Vol. 1 - Ch. 5 - Stage Without Actors (2)

The sleepiness due to fatigue, and the unclear mental state, which continued constantly for two days and one night, were adding to the confusion.

I could do nothing but look at Theodore in confusion, who had an indifferent look on his face, as if what was happening was someone else's business and not his own.

"A trap?"

"The reason I came here is because of the letter that Arma Cruz sent."

"I never sent anything."

"..."

Theodore nodded instead of answering.

He didn't have the sense to not be quiet at crucial moments, he is the kind of person who doesn't speak much, and it was the first time he talked this much.

"I did think it was strange. It was suspicious that the meeting place was a chapel in the middle of the night. As for the letter, the length and spacing of the words were a mess. Check and see if any notebooks or letters you wrote have been stolen."

"... You seem to have a good sense of humor."

The conversation was interrupted again at an odd time.

Theodore managed to get under my skin even though he didn't realize it, saying for the last time that he thought someone wrote a letter trying to imitate me.

"Leave it."

My mind was already on the edge, like an extinguished candle.

I tried not to sleep by talking to him, but it was in vain. Nevertheless, he continued to lift me by moving my hand on his shoulder.

Most of the students in Crown of Thorns class had an aptitude for magic, but using magic in private within the academy premises was strictly prohibited.

This is why Theodore, who would be a famous black mage after graduating from the academy, took on such hard work.

"if you pass out, it will get harder to move...."

It is already difficult to move a semi-conscious person, and Theodore was 10 cm shorter than me.

The first person I came across in the chapel screamed and ran away, so there wasn't much time left before someone came, whether it was the student council or the security guards.

"So do not fall asleep."

I unintentionally stumbled and touched Theodore's eyepatch.

The eye patch, which was held in place by tying it with a string, slipped down with just one loop left, hanging around Theodore's neck like a necklace.

"Euk, damn it... sorry."

Something or the other was constantly happening; nothing was going according to plan.

Theodore forced me to stand up, not paying attention to the eyepatch that came undone around his neck.

When I barely raised my head and made eye contact with him, there were two brilliant purple eyes shining in the faint moonlight.

'Inside the eyepatch is a prosthetic eye.'

But for some reason, when I looked into those eyes, I remembered the dream I had yesterday.

Without realizing it, I kept thinking back to the red and purple eyes that Theodore White had in the dreams and this brought me a strange feeling of discomfort with Theodore.

Theodore completely ignored the suspicious look in my eyes.

"When it was time to decide on the prosthetic eye, a family meeting was held."

"... Meeting?"

Theodore seemed to notice that I came to my senses for a moment whenever I spoke to him. Theodore barely straightened his form and left the chapel, taking half steps and continued to speak.

"The nanny who took care of me when I was born said it. The missing eyes were originally red."

Those words made me shiver.

I had just heard, not from someone else but from Theodore directly, that he had different-coloured eyes.

It was so absurd that I thought it was a delusion, but it was actually a rare combination of red and purple eyes...

But this realization turned into fear.

There was no rational way to explain the strange reality that the dream I had had contact with reality.

"So there was a lot of debate over whether the eye should be red to match the original eye color or the other eye color. The material is garnet, so it can be made either way."

After listening to Theodore's words, I felt like his eyes were shining even more.

"Then the color now... whose choice was this?"

"Mine."

"And the reason?"

"If the name is Theodore White and you have red and purple eyes, one will say I have too many colors."

Even I had the same thought. I smiled slightly and looked at him.

Without even thinking about wiping the sweat off, which began to trickle from the forehead, Theodore dragged me to the back of the chapel, towards the hidden hallway.

'... For such a place to exist....'

I knew there was this place, but I never imagined that there would be a hallway leading directly from the chapel.

As if trying to wake me up from my thoughts, the crow, which was watching us from the steeple of the chapel's roof, let out a long cry.

I glanced at the side of the chapel as we moved and summarized what had just happened until now.

"Letter. Do you have it?"

"Yes. But even if I have it or not, it will be difficult to get rid of any charges."

"It is fine. Just put it in my pocket."

Theodore quietly let me lean on his shoulder and then put his hand in his pocket, as he took out a piece of white paper.

Since Theodore touched me when I was covered in blood, the red fingerprints were on the back of the paper he touched.

