CH 5 Elheim

The bell rang at midnight.

“I expected it, but not a single awakener is here.”

Walter looked at Michael’s countenance and clicked his tongue as he pulled the curtain.

A white clock tower was seen far away in the dark.

Walter grumbled for nothing.

“Oh, my God. Is that clock tower present in every noble family? It’s noisy every midnight.”

“It’s not like that. It’s only erected in the families where the awakened people are born.”

In the moonlight that came through the window, Michael stood wearing an eye patch.

The effect of his curse was not just to deprival of his sight. Even a little exposure to light caused a burning pain in his eyes.

“Wouldn’t it be better for you to return to Birce?”

The situation was so terrible that Walter spoke up.

All the way to Elheim, he was followed by an assassin, and the curse of the eye was getting worse.

Although unknown to the outside, Birce’s ability was also limited.

“If you can’t see, then it would be hard to control your ability. It would be funny if you accidentally kill the Duke of Elheim while trying to catch an assassin…”

Walter, who was eagerly speaking, suddenly shut his mouth.

It was because Michael had a pistol in his hand.

“I’ve changed my mind.”

Michael was unexpectedly smiling.

“‘I’ll stay in Elheim for a whole month. In the name of waiting for a choice .”

It wasn’t visible, but the pistol’s muzzle was pointed exactly in the direction of Walter’s head.

“So find out why the Duke of Elheim summoned the Awakeners of the Water.”

Walter became polite when he saw the pistol aimed at his head.

“Of course, as your escort, I have to follow the will of the Young Master. I will collect information right away.”

There were no people in the annex where Michael was staying, perhaps because of their guard against Birce.

Instead, knights were guarding every window and door that was visible.

As Michael looked down on them from the window, Walter crept up to him.

“Then, this loyal escort will be right back.”

Soon Walter disappeared as he ran on to the darkness.

Michael sat on the sofa only after Walter had completely left.

‘I don’t think I’m ever going to get my sight back.’

Saint Estella had said that he needed a powerful awakener of water to lift this curse. By adding that the person should at least be born in the direct line of Elheim.

And the Duke of Elheim, as seen by Michael, seemed completely unwilling to release the curse of his eye.

 ‘That’s why it’s difficult. At this point, I’m in trouble .’

For Birce, the loss of vision meant that life was over.

The ability of death could be accurately controlled only with the eyes.

If the target was not properly killed or even hit by the caster, the consequences might be disastrous.

Michael rested his hands on the armrest of the sofa. As he was immersed in his thoughts he detected a distinct scent.

‘Water?’

Awakeners have a scent that fits their abilities. The awakeners of Death have a keen sense of smell, hence they could smell the scent from Elheim.

This scent was like fresh water.

Soon, the sound and sense of a person opening the door came to Michael.

“Oh, dear. I hate late night guests.”

The person stopped moving when he said something similar to a joke.

In exchange for being blind, Michael’s other senses were much more sensitive and sharp than before.

Still, the scent was too faint.

Strangely, he wanted to hold onto it because he felt that it would disappear soon.

He felt that he can confirm that it was alive only when it is held in his hand.

It was a strange impulse that even he could not understand.

Was it because he had never sensed such a scent before? He could not think of an answer.

“I am not an assassin.”

A clear voice answered Michael.

He could hear the sound of the footsteps nearing. The steps were quiet.

“The Duke of Elheim will not send an awakener of water for you.”

“Why are you here then?”

Liarte was relieved that the place where Michael was staying was no different from the room before she returned.

Otherwise, it would have taken longer to find it.

Maybe it was true that he couldn’t see, as the room was dark without a single ray of light.

“Michael Birce.”

‘Unlike my past self, I will not turn Michael into an enemy.‘

“I’ll help you with the curse.”

Before her regression, Elheim lost half of its Knights and Awakeners in the aftermath.

On top of that, he took one eye from Aynias, the firstborn, and Danterion, the second born.

He was a dangerous man but no one could ever forget him after they saw his smile.

“What can you give me if I put an end to the curse and restore your vision?”

In her memory, Michael did not trust strangers.

She had no guarantee of lifting the curse, but she thought that it would be better off expressing it as if it could be cured instead of using vague words.

That way, she’d at least get a chance to see his eyes covered in eye patches.

