The Curse of the Connection Ring (3)
“Do you think I, of all people, wouldn't know about the Connection Ring? To dare bind Kirgil with a curse meant only for slaves... You must have slipped it on him while taking advantage of his ignorance of our world's customs.”
Curse? So this ring wasn't for lovers after all, but some magic tool to enslave someone? And Ashu did this to me?!
I strained to turn my head and looked at Ashu, who was hanging upside down against the wall, bound in place.
“No... No, Lady Agnes... Ugh... It's a misunderstanding... Please... hear me out...”
“Silence. Before I cut out that deceitful tongue of yours.”
Ashu's mouth snapped shut in terror at Agnes's quiet yet murderous command.
Tears streamed endlessly down her face instead.
“Kirgil, since you wouldn't know, let me explain. In this world, wearing matching rings on the left ring finger signifies sharing a soul. Cursing one curses the other; if one dies, it means the survivor must seek vengeance or join them in death. The two are treated as one. This is called a soul bond.”
I'd vaguely suspected as much.
But I hadn't realized it went far beyond mere engagement or marriage from my old world—stronger even than the bonds of the Peach Blossom Oath.
Agnes used magic to force Ashu's left hand up and positioned her arm in front of herself.
“This Connection Ring makes that bond a reality.
A magic tool that links souls and intertwines fates.
One's presence is felt by the other.
One's pain is shared with the other.
And one's death passes to the other, sealing a shared destiny.
Originally, it was meant for the lifelong partner you'd face fate with together.”
“Ah! So that's why...”
That's why Ashu would bolt awake in the dead of night if I was hurt, or why she knew the feeling of the basilisk's paralysis.
“Indeed, it seems you've noticed something yourself.
But over time, its purpose was twisted.
I saw it myself in the Darania Royal Palace: that cursed ring used to hold families hostage and enslave nobles.
The agony of knowing your pain torments your loved one—or theirs tormenting you. Capturing one makes the other helpless to resist, turning them into puppets in the end!
Kirgil, I hope you can forgive me for binding you out of concern. I endured your minor wounds to prevent greater ones.”
Agnes glared at Ashu's forcibly held arm. Thinking she meant to yank the ring off, Ashu clenched her fist tight in resistance.
“Lady Agnes... please... not this... I don't want it like this. Give me time to explain... Gah!! Aaagh!!”
The grip on Ashu's throat tightened, and she began writhing in pain.
“Do you take me, Agnes, for a fool? Only the wearer can remove a Connection Ring. You must have put this one on yourself—and on Kirgil—with your own hands.
While I, Agnes, still have my reason, remove it with your own hand. Don't torment Kirgil any further.”
“Hic... sob... That's too much... This ring isn't like that.
Fine! I did once try to bind Kirgil with it!
I still want to keep him! But I never harmed him!!! I swear!!”
“...I could just sever one of your arms and pry it off. I'm only refraining because I fear the pain transferring to Kirgil. Don't force me, Agnes, to steel myself. Ashushikara.”
She's binding Ashu like this, anticipating that her pain would make me snap and do something rash.
But... something's off.
Something's terribly wrong.
“Ashushikara, I'm showing mercy because I remember your past self. Hurry and remove it with your own hand.”
Agnes was usually a kind village chief who abhorred needless killing, but when she had to act, she did—enough to call down a star atop painful memories.
Word was, she'd slain enemies with ruthless brutality to protect the precious here too.
Ashu's clenched fist trembled violently. She was clearly terrified.
At last, the shaking stopped.
Her briefly opened hand clenched tight again.
“No!! I absolutely won't!! Never!!”
“You fool!!!”
“Kyaaahhh!!! Gaaah... Aagh!!”
The force strangling Ashu grew deadly enough to suffocate her. Was she planning to choke her out cold!?
That's why it's wrong!!
“Agnes!! Stop!! Stop it!! I'm fine right now!! Totally unhurt!!”
“I'm sorry. Kirgil, just... bear it a little longer.”
