I was still standing in front of him, waiting for whatever words he would say first to bring me back to the past as far as he could remember.
He was already prepared to tell me the story I had forgotten, but the people around him seemed unwilling to let me hear what I was supposed to know.
Several adults tugged rather hard at his clothes, drawing his attention toward Kayo and the others, who were still tying ropes around the body of the man wrapped in cloth.
They asked him to help Kayo, not only because he was young and strong enough to carry the man's body, but because of something else as well.
I heard one of them say, "Help him, he's the one who's always helped you, right?", something like that.
Of course, if I believed what that person said, then it was only natural for him to immediately help Kayo because of those words.
"Sorry, Lin... I can't run anymore right now. I'll make sure Kayo tells you everything later, okay?" he said, looking disappointed that he couldn't talk with me any longer.
I stepped back a few paces to make room for him to carry the corpse together with Kayo— Or at least, that was what should have happened, but the one helping him wasn't Kayo.
The crowd in front of me slowly disappeared, scattering apart because whatever they had gathered around was gone now.
Honestly, I had no idea where he went while carrying the corpse, and it left countless questions swirling inside my head.
As I stood there absentmindedly watching the two of them leave through the doorway, someone touched my shoulder from behind.
Instinctively, I turned around and found Kayo standing there, his expression completely calm as though nothing had happened at all.
"... What just happened—"
Kayo answered immediately before I could finish my question, his voice sounding slightly heavy, as if carrying some unseen burden.
"Calm down, Lin. I'll make sure none of us will ever wake up in that condition again, alright?"
The question sounded ordinary enough, yet somehow it made me feel as though I had to obey him without overreacting.
I nodded once, and Kayo let out a fairly deep breath before pulling my hand and leading me toward another room, or so I thought.
We did leave the room, but he guided me somewhere else instead. We walked through a rather wide corridor, and I had no idea where he intended to take me.
At that moment, we passed by a long window embedded in the corridor wall, and while continuing to walk behind him, I turned my gaze outside.
The sight beyond the glass captivated me instantly, gray clouds hanging across the sky as though shielding this small town from the sunlight.
The rooftops were covered in piled-up snow that looked almost like solid ground, while the traces left behind by horse-drawn carriages crossing the streets formed two wide lines, making the snow appear densely packed.
Kayo tightened his grip around my wrist slightly, making me wince from the pain of his grasp.
I didn't understand why Kayo's attitude had changed so suddenly. Everything felt strange after we saw that dead man.
Eventually, we stopped in front of one of the rooms located just beyond where the view outside ended. Somehow, it felt far too fitting for us to stop there after seeing that scenery.
Kayo finally released his grip on my wrist. Without turning around or even trying to apologize, he immediately opened the unlocked door.
The moment the door fully opened, the sight inside instantly made my eyes widen so much that I had to swallow hard after witnessing something almost impossible to believe.
A small room with only two windows, both completely covered by curtains buried beneath layers of dust.
An overpowering stench immediately filled my nostrils, while parts of the wooden floor were soaked with a dark liquid that released that foul odor.
Dozens of corpses with fox ears just like ours lay sprawled across the floor, their heads covered with white cloth stained by foamy saliva and blood that had seeped through.
Including the man who had just been carried inside, the number had increased, and perhaps it would continue to rise if I didn't believe what Kayo said about there being no more victims after this.
No one had even tried to wipe away the blood splattered across the floor, as though cleanliness no longer mattered enough for anyone to care about this place.
The smell only grew stronger the longer I stayed there, so I covered my nose and mouth with my left hand while following Kayo deeper inside.
"Look at this, Lin. Every one of them died before you woke up. Actually, there's something you should know. I forgot to tell you earlier, but now is the time."
Kayo suddenly stopped in front of me, causing me to bump into his back because I hadn't been paying attention.
—
Forgive me, Lin... I should've told you this the moment I found out you had regained consciousness. I truly regret it.
Like I said, their brains can no longer function the way they did before we were brought here, which is why they developed the urge to kill themselves.
The reason? Because fragments of the treatment we received from "them" still remain in our memories, even after we lost part of them.
However, there actually is a way to save someone if another person witnesses them trying to commit suicide.
Can you guess what it is?
... If you're staying silent like that, I can assume you can't figure it out, right?
The method is very simple, that person has to receive a blood donation from someone who hasn't woken up yet after collapsing. With one condition, the donor will die because their blood was taken before their body could react to the signals sent by their brain.
