MLBO 10

Anise stood there, clutching the hem of her skirt tightly with both hands as she looked at him.

Her large eyes looked as though tears might spill at any moment.

The instant he saw that face, a sharp pain shot through him, like flesh being carved apart with a scalpel.

‘Don’t worry. I’m okay….’

He wanted to open his lips and say it.

But the pain made even breathing difficult.

Even so, seeing her look like she was about to cry hurt him more.

Wanting to reassure her, Emilian moved his lips slightly.

“Don’t cry….”

But why was it?

Anise’s eyes trembled like waves caught in a storm.

She bit down hard on her lip, yet in the end, tears spilled from her eyes.

The tears she had been holding back finally burst out.

She had tried not to cry, but there was no way she could remain calm after seeing Emilian injured like that.

‘I’m sorry I was late….’

I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner.

I swallowed the words I could never say and wiped away my tears with my sleeve.

I couldn’t quite suppress the sound of my sniffles.

Instead, the argument between the director and Franz drowned out my crying.

“Is it true that you injected Subject 175 with the regenerative enhancement drug?”

“…Yes, it’s true.”

“Why did you proceed with the experiment while skipping the earlier stages?”

“This subject displayed exceptionally high adaptability to the drug. His condition was stable enough to continue the experiment without going through the previous stages.”

“This test subject is special. Didn’t I clearly say he must not be handled recklessly?”

“But look at the results! Normally he would need to pass at least Stage Four, yet he’s already showing a reaction!”

“It certainly is a remarkable result.”

“Then…!”

“You haven’t forgotten the case of Subject 117, have you?”

Franz merely bit his lip instead of answering.

Subject 117.

That child had also shown outstanding adaptability, just like Emilian.

Back then, the researchers had expected the child to survive the final experiment and become a Transcendent.

But the day before the final experiment, the child suffered a severe seizure and died.

It was the result of recklessly shortening the experimental stages.

At the time, the researchers had been desperate for results.

“This time, we must proceed carefully. We cannot repeat the same mistake.”

The director placed a firm hand on Franz’s shoulder as he spoke.

“Continue the experiments on Subject 175 according to the manual.”

Franz remained silent for a moment before finally speaking through gritted teeth.

“…Understood.”

The director ordered the researchers to remove Emilian’s shackles.

Then he pointed at me and instructed me to take Emilian back to his room.

Supporting him carefully, I asked softly,

“Can you walk?”

“…Yeah.”

Even while suffering from the pain, Emilian forced himself to stand on his own two feet.

With the director’s permission, I used the elevator powered by magic stones to bring him back to his room.

Emilian leaned against the bed and squeezed his eyes shut tightly. His breathing was rough and uneven.

I hurriedly searched through my pocket and pulled out a small bottle of medicine.

It was the painkiller left over from last time.

“Drink this. It’ll hurt less.”

Emilian nodded and accepted the medicine before drinking it.

‘I wish it would work instantly like magic….’

But it would take time for the medicine to kick in.

‘I should’ve brought the director sooner.’

Feeling heavy-hearted, I sat beside the bed and checked Emilian’s condition.

I quietly brushed back his hair, sticky with sweat and blood, and spoke.

“Do you need anything else? Are you thirsty? Want some water? Or….”

Emilian slowly shook his head.

Holding my hand tightly, he said,

“Just… stay beside me for a little while.”

I couldn’t bring myself to shake off his grasp.

After all, I had seen with my own eyes what he had almost gone through.

The experiments were far crueler than I had imagined.

It wasn’t something a thirteen-year-old child should have to endure.

And yet Emilian had still—

“It’s okay.”

“I’ll be back soon.”

He had even forced himself to smile just to reassure me.

If it had been me, I could never have said something like that.

How could you be so strong?

After suffering through such pain, how could you still comfort someone else?

How could you remain unbroken in this hell?

‘I… can’t endure it anymore.’

I didn’t want to watch the children get hurt and die anymore.

The truth was—

I wanted to run away.

The words I could never say swirled endlessly inside my mouth.

For some reason, the tears wouldn’t stop.

Usually they would have stopped quickly.

At first, every time children failed to endure the experiments and disappeared, it had been hard to hold back my tears.

But eventually I grew used to it.

At least, that was what I thought.

The sorrow I had desperately suppressed overflowed precariously and spilled out.

I had kept lying to myself, saying I could endure it, but perhaps I had already reached my limit.

Why was I so weak?

