Chapter 454: Proof of Existence (42)
Chapter 454: Proof of Existence (42)
That day, as always, the girl woke to a searing, ferocious pain.
It felt as if ants were crawling through her veins. If a swarm of them were biting their way through her insides with sharp mandibles, the sensation might have been similar to this.
Kek, wheeze.
Her wide-open eyes were brimming with tears. But her parched vocal cords couldn't even squeeze out a proper cry, and her body, pinned to the cold slab, could only twitch, unable to move.
Her vision was strange today.
When she closed one eye, the rest of her field of vision became a complete blur. For anyone else, it would have been a situation terrifying enough to warrant screams of horror.
However, the girl’s expression remained strangely stoic.
Ah, I’ve gone blind today.
She merely wore a look that was a mixture of resignation and despair.
Just then, the sound of rhythmic footsteps echoed from somewhere.
The fine hairs on the girl's body stood on end, and her terror-filled gaze darted toward the source of the sound. She sucked in a sharp breath—hiiiik—and struggled desperately to escape.
Of course, it was a futile effort.
She had always been considered a frail child. From the moment her limbs were tightly bound, resistance had become meaningless.
Guh, ugh.
Sobs rose up, catching in her throat. She thought she wouldn't be able to make a sound anymore, having been deprived of both food and water.
Why, then, were her tears and moans still so full of moisture?
Bathed in a hazy, mist-like light, a man in grotesque attire appeared.
It wasn't just his clothes. His features were so distorted that he looked like an unfinished sculpture.
Dark Priest Mitram.
Looking at the girl, he wiped a single tear from an eye positioned right next to his nose.
"Oh, you poor lady... it seems you are still not used to the pain."
"P-pleathe... thtop... help me..."
Because all her teeth had been pulled out not long ago, every plea that spilled from her mouth was reduced to a whistling sound of escaping air.
Despite her desperate voice, Mitram only shook his head.
"I cannot do that. This, too, is part of the 'contract'."
"I... I never... thigned that..."
"It has nothing to do with your will."
With that, the man rummaged through his robes. What emerged was a syringe filled with a suspicious liquid.
The girl began to tremble violently as if having a seizure. It was as if her brain, sensing the impending agony, was trying to force her into unconsciousness.
It was a pitiful sight.
Especially so because every attempt at resistance was utterly worthless.
Thwack! The syringe in the man's hand pierced the girl's carotid artery.
The intense hallucinogenic effect caused a gurgling sound to bubble from her throat. Yet, Mitram only continued to shed tears as he watched.
"Agh! Aaaaaagh! Aaaaah!"
"Poor lady... how can something so cruel be happening?"
Tears rolled down from the screaming girl's eyes. Between the ragged, gasping breaths of a child, a prayer for salvation spilled out instinctively.
"G-God... pleathe... thave me...!"
"There is no such thing as God."
As if pronouncing a cruel sentence, Mitram whispered like a presiding judge.
"If there were, you wouldn't be in this state. Do you still not understand? There is nowhere for abandoned people like us to lean... only ourselves!"
"No!"
Perhaps awakened by the extreme pain, a clear voice—the first in a long time—erupted from the girl's mouth. Her bloodshot eyes burned with an intense light.
"I... I wasn't abandoned!"
"You were."
"D-don't lie!"
Was it hatred, or was it a wish?
A blue flame flickered within her golden eyes. The girl cried out with a heart that felt like it was vomiting blood.
"I... I was just left here for a little while... Mom and Dad said so. They're coming back for me! Mom, Dad... save me..."
She dissolved into a flood of hiccups and sobs.
The sight of the girl weeping alone was enough to evoke pity. Mitram was no exception; a long sigh escaped his lips.
A gaze of compassion shone down on her.
"...If it is so hard to believe, I shall show you."
Then, the man's brutal hand—crunch—crushed the girl's finger.
The drugs had heightened her senses to their absolute limit. A bolt of white lightning seemed to strike her brain from the excessive pain, and her entire body began to shudder and convulse.
Her vision shifted abruptly, like pages being flipped.
It was a cozy, warm house. Familiar faces were gathered there.
