The World Mistakes Me for Terminally Ill - Chapter 90

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The World Thinks I’m Terminally Ill Episode 090

A jester’s mask.

What occupied the spaces for eyes and mouth was pitch-black darkness and mockery.

The mysterious gentleman delivered a stage greeting with refined movements.

“Rejoice, audience! At last, all the main characters have taken the stage!”

Pop!

At the same time, other lights turned on behind him—

Whirr.

Along with the sound of an old projector turning, someone’s figure was projected onto a screen that had been unfolded at some unknown time.

In black and white.

“The usurper!”

Shubel’s figure explaining the strange phenomena to his companions at the back of the ballroom.

“The heretic!”

Kai’s face clinging close to the black dress hem.

“And… the kingmaker!”

Finally, even Elisia with her stern expression.

The gentleman chuckled and rejoiced.

“Indeed, how much will you delight me?”

Bizarre laughter mixed with madness and ecstasy echoed through the indefinable space.

“Or.”

Whirr, clank.

The projector stopped.

“Can you? Delight? Me? I wonder!”

Stop.

The laughter ceased.

All the lights went out.

A cold silence flowed among the group at Shubel’s words.

“Hmm, does that make sense?”

Erban was the first to speak, scratching his cheek.

“How could a fixed space suddenly expand tenfold? Didn’t you mistake it, brother?”

“It’s the truth.”

But the words fell decisively as if there was nothing to reconsider, and it became quiet again.

I intervened to mediate between them.

“Shubel, what time is it now?”

“It’s past 11:10.”

Shubel checked his wristwatch and said.

“The ballroom doors will close at midnight, so it would be best to leave before then.”

“Yes, madam.”

“Got it, master.”

At my words, they immediately stopped arguing and agreed.

We walked down the long corridor. Doors appeared occasionally on both sides of the corridor.

“All in!”

“I won, I won!”

“Sir, please exit before 12 o’clock. After midnight… you won’t be able to leave…”

“Agh, I got it, so move aside!”

There was a room that appeared to be the back door of the gambling den.

“The manager was looking for the host. Have you seen him?”

“No. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him since earlier? He’s someone who stands out whether he wears a mask or not.”

“He’s probably passed out drunk somewhere again.”

“Ugh, it’s creepy how he always picks married women to personally harass. I wish he’d never wake up.”

“Shh, he might hear. Let’s work quietly. We need to get off work before 12.”

“Who’s on night duty today?”

“…Me.”

There was also a room where sounds of someone gossiping could be heard, seemingly a break room for servants.

“Stay with me tonight, my little baby bird.”

“Oh, of course, young master. But is it okay to stay here? I heard earlier that the ball ends at 12.”

“Hmph, considering how much money I paid. Using one room is my choice.”

“Kyaa, so cool!”

There was also a room with what looked like an adulterous couple…

We quietly passed all those rooms while covering Kai’s ears.

Finally, we reached the depths of the corridor. It was the room where Erban said he heard a child’s voice.

“I’ll open it.”

Creak.

I opened the door. Darkness surged and leaked out.

I carefully examined the inside and was startled when I met something’s blood-red eyes.

“…!”

“Careful.”

As I unconsciously stepped back, a solid body touched my back.

Shubel, who caught me from behind, whispered softly.

“It’s a statue.”

It was a swan statue with a broken neck.

Trickle trickle trickle…

Blood-red wine overflowed from a half-tilted, broken wine fountain.

It stained the statue’s glossy eyes, making me mistake them for red pupils.

I turned my eyes away from the swan statue’s face submerged in the fountain.

Looking around, the darkness was filled with angel statues with broken wings and swan sculptures with severed necks.

“…Could it be a storage warehouse?”

I unconsciously frowned at the gloomy sight that made my aesthetic sense retch.

I had felt it from the moment we first entered, but the taste of this ballroom’s designer was not just bad but downright perverse.

Erban approached the fountain, circled around it, then touched something with an “oh.”

Clank, the wine stopped pouring.

“Where are the children?”

“Inside.”

As Shubel said, I could see faint light leaking from beyond the corner.

Regretting that I hadn’t slapped that host’s sleazy face earlier, knowing there were young children in such a place, I moved forward.

Splash.

Blood-red liquid splashed under my feet.

Splash splash.

We quietly headed inside, avoiding the randomly placed statues.

Soon after turning the corner, a brighter space than before came into view.

And there—

‘Canvas?’

I discovered a huge canvas occupying an entire wall.

Candles dangerously scattered carelessly around, grotesquely splattered paint marks everywhere, overturned paint cans, brushes, and… people.

“…”

“…”

A shabby old man, a rough-looking man, a noblewoman in a fancy dress, a girl who appeared to be a maid, and finally children of all kinds.

These people with no sense of unity were all painting on the huge canvas with vacant eyes.

The unfinished painting had a pale blue tint.

“It looks like mass hypnosis.”

Erban muttered quietly.

And for good reason, since despite such a conspicuous group appearing, no one showed any interest in us.

I looked at the children in one corner who were giggling as they smeared paint on their palms and pressed handprints onto canvases, then closed my mouth.

I couldn’t get a sense of where to even begin intervening.

“Who are you?”

But then.

Someone spoke to us for the first time.

When I turned my head, I saw a young boy who appeared to be around Kai’s age.

He was the only one with clear, alert eyes, holding a palette with mixed colors in one hand and a brush in the other.

At a glance, I could tell he was a child who knew how to paint.

The child looked at us with bright, curious eyes rather than wariness.

I looked around for someone who could approach the child in a friendly manner—

‘Hmm, I’m the only ordinary person here.’

Looking at the two tall men who clearly wouldn’t get along with children and Kai, who was sticking close to my side like a hissing cat while being wary of the boy, I gave up.

I carefully knelt down in front of the boy and offered a greeting.

“Hello, little one.”

“Hello.”

“We got a bit lost and came here. Why are you here?”

Fortunately, instead of being frightened, the boy answered clearly with intelligent-looking eyes.

“I want to draw pictures but I don’t have money.”

“Huh?”

“They said if I come here, I can draw as much as I want and they’ll pay me daily wages. When I get the wages, I’ll buy a train ticket to go to the Northern Region.”

“…Northern Region? Why do you want to go to the Northern Region?”

When I asked, puzzled by the unexpected mention of the Northern Region, the boy smiled brightly.

“There’s an incredible noble person in the Northern Region. I want to show my paintings to that noble person and ask for patronage. I want to become a painter. Though I don’t have the talent that the Art Studio Owner talks about…”

The boy muttered shyly. I just want to draw pictures.

Perhaps pleased that an adult listened to his humble dream without dismissing it, the child chattered like a bird.

He also carefully took something out from his bulging front pocket to show me.

It was a small notebook made from crumpled discarded newspapers. It was filled with sketches drawn like doodles with worn charcoal and hardened paint.

That was the boy’s world.

I gazed at it quietly, then looked into the child’s shining eyes and said.

“No, little one. You do have talent.”

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