Will You Cry for Me If I Die? - Chapter 80
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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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Chapter 80
The outside looks like it’s swaying like water.
When people passed by, the shapes stretched and then returned.
When trees swayed in the wind, they rippled even more.
A swaying world doesn’t seem real.
The boundaries aren’t fixed.
If it doesn’t seem real, it’s not scary.
For that reason, I came to like the windows of Winter Castle.
When what you see isn’t as it is, the inside becomes comfortable.
Suddenly my stomach growled.
A sound came up from inside.
When your stomach growls, it’s reality.
The body tells you first.
If it’s reality, it’s food.
I put on gloves, hugged the cookie box I made yesterday, and came out to the corridor.
The box touched my chest.
A faint sweet smell rose from inside.
The corridor is long, and the walls are cold stone, but tapestries hang on both sides making it a little less cold.
The gaps between the stones weren’t visible.
Cloth covered the walls.
White wolves were embroidered with thread on the tapestries.
Threads overlapped to create shapes.
Wolves are scary, but wolves made of thread are wolves you can touch.
They’re not sharp.
As I passed by, I pressed the wolf’s ear once with my finger.
The thread touched my fingertip.
It pressed down softly and then rose back up.
I was careful in case the thread might pop out.
Being careful is a habit for survival.
I moved my hand slowly.
Iden called me from far away.
The sound came from the end of the corridor.
“Lord Rumel, this way.”
I followed that voice.
My feet naturally moved in that direction.
It wasn’t the path to the dining hall, but the opposite direction.
The opposite side is a path people don’t often take.
Few footprints remain there.
The traces stamped in the snow are broken.
Paths people don’t often take are good paths for hiding.
When you hide, gazes decrease.
I like such paths.
There’s little sound, and the air is thin.
But today it seemed like a path for showing rather than hiding.
My footsteps didn’t stop.
Iden was holding a small bundle of keys in his hand.
The metal clinked against each other making small sounds.
Keys smell like metal.
A cold and thin smell.
I hate the smell of metal.
The inside of my nose tightens up.
So I stopped for a step.
My feet stopped on the snow.
Iden saw my expression and lowered his body.
His eye level came down.
“This is the warehouse key.”
Warehouse.
A closed space.
Warehouses are treasure.
Stacked and hidden.
I like treasure.
I took another step closer.
My feet became a little faster.
Iden smiled and stood in front of the door.
The corners of his mouth rose softly.
That door was smaller than other doors, and the handle was high.
The door panel was thick and dark in color.
I can’t reach it even on my tiptoes.
My toes trembled.
When I can’t reach, it’s frustrating.
My hand remains in the air.
When frustrated, tears come up, but I don’t cry.
I pressed what was coming up back inside.
So instead I spoke.
“Open it.”
Speaking briefly gives strength.
Words push the body forward.
Iden inserted the key and turned it.
The sound of metal engaging was heard.
A clicking sound was made.
When a sound is made, it’s opened.
What was closed was released.
When the door opened, a dusty smell came out with the cold air.
The air from inside pushed out.
The dusty smell is the smell of old time.
What was stacked moved.
Old time is both scary like the Founding Festival and safe like Winter Castle.
Scary and safe.
Inside the warehouse, boxes were stacked in layers.
Up and up, overlapping.
Cloth covered the boxes, and white dust like snow sat on that cloth too.
Dust had settled thinly.
I lightly scraped the dust with my finger.
My fingertip brushed the cloth.
Powder stuck to my fingertip.
Small particles attached.
Powder disappears easily.
When wind touches it, it scatters.
Things that disappear easily make you want to hold onto them.
Things that don’t remain make you hold on more.
I clenched my hands tightly.
The spaces between my fingers closed.
Iden opened one of the boxes.
The lid lifted upward.
Inside were small wooden pieces.
They were neatly arranged.
The wooden pieces smell good.
A warm scent.
The wood scent is forest.
A deep, quiet place.
The forest is a hiding place.
A place to be concealed.
I picked up one wooden piece.
The texture touching my hand was light.
That piece had a snowflake pattern carved into it.
Thin lines were etched inward.
Snowflakes are prettier than real snow.
Their shape doesn’t get disturbed.
Real snow melts and disappears.
