Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 506

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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 276.
Beneath the Almond Tree (19)
“Who are you?”
“The person who sent a letter to Evelyn Teniton.”
The door swung open, and orange firelight spilled across the threshold. The shadows of the two figures facing each other intertwined only briefly. As The Tall Man stepped inside, the light chased his heels and vanished. Soon, hands moved busily to close the inner door and slide the bolt home.
The walls were thick with soot, but he paid it no mind, leaning against them as he surveyed the room. One man, three women. The man and one woman were elderly; the younger woman limped. The cramped living room was packed with people. A damp chill clung to the air at the tip of my nose. Warmed by body heat to a tepid temperature, the air felt more oppressive than the cold outside. His opening words were not those of a courteous guest, yet The Tall Man spoke.
“Why don’t you light the stove?”
The limping woman replied.
“We don’t have money for firewood.”
Ah, these people buy firewood to burn it, he thought, and The Tall Man’s mouth twisted downward. The fireplace held no flames, not even ashes.
The Tall Man spoke again.
“Sit down.”
Again, it was not something a guest should say.
“The ceiling’s low enough as it is.”
Only then did those standing avert their eyes and find seats. Yet one person had been sitting from the start, her head bowed, not even looking at the visitor. She was one of the two younger women.
Young, that is, compared to the Old Woman Spirit—though in truth, she seemed to be approaching forty. Prominent cheekbones, a nose ridge that had risen unevenly, sunken cheeks stretched like skin pulled tight over bone, a face weathered by many storms. She was Evelyn Teniton.
The Tall Man glanced at Evelyn, then lifted his hat brim in greeting. Yet he did not remove the hat. His hidden eyes met Evelyn’s.
Evelyn spoke abruptly.
“Let me say one thing first. I couldn’t sleep the night I received that letter.”
The Tall Man shrugged.
“It’s not the sort of story that brings sleep.”
Evelyn lifted her head. But she did not continue. The Old Woman Spirit, who had been perched awkwardly on the corner of a box, opened her mouth.
“We did hide it, that’s true enough—but that doesn’t mean we did right. Still, we never harmed that child, and Evelyn cared for her like a true mother….”
“I’ve heard enough of that. I’d like to hear what comes next.”
Evelyn’s back convulsed slightly.
“What more is there to hear? You already know everything.”
“Yes, well said. Let me just confirm whether I truly know it all.”
Evelyn let out a bitter laugh.
“Why quibble over it now? If you mean to arrest me, arrest me. If you mean to kill me, kill me. You’re supposed to be some great power in Anomarad—surely this is child’s play for you.”
“Ah, so you’re eager to reach that conclusion? You want to drag these old people into prison, up onto the rack, is that what you want? I’d never choose it myself.”
Evelyn turned to look at the two elderly people, and her expression changed.
“You’re trying to threaten me. It’s obvious. You already know my parents have nothing to do with this.”
The Tall Man opened his empty hands.
“I know nothing, because you haven’t confirmed anything for me. I only said that stubbornness brings bad results. Just as you said a moment ago—the Nobility have no patience to begin with, and they have no mercy for people like you and me.”
A brief silence fell.
Evelyn rose from her seat. She turned and opened the wardrobe door behind the fireplace. She moved aside several blankets and carefully withdrew items from within, laying them out. Small clothes and hats neatly folded in a basket, rolled bedsheets and blankets tied in bundles, soiled cloth dolls, and a remarkably fine wooden cradle, intricately crafted.
“This is all there is.”
The Tall Man’s gaze slowly swept across the objects. Evelyn pressed her lips firmly together, then spoke her next words.
“All that remains to me.”
After a moment, The Tall Man murmured.
“Is it because there’s no master of the household?”
There was no master. The furnishings had grown cold. The garments were no more than three years old. Evelyn Teniton blinked rapidly as she surveyed them, then squeezed her eyes shut, shook her head, and opened them again.
“In any case, I knew nothing of the details. Not about Anomarad, not about the Nobility—nothing until you told me. I only guessed they were wealthy. They could have been nobility. It’s common enough in this village. As for why they needed to hide a child… if they paid generously for her upkeep, I asked no questions. We fed our entire family on what that child’s money provided. As you can see, I’m the only one in this house capable of going out and doing manual labor. A woman alone cannot feed so many mouths with what she earns from such work.”
Evelyn Teniton spread her arms wide. Her hands were terribly rough.
“It was all good. I became a mother when I thought I never would be. With a child in the house, there was laughter. We all treated her well. We did our best, each in our own way. At first, out of gratitude, but later… even though I was only a false mother, I loved her. If only that problem hadn’t existed…”
“That problem?”
When The Tall Man asked, Evelyn Teniton’s expression changed.
“Why do you pretend not to know? You know everything.”
“I have to hear it to know.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know why her parents abandoned her?”
When The Tall Man did not answer, Evelyn Teniton clasped her hands together and trembled. Then she opened her eyes wide.
“She was abandoned because she was possessed by a spirit, wasn’t she? Wasn’t she?”
The Tall Man’s lips pressed shut. But it was from another direction that a cry erupted.
“That’s nonsense! Eleanor was perfectly fine!”
