Tami (looking at the sky):
"I will never forget your kindness…"
---
A luxurious carriage enters, pulled by horses, framed in black iron, adorned with garlands of flowers.
Tami watches the carriage with anticipation. From inside, Nelson—the current village leader—steps down. He extends his left hand… and a woman's hand reaches out to meet his.
An elegant woman appears, dressed in a lavish yellow coat.
Tami's eyes widen slightly, his pupils constricting, the wind gently brushing his hair.
When the woman's eyes fall on Tami, they widen faintly in surprise.
Nelson (noticing her reaction):
"What is it, my dear?"
Wife:
"N–Nothing… I was just lost in thought."
Nelson and Tami head toward the castle entrance.
Tami (bowing slightly):
"This way, sir."
Nelson (raising an eyebrow):
"And who might you be?"
The woman casts a furious glare at Tami, her eyes boiling with tension and anger.
Tami:
"Your father hired me as the castle's gatekeeper."
Wife (with disdain):
"You're nothing but a worthless man. This job is far beyond you."
Nelson chuckles arrogantly as he enters the castle. Tami sits quietly on the steps, eyes fixed on the ground, sorrow clouding his face.
Wife (whispering to Nelson in unease):
"Tell your father to dismiss him."
Nelson (narrowing his left eye in suspicion):
"Do you… know him?"
Wife (averting her eyes, laughing awkwardly):
"No… of course not. I've never seen him before in my life."
---
Evening falls.
Nelson's father appears, wearing a formal blue uniform, elegant and dignified like a true leader.
Father (cheerfully):
"We'll meet again soon."
He boards the carriage and departs.
Tami (thinking):
"Go… and never return. That is my only hope."
---
In the wife's chamber: the door is at the upper left, a bed in the center, a large vanity cluttered with perfumes and powders, and a wide mirror above it.
Wife (gritting her teeth in worry):
"He's planning something…"
---
Night falls.
The family gathers at the dining hall table. Nelson's aged mother, her face lined with wrinkles, sits at the left. Across from her sits the wife. On the right, Nelson faces his father.
Meanwhile, Tami is in his upper room.
Tami (whispering to himself):
"This is the perfect time…"
The slow clinking of spoons against bowls echoes like a countdown to disaster.
Tami walks carefully toward the leader's office, his trembling steps echoing softly. He opens the door with utmost caution, as though the creak alone could awaken the entire castle.
He slips inside, rummaging through stacks of papers, reading one after another, his eyes flickering between hope and dread.
With each page, his hope fades.
His heartbeat pounds as though it would burst from his chest.
Tami (muttering):
"Where could it be…? Where?"
(Doubt creeps in)
"Did he burn it…? Or was it never here at all?"
Tami (whispering softly):
"Should I give up… and settle for this job?"
(His voice softens, weighed with grief)
"Why me…? If he had chosen someone else, they would have found the documents already…"
Tami (choking, eyes wet):
"Uncle trusted me… he planned everything for our happiness… If only I had refused that day, maybe things would have been better."
He takes two steps back.
Suddenly, one of the floor tiles shifts beneath his feet.
Tami (eyes widening):
"What…? Could it be…?"
He kneels cautiously, lifts the tile aside. Beneath it lies a paper sealed with a glowing red mark—shimmering with mystery.
He sets the paper on the ground, places his right palm over it, and closes his eyes. A transparent aura of Shin energy envelops his body.
A faint green glow emerges on the paper. Then, beside it, another page materializes, enveloped in a radiant green aura. Moments later, the glow fades, revealing a perfect duplicate of the document.
Tami grips the copy, replaces the tile carefully, leaving no trace.
---
Everything quiets again… except his heart, still pounding under the weight of what's to come.
[Inside the mansion]
The woman rises abruptly from her chair, her face pale as if she were about to faint.
Wife (alarmed, shocked):
"I'll be back…"
Nelson notices her expression, his brows lifting as suspicion grows.
In the corridor, Tami clutches the paper, excitement rushing through him.
Tami (with sly delight):
"The scale tips in our favor… Now, you're mine."
Hurried footsteps echo from the stairs.
Tami quickly hides the paper under his shirt.
The woman storms back, rushing at him in fury.
Tami (whistling, raising his hands mockingly):
"Look who's back… the Queen of Deceit!"
Her eyes blaze with rage and scorn. She grabs him forcefully, dragging him in near-hostile steps.
Tami (mocking):
"Easy—don't let anger control you."
Wife (serious, eyes piercing):
"Come… and keep quiet."
They ascend the stairs; she pulls him into her chamber, slamming the door shut.
---
[Inside the room]
Wife (exploding with anger):
"Are you planning something?"
Tami lifts his head, scanning the corners of the room with probing eyes.
Tami (lowering his head, narrowing his eyes):
"Is this the world you dreamed of? The life you wished for?"
The question catches her off guard.
Wife (bitterly):
"My life was better before you returned…
If I had stayed with you, my fate would have been hell in poverty."
Tami (clenching his fists, his voice quiet and sad):
"Truly… is poverty what frightens you the most?
Has our life become a blind race after things we don't need?
Has a person's worth been reduced to what he owns, not who he is?"
Wife (mocking):
"Ha! Easy to say, when you've never tasted wealth!"
Tami (lifting his head toward her):
"Are we human… or just desires walking on two legs, vanishing after they're fed?