“I'm telling you, it doesn't hurt at all!! I mean it—no pain whatsoever!! Look, I can talk just fine!!”
I hadn't even realized until now if pain was transferring over.
There'd never been a time when Ashu got badly hurt right beside me.
But now, with her clearly suffering physically, I felt nothing.
“...What!?”
Only then did Agnes notice something amiss and look at me. Her eyes widened as she checked if I was truly okay.
“[I, Agnes, shall cease this foolish act. Slowly... ]”
Finally, Ashu slumped and slowly peeled away from the wall. Agnes lifted her unconscious left arm and pulled the ring off herself.
“Impossible... So easily!?”
Amazed, she slipped the removed ring onto her own left ring finger.
She pointed her staff at my still-prone hand.
“Kirgil, bear with me a moment. [I shall strike here. ]”
Thwack!!
Ow ow!! That hurts!
“Ugh!! Owowowow...”
Agnes clutched the same spot on her arm I'd been hit, collapsing in agony. So she felt it too?
“Unbelievable. Ashushikara, what in the world... What were you thinking putting on this ring!?”
Agnes quickly dispelled the magic on me. As I rushed to check the fainted Ashu, her breathing was steady—thank goodness. Agnes had controlled her strength perfectly.
She explained the Connection Ring seemed partially broken. Pain should transfer both ways, but it only worked one way.
In other words, my pain reached Ashu, but hers didn't reach me.
It wasn't normal for it to come off so easily in someone else's hand either.
I supported the fallen Ashu, wiping her tear-streaked face to lay her on the bed. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open.
“Kirgil...”
Ashu stared blankly at me for a moment before hurriedly checking her own left hand.
“The ring... the ring... I swore an oath...”
Agnes now held Ashu's Connection Ring.
“I'm sorry. I, Agnes, thought you'd bound Kirgil's soul to enslave him. But Ashushikara... you sacrificed only yourself. I failed to see your pure resolve, staking your life. Truly, forgive me.”
Agnes approached to return the ring, but Ashu just stared vacantly at her bare left hand.
“The ring...”
As I patted her back, assuring her I was fine and pulling her into a hug...
“Waaahhh!!!”
She burst into childlike sobs.
Agnes froze mid-handover, flustered, and sat beside me.
I had a feeling I knew why. Ashu had always fixated on oaths and resolve, as if they were part of her very being. That's why she'd lost all reason and lunged at me when I removed the ring before.
Her usual confidence and core seemed rooted in those oaths. She couldn't bear it coming off by someone else's hand.
“This makes me look like I came to torment you, doesn't it? That's not... Ashushikara, I never meant to hurt this good child... I don't know. I don't understand now... Even I, Agnes, don't understand myself. Why I got so angry... why I lost my reason... I don't understand these feelings. Sniff.”
Huh... the tears were spreading. Seeing Ashu cry like a child, Agnes started dabbing at her own eyes too.
I hurriedly pulled Agnes into my other arm to contain the meltdown.
“Ugh... hic... waaah!”
In the end, Agnes broke down sobbing in my embrace too.
I held the two weeping women—one in each arm—like children.
“......”
I was utterly dumbfounded.
What the hell was this situation?
Should I analyze this rationally?
Or accept it emotionally?
What was I even thinking right now?
Something... something felt like I'd made a huge mistake leading to this, but I couldn't fix it myself—this subtle dread.
But one thing I got.
Even in this world, the emotions in man-woman relationships were never light.
Right now, I had to comfort and console these two with everything I had.
“...What!? What in the world happened!?”
Parania finally noticed the commotion and rushed in.
She slowly took in Ashu, then Agnes crying, then met my eyes as I held them both.
“......”
Parania looked extremely tense, so I silently nodded for her to leave.
Rude gesture, but anyone could see my hands were full.
Parania nodded quietly.
Good. She got it.
She even blocked the approaching servants, ordering them back to work—saving our dignity too.
Parania seemed so mature today.
But the real trouble started now.
I had no clue how to handle Ashu and Agnes from here.