Chapter 63

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Translator: MadScientist

Chapter: 63

Chapter Title: Liliet

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The playback of the memories had ended.

"How was it? This is the true history—the past of that Eunha."

Liliet flashed a sweet smile and tried to sidle up to Bihyung.

But in that instant, Bihyung pulled away, fixing her with a heavy, sunken gaze.

"Why? Why look at me like that when I saved Eunha?"

"I can't believe it."

There was only one reason Bihyung couldn't trust her.

There was no reason for her to do so.

"Your presence rivals mine. So what could someone like you possibly lack that you'd go out of your way to save the Committee Chair?"

Honestly, he couldn't even fully trust the memories he'd just witnessed.

She was an intruder who had barged into yokai territory out of nowhere.

Couldn't someone like her manipulate a mere vision?

The answer was no.

"If you want my trust, show me proper proof."

Liliet stared blankly at Bihyung's words, then lifted her chest ever so slightly.

"The heart never lies."

But Bihyung already had some resistance to such temptations, thanks to Mi-na Hwang's heavenly beauty.

He steeled his mind and didn't succumb to her allure.

"Hmph. What a boring man."

As if displeased by his reaction, Liliet puffed out her cheeks and suddenly raised her hand like a blade.

Sure enough—talk failed, so now force...

But that thought didn't last long.

Stab!

Liliet had abruptly plunged her hand into her own chest.

And with it...

Throb!

A bisected heart appeared in her grasp.

"How about now? Can you believe me?"

"......"

Bihyung's eyes went wide at the sight of the wound.

It matched the scar from the memory—the shape of the heart was identical.

Which meant, at the very least, there was no lie in the act of splitting her heart.

'Given the realm I'm sensing, this is her true body's manifestation.'

So that heart, and the memory just now—they were unvarnished truth...

'Why?'

The question lingered.

'What could a being like her possibly regret losing that she'd share her heart?'

Because a yokai's heart was just a disposable thing that regenerated even if shattered?

No. Probably not.

'It hasn't regenerated. It's still halved.'

Moreover, she'd forcibly revived a girl on the brink of death.

It defied the natural order—a heaven-defying act.

The price for such a deed wouldn't be light.

As if reading his doubts, she deflated her cheeks and gave a wry smile.

"Don't look at me like that. Yokai or human, we're all just denizens of the same world."

Emotions exist. Hearts exist.

"I just... felt warmth."

"...What?"

"I remembered that child—the first to worry for my naked self, gently covering me with fallen leaves."

That feeling was so precious.

Her heart had moved of its own accord, unbidden.

Of course, Bihyung hadn't seen that far back in the memories, so it was lost on him.

But one thing was clear.

There wasn't a trace of deceit in her expression as she said it.

'...My senses pick up nothing off.'

The qi of emptiness rippled through the air, the Fivefold Great Harmony enveloping the area as his domain.

Even that technique registered her words as pure truth.

'It's real? Just a simple feeling?'

For a moment, Bihyung seriously wondered if his senses had glitched.

It was then.

Crack!

A rift tore through space with a sharp sound.

A portion of the void parted, and a woman tumbled to the floor.

"Junior!"

It was the Committee Chair, Eunha.

"Senior?"

The moment Bihyung rushed to catch her, Liliet whistled.

"So youthful. How about seizing the chance to consummate and test your compatibility?"

...Just when he'd started to believe her a little, trust plummeted back to zero.

But the Committee Chair gracefully slipped from Bihyung's arms and bowed deeply to Liliet.

"I remember everything. Everything..."

Her voice trembled as she spoke.

And Liliet's eyes, gazing at the Committee Chair, were tinged with bitterness—as if her earlier teasing had all been a facade.

"...It would've been better if you hadn't remembered."

Those words stirred a faint pang of conscience in Bihyung.

Liliet noticed the shift instantly, like a ghost, and shook her head.

"It's not your fault. To lift what you thought was a curse... it was unavoidable."

The Committee Chair nodded in agreement.

"...Yeah. You're right. It wasn't your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fault, Junior."

If anything, Eunha felt gratitude that mere thanks couldn't convey.

"Thanks to you... I could remember my forgotten little sister."

The moment a single tear traced down her cheek,

Liliet and Bihyung silently turned their heads away.

Everyone deserves a moment to shed their tears.

Some time passed.

The Committee Chair had recovered her composure, as usual.

"Yeah. It's all sorted now. Later, when we leave this place, I'll make a grave for my sister."

It was so natural that, but for her bloodshot eyes and swollen lids, he might've mistaken her for her everyday self.

Liliet shook her head at her words.

"I've already taken care of that. Let's go together next time."

"...Yes. Thank you."

"No need for such formalities. From that moment on, you and I are one and the same."

At those words, the Committee Chair unconsciously felt her heartbeat.

Thump.

In sync with her own pulse, Liliet's heart beat as well.

One body.

A shared fate.

A small smile bloomed on Liliet's lips.

"You became a half-yokai after birth."

Liliet's gaze shifted to Bihyung.

"Just like you."

