Chapter 127
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 127
It was a serene world.
“……”
Or was it?
Her teacher, who had died a gruesome death, was alive and breathing perfectly fine. He was always preparing meals, waiting for Aria to arrive. He comforted her in the same voice as before, laughing, chatting, and enjoying himself with his new children.
She had no desire to undermine this agonizing peace.
“…Giovanni.”
Because no matter what happened in the future, Aria had decided to cherish this serenity.
“My teacher.”
“Yes, Aria.”
Once their brief meal was over, Gio’s expression returned to its usual bluntness. With a calm face that looked as though it had never smiled, yet still carried a familiar affection, her mentor asked, “Do you require dessert?”
“Is it a dessert loaded with sugar?”
“Yes. It is very sweet.”
“The cake I had last time was truly delicious.”
“As it happens, what you desire is right here.”
“This place has always had what I wanted.”
“Aren’t you clever.”
He brought over a small cake.
“Is this what you wanted?”
“Exactly. You gave this to the human named Yoo Seong-un who visited before, didn’t you?”
“I did. In return, I received bungeoppang.”
“That is a rather humble price…”
The word ‘price’ coming from his mouth sounded like something from a children’s game of make-believe.
“Especially for a cake this delicious.”
It resembled a small, round cake and had an incredibly light texture. The sponge itself was a marvel—it had the delicate crispness of a well-baked meringue cookie, paired with a soft body that melted the moment it touched her tongue. Its surface was smooth, dusted with sweet powdered sugar.
It was divided into four layers: vanilla cream, green tea cream, and mascarpone cream cheese. Although he’d said it was loaded with sugar, the exquisite harmony of the flavors made it taste lighter and cleaner than she expected.
“I didn’t know you had a talent for pastry-making, Teacher.”
“My baking skills aren’t bad, so I suppose that has some influence.”
“Perhaps.”
Despite its distinct, satisfying crispness, its weight and texture were so light that she barely felt it slide down her throat. It was a sublime texture that no human could ever create.
“Just because it tastes human doesn’t mean you can hide the sense of incongruity.”
“I don’t know what you mean. Do you have some advice for me?”
“I was just speaking my mind. I simply can’t tell what it is you want to become, Teacher…”
The taste was quite familiar. Having spied on Earth, she knew this kind of sweet, smooth cream was highly popular. Perhaps ‘Seo Gio’ had wanted to imitate it.
Nevertheless, Aria, an excellent analyst, recognized this eccentricity for what it was. She realized it with a single bite of the cake. A human who could replicate this texture would not appear so easily.
“I respect you, Teacher.”
Gio was clever, but he was not one to be bound by his surroundings. He was a man who could bestow even his own death as a tender mercy.
Ah, what an arrogant being he was.
“You can even make a cake like this, can’t you?”
“I am embarrassed to receive such excessive praise for a mere cake.”
“For a dessert this delicious, no amount of praise is enough.”
“Would you like a cup of tea?”
“Wasn’t I already drinking tea?”
She had forgotten for a moment, lost in how delicious it was.
“Could you give me a cup of what you are drinking, Teacher?”
“I shall.”
A delicate, clear sound rang out, like carved gemstone beads clinking together. The sunlight streaming through the window shattered over the pale blue tea. It felt as though the cup should have contained jewels, not liquid.
Yet, what Aria received was tea at the perfect temperature.
“……”
Drinking it, she looked around.
“…I cherish this place.”
“I can tell without you saying it.”
“But if you ask me if I like it… I’m not so sure.”
“I know that, too.”
“…Yes, Giovanni…”
Aria smiled, her brow furrowing slightly.
“This must be sadness.”
It was different from anger.
“This must be what it means to yearn.”
“……”
“And this emotion is heartache.”
In this serene place, Aria felt those very emotions.
“I wondered why I felt such things in a world so peaceful and quiet. A space where I can meet you again at any time, a cabin filled with sweet honey and fruit, where the chirping of beautiful birds can be heard. A wooden house filled with warm air.”
