P. 203
But even Lydia knew that he wasn"t apologizing because he inevitably couldn"t save Ermine.
For his sister who chose death, he went against his master"s orders.
"You"re forgiven." That must have been why Edgar acknowledged his clemency.
Most likely he was aiming that rage at himself.
Following that, he murmured in a long breath that was barely audible "I should have taken her as she asked."
It was Ermine"s one-sided love. But even she should have known that Edgar thought of her as his family.
"In the end I am still Prince"s slave. It is not a simple task to unravel the cursing bind the memory of when that man was everything and absolute to us. I feel like at the end of the long maze of our escape from that man, he would be standing waiting for us just when we were about to find the exit. However many years pa.s.sed, that nightmare never left me. Even I was like that, so for Ermine who had lived as his woman, there must have been a deeper pain, and fear and worry always plaguing her mind."
Lydia couldn"t imagine what it must have been like to live under the capture of that man named Prince and how they suffered because of him. But she was able to understand Ermine"s feelings just a bit.
If she was able to take Lydia unwillingly with her, then there was no need for Edgar to kill Lydia. Eitherway, Ermine wouldn"t be able to be by Edgar"s side as a traitor. Until Edgar was captured by Prince, or until her betrayal was revealed, their escape was only a brief runaround.
That"s why, now, at this spot, she decided to end everything.
"Give me some time. I"ll be right back."
If what drived her over the edge was him going after the Blue Knight Earl"s sword for her sake, then this was all just wrong.
"You"re crying, for my sister?" said Raven and Lydia finally noticed there were tears streaming down her face.
P. 206
She tried to have Lydia die with her, but if she was truly going to kill her, and if she knew Raven"s speed, then there should have been an alternative that was more successful.
So she chose death.
And in order for that, she could have decided to cut herself loose, as the tie between Edgar and Prince.
"Sad, do you really think so. I don"t know if I am. At times, it is so difficult for me to conprehend what I am feeling. Even about my sister, the only sense I had about her was that she was my only family and she was someone who was always by my side and we helped one another and that someone like that wasn"t never going to go away. I should have known she was a person too, with worries and concerns and troubled because of those, yet I am always at my limit at just understanding myself," he said, in his normal indifferent, cold manner.
His dark green eyes turned toward her. She still thought they were such a dark color that made people anxious, but right now, she didn"t feel the sharp danger that could harm other in them.
"Uh, what do you mean?"
But he was Edgar"s servant. He must have decided to s.h.i.+ft his efforts from worrying about his master committing anymore crimes to trying to make his wish come true.
P. 208
"Lord Edgar isn"t trying to gain the sword for himself. The only thing on my lord"s mind is his n.o.blesse oblige. That is all."
But she could understand.
It was a position from the times of war and battles that did not allow one to abandon ones" subjects or people.
"Lydia, would you come here." Edgar, who had returned, didn"t show signs of agony or heartache, but like nothing happened, called for Lydia.
"Yes, that"s right. But, what happened?"
P. 210
"You"re right!"
Lydia nodded.
Eventually, a large dark hole on the floor before them. In it, there were stairs that lead further down.
Following Edgar"s lead, Lydia stepped down the stairs. Behind her came Raven.
Lydia felt the group effort as Edgar and she both worked to solve the faerie riddles one by one, and by doing that she started to sense an undeniable excitement building up in searching for the sword together with him. However, on the other hand, she thought about Ermine"s actions, by exchanging her life to try to stop Edgar from continuing to sacrifice other people was proof that Edgar was seriously going to let Lydia die.
But as she hoped for that, she felt denied of her wish by Raven"s presence right behind her.
Raven realized the meaning of his sister"s death and her wish, yet he still decided to follow Edgar. And Edgar, must be resolved to go through with his n.o.bles oblige even for the sake of Raven.
Going against these two who had survived through more life-threatening encounters than she has, she knew that a na・e girl like herself was no match, but she was only left to press on.
The voice came from inside the room that Carlton was locked in. But there should have been no one else besides him in here.
Yes, it was a cat wearing a necktie, sitting on the windowsill like a human.
P. 211
P. 212
"Lydia has been taken by Gossam and his men. They"re going to make her search for the gemstone."
"What happened? Last time I saw Lydia, she was with that blond n.o.ble."
