Atonement, About it's Cruelty - Chapter 25
“Master….”
In the brief moment Seo-ah closed and reopened her eyes, she found herself standing before the master in her final moments. The master, who had lost an arm, bowed her head and cried, then pulled out the key she had kept hidden.
“Even if you don’t tell me, I’m going. I have to go. You know that.”
The master, who had seemed dead with her eyes closed, opened them immediately.
“No.”
Despite her fading breath, she maintained a clear and firm demeanor, explaining why she should go. Blood continued to flow from where her arm had been, and she used a white cloth as big as a blanket to press and cover the bleeding wound.
Seo-ah wondered if that would prevent her from dying, hoping she wouldn’t leave like her grandfather.
“Stop and listen to me.”
Red blood seeped through the tightly bound cloth. Just watching it was painful, yet the one bleeding seemed indifferent.
“There’s so much blood, how can you say stop?”
“Stop. First, listen to me properly.”
As she placed her hand on Seo-ah’s cheek, it felt as cold as ice. The remaining hand felt like a dead person’s touch.
Tears finally burst forth, flowing as much as on the day her grandfather died.
“How can I stay here?”
How can I stay without my grandfather or you?
The master, who had been telling Seo-ah to listen, fell silent. She then gazed at Seo-ah with deep, beautiful green eyes, endlessly reflecting her image. Although her expression was always inscrutable, Seo-ah felt the despair in her.
In her deep despair, the master shed tears never seen before and finally spoke.
“… The key. There are two people searching for that key. One is him, and the other is the only blade that can kill him.”
“Who is that? Where should I go? I’ll take the key to that person myself…”
“No!”
Even as she was dying, the master’s voice grew stern. She stressed that the order must not be changed and then told Seo-ah the only way to retrieve her grandfather’s remains and find her father.
Go straight to the Royal Felpe Bank. No matter what happens, obtain the keyholder’s certificate.
“After that, both he and the blade that can kill him will come for you…”
Her once clear words began to trail off.
“Master!”
Calling out in surprise, her once dazed eyes came back into focus.
“Remember well. The person you need to follow is Rei…”
Then, as if it had never been said, her gaze emptied again.
Tears streamed down. Seo-ah hugged her tightly. She had never known her usually strong body could be so cold.
Don’t die. Don’t leave me alone like this.
She repeated the same plea over and over, but the weak hand on her back fell away. At the same time, her final words reached her ears.
“The wolves… The wolves will come.”
The one who will kill him, and eventually you too…
The hollow words filled with tears failed to find closure.
Was it because she saw her master after a long time? Or perhaps because she saw only the end?
It felt like the distant, stifled crying was empathizing with her sorrow. It sounded like a moan too.
“Oh, huhu, uhh.”
Amidst the cry that seemed filled with fear and pain, a cold, unfeeling voice followed.
“The scheduled time has passed, yet she hasn’t awakened.”
“W-Wait one minute! Just one minute more…!”
“Cut off a finger.”
“Ahhh! Just a moment, just a moment!”
The problem was that the conversation was chillingly gruesome, and the sensations around her felt closer to reality than a dream.
The faint light perceived through closed eyelids, the bustling footsteps echoing against the eardrum, the air moving sporadically against bare skin—all of it felt real.
“Please, just a little more. Stay awake!”
“Stay awake? Damn it. If she’s awake, then she’s awake. Why are you giving medicine to someone who’s just lying there?”
It seemed this wasn’t a dream.
And the moment she realized that, reality came crashing down like the sky and earth flipping over.
Where am I?
Who are those people? Why am I lying here? So I…
Her slowly beating heart pounded loudly, and her palms became damp.
Unable to easily grasp the situation, she felt a surge of fear. It seemed better to pretend she was still unconscious and observe the situation a bit longer.
“Is there no medicine to wake her up?”
The moment someone muttered that, memories long submerged surfaced like a flood.
“Let’s get some medicine. This amount is just right.”
Memories that had sunk beneath the surface surged uncontrollably. The rushing memories dragged her body back to that moment. She could neither resist nor stop it.
It felt as if a layer of something strange had been draped over all her senses.
The laughter of a malevolent figure. The sensation of being pinned down on the bed, a body that felt powerless as if it had turned into an insect, the tepid liquid flowing through parted lips, and the touch climbing up her thighs.
Everything flooded her consciousness like a torrent of water from a ravine. Her throat tightened. Despite all her senses being intact now, she found it hard to move.
“Uh, ugh…”
“Huh? Senior! She’s awake!”
The startled voice pierced her eardrum like background noise, but that was all. Seo-ah trembled as the narrow, tunnel-like world pressed in on her. Even with each breath, she felt short of air, and beneath the ambient light, she saw nothing but pitch-black darkness.
An impenetrable black void enveloped her consciousness.
“Why is this happening? Is she really awake?”
Her body shook uncontrollably. Even as the world imprinted on her retina swayed wildly, her consciousness groped through the darkness.
The smell that invaded her nostrils, the stifling red light, the man standing at the door…
“Do you want more?”
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