It should have been nothing but wonderful.
“Yet, every time I enter this place, my stomach churns.”
Aria asked, “Why does this place feel like a grave to me?”
“I am alive.”
“It feels as though you will slip away somewhere again.”
“I will remain here.”
“Hearing you speak of such eternity feels so foreign.”
Giovanni had never been one to speak of ‘eternity.’ That alone was proof of how far they had come.
The being before her had already died once, and he would experience countless more deaths in the future. He would display even more changes to those he loved. That was how it would be.
“A human who yearns for the dead has failed. Since they can never bring them back, they will be buried in the past for the rest of their days. And those who rebel against fate can no longer be called human; they become monsters.”
That was exactly the case now.
“I became that monster.”
“You do not need to think so deeply.”
“What about you, Gio?”
Are you human?
“Can you consider yourself human?”
“Allow me to ask in return: how could I not be?”
“I wonder.”
Aria could not bring herself to say ‘no’ to his face.
“You are always right.”
The existence drinking tea with her right now was not human.
It might perhaps become human, but its very essence could not be called such. In the end, she reached the conclusion that although her only human teacher was here, he was not the same.
Giovanni was alive while dead.
He has been taxidermied.
Like a faded portrait depicting one’s most beautiful days.
How many more people’s most beautiful days will be taxidermied in the future?
She felt a dizzying vastness at the thought of his short, colorful life and his eternal changes. Gio would not remain stagnant for a single moment, and Aria would always be left scrambling to keep up with his transformations.
Even as they drank the same tea together, her heart ached. He felt so far away.
“…Yearning is a truly contradictory emotion,” Aria continued. “It seems like a good thing, yet it turns your insides to mud.”
“It is because you have no immunity to emotions.”
“Have humans grown used to such things?”
“Everyone lives with yearning, no matter who or what they think of.”
“To think I must live like this for the rest of my life is dreadful.”
“It is not quite so dreadful.”
Gio’s voice was as quiet as if it had no sound.
“Because we yearn, we are able to have memories.”
“You call even this a memory?”
If so, then Aria was currently…
“I suppose I have drowned in those memories.”
She felt like she was suffocating. Like a saltwater fish that had entered a freshwater stream. Like a human trapped in a world filled with nitrogen instead of oxygen.
It was painful, yet peaceful. A truly bizarre sensation.
“How should I define this peace?”
“Would it not be best to simply enjoy it without overthinking?”
“That sounds like a devil’s temptation. A proposal far craftier than any devil I have ever seen.”
“Oh, so you have met a devil.” Perhaps trying to soothe his student, warmth seeped into his blunt voice. He asked with a gentle tone and a smile, “How were they?”
“Well, they were of a much lower caliber than you.” In various aspects. “To be honest, I don’t have the confidence to accept this peace. Even though I know all of this is real, I think of it as a lie. Even though I know it exists, I treat it as a mirage.”
“Your problem, Aria, is that you think too much.”
“From where I stand, it’s you who doesn’t think deeply enough, Teacher. To define yourself as human without a single shred of hesitation—I haven’t the faintest clue what kind of mindset allows for that.”
“Is there any reason why my changes should prevent me from being human?”
“There are many reasons. Plenty, in fact. But you would probably dismiss them as invalid. I suppose I should call that stubborn persistence of yours reliable…”
Or perhaps ominous.
“You can achieve everything you desire, after all.”
Yet, despite that ominous nature, Gio was an existence she could neither control nor possess. Even if this cherished peace were to suddenly vanish one day, Aria would be able to accept it.
And on that day, she would learn despair. It was a destined fate, already proven by the long road they had walked.
“I have already learned fear.”
“How did that happen?”
“Because you were not in my dungeon.”
When I lived as a monster, believing you were gone and had slipped from my hands, I could at least laugh it off. But now that my elusive mentor is hovering by my side with a smiling face, it is terrifying.
