Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 289

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 56.
Finding the Cat in the Furnace (8)
A gift?
He left quickly. After hesitating briefly and emerging from the corner of the room, I heard a commotion outside, and the door opened again. Only one person entered while the others remained outside. This time, it had to be an actor.
“Excuse me, I—”
As Riche opened her mouth, the man turned around. He was a young man wearing a thin mask on his face….
“Huh?”
Riche was momentarily startled and swallowed her words. The first thing she realized was that the man was wearing clothes she had made herself. From that, it was unmistakable—he had to be Max Cardi, the one everyone wanted to see! Even if she didn’t particularly care for him, meeting him this suddenly and closely was naturally surprising, but what was even more astonishing than that….
“How is this possible?”
Cardi let out an equally shocked voice, and only then did he seem to realize what he had done, stopping mid-sentence. The two stared into each other’s eyes, frozen for several seconds, and then shortly after, they cried out simultaneously.
“You are—!”
“Wait!”
A moment of silence stretched between them. Both were hesitating, unable to speak the decisive words first. During this time, Riche’s mind was filling with increasingly astounding realizations. That person was this person, they were the same person…. Which meant she had become the first person to see Cardi’s true face, and without even knowing it!
The next moment, Riche burst into laughter.
“Ahahahahaha….”
“….”
The intermission was brief. I had to rest quickly, change clothes, and leave. Moreover, today’s performance had been an undeniable triumph. Since I was thinking of it as the final performance, the satisfaction from that fact was slightly greater than usual. Now I intended to end it all and return home to forget it cleanly.
But what if the people cheering in the Performance Hall discovered Cardi’s true identity? From that moment on, escaping cleanly from their grasp would become nothing but a dream.
Riche, barely composing her laughter, spoke.
“Whether then or now, if we hadn’t met this closely, I never would have known. But to think of attaching a false beard and wandering around like that… you’re quite the character, aren’t you? Is ‘Jo’ your real name? Or….”
Joshua, called ‘Jo’ for short, offered a bitter smile behind his mask.
“…You’ve completely ruined my plan. Your coming here….”
Joshua glanced at the table and, spotting the clothes before the three bottles of liquor, spoke.
“It’s those clothes. I heard they had gone missing, so I rushed off to the Mirangette Atelier.”
“Wait a moment. There’s no need to look so disappointed, is there? Were you planning to reveal your identity dramatically in front of more people, and I ruined it by seeing you first?”
Without removing his mask, Joshua gestured to Riche and pointed to a chair.
“We don’t have much time, but let me clear up the misunderstanding.”
As Riche sat in the chair before the mirror, Joshua covered his face.
“Why do you think I wear a mask?”
“To appear mysterious, I suppose.”
Riche answered without hesitation, and Joshua sighed, pressing his forehead.
“An actor not showing his face becomes a fatal disadvantage. That I gained popularity despite this is nothing short of a miracle. Let me ask again. Can you guess why I wear the mask?”
“So you really wore it to hide your face?”
Riche still looked skeptical. Indeed, Joshua’s expression was difficult to discern because of the mask.
“Behind Cardi’s mask lies a face I’ve always wanted to hide from people. As you know, there’s nothing like a burn scar, but… if people were to learn of that face, I would regret creating Cardi for the rest of my life.”
Riche didn’t immediately understand. It wasn’t a face worth hiding like that. If people knew the face behind the mask, they would be more enthusiastic, not disapproving.
Riche stared intently at Joshua’s face, trying to overlay it with the one she had seen that day. Then she realized that speaking with someone whose expression was hidden gave her an odd sense of unease. As if sensing Riche’s feelings, Joshua touched the mask on his face once and spoke.
“I’m telling you this for the first time, but Cardi dies today.”
Riche’s eyes widened.
“What? What do you mean?”
“It’s the end. After today, there will be no more mask, no more Cardi.”
Riche furrowed her brow, turning over the words she’d just heard, before the meaning struck her like a blow.
“Retire? Good heavens, why? You’re still making so much money….”
Through the mask, she felt Joshua smile.
“Cardi isn’t real. Even if I love being Cardi and don’t want to live as ‘Jo’, I have to return home eventually. If you hadn’t come here today, I would have successfully erased Cardi and disappeared. Then people would have wondered for a while, but gradually they would have forgotten.”
“….”
Riche stared at Joshua with a bewildered expression. Joshua spoke with deliberate emphasis.
“If only you would forget me, then I could completely erase Cardi and live. I’m asking you. Please forget about me.”
Riche pushed back her chair and stood.