Nico was Lydia"s mother"s partner, and had watched over Lydia ever since she was a young child.
"She was, but she was captured by Gossam. I was also tricked by Gossam, and came along with him to find Lydia but...either way, Lydia is heading towards the hidden location of the sword."
"It"s bad? I was told by a woman dressed like a man that that n.o.bleman would sacrifice Lydia to the merrows."
The sound of approaching footsteps made Nico close his mouth. And then he vanished.
This man apparently introduced himself as Huxley to Lydia, and with an obviously irritated look like he was venting his anger out on Carlton and kicked the chair.
"Uh-huh, eitherway, that doesn"t change the fact that I"m still in bad situation."
"It looks like you can"t handle him either."
"Either way, we"re going after him and getting that gemstone. And you are coming with us."
He searched for Nico, but he didn"t see him. But he must be somewhere near me, he thought.
"Okay, I"ll go ahead of you. Professor, keep this with you."
"The brownies should follow that scent."
"Nothing, just talking to myself." Letting out a sigh, Carlton followed the men out of the room.
He worried about Lydia in how by inheriting the ability to see fairies, how that would put her life through unwanted hards.h.i.+ps and troubles. More than that, the biggest problem of her being like her mother was that she was weak against men who couldn"t do nothing on their own.
The stairs went down and down, like they would never stop. The underground pa.s.sageway had curved pa.s.sages and stairs that alternated after another, and if they didn"t have a candle with them, it would have been pitch black.
"Does it still go on?" Lydia was starting to feel out of breath in that trapped, insular s.p.a.ce.
Being in this dark underground pa.s.sage must have made her start to think like that.
They could be in the area that was under the merrow"s control, but she never even met a merrow so it was only another increasing factor to Lydia"s anxiety.
P.216
Right next to her was Edgar, and behind was Raven; there was no where to run. She knew she was going to be killed by them, and yet she wondered why she was coming along with them.
Edgar turned around to her. For some reason, that made her flinch.
"Do you feel like the air has thinned out?"
As she hear Raven"s voice, Lydia felt dizzy and light-headed, and losing the balance on her feet, she fell to the side.
"No, don"t touch me."
"Calm down, Lydia."
What"s happening? Am I going to be killed?
"Stay still and let out a breath of air slowly."
If she tried to thoughtlessly fight-back, her foot slipped from the stair step.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"
"That"s right, don"t hurry, and breath in-and-out slowly."
The stairs that looked to have no end, had apparently ended right there.
"I"m fine, Raven," said Edgar towards the candle light that was fastly approaching them.
P. 218
"Y-yes...."
"Ah, are you?"
When the candle light reached them, he let go of Lydia, and kindly smiled as he looked down at her with a caring expression.
"I feel a little better."
Being told so, Lydia realized that she was struggling with more nervousness than she could handle about herself.
She could tell he meant about Ermine. Lydia was also about to fall at that time. Even that was a shocking experience, but more than that, there was something else that was making her nervous.
Of the worst that was going to happen to her.
When Huxley was about to attack her, he stood in her place and got injured because of it. Even when Ermine was about take her along with her suicide, and even just now, he had saved her.
That"s why, she wasn"t scared of dying, but terrified of being killed by Edgar.
Edgar was someone who accepted Lydia, who had been called an oddball and not understood by anyone, as who she was, and she felt that he complimented her not having any flattery behind his words.
When she found out Edgar was a thief, Lydia tried to run from him. He knew that and yet he didn"t try to force her into submission using violence. He just pleaded that she don"t leave him, claiming that he needed the help from her as a fairy doctor.
From that time Lydia wasn"t used by him but felt that she was on the same level and cooperated with him, but that wasn"t the case.
Lydia clinged on the hope that perhaps that such a thing wouldn"t happen and kept walking on.
Even those words of his weren"t really him being compa.s.sionate, but might eventually be denied.
He must be used to having women look at him steadily and so he looked back at her with a soft smile.
He didn"t react with surprise, or look away, but kept his eyes onto hers, which petrified.
"If you"re planning to kill me, then don"t me nice to me. Be the villian and show off your knife and make me do as you say by shouting or hitting me."
