Stone Thrown into the Lake - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Sister?”

 

The little boy called her that. Holding her hand with his little hand, he was about to pass on something, like a weapon of his possession transferred to another’s hand. Shiny cheeks, looking up at her with his fluttering eyes.

 

The child was the only one who treated her as a human, not like a diary or treasure chest, but as his own flesh and blood. His family.

 

It was only at that moment that she knew she could be a person. She knew she could be someone’s family. She came to know that she had a family, too.

 

A 10-year-old young girl lived at that moment. That moment made her live. The voice that called her, “Sister.” A small hand that was carefully stretched out. The warmth in his grape-like eyes as he looked up.

[T/N: Grape like eyes here refers to bluish-purple eyes, I guess.]

 

Finally, she became aware of her loneliness, and at the same time, her loneliness ended. Ever since that day, Yvor has not been lonely. Loneliness is felt because you are alone. And she was not alone anymore. She had a brother who she loved and who loved her.

 

So she could do anything. For her younger brother, for her and her younger brother’s family. She doesn’t care if she is in the arms of a king, who has a son older than her, or if she is in love with him.

 

The pain is an empty feeling that will be forgotten if you close your eyes.

 

When she closed her eyes and dreamed, the honorable name that her brother and her family would get came to her mind. That alone made her e*static, and even if she was cursed at the face of a wicked woman ruining the kingdom, it was just sweet to her.

 

Her love, loyalty, future, and life, all of them were only for Durian Craig Salzmia.

 

“Stop!”

 

There was a loud sound. While singing, she opened her eyes as if waking up from a sweet dream at the fierce sound of metal. The guard, who threw a chair toward the iron bars, was staring at Yvor, breathing hard.

 

“There’s no future for you! A witch who will rip it to death!”

 

Yvor looked up at the shouting guard which was no different than watching the chair rolling on the floor.

 

“You’re going to die tomorrow! You’ll die in the most devastating way!”

 

She knew, too.

 

“Your name will remain as a witch forever! You were a stain on your family, the worst wh*re in the country, and the witch who killed countless people and drank their blood! What do you like about the song? What are you talking about!”

 

She knew that, too.

 

Didn’t she plan and act like that?

 

“Even the hell won’t accept your soul!”

 

Yvor laughed.

 

“My hope is nothing less than that,” the curse that the guard uttered was like a compliment to her.

 

Everyone thinks so.

 

‘My dear Durian will recognize me.’

 

What did this sister not do to stand tall in the name of Salzmia, what a noble sacrifice to call a wh*re’s fornication in the world really was, and how deserving of death were those who died at her hands.

 

And her soul will not go anywhere in heaven or hell, but will be next to her beloved brother forever.

 

“Crazy woman!”

 

The guard, tired of his momentum, uttered abusive language. Yvor, who had become accustomed to hearing vulgar words over the past few days, still laughed. The guard clenched his teeth. If so, he will do something that will completely make that smile disappear. He picked up the key to the prison. The rustling sound of the keys rang out loudly. But at that moment, the door rattled and opened.

 

“Why is the prison noisy?”

 

The light of the candle lit on the wall dimmed as the person who entered the prison. Yvor realized first before the guard could recognize whose voice it was.

 

The tinted blonde hair and the strong shade over the purple eyes didn’t stop her from recognizing him. Just as a servant recognizes her master and a mother recognizes her child, so he was her only one.

 

“Durian, Durian Craig, My Dew.”

 

She whispered like a breeze on a spring day.

 

“What were you doing?”

 

Durian said to the guard. It was a dry voice that fits perfectly into the stone prison. The guard came to his senses.

 

What was he doing?

 

That was right. He must have lost his mind for a while.

 

‘What the hell was I trying to do?’

 

Durian shook his hand as soon as the guard tried to bring up an excuse because it was all the witch’s fault.

 

“Get out of here. I have something to say to the sinner.”

 

The guard stepped down with a dull face. Seeing Durian approaching the bars with heavy steps, Yvor quickly stood up and walked in front of the bars. It was the face of her younger brother she saw after a year. On the day he occupied his position at the royal palace, neither she nor he, who was so busy that he had no time, were able to see each other.

 

“Let me see your face, Dew. My beloved brother.”

 

How have you been?

 

Are you hurt?

 

This older sister…. Yvor reached out to Durian, who took a step forward and stopped. A ray of light shone over the white hand without any ornaments.