“Don’t pressure me like that. You’re frightening me a little. You speak in riddles and half-truths, and you were perfectly fine without the mask too, weren’t you? What’s the problem? You’re popular, you make good money—why must you quit? If you were going to quit anyway, why play this fake game in the first place? What’s so wrong with people knowing both Cardi and Jo at the same time? Keeping it hidden all this time has been harder, and revealing it is quite easy, isn’t it? Why not just enjoy your popularity and live well? What’s this about going back home?”
Joshua listened to everything Riche said, then let his gaze drift slightly downward. With her reaction like this, there was no way around it.
“Fine. I’ll explain it so you can understand immediately. I come from an extremely strict family, and since I must inherit the clan, it would be very troublesome if it became known that I’ve been working as an actor. Not just for me, but for my parents and many others. So I’ve enjoyed this life in a false guise, but now it’s time to return. That’s why I hope to disappear without anyone knowing. Do you understand now?”
“Ah, yes, I understand now.”
She said this, but Riche’s face showed irritation.
“So you come from such a privileged family that you don’t need to work for money? How wonderful. You possess everything others spend their whole lives envying, yet you wear that hollow expression. I dislike it very much, but that’s enough. I won’t trouble you anymore. Who would believe me if I said I’d seen your face? Besides, you don’t even know your own family name or real name properly, do you? Are you afraid I’ll sketch your face and post it as a wanted notice? That won’t happen, so rest assured.”
Joshua said nothing in response. Riche turned to leave, but something occurred to her and she stopped, speaking again.
“Those tickets you gave me—I gave them all away to other people. As you know, I never liked Cardi anyway. But as payment for protecting your face, I suppose I can watch the final performance, can’t I?”
Joshua silently opened the drawer before the mirror and handed her a single ticket.
When Riche left and slammed the door shut, a strange voice echoed in his ears.
「Don’t lie. You’ve always waited for someone to recognize you. Why pretend to be surprised? If you were two people, would it really be harder for people to understand you? No. Even if you were one person, even if you were halved, no one would know you. You’ve never wanted to hide. You’ve always wanted to be seen. If you want to be more honest, cry out loud. Look at me! Look at me!」
Joshua clutched his head and spoke softly.
“Please, be quiet.”
Then the voice ceased.
4. The Attack
I believe that even if I were reborn as an insect in the next life, I could never wash away this sin.
Riche herself didn’t know why she’d said she would watch the performance. Was it lingering regret over the tickets she’d sold? Unwillingness to miss the chance to see an expensive show for free? Because it was the last one, it felt rare and precious?
None of it seemed quite right. As she watched, thinking she would find the reason, the second act finally rose. Riche’s seat was in the very front row. The ticket Joshua had given her was a premium seat. However, since there was no seat available, a staff member brought her a supplementary chair.
At first, Max Cardi—or rather, Jo—did not appear. The supporting actors bustled onto stage with their cheerful banter, and then a group dance began with young ladies dressed in fairy-like costumes. Since Riche hadn’t even seen the first act and knew nothing of the plot, she simply stared blankly ahead. She had no knowledge of music and couldn’t appreciate the technique of the dancing. She simply thought about how everything flowed naturally, continuously onward.
But as she watched, the situation gradually began to make sense. All the actors were talking about ‘Camilo’, yet each spoke of him differently, as if describing different people. Two townspeople discussed the ‘handsome librarian Camilo’, while a castle guard mentioned the ‘young nobleman Camilo, who is even friends with the Crown Prince’. One musician said Camilo was an excellent singer, and poor street children excitedly chattered about the exploits of ‘thief Camilo’.
They each spoke of the Camilo they knew and wondered if they were talking about the same person, but soon concluded they must be different people with similar names and appearances. Their stations were too different.
And then, at last, Camilo in the guise of a young nobleman—Max Cardi himself—appeared. Wearing the very clothes Riche had hastily made. He entered a tavern with his retinue and asked the proprietor about a young lady named Adriana.
“Adriana? That poor girl? That thief Tenon already paid the final sum and took her away. The ship leaves early tomorrow morning, so she’s probably locked in a warehouse near the docks.”
As he left the tavern, the stage darkened and became a nighttime street. The ‘nobleman Camilo’ sent his retinue away and went alone to the appointed place. There, a dozen beggars and thieves had already gathered. After exchanging trivial jokes, a song began.
Wait, I tell you!
It’s dangerous to move before night falls!
When night comes, this world becomes ours,
Wait, don’t rush!
Eyes as bright as an owl’s,
piercing through the darkest alleys,
running across eaves and rooftops—
Swift feet like a Cat
Listen, think about it!
All that will happen while you sleep!
Half the world, half the globe is night, you know,
Listen, don’t forget!
Children of the Runes – Winterer
Author: Jeon Min-hee
Publisher: Books of the 14th Month
The copyright of this book belongs to the author and Books of the 14th Month.
To reuse all or part of the contents of this book, written consent from both parties is required.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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