"This is unfair. I can"t see you as a villain and so who am I suppose to blame when I"m killed? I wanted to be a help to someone as a fairy doctor. I thought that even if you were a theif and liar you really needed my ability and that"s why I came this far..."
P. 221
"And you also need my life, don"t you?"
"I"m not a member on your side. You wouldn"t be hurt if you cut loose of me or my father. That"s a perfectly good reason."
He seemed like he was thinking about something, and then made up his mind and reached out his hand towards Lydia.
He stroked her hair with his hand soothingly, as if he was trying to calm down a small child.
If she was told that with straight eyes, she almost believed him.
He was a person who could make a lie seem serious.
But all Lydia could do was just be deceived. To be deceived and betrayed was her only option, and she realized that there was nothing she could do about it by how Edgar’s lie was all too serious.
“Please, I want to save my father.”
“Of course, I understand.”
Beyond the door was a wine cellar. But one could tell it wasn’t a wine cellar for humans. To have it situated in such a deep underground place, meant the person who built the castle had it prepared those that lived down here.
P.223
From somewhere beyond the walls they could hear the sound of water.
If the dwellings of the merrows were close, then this might be the wine cellar for the merrows.
“Which one should we take,” uttered Edgar.
He lit the lantern that had been left hanging on the wall, and that light brigtened up the inside of the cellar much more brighter than the one candle and made the large open s.p.a.ce took away the feeling of being in a dark emtrapment.
“Be careful,” said Edgar clearly.
“It looks like all the barrels are empty.”
Lydia went over to the wall and sat down with her back against it. Then she felt something furry sweep by her chest.
The whispering voice was Nico. Nico, still remaining invisible, jumped up onto Lydia’s lap.
What goes on between faeries and humans, most of the time, the most important thing is the contract. Sentimental feelings and obligatory duties are only considered important between humans. Even if the merrows accepted the Earl as their lord, that was only the result of the contract held between Lord Blue Knight, and the only reason they are protecting the sword is because they are under the contract.
Lydia made sure Edgar wasn’t looking at her, and made a small nod. Nico spoke on.
P. 225
Eh? She nearly let out a gasp, but she managed to hold that in.
She felt the soft, velvety hair of Nico touch Lydia’s hand, but he vanished in an instant, since Edgar was walking over to her.
“Huh, no, nothing…isn’t it the sound of the water. It’s constantly making that sound.”
“There, I just heard the sound of a girl’s cry.”
Lydia stood up.
It’s said when one sees the sight of a Banshee crying by water, that soon someone would die. The eerie faerie cy was said to be the premonition of someone’s death.
She wondered if she would be able to aim a weapon at someone. But if she couldn(t do it, then he would aim that sword at Lydia.
“Yes, that must be the hint.”
Just then, Raven returned from the pa.s.sageway on the right.
“It’s this way. I think this is the right way to go.”
The road didn’t go that far. After walking for a while, they came to a crevice-like opening in the dark rock walls and there was a bridge suspended between, and after they crossed that, they saw that there was a door built into the rockface.
“Next after the Banshee is the merrows. Then we should take more caution from here.”
P. 227
“Weren’t we told that all who got near the sword ended up dead? There must be traps laid out beyond here. And look, you can see part of a wheel here.”
Edgar took out a card from the inner pocket of his coat. It was made of a thin sheet of silver. One side of the sheet wasn’t flat and had random b.u.mps on it, and she noticed that there was something craved on it’s surface just like the riddle that was on the gold coin, but she couldn’t tell what exactly it said. Perhaps it was the thing Edgar was hidding that Ermine said was related to the mystery of the Blue Knight Earl’s sword.
“The magic key to open this door.”
Suddenly, they heard the boisterous noise of footsteps from the direction of the wine cellar. In the distance, there was the light of a lamp hovering over a number of dark figures, and as they were neared their location, the light lit up their faces and s.h.i.+ned over to their standing.
“I’m really starting to get tired of seeing your face, Huxley.”
Still taking caution of Edgar and his insolent att.i.tude, Huxley gave out his order to his brothers.
P. 228
At that moment, there was a deep roar that erupted from somewhere around them. The Gossam brothers stopped in their tracks. The roaring sound echoed against the stone wall’s hollow cavities and sounded like it was getting closer to them.
The murmer of one of the men turned into a scream just when a sudden wind hit them.