They looked bitter, unable to hide their sorrowful expressions.
"Your name is Riaranda."
"...Ri... a?"
"Yes, from now on, you are 'Ria Percus.' Our family."
Crack. The girl snapped back to reality with a scream.
Her breath came in ragged gasps, and her eyes were half-unfocused, yet the shock etched on her face did not fade.
Was it a dream?
No. The girl's parents had never looked at her with such unfamiliar eyes.
To the girl who couldn't understand what was happening, Mitram recited the cruel truth.
"This is the scene being witnessed by the fake sent in your place. It seems the Percus family has decided to give up on you."
"Th-that'th a lie..."
The girl wanted to cry out in denial, but each time, Mitram would only sigh and continue the torture.
Following the lightning-like pain, the scene shifted again.
The girl was enjoying a banquet with a shy expression.
"No..."
In front of the distant family members, the girl looked as though she would be shy forever. Until she met a boy who trained every night, stomping the ground in the clearing.
The boy, who introduced himself as her 'little brother,' gave her a bright smile and stroked her hair.
The boy said with a kind smile:
'I'll protect you from now on.'
It was a phrase the girl had never heard in her life.
And it was a promise she craved more than anything.
"No..."
Boom, boom, boom.
For days, lightning struck her mind.
In the meantime, the girl in the vision was becoming more and more accustomed to the family's embrace.
She wore new clothes with a shy smile.
She watched blankly as the boy trained, then held his hand as they went to play on the back mountain.
There was a beautiful field of flowers there.
The girl blushed and lowered her head as she placed a flower ring the boy had made onto her finger.
'It looks good on you, Ria.'
The boy gave her a smile clearer than any other.
"No, no, NO...!"
Don't smile.
Don't be happy.
You feel familial love? You feel affection? How dare someone like you feel love?
No, no.
That couldn't be allowed.
Because, because...
"I am 'Ria'!"
She wanted to scream it at the top of her lungs, over and over—that she was the real one, not that mere fake.
But time flowed mercilessly.
Every time her body and mind were torn to rags, the girl's world invariably shifted like a phantom.
As the days passed and the girl lost her smile, the girl who looked like her smiled more and more.
The oil of resentment was poured into the cracks of her devastated psyche.
Who should she hate?
The parents who abandoned her?
"As you should."
She heard Mitram's snickering whisper.
With a body that could no longer even feel pain properly, the girl muttered blankly.
"And... that fake, too..."
"And why is that?"
Even though he already knew the answer, the man rubbed his hands together like a teacher anticipating a brilliant answer from a disciple.
His eyes were full of expectation.
The girl did not betray that expectation.
"...Because it's mine."
Light was born once more in her dead golden eyes.
Grind, grind. The sound of her gnashing her teeth echoed eerily. Feeling her teeth crumble, the girl wailed with pure hatred.
"Mine, mine, mine! It's all supposed to be mine!"
That smile, that family. And even that loving brother!
Everything was her rightful share. The resentment of a girl whose life had been stolen away was deep and dark.
Thud! It was then that the iron bed the girl was bound to began to heave.
From between her blinded eyes, her burnt nerves, and her mangled body, a pitch-black liquid began to surge out.
Mitram let out an exclamation of awe and fell to his knees.
"I have to take it back..."
"Finally, you are complete."
Boom! An explosion erupted, and the world was torn apart.
No, what was torn apart were the latches restraining the girl. The restraints and the bed, made of solid steel, were shredded like paper and rolled across the floor.
The sharp sound of the impact was like a scream.
Perhaps it was the scream the girl had held back for so long, finally being unleashed.
Mitram was now banging his head against the ground, even shedding tears.
"O, Vessel of Greed...!"
Regardless, the girl's mind was already filled with thoughts of a certain man.
Ian Percus.
The only blood relative who hadn't abandoned her, the only being who had showered her with unconditional love, even if only through a vision.
He was the first thing she had to reclaim.
Only then would the girl finally be able to take back her life.
First love.
It was the end of childhood and the beginning of adolescence.
Even if it was a Mad Love, twisted beyond recognition.