Chapter 12.12

“Child, wake up. It’s time to go.”

“Mom? Dad?”

Aurelia rubbed her eyes at the touch waking her from a nap. A demon appeared before the child.

“It’s me.”

“Uncle Henrietta?”

Her innocent green eyes saw only good. Black leather gloves grew scales and puffed up thickly, but the child held by the demon’s wicked hand didn’t see it. The demon, who had waited for this moment since her birth, imitated Henrietta’s voice and whispered.

“Uncle? Where are we going?”

“To where your mom and dad are.”

“Where are they?”

“They’re at church, attending mass. The feast day is soon, so let’s go worship first.”

The child had no doubts but was sleepy. Yawning, she whined. 

‘Can’t we go later? I’m too sleepy.’

The demon coaxed her.

“It’s the moment your parents’ love will come true.”

“Really?”

The picture Aurelia had drawn for so long. The dream she wanted to fulfill. Her deepest wish. Aurelia knew how much her mother worked for her. Her father seemed to love her mother, but her mother looked a bit tired. So she was secretly anxious.

If her parents fell in love again, Aurelia could do anything.

“Is it an event you prepared?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of event? I’ll help!”

The demon picked up the child and opened the window. Using his wings to fly, the child, unaware, was absorbed in the demon’s story.

Once upon a time, there was an angel. He was taller than mountains, stronger than the sea, and could cut the ocean and shatter mountains with his ice sword. But he fell in love with a human woman and broke the taboo. Enoch, who committed the unforgivable sin of forbidden love, was punished.

He tried to save his dying lover, to give her another life. Angels must never invade the realm of God.

But God valued the heart of the woman who loved him to the end and showed mercy.

He gave a chance to his poor creation who lost love due to arrogance.

It was the next life. Born as a lowly human, he was beaten to death, lost all he loved, and even when he met his beloved, he watched her die, becoming more and more human. He learned emotion, but could not achieve love. God’s decree was that until he died for that woman, he could never gain love or end his suffering.

The cathedral, cold enough to chill her from the chest, was filled only with tranquil gray.

“What about the angel?”

“He’s pitiful.”

“Is that so?”

Aurelia, on the verge of tears, looked around in confusion. There’s no one here? He led the child to the very front pew and sat her down. He took out a candy from his coat, unwrapped it, and handed it over. He tried to put it in her mouth, but she held it tightly in her hand instead.

Golden hair, shining green eyes. Symbols of an angel, but the child was not afraid of the demon. The demon, eager to shatter the belief that everyone would love her, twitched restlessly and continued the broken story.

But as he repeated his births and lost his essence, the angel made a grave mistake one day. When his beloved died, he summoned the demon and made a contract.

He begged the demon to save her. But while the demon could do anything, he could not touch the domain of life and death, so he turned back time. He took the man’s soul as payment.

Thus, the ritual to revive the dead woman was held, and all the clocks in the world ran backward. The man finally saw his beloved’s beautiful eyes. But he could not feel love.

When the demon’s voice turned dark, the child clutched the candy tightly.

“Why?”

“The man was cursed so that he could not realize love until the woman died. But in this contract, the winner was the angel. The demon was completely fooled and only suffered losses. Now, your parents should be arriving soon.”

The demon swayed his body from side to side and looked around. Aurelia gripped the candy in her hand even tighter as she watched the demon’s head turn all the way around like an owl. She hoped the demon would not notice her trembling. When they arrived at the cathedral, Uncle Henrietta’s face changed into that of a young man.

It was a familiar face. The man who taught her ancient languages and had visited her house several times. At first, she liked him, but the way he looked at her mother reminded her of a greedy crocodile living in a swamp, so she had told her mother about it.

She remembered following him when he carried her to night mass, thinking it was a mistake. Would her mother scold her? No, it was fine if she did, as long as her mother didn’t come. For some reason, the story the demon told seemed like it was about her parents. The part she hadn’t understood before was now completed through those words. Something felt very off, and shivering, Aurelia prayed desperately as she looked at the angel statue standing tall inside the sanctuary.

“Child, eat your candy.”

Did he hear her? The demon called her in a sweet voice. Startled, Aurelia nodded and pretended to eat the candy, just as she was about to put it in her mouth—

Whoosh! Bang!

The sound of something breaking through the air filled the sanctuary. Aurelia squeezed her eyes shut against the wind that struck her face, and the candy fell from her hand. The demon might get angry because the candy shattered, but Aurelia couldn’t close her mouth in shock as she saw her father unfold his wings before her eyes.

Of course, her father was an angel! He had come to defeat evil! Where was her mother? She quickly looked around at the entrance and the windows, but her mother was nowhere to be found.

“You’re late. Have you finally remembered?”

“I remember. I will pay the price, so give me back my daughter.”

“Why are you so slow to reclaim what’s yours?”

The demon grinned and slung Aurelia over his side. Feeling herself floating in the air, Aurelia struggled and almost called out for her father, but covered her mouth with her hand. Her father’s face was pale as the moon, his hair a mess from flying, but his wings were intact, and his green eyes, always misty like a foggy forest, now burned like meteors. A single thought flashed through Aurelia’s mind.

If she bit the demon’s hand and jumped, her father would catch her.

“If you bring the woman, I’ll give her back.”

Aurelia saw her father, unwavering, refuse the demon’s offer, saying it was not a fair deal. At the sight of his huge wings spread wide, a mysterious courage filled Aurelia’s body. She bit the demon’s hand with all her might.

“Agh! You little rat!”

But the demon didn’t let go, only glared at her. When fear she couldn’t yet understand began to swallow Aurelia’s mind, a strong wind suddenly blew. Her eyes closed on their own, and she heard the demon’s scream, very far away.

“Aurelia. Hide here. Never, ever come out.”

The child was in her father’s arms. Even in the darkness, his golden hair and green eyes shone. Without grabbing her father’s hand as he set her down, Aurelia slipped into a narrow space and hid.

Taking advantage of the moment when the demon was blinded, Idris hid the child under the altar and turned his head. At that instant, the demon’s claws dug into the base of his wings.

*

Dew fell from above at dawn. Shivering from the cold, she kept moving her legs without stopping. Climbing the mountain slope, her body felt heavier than ever, as if weighted down by curses.

She had rushed out after him, barely throwing on her coat, but couldn’t feel the cold. Even as pain tore through her chest, she ran, gasping for breath.

To where he was. And to where her child was.

As soon as she heard Aurelia had disappeared, she rushed to the child’s room. The room was clean, with no sign of disturbance, but she could feel the traces of the child just leaving the bed. Where had she gone? Fear made her stamp her feet, while Idris checked the open window and spoke to her.

‘Hillienti.’

The reason he called her name struck her like a spark to her feet.

‘That’s right. I remember you.’

‘What?’

It wasn’t the time, but she felt a surge of anger. She wanted to grab him by the collar for pretending not to remember until the very end, deceiving her again.

‘Yes, we’re a cursed fate. So ending it now is right.’

He was crying. Declaring the breakup he had postponed and ignored, he showed her tears she had never seen before. Tears that didn’t fall but shimmered in his eyes.

‘I’m always sorry to you. Thank you for letting me be by Aurelia’s side. I’ll bring Aurel back safely.’

Just as she closed her eyes, dazzled by the shimmer.

‘You must be happy.’

He spread his wings and disappeared.