The suspended bridge swinged violently and nearly threw off the ones that were clinging onto it.
At first one would think it was just their imagination, but it wasn’t like you heard the singing, more like the voices were ringing deep inside your body. The voices sounded so mystical and soothing, making those that heard it fall to sleep.
Just when Lydia was thinking about the many lives of the thieves who fell from here and washed up dead on the sh.o.r.e, Edgar grabbed her arm.
Going against the wind, Edgar pulled the two of them to him. And then swiftly he slid the silver slab into the crack of the door.
P. 229
Edgar pulled Lydia, who was stunned and slumped down, into the door he opened up. At the same time, the wheels to the contraption started to move.
What was left of their side of the bridge was sucked down into the black bottomless hole. Huxley and his brothers swiftly jumped back onto the other intact side of the bridge.
“Ahhhhh!”
Edgar put his arm around Lydia’s waist and making sure that she wasn’t going to be dragged down, used his foot to knock off the man’s arm who was desperately trying to climb up.
In a blink of an eye he had kicked him off.
He lived in a world where you do not give mercy to your enemies.
P. 230
She wasn’t beginning to lose hope that she’d manage to steal the sword and swing it at him.
“Father!”
“Young lady, make sure to bring me that gemstone. Or else I’ll shove him down from here.”
“Wait,” begged Lydia and scrambled to grab his arm.
“Even if we handed him the gemstone, I wouldn’t think he would hand over your father in one piece. Even you would be a witness to his crimes. The both of you would be killed.”
“We haven’t gotten the sword yet.”
P. 231
They were in a wide-open, natural, cave-like place.
One might think that the light from outside was s.h.i.+ning through, but that was wrong. There was something giving off a glowing light.
Because they thought they saw something moving in that place filled with the glowing light.
There was a shallow pool in the middle of the cave that was surrounded by the rocky walls, and water drops fell down from the ceiling to make circular waves on the pool’s surface below, making the light flicker in its reflection. The whiteish-blue light that filled that s.p.a.ce gave the illusion like they were at the bottom of the sea.
“A merrow…”
“A merrow? But she has legs."
“But, even I can see her, and she looks human to me.”
Edgar looked around them and made sure they were in a place without any secret pa.s.sages.
“At least this place doesn’t have any of the mechanical contraptions that you were imagining.”
He’s right, even the merrows wouldn’t be able to tell if the one who made it to this location was in fact carrying the blood of the Earl family in him. That’s why there should be some sort of condition to determine if that person has the qualifications of a Earl.
In that sense, it was just as Edgar thought; the one who met the conditions would gain possesion of the sword. It was the same as there being a contraption.
P. 233
“Where is it?” asked Edgar.
Lydia squinted her eyes to search.
Where is the sword?
Edgar saw it too. He moved before she did.
But she realized what it was from Nico’s voice.
Lydia bolted-to the opposite direction of where Edgar was heading.
The light was disrupted and made the glowing sword image by the rock disappear.
P. 234
By the time Edgar turned around, Lydia had pulled the s.h.i.+ning silver blade out of the water.
There wasn’t a speak of rust on it; it was a double-edged blade that s.h.i.+ned as if it was forged just now. There was one blue gemstone embeded in it.
“Don’t move.”
“…I already know. That you have to trade a human sould with this sword.”
“Alright. It looks like I’ve lost. You can do as you please.”
“Raven, don’t stick your hand into this.”
But he was fully aware of Lydia’s hesitation.
P. 235
P. 236
That’s why even if Lydia thought he seemed timid, she couldn’t bring herself to move.
“Don’t hesitate over this, Lydia. If you don’t kill him, he’ll kill you. Or do you plan to join him in becoming pray of the merrows?”
[Exchange a star for the merrow’s star. Or else the merrows will sing their song of lament.]
Slowly, Edgar stepped over to her.
“If I’m not close you can’t cut me.”
Edgar paid no heed and continued to close up on her.
“Are you frighetened? You’re trembling.”
“That’s wasn’t a lie.”
“Tell me, was there any truth in any of your words?”
“Because, you protected me all this time. I don’t want to think all of that was a lie. After losing Ermine, I thought that I had shared even a little of the same pain as the both of you. That’s why I thought you would understand my feelings of wanting to save my father……”
Edgar made a wry face, either because he was irritated or befuddled by her.
