Chapter 85
The Red Flower Falls (12)
The sudden scent of blood is quite perplexing. It’s faint but unmistakable, so it’s not my imagination.
The steward did mention that sometimes wild beasts from the hunting grounds escape, but that was only a possibility.
The estate of a prestigious family is the least likely place for such accidents to occur.
This annex, connected by a long corridor to the main residence where the direct family lives, is situated on the outskirts. If I go further down the slope, I’ll reach the area with various facilities that I saw near the main gate.
It’s the place where Yeon Minha felt awkward because the layout of the buildings had changed significantly from before.
And now, the wind is blowing from that direction… If I go there, I might find the source of the blood scent.
But to do that, I’ll have to leave the boundary of the annex…
“…”
I hesitated for a moment but eventually decided to investigate the source of the problem.
The unexpected smell of blood in the middle of the night is definitely not a good sign.
If there’s a problem, I can report it immediately, and if not, I can quietly return to the annex.
I planned to tell Yeon Minha honestly about my sneaking out when she woke up tomorrow. If I get scolded, so be it.
I kept my presence hidden as I left the walking path and slipped into the dense shrubbery.
I moved against the direction of the wind. My senses heightened as the metallic smell of blood grew stronger, piercing my nose.
Eventually, I saw a building in the distance that looked like a warehouse, with no windows. But the shrubbery ended, so I couldn’t get too close.
I hid at the edge of the bushes and focused all my senses on the building.
Behind the high walls and the heavy iron gate, I sensed multiple presences and heard voices.
In front of the iron gate were several bags casually left on the ground. The entrances were tightly tied, and they seemed to contain something long and heavy.
Servants, shining dim flashlights, were moving the bags inside through the gate.
I had finally found the source of the blood scent.
Even from a distance, whenever the light passed over the bags, I could clearly see the dark red stains on them.
Had they hunted something?
“I’m hungry… a bite…”
“Not yet… never… eat…”
“Skin… tight…”
I could hear the servants’ murmured conversations, but the echo from the wall made it hard to catch the details.
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Their voices sounded somewhat clumsy.
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Thud, thud. The sound of bags being moved continued.
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As I watched, I noticed one of the blood-soaked bags moving violently.
A shadow of a servant approached and began stomping on it forcefully. Thud! Thud! The sound was so intense it seemed like something was breaking inside.
The bag went limp again without moving. They moved it inside the gate like the other bags, as if nothing had happened.
Finally, the task was done, and with a heavy thud, the iron gate closed, leaving the area silent again.
The metallic scent of blood lingered in the air.
I stood up and leaned against a tree trunk.
Do they usually move such loads at night?
Moreover, the bags were much longer than what you’d expect for a beast or an animal. The shape seemed oddly familiar, piquing my curiosity.
I felt a strong urge to climb over the wall and check the contents of the bags, but it would be ridiculous to do so just to satisfy my curiosity.
Even sneaking out of the annex could cause trouble if discovered.
And I had no way of knowing if it was normal for such work to be done at night in this prestigious household.
“…”
I decided to head back. The questions still lingered in my mind, but I could ask Yeon Minha about it tomorrow.
Returning to the annex felt oddly like stepping into a different world.
“Ku… ku…”
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Yeon Minha was still asleep, breathing peacefully with a serene expression. Half of the wide bed was empty, but the pillow placed in the middle was now nestled in her arms.
I settled in a corner of the room, attempting to sleep. The night walk had only complicated my thoughts further.
***
Before dawn, Yeon Minha woke up groggily. She needed to return to her room before the servants saw her.
She had a very satisfying dream. In it, she was praised by her parents with warm smiles for achieving first place over Baek Seoyeon for the first time at the Cradle.
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Yeon Minha looked around reflexively. The pillow was in her arms, but the other side of the bed was still empty.
“Hmph.”
For some reason, she pouted slightly.
The masked boy was sitting far away in a corner, where the light from the window didn’t reach, not moving an inch.
His breathing was regular, suggesting he was deeply asleep.
Yeon Minha unconsciously approached him.
She noticed small pieces of leaves and grass stuck in his hair.
“Did you go out without me…?”
She murmured quietly. She knew she could sleep for an hour or two without any issues now. The time was increasing rapidly.
Logically, she knew this, but her anxiety and disappointment were emotions she couldn’t control.
Yeon Minha moved her hand to his hair and brushed away the leaves and grass.
The act of brushing felt oddly tender, causing her face to flush slightly.
An inexplicable protective instinct kept nagging at her.
She considered moving him to the bed but gave up, laying a pillow on the floor and gently pushing him down beside it.
“Ugh.”
Feeling his warmth, Yeon Minha swallowed hard.
She had no time left, so she covered him with a blanket and turned to leave.
Once again, the boy’s sorrowful sleep-talk echoed in her ears.
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“Sorry, Yeon… I’m sorry…”
“…”
Yeon Minha felt uneasy. He was opening up to her more and more, but it was clear to anyone that he hadn’t revealed the truth about the name “Yeon.”
Despite the mask hiding his expression, he seemed terrible at lying.
In truth, she wasn’t someone who didn’t care about the past.
She tried to appear open-minded as a senior, but her honesty was that her heart was burning with curiosity.
Perhaps out of impatience, she recalled a strange joke the boy had once made.
‘Am I not your oppa?’
It was a rude and inappropriate comment, but maybe it could help create a closer bond.
Yeon Minha hesitated for a moment and then, against her usual self, whispered a word she would never normally say.
“Oppa…”
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But quickly, she turned and walked to the door, her face as red as a ripe fruit.
“Crazy…”
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She sighed a couple of times to regain her composure. Then Yeon Minha walked down the hallway to her room in the main house.
However, she paused again, feeling a sense of something she couldn’t quite identify.
It was a new sensation she had never experienced when she lived in the main house before.
This area had a high particle concentration, comparable to the Celestial Basin in the southern Cradle.
The large stellite rock formations naturally attracted particles, making it an ideal place for spirits to reside.
When she lived in the main house, the particles in the air always brought her a sense of complete happiness.
Now, even though spirits filled the air around her, all she felt was a strange discomfort and anxiety.
***
When I woke up, I was lying on my side. The sunlight streaming through the window indicated it was already morning. Birds were chirping loudly in the garden next to the room.
Although I had fallen asleep crouching, my head was now resting on a pillow, and a blanket covered me. Did Yeon Minha do this?
When I stood up, the bed was neatly arranged, with no trace of anyone having been there. It was as if I had been alone in the room from the start.
I quickly washed up in the bathroom attached to the room. I briefly worried someone might burst in to help with the bath, but fortunately, that didn’t happen.
As I came out of the bathroom and was about to change clothes, there was a knock at the door. I thought it might be a servant, but to my surprise, it was Yeon Minha standing there.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Thanks to you, I did. You covered me with a blanket, didn’t you? Thank you.”
“It’s nothing to thank me for… I told you to sleep on the bed…”
This girl is saying dangerous things again.
“…Follow me. Let’s have breakfast together. I asked them to set it up in the garden because the weather is nice today.”
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“Understood. But how did you know to come just as I finished washing up? How did you know?”
“R-really? I didn’t… I guess it’s a coincidence… Hmph, hmph…”
Yeon Minha started to cough awkwardly as if she had a tickle in her throat.
End of Chapter
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