Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Acid's Jealousy
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Martin stared intently at the hand I held out to him, then shook his head.
“싫다.”
“I refuse.”
Yeah, I hadn’t expected him to accept right off the bat. But I still needed to hear his reason. That way, I could figure out how to fix it.
“……왜?”
“Why?”
He let out a short scoff.
“솔직히 너랑 친하게 지내기는 좀 무섭거든.”
“Honestly, I’m a little scared of getting close to you.”
“……이유가 뭔데?”
“What’s the reason?”
“정말 몰라서 묻는 거야?”
“You really don’t know?”
I gazed at him curiously while looking at my fluffy pink cotton-candy hair and my chubby, steamed-bun-like hand. There was no way the reason he couldn’t get close to me and said he was scared had anything to do with my appearance.
I got straight to the point with my guess.
“아, 뭔지 알겠다. 미르모드 가문 때문이야?”
“Oh, I get it. It’s because of the Mirmod family?”
“미르모드 가문?”
“The Mirmod family?”
He snorted in disbelief. I blinked at him with wide-eyed confusion.
“웅! 나랑 친하게 지내고 싶지만, 미르모드 가문의 악명이 무서워서 그런 거 아냐? 그렇지만 나, 미르모드 가문에서 안 자랐고-.”
“Yeah! You want to be friends with me, but you’re scared of the Mirmod family’s notoriety, right? But I didn’t grow up in the Mirmod family—”
“아니, 미르모드 가문이 아니야. 정확히 말하면 난 네 아버지가 무섭거든.”
“No, it’s not the Mirmod family. To be precise, I’m scared of your father.”
“……우리 아빠가, 무섭다고?”
“……My dad is scary?”
It was such an absurd statement that I gaped in shock.
“지, 진짜야?”
“R-Really?”
As if sensing delight in my eyes, Martin took a step back before halting.
I shook my head casually, as if it were no big deal.
“구도 재판 때문이구나? 나 악마랑 안 친해! 맹세할 수도 있어! 편견 갖지 말고 나랑 친하게 지내자!”
“It’s because of the Inquisition, right? I’m not friends with demons! I can swear to it! Don’t judge me and let’s be friends!”
I kept appealing to him, but Martin looked uneasy as he replied.
“난 그 재판을 본 적도 없어. 그것 때문이 아니야. 마티어스 미르모드는…….”
“I’ve never even seen that trial. It’s not because of that. Matthias Mirmod is…….”
He scanned me up and down and whispered lowly.
“악마보다 더한 자거든. 넌 몰라? 우리 모두는 마티어스 미르모드의 이야기를 들으면서 자랐어. 밤 중에 울면 마티어스 미르모드가 잡아간다는 것 같은 무서운 설화 말이다.”
“……Worse than a demon. You don’t know? We all grew up hearing stories about Matthias Mirmod. Scary tales like how he comes and takes you away if you cry at night.”
I widened my eyes hugely.
‘To think our dad—who gets scammed every day—has this kind of notoriety attached to him! This is actually a good sign?!’
It really was absurd, but he seemed serious.
Still, there was one thing I had to say.
“우리 아빠 나쁘게 말하니까 왠지 기분 나빠.”
“Somehow, it makes me feel bad hearing you talk about Dad like that.”
“그 마티어스 미르모드가 너를 아낀다는 소문을 듣기는 했지만…… 진짜인가 보군. 가족을 욕하게 되어 미안하다.”
“I’ve heard the rumors that even Matthias Mirmod cherishes you…… It must be true. Sorry for badmouthing your family.”
His straightforward apology left me feeling embarrassed instead. He looked at me earnestly and said.
“……네게는 미안하지만, 너와 친해질 수 없는 이유도 이해해 주길 바라.”
“……I’m sorry to you, but I hope you understand why I can’t get close to you.”
It was right then, as I was momentarily stunned by his honest words indirectly revealing he couldn’t be friends with me because of Dad.
Leonhardt and Acid came rushing toward us, slicing through the wind. He stomped his foot and shook his head.
“……레온하르트?”
“……Leonhardt?”
“내가 다 때려 죽였다! 저 버거라는 놈도 내가 처리했어!”
“I beat them all to death! I took care of that Burger guy too!”
“어, 어? 그런데?”
“Wh-What? But then?”
He looked like there was some huge problem.
He inhaled and exhaled roughly, then shouted as if spewing fire.
“마티어스 님을 아, 악마라고 음해하는 저놈도 처단하겠어!”