“Lydia, ahh, geesh, what are you doing!” said Nico impatiently.
Most likely, there was no way Lydia was ever going to be able to harm Edgar with a sword.
P. 238
“Even if it was a criminal like me, you’re still scared of cutting me with that sword? Then, let’s do this.”
He narrowed his eyes and for some reason looked at the sword sadly.
He slowly turned the sword. Lydia’s body was frozen and she couldn’t move it.
And he slid it through.
Blood trickled from his palm and ran down the blade. And dripping down to hit the ground.
“I wonder why. I can’t seem to make a good lie to you.” He turned to face the other dazed young man standing in the cave. “Raven, I’m sorry.”
They felt the rumbling sound of violent, cras.h.i.+ng waves approaching them. And then, from the pool surrounded by the rocks, water erupted from up into the air.
P. 239
Lydia clamped her eyes shut from the rush of the waves which was an amount that could fill the cave in seconds.
When she opened her eyes, the ma.s.sive wave was no where in sight, and the pool was just a pool, and the sword lay on the ground by Lydia’s feet.
The merrow slowly walked over to her.
“The one who was not harmed by the sword. Please accept this sword.”
“The Earl has pa.s.sed away. Long ago, by the sea so far that we were unable to save him.”
“We are not sure. Only that from that time, however long time has pa.s.sed, since no one appeared who could correctly solve the riddle, so that is what it must mean. All of the inheritors of the Earl family have gone back and forth between the fairyworld and no longer than one hundred years would pa.s.s during their absence. But if there are no more alive in the Earl family, we belived that only a fairy doctor would be able to make it to here. And you being here must mean you are one.”
P. 240
The young female merrow nodded sadly.
“And that’s why this island is secluded.”
The female merrow took Lydia’s hand and had her grip the sword.
Lydia’s gaze was pulled to the large sapphire that was embeded into the hilt.
The star sapphire, a n.o.ble blue-stoned sapphire crystal that looked as if it had a star taken rom the night sky trapped inside it, was a rare gemstone that had a milky white light placed radially in the middle of the stone like the hub and spokes of a wheel. And yet, this sapphire, which had the sheen of fine silk, was missing the brilliant star. This wasn’t the star sapphire, but just an ordinary sapphire.
“That should be with the Earl. The tradiion in the Earl family made it so that whenever they left the sword with us, they would take out just the star in the sapphire and ingrain it somewhere on their body. If there was no inheritor that had that star pa.s.sed down to them, then the there is no way to return the star to the gemstone.”
So that’s what that meant. That was originally meant about the light inside the sapphire that the Earl’s descendant should have been pa.s.sed on. The Blue Knight Earl’s sword attained the star not by a human soul but the [star] that the Earl had taken out of it and then returning it back to the stone. But the true Earl hasn’t returned. And the merrows would continued to be binded to their promise. That’s why they were only left to alter the interpretation.
Then, that means……
But her thought was cut short by the noisy sound of something from the direction of the entranceway.
They must have crossed over a plank they took out from the wine cellar and placed over the part of the missing bridge. And now after they all crossed it, the Gossam brothers came pus.h.i.+ng through the entranceway.
Raven stood ready in front of the entranceway. She wondered why since Edgar wasn’t here anymore.
But unlike what she thought, he looked as if he thought he needed to protect Lydia who Edgar was unable to cut with the sword.
“Hey, hand over the sword. Or else your father will be……”
He jumped on top of Huxley’s head with ease. And stomped with all his might on his hat.
P. 243
“Hey, chaps, you’re late! Over here, get them!”
It was an army of brownies. They crowded together and swarmed over to their direction.
“Make them all go bald!” shouted Nico, stirring them on as he swinged his tail around with the ends of it burnt.
Climbling up their feet, they started to bite them all over and pull out their hairs.
“Father, this way!”
“Lydia, thank goodness.……you were safe.”
The feeling of wanting to protect your loved ones, and the feeling of hesistating because of that, and the sad feelings of when you couldn’t protect, was all the same for everyone.
She stepped out of her father’s arms, and walked over to Raven who stood not knowing what was going on and what to do.
“Only a little.”
“It didn’t exactly say