I wonder… will I become one of them?
Will I hurt others just to satisfy hunger?"
(placing his left hand on his forehead, laughing bitterly)
"Ha… what nonsense am I spouting?
I don't even know if I'll remain myself tomorrow."
Wife:
"Without wealth, you're nothing but a fly to them."
Tami (fists trembling, words burning with hidden fury):
"Money fixes walls, not souls…
Builds houses, not values…
Do you truly believe your worth is measured in banknotes?"
Wife (angry, quietly grieving):
"I don't know how I ended up like this…
I don't even know myself anymore. I feel like a dog chasing coins.
I haven't received a genuine smile since my marriage."
Tami is struck silent by her words.
Wife (sitting on the floor, drawing her legs close):
"I never knew life could cling to your skin and wound you to the bone…"
Tami (trying to calm her):
"We can forget the past…"
Wife (laughing coldly, arrogantly):
"Ha! You think you can bring me back?
I've grown used to wealth… and I'll die rich!"
Tami (lips curved in sorrow):
"Life has hurt us more than any enemy…
It tore us apart.
But the past is only a memory—we can swallow it before it swallows us."
Wife (tearfully):
"Am I… a slave to money?"
Tami (with solemn wisdom):
"Money is nothing but a thief… stealing people's morals."
Wife (standing, mocking):
"Ha! Truly… how foolish you are!"
Tami:
"...What?"
Wife (face twisted with deceit):
"Don't forget…
You're still shackled by poverty.
And I… survived."
Wife (raising her voice):
"From now on, forget everything we said…
Forget we ever loved each other…
Forget I even existed."
The door opens. Nelson stands there, a pistol in his left hand, eyes blazing with fury.
Nelson (with a deadly glare):
"What are you hiding, pauper?
No one leaves until I get answers."
Wife (crafty):
"There's nothing… between me and this wretch."
Tami (shouting defiantly):
"Don't lie to him! He deserves the truth—here, now!"
Sweat trickles down her forehead as she clenches her teeth in tension.
Tami (smirking wickedly):
"You must know… so you won't be deceived.
She was my lover, yes…
But I won't finish the story.
Let your wife tell you the rest."
The woman recoils in fear. Nelson steps closer, gun aimed at her.
Tami walks out of the room.
Wife (crying out):
"Save me, Tami… please!"
Tami calmly adjusts his tie.
Tami (softly):
"Those who refuse to see their faults… deserve death."
He straightens his cuffs and walks away, composed, confident, alluring.
---
[Next dawn]
Tami stands atop a rock at the mountain's edge. Mist surrounds him like whispers of a truth he has long avoided.
Tami (looking at the sky, eyes lost):
"Is she alright…?
Maybe it's not about right or wrong… but the inevitability of choice.
Sometimes… leaving is the only choice, no matter how painful."
Tami (smiling bitterly):
"Ha… humans are masters at justifying pain.
We convince ourselves the decision was never ours—just so we don't bear regret."
Tami (gazing at the paper in his hand, whispering):
"But what is the point of choice… if it brings no peace?
Why do I feel I lost something… even while holding victory?
Is this truly success… or just another escape wrapped in pride?"
---
[At the market]
As Tami wanders the alleys, he overhears a conversation between a customer and a merchant.
Customer:
"Did you hear about Mr. Nelson's wife?"
Tami's eyes widen. He freezes, as if time itself stopped.
He takes a hesitant step, eyes filling with dread.
Tami (trembling, voice tight):
"What did you say?"
Customer (coldly):
"I said… Nelson's wife is dead."
Tami lowers his head, eyes sinking to the ground, lips curved in sorrow.
Tami (inner conflict):
"Have I become one of them?
Just another man reacting like everyone else?
My heart screams—something terrible has happened."
Tami (darkly, to himself):
"I bragged about desires… claimed I was chasing fulfillment.
And now, I achieved it—not through victory… but through betrayal.
I betrayed a friend, abandoned her.
What kind of desire feeds on the ruins of loyalty?"
---
[In front of Nelson's mansion]
Tami stands among the crowd, his eyes gleaming as he gazes at the grand carriage before the mansion. Whispers ripple around him, but the world is silent in his ears.
There, inside the coffin, lies the ending he never imagined.
Tami (quietly, in pain):
"Should I cry now?
What use are tears, if they cannot mend time?
Can they restore what broke within us—
Or are they nothing more than a late confession of helplessness?"
(looking down, then at the coffin)
"What if I hadn't turned my back on her?
What if I had given her just one moment of honesty, not arrogance…
Could I have stopped this fate?
Or are some mistakes born with us—inescapable?"
(his voice trembling, grief bleeding into philosophy)
"Are we human?
Or parasites, changing at the first trial?
Was my pride worth more than her life?
Or was I chasing an empty triumph from the start?"
(sighing, placing his hand over his chest)
"I feel ashamed… not of the world, but of myself.
The true disgrace is not losing others—
But losing our humanity as we watch our loved ones shatter,
only to realize too late…
we hold tears with no worth before a coffin."
(w
hispering, finally):
"How heavy regret feels… when silence is the only reply the dead can give."
---
[Nelson's eyes were like blades, sharp and brimming with silent rage, as though about to explode.]
Tami froze in place, stunned, feeling that gaze as a sentence already passed.
Inside Nelson's mind, a door to the past creaked open…
---
…and the tragedy unfolded.