The Committee Chair's startled eyes turned to him.

"Junior... you're a half-yokai?"

"Yeah. Wasn't trying to hide it... or was I? Anyway, yes, half-yokai."

Might as well come clean now.

With her being one too, no risk of leaks.

"More importantly, what about the curse?"

Bihyung looked to Liliet.

"We came here to solve its root cause. But with her life extended by accepting your heart, it must be tied to you somehow?"

Liliet's lips curved downward slightly.

"Correct. The curse Eunha speaks of stems from me."

"Then..."

"To be precise, it's the fault of my 'faction'."

Liliet.

Progenitor of dream demons, origin of all carnal desires.

"My faction, the Revelry Haven, arose from my legends. Every dream demon dwelling there is essentially part of me."

Bihyung grasped the implication immediately.

"So the Revelry Haven entered Senior's body too?"

"Exactly."

"Then why has it tormented her like a curse all this time?"

Liliet's expression turned icy in an instant.

"...I gave a portion of my life to Eunha. Even for me, that's an act that gravely wounds my realm."

Rebellion erupted.

"Led by the male incubi, some eyed my throne. Of course, they too..."

"Are in the Revelry Haven?"

"Yes. When Eunha's life ends, so does mine. They targeted her dantian and vital energy to gnaw away at her lifespan."

"Then why not stop them? You're the progenitor of dream demons."

"......Impossible."

Liliet shook her head.

"I'm already one with Eunha. Though the Revelry Haven exists within my legends, once merged with her, I couldn't control it freely."

To put it in terms...

"Think of Eunha as a cup this size."

Liliet cupped her hands into a small circle.

"And the Revelry Haven... this big."

She crossed her arms, tracing a vast circle in the air.

The difference between cupped hands and outstretched arms.

No—even greater, in truth.

"If I tried to govern the Revelry Haven, Eunha's body couldn't withstand the realm and she'd die instantly. So I couldn't."

Thus, she'd even considered a final resort.

"I planned to forcibly shatter her realm, turning her into a full yokai. Then take her into my Revelry Haven."

Only then did Bihyung understand the Committee Chair's villainous final form.

'So that's what the realm-burst deformation looked like.'

Not quite a form, even.

Just a hazy, misty blur.

'...No wonder physical attacks or spells did nothing.'

It hadn't been a boss designed to be defeated.

Now he knew why.

'Thinking back, those veterans who beat it were utterly mad.'

Dodging attacks until they realized damage ticked in over time.

Thus, the villain "Committee Chair" met her end.

'Her realm dissipated gradually, completing her transformation into a full yokai.'

As Bihyung nodded unconsciously, having pieced it together,

one crucial fact surfaced.

"Then what about now? Why do I still sense the curse?"

"Sense? You mean the pleasure?"

Liliet tilted her head.

"The rebels were crushed by your presence in the Library earlier—they can't even raise their heads. That let me scrap all plans and focus solely ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on Eunha."

No curse-like pain followed.

"How could a woman's pleasure be a curse? It's natural, inevitable once you've accepted me."

Liliet turned to the Committee Chair.

"Don't think ill of it. Master that power, Eunha, and you'll ascend to supreme heights. I guarantee it."

"...I won't think badly of it anymore."

A smile bloomed on Committee Chair Eunha's lips.

"It's the second chance you gave me."

"I told you, no formalities."

The two shared gentle smiles.

"......"

Bihyung watched them quietly, then glanced down at his hand.

'Someday... could we be like that?'

He posed the question to the yokai nature in his blood,

but no answer came.

Bihyung let out a soft chuckle.

'Yeah, figures. With your temperament.'

Ignoring the blood's low growl at last,

he turned back to the Committee Chair.

"Senior. Want to join the Night Parade of One Hundred Yokai?"

"...Huh? What's that?"

"Like the Revelry Haven. An organization of half-yokai and yokai like me. I'm the boss."

"Even... me?"

"Why not? I'd love to have someone like you."

Bihyung extended his hand.

"Join us? The Night Parade of One Hundred Yokai."

She hesitated for a split second.

'Can... I really join something like that?'

Plenty held her back.

Her dead sister—was it right for her alone to find happiness?

Would she bring harm to him?

Above all...

'...Liliet. The one who gave me this second chance.'

Would it hurt her?

As she wrestled, unable to take his hand,

"Usually ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so sharp and decisive, yet childish in moments like this."

Liliet's voice rang out suddenly,

and Eunha's consciousness was pushed to the edge of her body for an instant.

Her head drooped.

When it lifted again, Eunha's hair had turned the same pink as Liliet's.

"Hmph!"

She swiftly seized Bihyung's hand before he could pull away.

"Take our Eunha, and I'll come along too. Bold man, aiming for two women at once."

"...Ah."

Come to think of it—she'd join too?

...Refund?

As those thoughts crossed his mind,

a message filled his vision.

'...Huh?'

What feat?

Myth?

'Her?'

As Bihyung's startled gaze flicked to Liliet,

she smirked knowingly.

"Take good care of us."