Chapter 10 – Chasing Clues (Part 2)

“Ellerdin, long time no see!”

“Why don’t you visit often these days?”

Phil and Pearl climbed onto the bed where Ellerdin was lying. Lying on the bed placed inside the glass greenhouse, Ellerdin patted Phil and Pearl’s heads with a tired gesture.

“Don’t overdo it.”

Parin gestured for Phil and Pearl to leave and spoke. Watching them grumble as they climbed down from the bed, Ellerdin smiled weakly.

“Why do I feel so powerless?”

Words of self-reproach slipped out. With power, she should be able to protect her loved ones, but with such little power, she couldn’t do anything.

“You are doing your best right now. Trying harder than this would be too much.”

“But that way, I can’t solve anything.”

Ellerdin covered her eyes with both arms. Parin, who had been watching her, let out a small sigh and leaned his head towards Ellerdin.

Warm scales touched her fingertips, and Ellerdin giggled, stroking Parin’s snout.

“I must look really down. For you to approach me first, Parin.”

Ellerdin chuckled. Parin snorted and pulled her head out of the greenhouse.

“It’s too early to despair. You’ve just begun, and there are countless methods.”

Try everything so you won’t regret it.

***

“Hey, do you think Madam will be okay?”

Celine, sitting on the stairs, looked at the gloomy sky and asked. Mollek, who was standing next to her, also looked at the sky with her.

“Well, I don’t really understand human emotions.”

“…How can you not know after eating so much?”

Celine looked at Mollek with a disdainful gaze. Startled by her contemptuous look, he shouted.

“Eating and this are different!”

“Ugh, forget it. Why would I ask you anything? Nisroch is much better than a fool like you.”

At the mention of another demon’s name, Mollek jumped up.

“He has the ability to absorb everything from the person he eats! I don’t! This is unfair! And what’s with you? Do you like Nisroch more than me?”

Mollek asked, fuming.

“Why are you suddenly making a fuss? I can’t understand a demon’s heart~”

Celine shrugged her shoulders, eyebrows raised in disbelief. Ignoring Mollek’s shouting beside her, she stared blankly at the sky.

She couldn’t imagine what it would be like if Ellerdin broke Kaiden and Everett’s curses. She didn’t doubt Ellerdin’s ability, but she couldn’t picture them without their curses.

‘Madam will do it.’

No one had succeeded before, but she was certain that Ellerdin would find a way to break the curses. However, she hoped Ellerdin wouldn’t struggle too much in the process. Since it was a punishment from an archangel, it wouldn’t be easy to break.

“Ah, why are you ignoring me! Do you like Nisroch more?”

Seeing Mollek whining without knowing how serious the situation was, anger welled up inside her.

“Ouch!”

Unable to hold back, she kicked Mollek’s shin with all her might. With a thud, Mollek sat down on the ground.

“Pretending to be hurt when you’re not. Is feigning pain all you’ve learned from humans?”

Celine narrowed her eyes mockingly. At her words, Mollek, who had been trembling on the ground, stopped his actions.

“Too bad. I thought my acting was really good just now.”

Mollek laughed as he stood up. With a sly grin, Celine swung her fist at his face.

“Why does Madam say you’re kind?”

***

Many attempts ended in complete failure. Lying on the bed, Ellerdin closed her eyes and began to ponder the cause of her failures. Fernan lay beside her, quietly watching her.

After some contemplation, Ellerdin opened her eyes.

“Fernan.”

Ellerdin looked at Fernan, her back to the moonlight. Her silver hair shimmered in the moonlight. Fernan smiled warmly at her.

“Yes, please speak.”

Momentarily at a loss for words at his radiant beauty, Ellerdin gathered herself and spoke.

“Could you move the bathtub to the basement tomorrow?”

“The bathtub?”

“And fill it with water. I can’t use my full power in this form. Is that possible?”

Ellerdin asked with a firm voice.

“Of course. Trust me.”

Fernan smiled gently.

“Thank you.”

Ellerdin smiled brightly, her worries disappearing.

***

The next day, Fernan moved the bathtub filled with water to the basement as soon as he woke up.

While he was working in the basement, Ellerdin, who had woken up, sat on the edge of the bed. She clenched her fists tightly. It had already been a week since she began trying to break the curse.

‘I must succeed today.’

She felt the expectations of everyone.

‘Don’t let them down.’

Including her own expectations.

Ellerdin descended to the basement and slowly stepped into the bathtub. Although she thought quite some time had passed since it was moved, the water was still warm.

The water began to sparkle, and her body started to change. Her hair and eyes glowed, and her human legs transformed into a mermaid’s fins.