After time passes, it’s gone.
This doesn’t melt.
The form remains as it is.
If it doesn’t melt, it lasts long.
If it remains, I can see it again.
I calculated in my mind.
I divided things that last long and things that disappear.
Iden said.
“We’re making lanterns.”
Lanterns.
Light lit at night.
Something placed in dark places.
Light is dangerous, but the light in Winter Castle doesn’t come to catch me.
It doesn’t chase after me.
So I nodded my head.
I moved briefly.
Then footsteps were heard from the end of the corridor.
Fast footsteps.
The sound of stepping on snow was steady.
It’s Theodor.
I could tell just from the sound.
Theodor caught his breath as he crossed the doorway.
His breathing came in short bursts.
“What are you doing here.”
Those words seemed like scolding, but also curious words.
The ending wasn’t completely firm.
I answered while holding the wooden piece.
I lifted my hand slightly.
“Treasure.”
Theodor looked into the box and his face brightened.
His eyes changed immediately.
“Me too.”
He picked up a wooden piece.
His hand moved quickly.
It was star-shaped.
“It’s a star!”
“Yeah.”
I recalled the night story Lermiel told yesterday.
It was a story about paths continuing in darkness.
Don’t lose your way.
Those words were still stuck somewhere in my chest.
It felt like the inside of my chest was warmly pressed.
Words that stick don’t fall off.
Even if I tried to remove them with my hands, it wouldn’t work.
Not falling off is good.
Not disappearing is safe.
Just then the door quietly opened again.
The door was pushed slightly, creating a gap.
Lermiel came in.
There was almost no sound of footsteps.
His hair was more neat today.
There were no disheveled parts.
When neat, the mind looks rigid, but Lermiel wasn’t rigid even when neat.
His eyes remained soft.
That’s a strange thing.
I look at strange things for a long time.
Lermiel looked at the snowflake piece in my hand.
His gaze stopped on my hand.
And he spoke slowly.
His breath mixed in long.
“Lanterns.”
I nodded my head.
I moved briefly up and down.
“Yeah.”
Theodor immediately interrupted.
Words burst out quickly.
“You do it too.”
Lermiel hesitated for a moment.
His body stiffened just a little.
Hesitation is fear.
The moment of trying to move but stopping.
I know fear well.
So I recognize the shape of stopping.
So I reached out my hand first.
My hand went out before my head.
I gently pushed my snowflake piece toward Lermiel.
My palm tilted toward his side.
“Together.”
When you speak briefly, it sounds real.
The words don’t waver.
Lermiel carefully took the snowflake piece.
The moment our fingertips touched stretched out slowly.
His fingertips trembled slightly.
They trembled very faintly.
When you tremble, it means you’re cold.
When it’s cold, hands react first.
Winter being cold is natural.
Natural things don’t need reasons.
I rather liked that naturalness.
It was a state that didn’t need explaining.
Iden led the three of us to the workshop.
We went around the corridor and entered through a small door.
The workshop was a small room next to the warehouse.
The walls were low, and the ceiling was close.
The room was filled with the scent of wood, and the window was small so light came in thinly.
The light didn’t stretch out long.
Thin light hurts the eyes less.
It touched gently.
I like thin light.
It’s okay even if I look at it for a long time.
On the table were glass bottles and candles.
The glass bottles stood in a row, and the candles were gathered in the middle.
Candles are fire.
Fire is dangerous.
It’s hot when you touch it.
I pulled my body back slightly.
My feet stepped back once.
Iden looked at my expression, then moved the candles far away and gave me a glass bottle.
The candles moved away from my hands.
The glass bottle was cold and transparent.
The moment it touched my hand, coldness rose up.
When something is transparent, you can see everything inside.
There’s nowhere to hide.
When everything is visible, it’s hard to hide.
But today I’m not hiding anything, I’m putting something in.
It’s a day to fill the inside.
I held the glass bottle with both hands.
My hands couldn’t wrap around the bottle.
Because my hands were small, the bottle looked bigger.
My fingers stopped around the middle.
When I hold something big, I look even smaller.
The proportions change.
When I look small, adults are more careful with me.
I’m a clever baby who uses that.
This was a method that didn’t need to be spoken.
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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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