Chapter 30
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Cockcrow 6
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Dark clouds had gathered out of nowhere in the sky, which had been clear just moments ago. They shrouded the sun perched on the mountain ridge and the pale, immature moon beside it. The early evening stars caught between them were swallowed up as well. Before long, the rain began to fall in heavy sheets.
"I don't see this as a matter for a half-soul like you to meddle in."
"That attitude won't do our conversation any favors."
The woman rose to her feet and faced Nati head-on. Torrents of rain soaked her body.
Water dripped steadily from the hem hanging before her face, and her loose mourning clothes clung tightly to her skin. The translucent fabric revealed the peach glow of her flesh, her curves laid bare, while her skirt wrapped snugly around her groin.
The woman's face shifted at a slight angle. Haewon thought she was looking his way. At the same time, a nagging sense of familiarity—buried until now beneath his fear—began to surface. I've seen this woman somewhere before.
"Why must I face interference from you when I'm merely exercising my rightful claim? I'll overlook your rudeness up to this point, so step aside."
"Is harming my friends your 'right'? If you're going to claim that, then I can't stand down."
"Even those who have lived eternally have seen no small passage of time... yet your insolence hasn't diminished one bit."
"I'm just exercising my rights."
Tension crackled between the two like a drawn whip, lashed by the relentless rain.
"Fine. I'll prove my claim is just."
The woman raised one hand—the same one that had clasped Haewon's moments before. At the same instant, Haewon's own hand, several paces away, lifted of its own accord.
A thin red thread, like fishing line, connected their fingers. Right at the center, the thread bunched into a clump, shaped exactly like a heart.
But on closer inspection, it was a flower. A bouquet forged from blood.
Nati's brow twitched at the sight. He strode forward with heavy steps toward the bouquet.
Then he raised the fan in his hand high and brought it slashing down like a sword.
Giiiing!
A bizarre screech, as if scraping directly along the nerves, enveloped the area. Ibi, who had been watching in stunned confusion, clamped her hands over her ears and dropped to her knees. Blocking it did nothing, of course.
It felt like compressed air exploding outward, slamming into them. It did no physical harm, but the damp gust tore at their hearts like a wild animal.
When she finally lifted her gaze, Haewon was in no better shape. Only Nati and the woman remained frozen in their poses, unmoved.
"......"
"What do you make of it now that you've seen for yourself?"
The woman spoke to Nati, still locked in his striking pose, with a tone laced with smugness. He withdrew his fan. The bouquet was utterly unscathed.
"Indeed."
A triumphant smile curled the woman's lips. Ibi's instincts screamed that something was terribly wrong.
"This betrothal is legitimate."
She turned toward Haewon. His face was frozen in shock, staring straight through Nati. Even so, Nati's voice remained ice-cold.
"Congratulations on your marriage."
The pounding rain was the only sound battering their ears. For a long moment, no one in that forest spoke.
"This can't be real!"
Ibi shattered the silence. She stepped forward fearlessly and shouted again—or tried to.
"What the hell... Mmph!"
"Reckless fool."
Nati abruptly shoved the tip of his fan into Ibi's mouth. She coughed and sputtered but managed to bat it away and finish her words.
"That woman tried to kill you, oppa! And now marriage? Are you out of your mind?"
The woman, no longer in any rush, simply smiled leisurely as she listened.
"Why would a bride ever harm her groom? I was merely ensuring no stray cat like you could snatch him away."
"What...?"
Ibi recoiled in horror, but Nati stepped between them, blocking the way.
"Enough."
"Nati!"
"I can't solve everything. Breaking a promise comes with a price."
"......"
With that, the woman strode boldly toward Haewon. But Nati extended his arm, blocking her there too.
"What is the meaning of this? You just acknowledged my rights."
"A betrothal doesn't give you free rein over your betrothed. The wedding day is still some time off, isn't it?"
The woman halted, grinding her teeth. Yet she seemed to accept the words themselves.
"Very well. He's mine soon enough anyway. Patience is a virtue for a proper lady, after all."
The woman gave Haewon a brief, formal bow. Then, as if her earlier chill had been an illusion, her voice dripped with syrupy warmth.
