Chapter 109

“I haven’t placed any curse on Florence’s body.”

“…I see.”

“If I’m right, you can’t use magic or spirit arts anymore. Am I correct?”

Hyunji flared up.

“So it was you—mmph, Linus…”

“If it’s not a curse, then why?”

Linus covered Hyunji’s mouth with his hand. Laila shrugged.

“She couldn’t use them to begin with.”

“That’s not true! Florence couldn’t use them, but I could! They were mine!”

“You mean you studied magic and spirit arts?”

“…Huh?”

“You know you can’t use magic without theory—unless you’re going to say that just deciding to do it made it all work?”

“….”

“Figures.”

Laila gave a short laugh.

“If you’re a thief who took over a body never meant for you, enjoying what belongs to someone else, then of course you wouldn’t know.”

“What…”

Laila gestured to Keith. He quickly stepped closer to her. Linus drew his sword. Laila touched her finger lightly to Hyunji’s forehead.

“A gift for you, Commander. A gift in support of your true love.”

She deflected his sword with her forearm and used the recoil to leap back. Keith caught her, and they teleported away.

Linus frowned.

Should have taken her arm off.

He had planned to do it before she left, saying their score wasn’t settled. But when he drew his sword, Hyunji blocked his way, ruining his timing.

If it had been the old Hyunji, she would have stepped aside without being told, or even caught the mage herself.

He could understand why she was shaken—suddenly unable to use magic or spirit arts, despite claiming Florence was dead and feeling secure in her control of the body. He even understood her fear of losing it again. Linus knew he was soft only toward Hyunji.

She was the only one in this world who was unique. The mysterious and beautiful being who came from another world for him. The most special person of all. She needed a different standard from everyone else—she could not be judged the same way.

But now, without her usual composure… she was becoming crude.

She had always been a bit childish, never particularly mature. She was honest, cheerful, and often acted spoiled in a way that made people happy. Even when she could do things herself, she relied on him, making him feel as if she couldn’t live without him—and he had liked that.

I’m special to you too.

So if she didn’t want to walk, he carried her without caring what others thought, and he gave her anything she asked for. It wasn’t hard.

But that was when she asked for things she could do herself.

Was she always… this demanding?

They had been apart for just over three months. For her, it had been only about a week. She shouldn’t have changed.

Linus remembered every moment with her. He had lived on those memories. And in those memories, she wasn’t someone who demanded water because she was thirsty, to be hugged because she was lonely, or to be fed.

Back then, she had summoned spirits to handle the small tasks. She didn’t rely on him as much because she could do it herself. Now, without that ability, she had to ask. When Linus wasn’t around, Helen stayed by her side, but perhaps she wasn’t as perfectly attentive as a spirit, so Hyunji’s irritability grew.

From her point of view, it was natural—but for him, it wasn’t easy.

“Hyunji, it’s fine—”

“Linus?”

The voice was different. The moment he realized it, Linus pointed his sword.

“Who are you?”

“Eek!”

The blade stopped just short of her chin. Even her gasp sounded shallow.

“It’s me, Linus! Me!”

“…Hyunji?”

“What’s wrong? Why all of a sudden…”

Linus slowly lowered his sword, scanning from the bottom up. Whether by instinct or intuition, something told him not to look directly.

No one else was in the room. Laila and the mage had only teleported—they hadn’t attacked. If they had intended harm, he wouldn’t have let them near. He had also stationed people outside the reception room to prevent anyone from overhearing. Only they were here.

The dress was one Hyunji had loved from her favorite boutique—gold thread and small jewels, tailored to hide her thin frame’s flaws and highlight her graceful neckline. Even Linus had rarely given compliments, but he had for this dress. It was one of a kind.

But the skin wasn’t the creamy white she’d had. It was pale, but with poor circulation, almost bluish, veins visible. On the collarbone, red marks showed. Linus knew Florence had once burned her shoulder badly, leaving a scar she hated showing, but it had never been this large.

Her collarbones jutted out sharply from her thin frame, the burn scar twisting upward toward a trembling jaw.

“…Linus…?”

The voice was unfamiliar—slightly higher, trembling—but the pronunciation was the same as the one he loved.

“….”

He wanted to ask who she was. But he had seen her before.

That night, reflected in the window.

Her dark brown hair was short, ending at her jaw, swaying near her thin face. It was dull, without shine. Reluctantly, Linus looked into her eyes.

The gaze in those dark brown eyes was the only familiar thing.

A scar covered half her face where the flesh had once melted. One eye couldn’t open fully, half-lidded, while the other was wide and wet with tears. Her plain nose and lips were unremarkable—so plain that, uninjured, she wouldn’t have caught Linus’s notice at all. He wouldn’t have remembered her.

But with the scar, maybe he would have remembered—if only to order her taken out of his sight. Linus’s jaw tightened unconsciously.

“Linus? What’s wrong…”

Hyunji, who had fallen, crawled toward him on her knees, pouting.

“You scared me. Why are you doing something so frightening to me? You made me fall, so help me up.”

“….”

“Linus? What are you doing? I said I’m scared. I fell and it hurts!”

Unable to bear it, she stood on her own. Linus stood frozen, the sword lowered but unmoving. Irritated, she reached to grab his hand.

Just before she could touch him, Linus instinctively slapped her hand away. The smack rang out, and she stumbled back.

“…Ah.”

Realizing what he’d done, Linus spoke flatly.

“You… you hit me?”

“….”

“How could you do this to me, Linus? I…”

Hyunji’s voice wavered, but she froze when she saw his expression. He looked at her like a stranger—no, worse, like she was something filthy on the street. She read the disgust and contempt in his eyes instantly.

These were the same obsidian eyes that had once looked only at her. Eyes so filled with violent desire and obsession there had been no room for anything else.

Linus had been a man who cared only for himself and Hyunji, to the point that others joked about it. He hadn’t tolerated her showing interest or kindness to anyone else, removing anything she touched or looked at.

But now—

“Linus…?”

As she reached out again, her gaze caught on the back of her hand.

A thin, bony hand. Knuckles jutting sharply. A burn scar running from the back of the hand upward.

It was Jang Hyunji’s hand.