Fire is dangerous.
Common sense that you learn without anyone teaching you or even directly touching the fire.
Even if the flames sway beautifully like a dance, you can’t help but feel the searing heat against your skin, which makes you instinctively recognize the threat.
People know that fire hurts when it ignites.
“Ugh, ugh…!”
After experiencing it firsthand, I had to revise my previous thoughts.
It wasn’t just a little painful; it was excruciatingly horrific!
The flames clung to my arm; the skin burnt black in an instant. Blood bubbled and flowed like lava through the split skin.
That cruel scene reflected in my retina. I could clearly see my arm engulfed in flames, burning in real time.
Thoughts were interrupted, consciousness sinking, only to spike back up due to survival instincts.
I was flailing around like a bug about to burst.
“Ah, crap.”
Suddenly, thoughts that had been interrupted reconnected. My face distorted with a flash of rationality.
“I, I was drinking the elixir and adjusting my magic…”
But just as I couldn’t resist the oncoming flames, my consciousness faded.
And then, I woke up in a nightmare.
It’s a familiar nightmare.
A house engulfed in flames, me writhing in pain in a nearby alley, the horrific burning sensation searing my mind…
It was the day the house caught fire.
“Ugh…”
It’s obvious that fire hurts. I knew that even back then, but understanding it now reveals the true nature of this searing pain.
Gop-hwa.
A vicious flame that leads the world in its madness, a brutal fire that I cannot deny after experiencing it myself.
“It’s, it’s okay…”
Fire is scary. Ever since that day, seeing flames would send me into fits of panic!
Even later, getting used to using a gas stove alone required a lot of courage.
But now I’m fine.
More precisely, it became okay after receiving affection from Hong Yeon-hwa.
Before that, I had no good memories related to fire, but after her warmth, I started stacking up good memories of fire.
It’s not scary anymore. Hong Yeon-hwa’s flames are warm and cozy. They bring no threat, only gentle warmth.
So it’s okay, it’s not scary. I can endure the pain…
I curled up while repeating this in my mind. The flames didn’t spread beyond my right arm.
I don’t know how to end this nightmare quickly.
I just have to endure the pain until it naturally passes and kill some time.
“Ugh…”
Despite that, my past body in the nightmare crawled on the ground. My body dragged across the rough ground, my clothes and skin tearing.
With my burning arm, I propped myself against the ground and moved closer to the now-collapsed house.
Why? I couldn’t say for sure. Even now, I still can’t affirm anything. Back then, I was just a confused, chaotic mess.
A space that offered nothing but misfortune and filled with the potential for nightmares.
Yet I crawled around, driven by a complicated mix of emotions, wanting to confirm something.
The last place I should be, the only remaining blood relation, the one who might still care, the very existence I hoped would give me affection.
Crawling through this nothingness, confirming the empty lot and falling down stupidly, waiting for the fire on my arm to go out, rationalizing it as a hard-won relief would end this nightmare.
This nightmare always ended just like that.
“Ah, crap…! A civilian…!”
“…?”
I had never heard another person’s voice like this before.
I suddenly lifted my head from the ground.
In my hazy vision, a man stumbled into view.
His red eyes locked onto me. It was a familiar shade of red. Guilt and confusion tangled in his gaze, tightly shut.
“Shit, ugh…!”
He clearly didn’t look well. The man, who had bowed his head, clutched at his hair.
His body swayed like he would fall any moment. The hand that gripped his hair banged into the wall.
Bang! A loud clamor echoed as the wall crumbled. Rocks tumbled down, sending up a cloud of dust, and I opened my eyes wide.
– Whoosh!
The man’s body was engulfed in the dust cloud as the flames erupted from him, consuming the dust.
Gop-hwa, the vivid memory that burned my parents to death and turned my arm into a wreck.
“Ugh, ughhh…!”
The man who triggered Gop-hwa emitted a painful cry. He clutched his hair and face, staggering in place. A glimpse of drool hung from his lips.
“What is going on?”
I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. This had never happened in my nightmares before.
No, this had never happened in my past…
“…Did it?”
Thoughts trailed off. In fact, the memories from that day weren’t clear. They were fragmented, an unsatisfying jumble of traumatic recollections.
One day, my house caught fire. There was a loud boom and my body was flung away, crashing somewhere in an alley.
I saw the house collapsing amid the inferno and heard screams filled with agony.
I writhed in pain from the flames on my right arm and crawled toward the house, at some point staring blankly at the ash-covered lot with my extinguished right arm.
That was the end of my memory. I had never faced someone who unleashed Gop-hwa like this man.
“Ugh…”
While I was tracing back memories in the burning pain, the man suddenly stopped moving.
His staggering feet, the swaying upper body, the hands clutching his face and hair—all abruptly froze. The moaning that dripped with his saliva also halted.
In an instant, silence engulfed the area.
Even though my arm was still ablaze in the corner of my vision, I heard no sound.
– Thud!
Suddenly, a resonance shattered the silence. A heavy, drum-like sound rippled outward, and my skin felt hot.
The source was the swaying man. It wasn’t a drumbeat; it was the sound of his heartbeat.
A moment later, he lifted his head.
I held my breath at the sight of his face.
Familiar red hair, likewise familiar red eyes.
