Selina's Story
"Long... time no see."
"……."
I had plenty to say, but the words just wouldn't come.
The woman who had so cruelly turned her back on me and abandoned me was now greeting me like we were just old friends reuniting after ages.
So I decided to play along and treat her the same.
"Yeah, long time no see."
"……."
Selina's lips twitched in stunned disbelief, as if she never imagined I'd respond to her greeting so readily. Well, that reaction was only natural, if you thought about it. For a man betrayed by everyone—facing down the object of hatred he could tear apart with his teeth right then and there—to respond with such eerie calm? It defied all logic.
But I couldn't muster any other reaction. I'd already resolved to wipe that day from my memory completely.
It wasn't forgiveness. Just willful ignorance. Like shrugging off a gritty, realistic nightmare that fades away a few days later.
That's why I could stay so composed—and ironically, why Selina started radiating bewilderment from every pore.
"...You're Kail, right...?"
"Who else would I be? You think I look like someone else?"
"No... you look like Kail, but... then... then......"
More flustered than I'd expected, she couldn't even string her words together properly. Seizing the moment, I tipped the calming potion I'd prepared at the herbalist's request straight into her mouth.
Gulp... gulp.
She swallowed it all without a fight, meek as a lamb.
A moment later, she regained a sliver of composure and fixed me with an indescribable gaze before forcing her lips open again.
"Why... why won't you say anything to me?"
"You want me to?"
"No, that's not... it's not about wanting or not......"
"……."
The quick-fix sedative clearly wasn't enough for a proper talk with this woman whose reason had flown out the window. No rush, I thought. Her voice still trembled worse than Leysila's as I poured in the bitter sleeping draught next.
Gulp.
Selina winced at the taste but obediently sent it down her throat. Her lips parted as if to say more, but the potent drug took hold, and her eyelids began to droop.
"We'll talk tomorrow. Sleep now."
No reply came.
I listened to her breathing even out, shrugged lightly, and slipped out of the room.
The next morning.
I trudged through the snow-dusted streets of the Tarnass Ice Plains, heading to the village hall as usual. I settled Leysila by the warm stove where she always gathered with the local kids to knit, her cheeks dimpling in a bright smile as she wove colorful yarns. I pinched one lightly, then turned back.
Destination: the cabin where Selina was resting.
What kind of story could drive her to crawl into this barren wasteland, death be damned...?
...No. Don't get curious.
I blew out a long breath to dispel the pointless intrigue and gripped the door handle.
Creeeak.
But as I pushed open the weathered wooden door and stepped inside, I froze at the sight straight ahead.
"……."
Unlike yesterday, Selina was propped against the bed's headboard, utterly transformed. Gone was the trembling, aspen-like panic. Her profile, blankly staring out at the barren snowfield, was stripped of all emotion—expressionless.
This wasn't the sly, competent thief I knew, the one who could plaster on a cunning smile no matter the stakes. She looked like an empty wax doll, hollowed out inside.
Had the meds I'd given her numbed her feelings too? I closed the door quietly.
Click.
At the sound, Selina's head slowly turned from the window toward me.
"……."
Her pallid face met my eyes, but her gaze was vacant. No tremors or guilt-crushed weight like yesterday—just dry emptiness.
Silence stretched between us, until her cracked lips parted first.
"Thanks for yesterday."
Her voice was flat, devoid of inflection. Like reciting lines from a script.
"Let's talk properly today."
"...Sure."
From my side, wrapping this up quick and emotionless suited me fine. She seemed ready to accept anything, staring at my face with eerie poise. After a beat, I spoke first.
"No small talk. Why are you here?"
"I need your help."
"...My help?"
"Yeah."
She nodded once in affirmation, then launched straight into what I already knew: the Swelling Fallbirth curse that lingered even after the Busung Eclipse Lord's death. How she'd accepted that my self-awakened White Breath—born purely from my will to become the Hero, despite not being chosen—couldn't erase the curse. Then, why she'd betrayed Fake Hero Kail that day. What happened in Talian afterward. And how Talian, fake or not, had lost its hero and all hope.
