Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 483

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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 253.
Playing Oneself (29)
When I tried to pull the cord, one side of the wrapping had already torn and hung in tatters. It seemed one of the servants had made a mistake during transport. Since I wasn’t the type to hold such trivial matters against anyone, I simply ignored it and removed the wrapping.
What emerged was a painting mounted on a rectangular frame, exactly as I’d expected. The moment Yien saw it, the gloom that had weighed on him all day evaporated in an instant. An exclamation escaped his lips unbidden.
“Oh!”
Within the painting was a beautiful girl with golden hair, wearing an awkward smile. Yien understood the value of that smile—how rare it was to witness. A faint blush colored her pale cheeks. Her slender neck and shoulders, her sparse eyebrows, her prominent cheekbones framed eyes that gleamed with light as they gazed at someone. Had she smiled at the artist? If so, the painter must have been extraordinarily happy.
It had been nearly half a year since I last saw Lanzumi, Langie’s sister. The days when I would often visit her alongside Langie had become memories. I still remembered the expression Langie made when I joked about marrying off his younger sister to myself. Those times had been truly joyful.
I had quickly grown close to the Sebo siblings who cared for Lanzumi. Both Langie and I knew that Diancord cherished her. Perhaps it was still more affection for a younger sister, but either way, Diancord was genuinely devoted.
Devoted enough to capture Lanzumi’s smile in a painting.
I could easily imagine why Diancord had sent me this painting. He must have drawn it wanting to show Langie, but couldn’t reach him—just as I cannot now. He surely hoped I would keep it and eventually give it to Langie. Of course, he also wanted me to see it. Though no note was enclosed, there was no need to ask.
I gazed at the painting for a long time, delighted, wondering where to hang it. But then I remembered that it might draw unwanted attention from others, so I reluctantly placed it in a wardrobe. The thought of showing this painting to Langie when he eventually visited made me smile involuntarily.
The same snow fell on Jade Ring Castle. Riche, sitting beside Joshua’s bed, looked out through the latticed glass window and gently pushed open the casement. Cold air cooled the heat in her cheeks. The fireplace still burned with steady vigor. The teacup and pastry plate on the silver tray at the bedside rattled softly in the breeze.
Riche’s stay at Jade Ring Castle had now stretched beyond two months into the third. The days were undeniably comfortable. A fine chamber, fine clothes, fine food, and an elderly maid to attend to her—a life that Riche, once a seamstress and chambermaid struggling on meager wages, could never have imagined even in dreams. When Riche expressed concern for her family left in Blue Coral, Duchess Elza personally contacted the island and arranged for her family to live in comfort. She offered to provide anything else that might be needed.
Though Riche lacked a suitable background or the refinement befitting a noble family, everyone in the castle treated her with careful consideration as the friend of the Young Duke. She wanted for nothing. Her former self would have wished to live this way for the next hundred years.
“Sigh…”
Her stay at Jade Ring Castle was due to a task set by Doctor Louise Strom. Strom, who was learning medical arts and healing magic and was now studying the path of a spirit healer—and was therefore very busy—had asked that all those close to the Young Duke remain nearby, as he couldn’t predict whose words Joshua might respond to. The Duke and Duchess naturally hoped that both Riche and Maximian would stay. Maximian would never refuse anything for Joshua’s sake, and Riche remained with the same resolve.
It was a quiet life. As the days blurred together, the months spent wandering haphazardly from Hyacan to Kalayso, Cardril Island, and Periwinkle Island felt like a dream. Joshua lay sleeping here like a princess in a fairy tale, and Riche and Maximian seemed to have always been at his side. Since long ago, as friends.
But that wasn’t quite true. I first held Joshua around early spring this year. At first, I was merely a chambermaid who happened to see the actor Max Cardi by chance. What had happened in between to bring me to this place?
Much had happened. Among those events, there were things I hadn’t told Joshua honestly. Can he not hear me even now? Or does he hear everything but simply cannot respond?
As Riche rested her chin on her knee, studying Joshua’s face, Maximian entered.
“Mm.”
With that instead of a greeting, he brought over a chair and sat beside her. For a moment, they both simply watched Joshua.
“You think this bastard is actually awake and just pretending to sleep?”
“That would be incredibly difficult.”
“Right. His lips are completely blue from the strain.”
“They’re purple.”
“Either way. Only a seamstress would distinguish between those colors.”
Normally I would have argued back, but I felt too tired. Riche examined Joshua’s face intently and spoke again.
“He must be struggling, keeping his eyes shut like that. Two months without moving—it’s not something just anyone could manage.”
“You forgot. He’s an actor.”
Silence fell between them once more.
“What do you think he’s dreaming about while he sleeps? Is he dreaming at all?”
“Maybe he’s in that world he mentioned before.”
“Which one?”
Riche hadn’t been present when that was discussed. Maximian searched his memory.
“What was it… a grassland at the top of a cliff, he said. With valleys around it, and sky. That kind of world. It’s like some inner realm. Spirits come there, and Kelce too, supposedly.”
“Different from a dream?”
“I don’t know. Whether it’s different or the same.”
“At least he won’t be bored.”