She leaned out of the bathtub and placed her hand on Kaiden’s chest. A much stronger and more abundant power flowed into him than usual.

Focusing on her fingertips with her eyes closed, she saw tiny holes in the curse’s barrier, which hadn’t shown even a crack before. She moved her hand and inserted a thread-like blue power through the holes.

‘This isn’t enough.’

Ellerdin bit her lip. Although she could penetrate the curse’s gap much more than before, she needed more power to break the curse.

She feared it wasn’t a matter of method but of the power she possessed. If this wasn’t enough, she couldn’t break the curse.

Ellerdin forced herself to believe it wasn’t a lack of power but a wrong method and released her power.

Something fell under her chin, whether it was sweat or water. Before she knew it, time had passed well into the evening.

Gradually, color began to return to Kaiden’s gray hand. His fingertips twitched. Fernan, noticing the slight movement, suddenly stood up. But that was all.

Ellerdin’s hand slipped off. Her arm hung limply over the bathtub.

‘Even with this, I could only move his fingertips…’

It wasn’t a problem of method. Facing the truth she had been avoiding, Ellerdin dropped her head. It was entirely due to her lack of power.

She had heard that the karma her mother suffered was even stronger than her father’s curse. How could she break that? It seemed impossible.

Fernan approached Ellerdin and wiped the sweat from her face with a towel.

“You’ve worked hard. I’m sorry for always relying on you.”

Ellerdin shook her head weakly.

‘I don’t deserve that gratitude.’

She hadn’t solved anything. The slightly broken part of the curse was slowly creeping back to the fingertips. Kaiden’s hand, which had regained some color, had returned to its original cold state.

Back in her room, Ellerdin sat at her desk without resting. She couldn’t solve anything like this.

‘Nothing has changed from before.’

Ellerdin bit the soft flesh inside her mouth. She wanted to change from the past, but no matter how hard she tried, reality didn’t change.

‘Am I really trying hard enough?’

If this effort wasn’t enough, how much more effort was needed? If the method was wrong, what method should I try? 

She wished someone would tell her. Yet, at the same time, she knew she had to figure it out herself.

‘Don’t be discouraged yet. There must be another way.’

Don’t let him down. He believes in me.

Ellerdin took a deep breath.

‘Let’s think again. There might be something I’ve missed.’

***

“Ellerdin.”

The pen she was writing with stopped. Ellerdin, who had her head down, couldn’t bring herself to look at Fernan and flicked her nails.

“I think you need a break.”

Fernan approached and took the pen from Ellerdin’s hand. Ellerdin still kept her head down and reached out to Fernan.

“I’ve rested enough. Please give me back the pen.”

She couldn’t bear to look at his face out of guilt.

For days, she had been researching ways to increase her power and seeking advice, but there had been no significant changes.

All the methods to break Kaiden’s curse had disappeared.

“……”

Fernan lowered his head to look at Ellerdin. Through her disheveled hair, he saw her lips tightly shut in frustration. Fernan lightly chuckled and held Ellerdin’s hand.

“Ellerdin, let’s do something else with me today.”

Fernan gently pulled Ellerdin’s arm. Ellerdin awkwardly stood up from the chair, following him.

With a puzzled expression, Fernan smiled broadly. He gracefully extended one hand and bowed his waist.

“Would you dance with me, my lady?”

At Fernan’s words, Ellerdin was flustered and hid her hand behind her back.

“It’s been too long since I’ve danced… I’m sorry.”

Being raised by a strict Earl, she had completed her dance education at a young age, but the problem was that she hadn’t danced once since being sold to the Baron.

‘…Because my legs were damaged.’

Her dancing skills would surely be a mess. She didn’t want to show him her clumsy self. Unable to face Fernan, who still held out his hand, Ellerdin turned her head.

“I think it’s difficult today. Maybe later… if that’s okay.”

It was a voice full of self-reproach, reminiscent of the time when she blamed herself in the past.

Fernan slowly lowered his hand and approached Ellerdin. At the feet that came right in front of her, Ellerdin flinched and stepped back.

In an instant, thick arms wrapped around her waist up to her side. Surprised by the sudden contact, Ellerdin looked at Fernan.

Fernan smiled mischievously and took Ellerdin’s hand, moving slowly.

“Ellerdin, don’t be afraid. There’s nothing for you to fear anymore. You can do anything, and you are someone who will never be broken.”

As Fernan gently led her, Ellerdin spoke.

“You’ll be disappointed in me. I’ll fail.”

Before she knew it, Fernan had led her to the middle of the room and kissed the back of her hand.