She stared at me with those dead eyes for a moment longer, then peeled away from the headboard. Struggling to the floor, she dropped to her knees and slammed her forehead to the ground.
"Please... please... save Talian."
Her voice quivered, crushed against the floorboards. The body I'd thought emotionless now shook with terror and despair.
"I'll give you anything you want. If it's my body, use it like a beast—whatever. If you want torture for the betrayal, I'll scream until you're satisfied... just please, save Talian."
"……."
It was a raw, desperate plea. She'd flung away all dignity and shame, blindly begging for her people's salvation. Whatever thief's pride she'd once had was long gone.
Maybe that's why I felt a faint flicker of surprise seeing her—the proud one I'd known for two years—kneel and bow without hesitation.
But only that much.
My mind had settled into startling calm and clarity. No anger, no pity, no emotional ripple. If anything, it felt detached, like watching a cheap play from the third row.
"Get up."
Selina's shoulders stiffened at my dry tone.
"Kail, please...!"
"I said get up."
I gazed down at her prostrated form, toneless.
"You saw it with your own eyes back then—you know better than anyone that White Breath can't purify the root of Swelling Fallbirth. Right? And... I'm not the world-saving Hero Kail anymore, or the fake Hero the Holy Kingdom discarded. I'm just Kail—a plain human living quietly in this village."
"……."
"So cut the nonsense. I have zero interest in your body or your screams. Once you're recovered, leave the village. I'll escort you safely to the entrance."
I turned without a second thought.
But as my hand reached for the door:
Thud.
Selina bolted upright, dragging her knees across the floor in a pathetic scramble to hug my legs tight. Her iron grip pierced through my pants, knuckles whitening.
"Hey, Sel—!"
"Back then... back then, you could barely handle one of the Seven Eclipse Lords... but it's different now!"
She craned her neck up, voice frantic. Her bloodshot eyes tangled stubborn attachment with desperate, thrashing hope.
"Your White Breath now—it could even obliterate the Demon King's demonic energy completely! Surely it can erase the Busung root without a trace."
"So—!"
"I'm sorry. Sorry for assuming your power was weaker than the Saintess's. Sorry for betting Talian's fate on that so-called true proxy of the Creation God. Please... kill me right here if you want, just not Talian...!"
"Haa."
A sigh escaped despite myself.
Her utterly self-centered, shameless words thawed my frozen emotions—just a fraction.
I looked down coldly at her clinging to my leg, voice laced with the faintest suppressed edge.
"You must've suspected that two years ago already."
"...Huh?"
"Just like you said—Talian banked on the Saintess and Holy Kingdom's purification outshining my power later on. They figured my half-baked White Breath—a knockoff holy power—was no match for the 'real' proxy of the Creation God, that lofty Saintess. The prophecy said as much, didn't it?"
"Th-that was... I was wrong...!"
"And now you come crying to me? The Holy Kingdom's demon collusion got exposed and collapsed, so now that you've got nowhere else to turn, you need me again?"
I ruffled my hair irritably.
"If you have any conscience, vanish from my sight quietly. I've been living like everything before this place was just a shitty nightmare. Don't disrupt my quiet, normal life again."
"Hic... snff."
Selina's lips quivered, speechless.
I pried off her wrists firmly, unwinding the ugly tangle from my legs.
Thump.
Leaving her sprawled limply on the floor, I turned back to the door. There was no reason left to tangle with this tiresome ghost from my past.
Whatever she said next, I'd ignore it and go. Hand on the knob—
Shing.
A sharp sound from behind—the draw of something metallic.
An ominous chill made me glance back instinctively.
And at the sight before me, I froze solid.
Selina had somehow drawn a silver dagger from inside her clothes. Seated on the floor, she wore a strange smile aimed at me.
And without the slightest hesitation—
Slash—!
She carved deep into her own left wrist.