KMPEG 27

Chapter 27

A faint, almost invisible line of text appeared in the Seer’s prophecy book:

“Fate is already decided.”

“Fate is already… decided?”

—Crash!

“Kyaaaa!”

As soon as the scream rang out, the words on the page vanished like a dream or illusion.

Tiago instantly understood—this was the moment of decision.

A fork in the road. I have to choose—do I chase that woman, my fate, or do I protect the stable life I’ve built?

“Kyaaa!”

Delphine screamed again. A small smirk tugged at the corner of Tiago’s lips.

There may be darkness… but there’s light too, right?

Tiago grabbed his magic staff, hiding it inside his coat, and threw open the door—heading out to face his fate.

Back in Delphine’s room…

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The sound at the window snapped me awake. I quickly reached for my necklace to make sure it was still there.

Frederick jolted awake too and sat up. He held out one arm to stop me and said,

“Stay in the bed. Don’t move.”

He quickly rushed to his travel bag and pulled out a small bottle of holy water.

Pop!

The cork popped off. Frederick sprinkled the holy water over the bed where I was sitting.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The knocking came again—louder and more forceful than before.

“Did you hear that?” I asked.

“They’re closer now. And it’s not just the spirit fire this time.”

Frederick mumbled to himself and frantically searched through his bag.

“Damn it! I left it behind!”

“What’s missing?”

“The protection magic circle—holy sand to draw it.”

“Then… what do we do?”

“Just hope they go away. The bed is protected. Stay there. You’re safe on the bed.”

Thud. Thud. Thud!

Something pounded hard against the window.

“If this keeps up, the window’s going to break! Frederick, come over here!”

He shook his head.

“The holy water’s not strong enough to protect both of us. You’re way too vulnerable to spirit fire. I’ll try to—”

Crash!

“Kyaaa!”

Before he could finish, the window shattered. Glass flew everywhere. A gust of wind blew the curtains wildly.

“What… what is that?!”

In the moonlight, several floating blue flames appeared outside the window.

“There’s too many of them!” I gasped.

Frederick lowered his arms and stared at the broken window.

“Damn it. I’m too weak.”

“Frederick… is that also spirit fire?”

Next to the floating flames was something even darker. It looked like a dense cloud of smoke, or maybe a shadowy grim reaper. It was like a living black fog.

Suddenly, I felt its gaze—even though it had no eyes, I could feel it looking at me.

I clutched my necklace tightly with my trembling hands.

Then it turned its head toward Frederick and slowly floated toward him.

Frederick stood frozen, unable to move, staring at it.

“Kyaaaa!”

The dark figure rushed at him like it was trying to suck out his soul. Frederick’s eyes rolled back and he started to lose consciousness.

No! Frederick’s in danger!

I didn’t care about the holy water—I jumped off the bed and threw myself at him.

I didn’t work so hard to keep this jerk alive just for him to die now! And this is supposed to be a romance-fantasy novel! Why is the fantasy part trying to kill us?!

Just like he had hugged me to save me from the spirit fire, now I hugged him tightly.

The spirit fire circled around us, but that wasn’t the real threat.

The black shadow was much stronger—I could feel it too.

I had to move Frederick back onto the bed, where the holy water was.

Maybe because I interrupted it, the black shadow paused its attack and started circling us menacingly.

Frederick lay still, eyes closed.

“Frederick! Hold on. I’ll get you… back to the bed…”

All I could think about was dragging him to safety.

Just then—

Bang!

The door burst open. I looked up and was blinded by a strong light.

“Kerman!”

A blast of brilliant light filled the room.

…?

There was a silhouette in the doorway—a tall man holding a glowing magic staff.

Tiago?

He chanted a spell and shouted.

Boom!

The staff exploded with one final burst of light. The warm, powerful magic swept through the room, making the spirit fire and the black shadow disappear.

Slowly, the room dimmed again. Tiago chanted more spells, and the broken window returned to normal.

Thank goodness… it’s over.

“Frederick?”

I gently shook him.

“Frederick! Wake up! They’re gone now. Can you hear me?”

Hurk.

Frederick coughed hard, but his eyes were still shut.

He’s alive… thank God!

Tiago came over to check on him.

“He just fainted. He’s still breathing. If I had been a bit later, he wouldn’t have made it. You’re lucky.”

I finally looked up at Tiago.

He tucked his staff back into his coat and carefully lifted Frederick up and placed him on the bed.

I tried to stand up too—but collapsed to the floor.

“Ah…”

My legs… I can’t move them.

Tiago approached.

“Your legs gave out from the shock. It’s okay. Here, come here.”

He gently lifted me into his arms.

His soft voice whispered into my ear. Being in his arms, all the fear and stress I had felt suddenly vanished.

And just like that, I blacked out and fell asleep.

When I opened my eyes, sunlight was shining between my eyelids.

I slowly looked around.

The room looked totally different in the daytime—bright, warm, almost like a cozy home.

I sat up.

Tweet tweet!

Birds chirped outside the window. Sunlight came through the thin curtains. Last night felt like a dream.

“You’re awake? Rest a bit more today. Take the whole day if you need.”

“…Fred…erick?”

Wait—Frederick? That couldn’t be him. No way that rude guy would talk so politely.

I leaned back on the bed.

Tiago was sitting beside me, looking concerned.

I looked over to the other side of the bed. Frederick’s spot was empty. But the travel bag was still there, so he hadn’t fully left.

“Where’s Frederick?”

“I stayed by your side all night… and you’re asking about another man first thing? That hurts.”

“…Oh. You stayed… all night?”

I felt a little guilty. I hadn’t even said thank you.

“I’m joking. You don’t need to feel bad.”

Tiago smiled warmly like the sun. He handed me a mug. It was still warm.

“Here, it’s tea. It’ll help you wake up.”

“Thanks.”

While I sipped the tea, Tiago told me where Frederick had gone.

“He left for Brunic. Said he had urgent business at a jewelry store. He asked me to take care of you while he’s gone.”

This guy’s seriously insane for love. Completely hopeless.

Frederick nearly died last night, and the first thing he does when he wakes up is go buy a gift for Sharliette? I could never do something like that.

I held the mug tightly and felt the warmth slide down my throat, easing my body.

As I spaced out, I muttered,

“I don’t think I could ever risk my life for someone like that.”

“Really? But I think you would. You’re the kind of person who takes risks for others.”

I looked at Tiago directly. His eyes sparkled. His expression showed interest, and his gaze was always full of energy. It made me curious.

“Why do you think that?”

“Because you did. Last night, you threw yourself in to save Frederick. You jumped in front of Kerman.”

“Kerman? That smoky black thing?”

“Yes. Kerman, the soul reaper. He’s a death spirit who rarely appears in this world. Very powerful. Not many survive meeting him. You were lucky last night.”

“….”

Hearing that made last night feel terrifyingly real again. The spirit fires swirling around us. Kerman sucking Frederick’s soul. I got chills just thinking about it.

“There’s just one thing I don’t get—why did Kerman target Frederick and completely ignore you? That usually only happens in one case. It means Frederick somehow escaped his destined death. So Kerman came to collect the soul anyway.”

“….”

I didn’t answer. I took another sip of tea.

My body still felt heavy. I had interfered with Frederick’s death. But I didn’t want to talk about that right now.