 

Durian was covering her with his shadow like a shield, as if she wore light as an accessory. Because of this, she couldn’t see his face, but she believed. He was as happy and welcoming as she is.

 

Yes, only her younger brother will know. Everything. How she loved him. She truly believed so. So when her hand was out like that, she couldn’t even tell what had happened.

 

◇ ◆ ◇

 

“…Dew?”

 

Yvor said his name like a sweet song. It was a voice that wondered what had happened. Durian turned one step to the side. Only then did the light on the wall shine on her completely. Only then did Yvor was able to see his face. It was a very distorted face.

 

“Is your life worth it?”

Durian mashed it out.

 

“Are you going to hang on to your half-brother, who you’ve been despising for being vulgar all your life?”

 

Yvor was still ignorant. She couldn’t figure out what this was about or why he was asking such a thing. She couldn’t even know the meaning of the question. The painful, resentful, and disgusting scratching voices fell apart one by one and knocked on her head.

 

“Dew.”

 

“Yvor Adela. Since when did you call me that way?”

 

Durian growled. Yvor reached out again in surprise. But the hand was thrown out this time. The back of the hand hit hard so that there was a clapping sound. She looked at Durian, unable to even think of stroking her aching hand.

 

“Dew, what’s wrong with you?”

 

‘It’s your sister. ‘

 

‘I’m here, right?’

 

‘Today is a happy day, why are you frowning so much?’

 

Her brother, who she loved dearly, cut her thoughts at once with a sharp knife.

 

“I’ve never hated you for a moment before. But because of you, I have been unhappy all my life.”

 

Yvor Adela couldn’t understand what she heard.

 

“I made you unhappy?”

 

Uhappy. It was literally a word that broke her world itself.

 

‘You don’t love me?’ She thought blankly.

 

‘You hate me?’

 

‘Me?’

 

‘I made you unhappy?’

 

“I’ll kill you as soon as the sun comes up and break this cursed relationship!”

 

Durian declared to her. Yvor seemed to collapse under her feet. The blue-purple eyes that she remembered as grapes were swaying like flames.

 

It was genuine hatred.

 

Yvor stumbled and grabbed the bars and knelt down.

 

This could not be, this could not be.

 

It shouldn’t have been like this.

 

Until now, she had never doubted that they understood each other

 

‘Even if you didn’t reply to the letters you sent regularly to the capital city when you were young, trust me really and it was okay.’

She believed that even if he didn’t answer the letter she sent while working on everything, or even if they exchanged cold glances with each other every time they passed by the castle.

 

Just as she loved him the most in the world, she believed that he did the same, and that he would certainly know that she loved him so much.

 

By the way…

 

“Dew?”

He laughed at himself by hearing the name.

 

“I didn’t know you’d call me that.”

 

Hatred followed by laughter.

 

“As far as I remember, you have never been affectionate to me, and with what talent did you do this to the kingdom? But I didn’t know you knew how to make such a voice. And you deserve to be called a witch, who possessed the king. I’ll only acknowledge that.”

 

Yvor listened to Durian’s hateful words, and she couldn’t understand what he was saying. It was natural that he could not be affectionate to her. Didn’t they seem to have to be enemies? She thought he knew that, too.

 

No, it was only natural to know.

 

“Dear, little brother?”

 

Duran exhaled in a voice that sounded like he was grinding his lungs.

 

“With the mouth that whispered to the king to put my neck on a silver tray, resenting the loss of Salzmia’s name, good luck!”

 

Yvor couldn’t even answer and just shook her head. No, it’s not. It was all acting. The world was an act that should not be deceived even if it was deceived. Didn’t she always write to him? Over and over again, with her heart in each letter. And didn’t he answer sometimes?

 

“You gave me flowers.”

 

Yvor spoke desperately. The flowers, which sometimes arrived after sending the letter, was a source of allowing her to dream. All her happiness came from there. All her faith was gathered in the slender petals. The flowers that were dried one by one, and none of the treasures, were wasted, but she couldn’t carry only one of them when she died.

 

“Flowers?”

 

Durian’s face was distorted. In the midst of this, she couldn’t stand it because it was sad.

 

“What nonsense? When did you and I exchange flowers?”

 

He denied it all at once.

 

Yvor Adela’s dreams, happiness, and faith were broken by those words.

 

Yvor really couldn’t tell.