The old man’s beard, which had been silent until now, trembled. Evelyn Teniton bit her lip and tried to shout back. But before she could speak two words, she fell silent.
“A child who was perfectly fine… and yet…”
The Old Woman Spirit began to sob. Evelyn Teniton closed her mouth and turned toward the cradle. The narrow living room grew even warmer.
“Eleanor… Teniton. I gave her my grandmother’s name. The person who brought her said the child had no name. Not even given a name—I thought they truly intended never to search for her again.”
“And they truly never did?”
“No.”
Evelyn Teniton’s eyes were red as she turned from the cradle.
“I’m a lowborn fool with nowhere to go, so I could never understand the thoughts of those blue-blooded nobles even if I died and came back to life. They entrusted us with their angelic daughter, yet never once wished to see her. They never wondered whether we cherished her or mistreated her. They only thought to send money through messengers—only money, always money. How could such people…”
No tears fell. Evelyn Teniton whispered in a cracked voice.
“Why do they want to take the coffin? Do they not need her alive, but need her dead?”
“…”
The Tall Man stared silently at the floorboards, listening as Evelyn Teniton’s interrupted words resumed.
“When those people opened the coffin… did they even look at our Eleanor’s face once? Did they ever know how beautiful her golden hair was, how long her eyelashes were… did they learn it even after her death?”
Her words trailed off again. Evelyn Teniton gazed at the cradle with reddened eyes but no tears. After a moment, The Tall Man answered.
“Of course they did. They saw it all very clearly. It’s a regrettable thing. If it were me, I would have prayed they never even touched the coffin lid.”
For the first time in a long while, Joshua found himself in his own inner world. Had it been a dream? Before, when he came here, he could never easily find a way out. He needed someone’s help.
But now it seemed different. He didn’t know why. Had he remained here during those six months of sleep? That too, he could not know. Those six months were complete darkness to him.
Coming here after so long, the landscape had changed. The towering Mountain Peak had become a cliff that led somewhere. The place where he used to sit had vanished. The ground was a blue Grassland glistening with moisture. The mist remained, obscuring everything beyond ten paces.
Someone placed a hand on his back. He turned around.
“Kelce! Where have you been all this time?”
Once, he would have answered with a smile, but Kelsniti did not smile. Instead, she gazed at Joshua quietly—with a strange expression that seemed both startled and sorrowful.
“What’s wrong?”
“That we could meet again…”
Speaking these strange words, Kelsniti passed by Joshua and walked toward the cliff, looking down. Joshua followed and asked.
“Don’t you think something’s different here?”
“It must have changed.”
“The way you’re talking… it sounds like you already know why.”
Kelsniti turned from the cliff’s edge to face Joshua. Joshua suddenly noticed something odd. Despite standing just a single step away, Kelsniti’s figure appeared hazy, as though obscured by mist.
“Why haven’t you come until now? Did something happen? This is strange. Your attitude today. There’s something, isn’t there?”
Kelsniti gestured for Joshua to follow as he walked. As they turned their backs to the cliff and continued forward, the mist gradually dispersed. A verdant pasture stretched down the slope. Joshua glanced around and suddenly froze in surprise. He could see another person in the distance. There were houses too—not just one or two, but scattered throughout the valley like pebbles.
“What’s going on? Is that person one of the People of Promise?”
“No.”
“Then who are they?”
“Someone you don’t know.”
As they walked further, an oddly shaped stone appeared. It resembled a rock jutting from the slope, yet its form seemed somehow artificial. It was worn smooth and pale, shaped like an elongated pedestal. Kelsniti stopped before it and gestured for Joshua to approach.
“Look at this stone. What do you think it is?”
“Hmm… a foundation stone?”
“Yes. This is an old foundation stone that once supported a mirror.”
“A mirror? You mean the one that was Ganapoli’s means of transportation?”
Kelsniti nodded, and Joshua grew even more bewildered.
“Why would something like that have entered my world?”
Kelce sat down on the foundation stone. With just a few steps of distance between them, Kelce’s form appeared nearly translucent.
“Kelce, something feels wrong. What’s happened?”
Kelce seemed not to hear Joshua’s words.
“What you’re seeing now is the landscape of Periwinkle Island as it was long ago. You’ve never actually seen it, and it’s quite different from how it appears now. That stone was there too.”
“I remember you mentioning it. You said it was your childhood playground.”
“That’s right.”
“But then why does a landscape that I don’t know about but Kelce does appear in my world?”
The moment Joshua spoke, the landscape before him trembled violently. He tried to regain his senses—or rather, he tried not to wake from the dream. But it was difficult. The landscape of Periwinkle Island gradually crumbled. This world, which had been so hard to escape before, now shattered easily.
Where had Kelsniti gone? Joshua spun around desperately, calling out.
“Kelce! Don’t go! Where have you been all this time? Why won’t you answer me? Why do you only appear in dreams? Talk to me in reality. I’m right now…”
A rectangular door appeared before his eyes. A hatch in the ceiling. Light poured down from it. Joshua shielded his eyes with his hand.
“Joshua.”
It was Tichiel’s voice.
“Dad contacted us. We need to return to the Castle right away.”
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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