Once was enough. She could not lose him a second time. There was no way she could endure such a loss again.
“That is the kind of person Giovanni is. He comes up with ideas an ordinary human could never conceive, yet he gives so much that he tears away pieces of himself. He understands even the lowliest of creatures, and his patience is beyond imagination.”
He was a man who would try anything.
“But now, you don’t just stop at trying; you have the power to make it happen. I’m not sure if you were always like this or if you became this way later… but regardless, you are ultimately my teacher.”
“……”
“You will change over and over. One day, you will disappear. You might die before me, or you might outlive me. If you wish it, it will be so, and even if you don’t, you will simply enjoy your fate.”
“……”
“I accept that. But Gio, you know, don’t you? Upon your death, we learned hatred. We killed and harmed so many humans. We endured those long years. But what is this?”
Aria looked at Giovanni.
“To soothe us after all that time, you are far too…” She trailed off, her thoughts turning dark. “……”
“……”
“…too fickle.”
“You understand me well.”
“That makes me incredibly anxious.”
It had been too long.
“I survived that long stretch of time clinging to hatred and anger, yet the teacher I have unexpectedly met again does not cater to my greed. If I had my way, I would lock you in my dungeon, watch you without ever taking my eyes off you, and share every passing moment with you.”
At the mermaid’s greed, Gio smiled slyly.
“That would be far too boring.”
“I knew you wouldn’t be caught easily, and I knew I would fail if I tried, so I didn’t.”
It was because Gio had not forgiven them, and thus would not accept them.
That could not hurt Aria. She considered it natural and obvious. However, because of that, the mermaids could not fully possess their mentor.
“Who knows in what manner you might disappear in the meantime, Teacher?”
“So that is what makes you anxious.”
“Yes. The only thing I acknowledge and love is also my sole variable.”
Aria smiled in a similar manner.
“How can I believe in this peace?”
“I believe that is a task left for you.”
“That is indeed something you would say.”
The fact that a mere human had been invited here, the future where Gio’s colors would change countless times, and the massive responsibility of the mermaids that could never be fully repaid even after tens of thousands of years…
All of this was ultimately no different from a task Aria had to bear. The task of believing in this current peace.
“It would have been better if I were a foolish human.”
Then I would have believed.
“Wouldn’t I?”
“But that is an unwise choice.”
“…Is that so?”
“Constantly ponder and doubt.”
His golden eyes curved with affection.
“That is what will prove you are you.”
“As expected, you are…”
Aria laughed weakly.
“…truly my teacher.”
A human who was limitless in strange ways, always spoke of a realistic future, and was always busy teaching something.
When she recalled that the man before her was the only one who had ever loved them, the mermaids…
“I love you.”
“I do too.”
Only then did she feel at ease.
Today, too, we are living our daily lives.
* * *
Giovanni always said, “Learn as many emotions as possible while I am here.”
“That will serve as proof of your life as a mermaid.”
“A proof?”
“Emotions are the proof of memories, of learning, of all recollections.”
He said it would make her, a mermaid, grow.
“Your current emotions will show you the path forward.”
“Gio, can’t you just tell me?”
“This version of me isn’t permanent, Aria. I can be erased from your life at any moment.”
“I wouldn’t ever let you be erased or disappear.”
“In the end, even now, are we not painting different futures?”
“……”
“…Whether I am by your side or not,” Gio always said, “I hope that proof allows you to understand much more.”
But before she could understand all those things, Giovanni died.
Death took away far more than she had expected. It meant the absence of someone to smile brightly at her upon waking; the disappearance of someone to urge her to eat a meaningless meal at a set time; the loss of the one who would pull the blankets up to her chin when the night deepened.
Each and every detail was so ordinary, yet so immense. So small, yet so numerous.
“……”
We have always learned about death.
So today, too, was a day not much different from any other.