Theodore put the note he took out into my jacket and began to support me with difficulty.

'Midnight. The difference between the first visitor and Theodore.'

I was quite overloaded trying to get my head around the information given the poor condition I was in. But I almost felt it; there was no time to think other than now.

'There was no body, but there were witnesses.'

As time passed, Theodore's overworked body was getting hotter.

In this state, it would be difficult for either of us to run. I thought I had run away for a while, but after stumbling, I realized that I was at the warehouse next to the stairs where the ancestral rites were stored.

Running away for a distance which could be reached in about 5 minutes based on normal walking, if there was a pursuer who was determined to follow us, this situation would be dangerous.

"Theodore, I have a favor to ask."

Theodore lowered his eyes, and his expression changed.

After our brief talk, I realized that Theodore's facial expression right now meant that he was listening to me, so I got straight to the point.

"Shirley, no Judith's dorm room should be around here, call her."

But even after hearing my words, Theodore didn't move; he just stood there like a delicately carved sculpture.

"What are you doing?"

"Would senior Judith come if I called her?"

"Ah."

Come to think of it, Theodore, who was in Crown of Thorns class, would know Judith's face but wouldn't have had a chance to build contact with her. So such concern was to be expected.

I leaned back against the wall, being careful not to touch the pile of furniture covered with white cloth to block the dust.

"Tell her I want what I gave her last summer back."

Theodore tilted his head like he couldn't understand it.

But this was to be expected.

What I asked him to say now wasn't something that happened last year, but it was a kind of code-related incident where Judith and I first met.

That summer, Judith was forced to take an oath to grant me any request, no matter how unreasonable it was, three times.

I didn't think I would use it now; no matter how Judith pushed for her own terms, the situation was complicated now.

"And be careful not to approach the crows. He should be in a very sensitive state."

"..."

Theodore nodded at my words and left the place. Unlike a moment ago when he was struggling to support me with his hand, he simply left like a ghost.

It was a wonder how Arthur Usher and Theodore could walk around without scaring anyone.

"Phew..."

Only after Theodore disappeared was I able to calm down. If the strange things which happened to me over the past two days were the result of someone's manipulation, then they surely should have a motive.

As of now, I have no way of knowing what the unknown persons wants, but I had to find out what this was.

'I need to meet Judith first.'

In fact, the reason I called Judith instead of Shirley was because we shared something in common.

Even if the inference turns out to be correct after seeing Judith in person, there are still a few questions I couldn't find the answers to, but I was certain of one thing.

-Thud!

While I was chewing on the skin inside the mouth, trying not to fall asleep, there was a commotion outside.

"Find him!"

"The west?"

"I was already checked!"

It was the sound of the security guard who arrived late, searching for the murderer hiding around.

I really hoped Judith and Theodore would be able to come through this commotion safely.

I really felt bad for dragging Judith into this situation, but I thought this incident itself could be resolved more easily than I thought.

"Arma."

It was at this moment that my eyelids began to feel heavy and were about to close. I barely woke up to the low voice of Judith whispering into my ear, as if to calm me.

"Judith."

"You aren't some five-year old kid who make a mess every time I take my eyes off you."

"But this time it is a little unfair..."

"This situation definitely seems like it."

When I looked up, Judith, with her blue hair tied low, seemed to be getting ready for bed and was looking at me gently.

Soon, Theodore, who had crawled in, lowered his body and looked at the hallway.

"I'll tell you the full situation later."

Judith put my arm on her shoulder like Theodore did to lift me up.

Judith, a sword master class, lifted me a lot more easily than Theodore did.

I slowly closed my eyes, looking down at Judith's hand wrapped around my waist.

'There are no fingers...'

Contrary to my memory, what was on Judith's finger was none other than a prosthetic hand. As if to reinforce the reasoning, the scenes in my dream slowly overlapped.

-Arma!

Judith caught me as I threw myself off the cliff.

-This is what happened... I guess I should apologize.

I was the one who aimed the gun at Judith's hand.

A gunshot rang out, and Judith's fingers disappeared.

This gives me one more thing to prove.

The whereabouts of the missing body, the identity of the criminal who framed me, and the situation where the murder that occurred in the dream is affecting reality.

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