“I’ll take care of that guy too, who dares slander Matthias as a d-demon!”
“……뭐야? 우리 아빠랑 안 친한 거 아니었어? 그보다 아까부터 듣고 있었던 거야?”
“……What? Weren’t you not close to Dad? More importantly, have you been listening since earlier?”
“그, 그게 중요한 게 아니잖아!”
“Th-That’s not the point!”
His desperate attitude in defending Dad’s honor struck me as oddly suspicious. He was acting like his life depended on it.
“아, 아무튼! 결투를 신청하마!”
“A-Anyway! I challenge you to a duel!”
“받지 않겠다.”
“I refuse.”
Leonhardt blinked in confusion.
“뭐?”
“What?”
Martin looked at me, Leonhardt, and Acid with eyes full of doubt, then vanished just like that.
Leaving only a lingering unease in my heart about Dad.
***
Martin’s words that Dad was scary had soured my mood so much that I skipped dinner.
I burrowed into bed, rubbing my face against the pillowcase and squeezing my eyes shut.
It seemed Dad’s already tender heart had turned as soft as squishy tofu. He was pacing anxiously, opening and closing my door repeatedly, causing a huge fuss.
‘Is Dad really a bad person?’
He was the guy who’d even butchered a pig to throw a barbecue party for me……
My mood plummeted. I burrowed deeper under the covers. Dad’s trembling voice came through from beyond the blanket.
“시엔, 저녁 안 먹어? 왜?”
“Sien, you’re not eating dinner? Why?”
I mumbled without lifting the blanket.
“그냐앙…….”
“Nyaang…….”
Somehow hearing my words, Dad replied.
“누가 우리 아기 괴롭혔어?”
“Who bullied my baby?”
I lifted the blanket just a tiny bit and chattered.
“아니, 졸려서. 생각 많이 했더니 머리도 아프구. 그래서.”
“No, I’m sleepy. I thought too much, so my head hurts. That’s why.”
“You look so weak.”
The reason I looked weak was because I’d heard bad things about Dad.
“나가, 아빠.”
“Go away, Dad.”
Thinking it over carefully, I recalled the description of the Mirmod family from the original story [Melodia’s Life]. It said the Mirmod family deliberately fabricated notoriety and let it leak out.
‘The Mirmod family sticks all sorts of infamy onto their adults…….’
Maybe Dad’s notoriety was fabricated that way too.
‘There’s no way our commoner Dad did all those dangerous things.’
Our Dad was the type who only held potatoes in his hands…… He was a kind, gullible pushover who did well in the neighborhood youth group but didn’t even know potato or sweet potato prices accurately……
I shook my head vigorously against the pillow, trying hard to erase the nagging thoughts dominating my mind.
But that night, sleep wouldn’t come at all.
***
The next morning.
I arrived at the academy with dark circles under my eyes.
“휴우…….”
“Phew…….”
“왜 그래, 시엔?”
“What’s wrong, Sien?”
I let out deep sighs and flopped face-down on my desk. Then Leonhardt started chattering.
“너 애시드 때문에 그러는구나?”
“You’re like this because of Acid, huh?”
No.
“애시드가 요즘 네 옆을 잘 안 지켜 줘서?”
“Because Acid hasn’t been sticking close to you lately?”
That wasn’t it either.
“내가 오빠로서 말하는데, 둘은 잘 안 어울려.”
“As your big brother, I’m telling you, you two don’t match well.”
Maybe because he’d made friends his age? I eyed the strangely chatty Leonhardt with dead-fish eyes before speaking.
“아무 일도 아니……. 어, 잠깐만?”
“It’s nothing……. Uh, wait a sec?”
“왜.”
“What.”
“그러고 보니까 애시드가 어디 갔지?”
“Come to think of it, where’s Acid?”
Hearing Leonhardt’s words, I craned my neck and looked around without thinking. He really wasn’t there.
“곧 수업 시작인데…….”
“Class is about to start…….”
After chasing around the math genius boy Burger and his admirer Martin for a while, I’d been neglecting Acid a bit.
Whether it was because I hadn’t paid attention to him or for some other trivial reason, today Acid had skipped the entire first class.
Even though I was in this classroom.
‘Without Acid, it feels weird.’
……I’d probably gotten too used to him.
I patted my strangely empty chest and muttered softly.
“점심 시간에는 오겠지.”
“He’ll come at lunchtime.”
“어어, 그렇지? 느티나무 밑에서.”
“Yeah, right? Under the zelkova tree.”