Michael’s eyes under velvet eye patch brushed Liarte.

She held her breath as if suffocated.

“Everything.” Michael laughed.

“This is a curse which couldn’t even be healed by Saint Estella, but if you could bring my eyes back… I’ll give you everything.”

It was a devilish sweet whisper.

“All right.”

Liarte wanted to look closely at Michael.

“I want to see the state of the curse first.”

It was difficult to know the progress because of the velvet eye patch which covered his eyes.

“Do as you please. There is no reason not to cooperate with someone who wants to release the curse.”

The eye patch was tied in a complicated knot, so it seemed difficult to untie it by herself.

“I’ll remove the eye patch.”

Michael rarely flinched, but Liarte, not aware of it, reached her hand forward.

The golden pattern on the black eye patch belonged to the Duke of Birce.

Liarte’s hand reached over the knot on the eye patch.

It was more complicated than she thought, so it took time to untie the knot.

“The knot is tightly tied.”

“My escort tightly tied it so that it won’t be released.”

In fact, it was a knot that only Michael himself could untie. Because he was the one who taught himself to tie the knot.

However, Liarte, who wanted to solve the eye patch, did not let him do it himself.

Michael held his breath every time her tactile finger touched him.

A few strands of her long black hair ran down near Michael’s shoulder.

The scent of refreshing water kept stimulating his sense of smell.

What does she look like?

He couldn’t imagine how she looked like even though she stood so close to him.

By the time Michael unwittingly reached out for her long flowing hair, all of his knots were loosened.

“So this is how you looked like. “

Liarte whispered.

He was rumored to be alluring, but his appearance was more impressive than she thought.

Brilliant, heated platinum hair and thick eyelashes. His red eyes were hazy, but they looked like jewels.

The lines were clear and the eyes were raised, but there was no sharp feeling.

She could understand why he was described as a beauty that shook the empire in the future.

Because of his fascinating appearance. This is precisely why Liarte was impressed.

“Don’t admire it.” (Michael)

“I just admired it enough,”

After responding, Liarte looked into Michael’s eyes reflected under the moonlight, without even realizing that she was the only one who saw Michael’s face without any agitation.

“What’s your name?”

‘I want to know what you think about me more than the pain in my eyes caused by moonlight.’

Liarte stopped trying to answer.

‘This is…’

The pupil was dilated.

When she looked closely, something identical to black letters showed a certain movement around the edge of the pupil.

At first glance, she could see a glimpse of a faint smoke-like membrane.

It was a curse that Liarte knew.

“It’s black magic. It’s a little different from the usual kind of curse.”

“How do you know? You’re from Elheim.” Michael asked.

The Duke of Elheim hated the power of ancient times and was a man who disliked even the mentioning of black magic.

It is said that magic and black magic existed in the time of the first patriarchs.

Liarte’s face got closer to his.

“I read it in a book.”

As Michael said, the average person of Elheim should not know this.

Nonetheless, Liarte knew the information.

‘When I couldn’t give up my hope of being loved by my family, I read the books because I wanted to be helpful without the ability of water.‘

It was a fact that she had forgotten until she saw the curse.

“This is a seven-layered veil, a progressive curse that takes place over a certain period of time.”

Fierce water power shattered the black letters on the curse.

‘Who the hell is this person?’

He couldn’t know because he couldn’t see.

But was there such a powerful Water Awakener in Elheim?

All of the Primary Awakeners of Elheim were men.

An Awakener of Water could not have strong power unless he/she was a direct descendant of Elheim.

“It’s done.”

Liarte regained tranquility after feeling a slight tension. It was her first time using her water ability, but she destroyed the letter without difficulty.

“There’s a letter at the top that acts as a seal, and there are seven layers below it. I removed one letter today, and I’ll be removing one layer at a time.”

Liarte leaned back after explaining.

“So, I’ll be back tomorrow. Michael Birce.”

Soon it would be dawn.

Liarte turned around and used the power of water. She wasn’t familiar with the application yet, but she was able to avoid the eyes of the patrolling knights.

“Wait. I don’t know your name.”

Michael’s gaze moved in Liarte’s direction.

“See you tomorrow.”

A clear voice replied to his question.

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“Yes… see you tomorrow.”

It was the first someone had greeted Liarte back.

Soon the refreshing scent disappeared.

Michael felt thirsty.