"Until our wedding day then, my lord. I'm truly looking forward to it."
With a flirtatious fu hut, her body dissolved like ink spilled into the river current and vanished.
The rain continued to lash down relentlessly.
"What... what have you done?"
Haewon approached Nati, trembling with rage. Nati pretended not to notice, gazing up at the sky.
"Yeah. I didn't plan on starting a downpour. Got a bit carried away."
"I'm asking what the hell this is!"
"Saved their sorry hides from being torn apart, and now they want my pack too. What a sight."
Ibi bowed her head at that. But Haewon refused to back down.
"Saved us? You call this saving us? You just validated her claim! Forced me into... marriage! What's the point of saving my life if... I'm just going to be dragged off anyway...?"
Nati fixed Haewon with an impassive stare. His eyes held no emotion.
"I think I've told you once before. Everything has rules. Every single thing in this world. There are laws you can't ignore, even if you can't see them. I'm lucky enough to have glimpsed them just a little... but I can't defy them. No one can—not even the gods who enforce them."
"......"
"I didn't make the rules. And I didn't validate anything. I don't know the full story, but that is a proper betrothal. It's beyond my power to interfere."
"No... this is unfair. I never agreed to it. It was all my mother's doing!"
"Honor thy parents. Obey your mother's word."
"By the time I knew what was happening, it was already over. My will wasn't part of it at all!"
"No."
Nati stated it flatly, his voice heavy and unyielding.
"You consented."
"...What?"
The certainty in his tone left Haewon speechless for a moment. But...
"Don't talk nonsense. What would you know? You don't even understand the situation."
"Because it was legitimate. That's all I need to know. A contract like that can't be forged without the consent of both parties."
"That's ridiculous..."
As Haewon kept pressing, Nati's irritation finally boiled over into a roar.
"Stop acting like a spoiled child!"
Haewon flinched, and Ibi shrank back.
"Fine. I know why you first came to the Ghost Bridge Society. I have a rough idea about your mother too. I even sensed you wanted something from me. Was this it? Did you think sticking close to me would let you escape your bride?"
His voice thundered as Nati advanced on Haewon step by step. Haewon could only retreat, speechless.
"Doesn't matter. Expectations are free. For most things, I might've actually helped. But like I said, I can't fix everything. The ant that thinks it moved a mountain struts proudly over its feat—but it's just a pile of pebbles that a deer's hoof could scatter. Do you see me as a mountain? Do you?!"
Ibi had a strange thought. The fury pouring from Nati, the emotion in every word—it felt aimed not at Haewon, but someone else.
Why did it feel like self-reproach? It was absurd, but the feeling lingered.
"I never... consented."
Haewon finally squeezed out the words after a long silence.
"I never consented."
"......"
"Then if I prove it... we can break the engagement, right?"
"...Maybe."
"Then I'll prove it."
Haewon stared blankly at Nati's face, looking as if his soul had been dragged out of him.
"I'll dig through my mother's traces... find the evidence. I never agreed to some spirit marriage."
"Do as you like."
Nati turned away with a bitter smile, as if he considered it utterly impossible.
"That's enough for tonight. Been a while since I had a night this chaotic."
Stepping away from Haewon, Nati addressed the dark, muddy path ahead.
"Let's go, Mina. You can come out now."
He cast his gaze into the thick grass along the dirt. There sat Mina, slumped amid the crushed blades.
She wasn't in great shape.
"...Annoying."
Her body was torn everywhere, no patch of skin unmarred. Her clothes hung in tatters.
"Ah...!"
Ibi rushed to Mina's side. With nothing handy to cover her, she wrapped her arms around her instead.
"Time to head back."
Nati overtook the others and walked ahead. He glanced up at the sky.
The downpour had stopped unnoticed. Since he'd been the one to summon it in the first place, calling it off was simple enough. Beyond the invisible clouds, the sun was already beginning to rise.
They'd started wandering this hill at early dusk. Had so much time already passed?
"It's cockcrow."
He hadn't known it then, but the word meant dawn was breaking.