The conversation lapsed again. After a long pause, Maximian spoke, his voice subtly changed.
“Do you think that bastard is dead?”
Riche was about to ask who he meant, but swallowed the question. She realized immediately who he was talking about.
“He must be dead….”
Though fully healed now, her arm suddenly itched. Both of them had watched the Salaryman sink with the ship with their own eyes. When Hispania searched the surrounding sea region after the sea battle ended, no corpse was found. Perhaps he couldn’t free himself from the chains and went down with the ship. That was the most logical answer, yet an unsettling feeling lingered in a corner of her heart. Why was that?
“Do you really think so?”
When Maximian spoke abruptly, Riche’s expression grew serious.
“Then you’re saying there’s some way he could have survived that?”
“There isn’t. There shouldn’t be….”
Maximian looked down at Joshua’s face and let out a low sigh.
“It’s just that the word ‘death’ doesn’t seem to fit with that man.”
“….”
What Maximian said expressed Riche’s feelings exactly. He must be dead, yet it didn’t feel like he was. Could that man actually die?
But Maximian soon shook his head and spoke.
“Well, if he bled from the sword you stabbed him with, then he’s human at least.”
“I suppose.”
“But why did you suddenly become so bold then? Honestly, I was shocked.”
Since Riche had learned swordplay quite well, the blade she thrust then had gone in cleanly. Thinking about it, I couldn’t fathom where the courage came from to even point a sword at such a terrifying opponent.
No, I knew.
“Joshua.”
When Riche suddenly called out to Joshua, Maximian turned his head too. Riche continued.
“And Maximian. There’s something I haven’t told either of you.”
“What is it?”
She had called to both of them, but only one answered. Riche was looking at Joshua. This was a story he needed to hear.
“The reason I could stab that man called the Salaryman was because I was truly, truly angry.”
Joshua didn’t answer. Neither did Maximian.
“I couldn’t bear it. Suddenly… the moment I saw his hair and his jaw, memories came flooding back. When we were trying to escape from Kalayso….”
“You were badly injured then.”
Riche nodded.
“Yes, there’s that too, but… I was caught in his hands and rode on horseback with him then.”
As she began to speak, a chill came over her. Riche’s body trembled.
“When I came to my senses, I was on the horse, and looking up, I could see his face. He wore a mask so I could only see below his nose, but even now I think I could recognize him. That blonde hair and jawline…. While looking at those, I heard his voice. That must have been why. Why it came back to me. Because of what he told me then….”
Even the fireplace was useless. Riche pressed her chest, trying to calm herself, but it didn’t work. The corners of her mouth twisted and her voice trembled.
“Ines… you know.”
“The one you performed with Joshua?”
“Yes….”
Tears finally welled up and spilled over. Maximian, not knowing what to do, only furrowed his brow before picking up a napkin from the silver tray and handing it to her. Riche wrapped her face in the napkin as if it were a handkerchief and sat quietly for a moment before speaking.
“That day, you brought Joshua and we couldn’t do the finale. But do you remember who was standing behind the curtain during the finale?”
“I think so.”
“You said it was an understudy, didn’t you. It wasn’t. That person was Ines. She wore Joshua’s costume instead. She didn’t want to ruin the finale performance.”
“Was that so?”
“Yes. That’s what happened….”
It took effort to stop the sobs. Words barely escaped my lips.
“The Salaryman… he thought that Ines standing there was Joshua….”
Cold wind swept through the open window, ruffling the hair of the recumbent Joshua and Maximian. Maximian remained rigid, unable to respond. I dimly recalled Ines’s face. She had been a gaunt, quiet, composed girl. Had we ever truly conversed? Merely a handful of words.
Maximian bore indirect responsibility as well. He was the one who had taken Joshua away just before the finale. Yet reframed, that meant if Joshua had been left behind, it would have been Joshua who died instead of Ines. By that logic, Maximian’s judgment had been sound.
Only Ines had chosen to take that place instead, and so she had perished.
Presently, Maximian gazed down at Joshua.
“Jo, did you hear that?”
Perhaps because of how he looked at him, Joshua’s lips seemed to move slightly. Having seen that face continuously for months, I could discern even the smallest change. Riche, who had been burying her face in a napkin for some time, also turned her gaze toward Joshua.
“Joshua, the reason I haven’t told you this until now is because you seemed already overwhelmed by your own burdens. I thought about it several times, even tried to speak of it, but I wondered if it wouldn’t be better to wait… until after you’d set down some of that weight. You would surely suffer hearing it. Are you at peace now? Can you weep for Ines?”
There was no answer. Maximian’s expression grew troubled as he rose from his seat.
“I need some air.”
After Maximian left, Riche found herself alone once more. She wiped her tears and blew her nose into the napkin. With her face streaked with tears and mucus, a ruined mess, she had no desire to venture outside. She set the napkin aside and gazed once more at Joshua’s face. Perhaps because she had spoken, memories from that time came flooding back.
Children of Rune – Winterer
Author: Jeon Min-hee
Publisher: 14 Months Publishing
The copyright to this book belongs to the author and 14 Months Publishing.
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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