I turned my head away and secretly wiped away the tears flowing down my face so Emilian wouldn’t notice.

Then, trying not to let him hear how choked my voice had become, I said,

“I’ll stay here. So… get some rest.”

“Mm….”

Perhaps having someone beside him made him feel at ease, because Emilian smiled faintly.

Soon, his eyelids slowly drifted shut.

Without a word, I remained by his side.

Little by little, the sound of Emilian’s breathing became steady.

‘Did he fall asleep?’

I tried to get up and leave, but the grip of his hand holding mine was surprisingly strong.

Unable to pull away by force, I quietly brushed aside the hair that had fallen across his forehead.

I’m sorry. I can’t stay by your side until the very end.

But…

I don’t want to abandon you and run away.

Those contradictory feelings tangled chaotically inside me.

I knew that someday, I would have to make a choice.

And yet my weak heart could choose neither side, only continuing to drown in hesitation.

Several days passed after that.

The morning sunlight was so bright that my eyes opened on their own.

Normally, I would have woken before dawn, but today I stayed buried beneath the blankets for a little longer.

Today was one of the rare holidays.

There were only three days off in an entire month, but without even that, life here would have been unbearable.

The researchers gave the children a minimum number of rest days for only one reason: if they worked the children too harshly, some might be unable to endure life here and attempt to escape.

After washing up and changing clothes, I glanced at the clock.

At this hour, I would normally have been delivering breakfast to the test subjects.

‘Come to think of it, Emilian starts resting today too.’

By special orders from the director, Emilian had been exempted from experiments for an entire week.

Of course, it wasn’t because the director was a kind-hearted adult.

After Franz recklessly pushed the experiment too far, sudden abnormalities had appeared in Emilian’s body.

Once his condition fully recovered, they would drag him back into the laboratory again.

It was depressing, but at least he could rest for a short while.

‘If it had been another child, they probably would’ve continued the experiments without caring.’

That alone proved the director was giving Emilian special treatment.

‘I wonder what he’s doing right now.’

He had no one to talk to and no friends.

The test subjects weren’t even allowed to leave their rooms.

‘He must be bored all day.’

Come to think of it, there was something I could bring him.

Until now, I had been too busy with work to go there, but today was different.

I slipped on my shoes and left the room.

‘It’s not like I’m busy today anyway….’

The Second Library was located in a separate annex far from the research building.

The moment I stepped inside, the scent of old books filled the air.

The librarian, who had been lazily resting his chin on one hand, glanced at me.

When he asked why I had come, I casually lied and said I was running an errand for a researcher.

Researchers often made the children fetch books for them, so the librarian didn’t seem suspicious.

I passed several bookshelves packed with thick volumes.

Shelf classification number 800.

At the very bottom shelf was the book I was looking for.

Squatting down, I examined the spines carefully.

‘Ah, there it is.’

Hooking my finger around the corner of the spine and pulling firmly, a small, thin book slid out smoothly.

It was a fairy tale book I had accidentally discovered one day while running errands for the researchers.

I had no idea how a fairy tale book ended up mixed among all these shelves, but…

‘Good thing I remembered where it was.’

I placed the fairy tale book at the bottom of the pile and selected several thick academic books.

‘This should be enough, right?’

A little while later, I returned to the research building with my arms full of books.

‘I wonder if he likes reading.’

When I arrived at Emilian’s room, I peeked inside.

As usual, he was sitting on the bed.

But he was hugging his knees tightly with his head buried against them.

Maybe the recent experiments had been especially exhausting.

For some reason, he looked strangely depressed, and the sight made my chest ache.

I cleared my throat lightly to announce my presence.

“Emilian. What are you doing over there?”

The moment he heard my voice, Emilian jerked his head up.

“Anise?”

His eyes widened in surprise.

Was my coming here really that shocking?

I tilted my head in confusion, but before I could think further, he walked closer to the bars.

Blinking his red eyes, he stared intently at my face before speaking.

“You… weren’t going to come anymore?”

“…?”

Wait, why would he suddenly think that…?

I was bewildered by the completely unexpected question.

Then I quickly realized the reason.

The person who had brought Emilian breakfast today hadn’t been me.

Did he think they had changed the child assigned to look after him just because of that?

I was about to explain that wasn’t the case, but Emilian spoke again with a gloomy expression.

“Is it because I bothered you?”

“Huh…? What do you mean?”

After hesitating briefly, he bit his lip and said,

“Before, I grabbed your hand and told you not to leave. I made things difficult for you.”