. I’ll tell you first.”
Around Kali, his resolve always softened. Before her, he kept doing things he never would have otherwise.
As if he became someone else entirely.
“My mother had red hair. The color of a blazing sunset.”
“Ah…”
Kali’s mouth opened slightly, then closed again.
Her thoughts ground to a halt. Or maybe they just tangled even more.
So the vision I saw of the past wasn’t only of my own childhood…
It was connected to Leonhart’s mother, Rita.
Kali and Rita were both of the Asteri tribe—a people who read the stars and foresaw the future.
And every Cursed Bride was of the Asteri.
“Your turn now, Kali.”
“…”
“Kali?”
“Leon… Let’s go back to the manor first.”
Seeing her drooping ears, tail, and body, Leonhart’s expression softened. He stroked the little squirrel’s head and back with his fingers.
“Why so gloomy? I brought you to Morai Forest to lift your spirits.”
“What about you, Leon? Are you all right after seeing the past?”
“It wasn’t a bad memory. It was a happy day.”
“I see…”
“It’s been a long time,” he added with a quiet laugh.
“Since I last saw my mother smile.”
Kali stared at him.
He truly looked happy. She felt relieved. At least the memory he saw wasn’t painful.
“That’s good.”
She didn’t know why, but she didn’t want to see him hurting.
She just… didn’t.
Back at the manor, Leonhart set Kali on the office sofa. She lay on her back, trying to settle the storm in her head during the entire trip back.
This isn’t in the original story at all.
And it wasn’t just a simple curse-breaking, either. She swallowed a sigh.
Then who is Mikaela?
Leonhart’s grandfather had killed the Cursed Bride without knowing what she was.
So was Mikaela just a helpless deer who died without doing anything?
And Levi?
Her own young servant also had red hair and black eyes—an abandoned child, forsaken by both parents.
Was everything somehow connected?
“Kali. Tired?”
The door opened and Leonhart came in, holding a plate of cookies.
He sat beside her and offered a cookie, small enough for her tiny form.
Kali sat up and nibbled it with a crisp crunch.
“My head’s just full.”
“Then maybe it’s time you told me what you saw.”
“…All right.”
There was no avoiding it. Kali explained everything she had seen and thought:
herself, Rita, and Mikaela.
The Asteri tribe.
The Cursed Bride.
The visions and their necessity.
Leonhart’s lips parted, then closed again.
“…I see.”
He leaned back on the sofa, head tilted, eyes shut in thought.
Not wanting to disturb him, Kali quietly set down her cookie, silencing even the soft crunch.
He must be as overwhelmed as I am.
So what should they do next?
Did someone really have to return first for the answers to emerge?
Or…
Should I go back to Morai Forest?
She had to learn what happened in the past—why Rita and Kali both became Cursed Brides. To do that, she might need to glimpse more of the past that the forest revealed.
Though, truthfully, she wasn’t even sure the forest had shown her the past at all.
“There’s almost nothing known about the Asteri,” Leonhart said at last, breaking the silence.
“They’re only spoken of in legends. That’s all I’ve ever heard.”
“…”
“We’d better research them further.”
He held another cookie to her mouth. Kali obediently took a bite.
“And we should learn more about the first Grand Duke, Arthur Spencer, too.”
He murmured it seriously, but when their eyes met he smiled. Kali nodded in agreement.
“But, Kali…”
Thump—
He suddenly scooped her up, and the startled squirrel dropped her cookie.
She struggled in protest, which only made his grin widen.
“You almost didn’t tell me something this important, hm?”
“Ah, I… well…”
“Were you planning to hide it from me?”
He playfully shook her, making her head spin. She swatted at his hand to stop.
But he didn’t stop.
“Kali. You can’t break the curse without me.”
“Ugh… dizzy… stop…”
“Never hide anything from me again. Understand?”
“S-stop… I get it! I get it, okay! Just—let go…”
“That’s better.”
At last he released her.
“Keep that promise, Kali.”
“You… devil…”
Leonhart smirked. He placed the woozy Kali on his thigh.
She flopped onto her back, dazed, while he leaned an arm on the sofa and rested his chin in his hand.
With half-lidded eyes, he poked at her round little belly. She barely had the strength to protest.
“Kali. If you’re Asteri too, does that mean you’d have red hair?”
“Uh… probably. The young me did.”
“Hmm…”
“Why?”
“I just thought you might have the same hair as my mother.”
“That’s right. The young me relied on Rita a lot.”
“My mother’s childhood…”
He traced gentle circles on her belly with two fingers and chuckled softly, looking a little tired.
“I’d like to see that for myself.”
“…”
“Why that look?”
Kali stared up at him with tiny bead-like eyes. He covered them with his fingers and then uncovered them.
“It makes me want to see young Leon, who adored his mother.”
“Young Leon?”
“Little Leonhart. I bet he looked quite different from now.”
“I’ll have you know, I was a very sensitive and lovable child.”
“…”
“Don’t give me that look of disbelief.”
This squirrel. His voice was full of playful mischief.
He reached out and gently rubbed her cheek with a fingertip. She flailed her paws and feet in protest.
“Kali.”
“What?”
“Now I’m curious about you.”
The sudden words made her freeze.
“I wonder what your human form looks like.
I can’t wait to see it.”
His tone was almost like a confession.
Kali swallowed hard as her heart began to race on its own.