But now it was different. The vibrant red in his eyes had cracked, with shards falling away, revealing the dark, bloody eyeball underneath.
Briefly scanning the surroundings, those eyes locked onto me, freezing my mind in place.
My body and mind felt hot, as hot as my burning right arm.
『What is this, a fairy… no, something different?』
The man—or whatever was inhabiting him—tilted its head.
*
Immediately after Lee Ha-yul’s necklace signaled the Mansion, the two acted quickly.
“Aurora!”
Riana, cradling Lee Ha-yul, immediately summoned the spirits.
With her shout, a surge of mana radiated from her body, intertwining with the surrounding magic to form various shapes.
There were lower spirits glowing with bluish light and intermediate spirits taking on forms based on their personalities.
Among them, there were also higher spirits resembling humans.
“Aurora! Hurry!”
Aurora, the higher water spirit contracted with Riana, floated gracefully behind her, reaching out urgently at her command.
Whoosh! The lower and intermediate water spirits she summoned contributed their energy to aid.
Water spirits are originally capable of healing. Under the higher spirit’s command, the magic took on healing properties that seeped into Lee Ha-yul’s body.
“Activate, healing melody.”
Elia wasn’t idle either. With her eyes gently closed, she spun the magic. It split into two branches and sank into Lee Ha-yul’s body.
“Instant Recovery” and “Recovery Amplification.” Perfectly controlling the ratio of both procedures. Stopping the immediate crisis with regeneration while restoring his body with rapid recovery where possible.
– Zzzzzt…!
Yet, even with such swift action, the chilling sound resonating from Lee Ha-yul didn’t cease.
“Now! My body is tearing apart!”
Elia, focusing on controlling the mana, shouted anxiously.
“Healing barely seems to take effect!”
“This isn’t good news at all!”
Riana gritted her teeth.
The child cradled in her arms trembled. Zzzzzt! An ominous sound continued. She could see something strange happening to Lee Ha-yul’s body.
What was maddening was that they didn’t know why.
Typically, when the elixir is wrong, mana surges out of control, breaking circuits and cores, causing the body to fall apart from there.
But what was happening to Lee Ha-yul was different. His core and circuits were intact. Yet his body suddenly felt like it was tearing apart.
Elia, with her expert medical knowledge, and Riana, experienced on the frontlines, couldn’t figure out the reason behind this occurrence.
Since they didn’t know the meaning or reason, they lacked clear responses to deal with it.
[Convulsion]
[Terror]
[Burning Sensation]
“Ugh…!”
“Ah, damn it!”
As the necklace emitted signals and the child writhed in agony, their hearts burned black with worry.
They weren’t listening to the child’s words. They trusted him too much. How could they trust an anxious child who could die any second when they took their eyes off him for just a moment?
The elixir was produced in Taesan, and Riana assessed that there was no issue with it. Just trusting that and feeding it to him without a second thought…!
– Ugh, guuuh…
“Ha-yul!”
“My baby…!”
Not much time had passed.
A soft moan escaped from Lee Ha-yul’s lips. At the same time, the chilling sound from his body also stopped. Both of them opened their eyes wide, drenched in cold sweat.
[Confusion]
[Sir?]
[Pain…]
The signals kept coming, prompting them to hurriedly assess Lee Ha-yul’s state.
“Baby! Are you coming to your senses?!”
“Ha-yul! You can’t lose consciousness again! You have to pull yourself together, even if it’s tough!”
Riana gently grasped Lee Ha-yul’s cheek, treating him as if he were a delicate artisan piece, slowly raising his head to capture his face in her sight.
– Hhh…
The breath so close felt fragile. It filled her with fear that he might collapse at any moment.
[Riana, Professor…]
[Elia…]
Breathing heavily, Lee Ha-yul shook his head. The clear sign of consciousness brightened their expressions.
“Yes, I’m here. Are you okay, baby?”
“I’m okay! I can heal you quickly! I’m already healing you! Everything’s going to be fine now…?”
As they anxiously checked on Lee Ha-yul’s condition, they suddenly blinked.
His body felt constricted, and breathing was difficult.
Curious, they lowered their gaze to see that Lee Ha-yul’s body was now tightly bound in bluish threads.
[Fear]
[Obsession]
[Desire to Possess]
“Huh…?”
It was Lee Ha-yul’s artifact. What had once taken the form of wings had now transformed into dozens of threads, binding them tightly and pulling them along.
The force behind it was quite strong, making it hard to breathe.
“Baby… wait a moment… we need to check your condition, can you let go of this…?”
[Nooo…]
[Stay by my side…]
[Don’t leave…]
“Ugh…”
As Riana gently petted his head to soothe him, Lee Ha-yul shook his head and gripped them even tighter. A strange moan escaped as he pulled her into an even tighter embrace.
[Don’t disappear…]
[You’re mine…]
“W-What do you mean by yours… I’m not an object…”
“Ah… I might be okay…”
[No…! You’re mine…! Professor, make me yours…!]
Lee Ha-yul’s arms wrapped tightly around Riana’s waist, pulling her close.
In an instant, she felt breathless. Lee Ha-yul buried his face between her ample breasts, whining uncontrollably.
“O-Oh…”
The deep-seated, desperate emotions emanating from his voice and actions caused Riana to shudder. Her face blushed with a mix of urgency and embarrassment.
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