“응!”
“Yeah!”
We’d decided to eat lunch under the zelkova tree today instead of in the cafeteria.
Leonhardt, who’d been staring at me, grinned widely and nodded.
It meant it was good.
***
Meanwhile, Acid had stepped out of the classroom for a moment.
Lately, he’d been thinking his heart felt strange, like a broken faucet.
Just as water dripped endlessly from a faulty faucet, emotions kept leaking from his heart.
Was it because Sien had been neglecting him lately?
‘Lady Sien is busy, so she might neglect me. But why do I keep feeling like this?’
He lowered his gaze and walked down the corridor before halting.
Was break time already? Girls were gathered chattering by the window.
But it wasn’t the girls that stopped his steps. It was because he heard them talking about “Sien” from the corridor window.
“시엔 공녀님에게 충성스러운 개가 있던데.”
“There’s this loyal dog to Lady Sien.”
Without realizing it, he hid behind the corridor wall.
“아, 그 평민 말이야? 힐러라던.”
“Oh, that commoner? The healer, right?”
“어, 맞아. 처음에는 시엔 님과 열애 중인 줄 알았지 뭐야. 워낙 가까워 보여서 말이지.”
“Yeah. At first, I thought he was dating Lady Sien or something. They looked so close.”
His heart jolted at the word ‘열애’. Even though he wasn’t old enough or knowledgeable enough to fully understand it, it strangely stabbed at one side of his chest.
He bit his lip hard and leaned against the corridor wall. Unaware he was eavesdropping, the girls giggled and continued.
“에이, 설마. 시엔 님은 다른 천재들에게 관심이 있어 보이던 걸?”
“Nah, no way. Lady Sien seemed interested in those other geniuses, right?”
It felt different from before.
Hearing from a third party that Sien had no interest in him—it was a confirmation kill that felt awful.
Exaggerating, it felt worse than when he’d realized his brother Ted had abandoned him.
“그럼 뭐, 애시드는 그냥 고용인인가 봐!”
“Well, then Acid’s just an employee!”
Normally, hearing that should make him feel good. Because people cherished and loved Sien.
Because they acknowledged him as Sien’s limb.
Yet his chest wasn’t fluttering with happiness—it was pounding unpleasantly.
“내가 귀여워해 줄까?”
“Shall I dote on him?”
“그럴래? 평민이니까 봉토를 조금 떼어 준다고 하면 너한테 바로 넘어올지도 몰라.”
“You will? Since he’s a commoner, if you offer him a bit of land, he might come running to you.”
As he listened to the girls giggling while looking at each other, Acid thought. He didn’t care how those girls treated him. There was only one thing that mattered to him.
‘나는…… 고작 시엔 님의 고용인일 뿐이야.’
‘I…… am just Lady Sien’s employee.’
Once he thought that, his heart felt as heavy and stifling as if a weight had been hung on it.
‘Why do I feel like this?’
As if he wanted to occupy a greater place in Sien’s heart.
He shook his head vigorously, as if shaking off the thoughts in his mind. His fine hair brushed his face, sweeping away the dark part of his heart.
‘Yeah, what more could I ask for than being Lady Sien’s employee?’
Sien had saved him from his sewer-rat life. He had no right to wish for anything else. He clenched and unclenched his hand slowly, then headed toward the zelkova tree.
Before classes split by level, to follow Sien’s orders. She’d be reading there, and he’d told her to come to the tree after level classes ended.
To follow that faithfully, he approached the ancient zelkova tree in the academy’s central grassy area. Near the old zelkova trunk, he spotted a little lady with familiar pink hair.
Acid called out with a smile tugging at his lips without realizing.
“시엔 님!”
“Lady Sien!”
But there was no reply.
Feeling puzzled, Acid quickened his steps. As he got closer step by step, he couldn’t help but stop.
The tree branches cast a shadow over Sien’s face.
Sien was dozing off with her eyes closed, book in hand, head nodding. A gentle breeze made her pink hair flutter.
It was like gazing at a scene from a masterpiece painting.
Acid watched her from afar, unable to approach.
Eventually, she lifted her head while still lost in drowsiness, then rubbed her eyes. Acid took in even that sight.
And finally……
“어? 애시드!”
“Huh? Acid!”
Sien spotted him.
Just like when she’d found him as a ragged beggar child back then, today too she spoke to him first.
Acid suppressed the strange sensation bubbling up inside him and smiled brightly.
“네, 시엔 님.”
“Yes, Lady Sien.”