Then, when the person receiving the blood donation wakes up later, they'll feel nauseous and dizzy.
As for the donors, they'll kill themselves the moment their eyes open. In short, they were already dead before they even woke up.
Didn't... you experience those same symptoms when you woke up earlier...?
——
W-what the hell is Kayo talking about...? Everything sounded so strange, and every explanation he gave made my chest tighten painfully.
Nausea... Dizziness... No way, I'm sure there were other people besides me who experienced the same thing after waking up—
—
If you're thinking everyone who woke up felt nauseous, then you're mistaken, Lin.
All of them woke up as if they had simply risen from sleep, they could immediately speak and move normally without experiencing any of those symptoms... So, can you feel it now, Princess Lin?
Every single person lying in this room... Their blood is flowing inside you now, doesn't that feel strange, Princess?
——
T-that can't be true... Kayo has to be joking right now... He must be making all of this up just to scare me so I'll obey everything he says...
Besides... He called me Princess, I must still be dreaming and unconscious back in that room... I'm sure—
Ughhh!
——
Lin stared at both of her trembling hands, her eyes and body shaking violently after hearing Kayo's words, words that made her feel utterly shattered.
Slowly, an unbearable pain twisted through her stomach until she collapsed onto the floor, vomiting the remains of the food inside her stomach onto the wooden boards stained with old blood.
She tried to stop herself from throwing up, but she couldn't. It was as if her body was forcing her to expel everything she had eaten after learning the truth.
The reality... that she had survived only by sacrificing others, filled her with unbearable nausea, fear, and frustration that overwhelmed her mind.
She began to imagine countless things suddenly resurfacing in fragments of memory, visions of people sacrificing themselves for her in the past.
All of it poured into her head like a raging waterfall crashing down without mercy.
Their beautiful faces were now covered in blood, blood that flowed through her veins. The body she possessed now... was proof of the lives of countless people within her.
Thinking about how every one of them had to kill themselves just for her sake... All of it... Ughh... completely shattered her emotions.
An overwhelming sense of guilt, fear, despair, and the relentless pain twisting inside her stomach tormented Lin as though she were sitting upon a chair covered in nails.
Those nails pierced deeply into her flesh as though it were the perfect punishment for someone who lived in ignorance, yet had unknowingly caused so many deaths.
"AAAHHHH!!!"
Lin screamed so loudly that the entire room, even the corridor beyond it, was filled with her piercing cry, making Kayo's ears tremble from the sound.
Using the last of her strength, she grabbed fistfuls of her golden hair, utterly tormented by everything she had just heard.
Tears streamed from her eyes, mixing together with her vomit and the traces of blood, like seawater meeting a river at the mouth of the ocean.
She no longer cared about her hair or her appearance. The only thing filling her mind now was the dark thought of the punishment she deserved after taking the lives of the people around her.
Every drop of blood and every bone within her body belonged to those who had suffered and ended their own lives with their own hands.
Truly... it was a reality that shattered Lin completely, breaking her apart like glass thrown onto the floor and crushed beneath countless feet until nothing remained but dust scattered by the wind.
"Calm yourself, Lin... A princess must not cry after carrying the burden of her people's lives, especially when you are the future queen destined to lead our kind."
"Even if we continue wandering from place to place and separate from the young foxes who choose their own paths in life, this great family of ours will always flow through your blood."
Kayo approached Lin as she continued crying on the floor. He leaned close to her fox ears, which were folded down and buried beneath her hair, yet could still hear more clearly than the ears hidden at the sides of her head beneath her hair.
"Princess Lin, if you stop crying and pull yourself together now, I'll tell you how you can free yourself from these chains. I promise."
The moment Kayo spoke the word "promise," a faint light appeared within Lin's mind, which had already sunk into an endless sea of regret stretching out like the universe itself.
It was as though Kayo's hand was reaching for her beneath the water, offering hope alongside the possibility that she could finally receive the punishment she deserved.
Slowly, her tears stopped falling. Her eyes returned to their bright orange color, though slightly dimmed after all the crying.
Kayo whispered to Lin once again after seeing her stop weeping. His voice was gentle, yet to Lin, it sounded like a blessing trying to restore her.
"From now on, the memories of those who died because of you will continue living inside your heart. But you'll still live alongside us, as the same Lin as always, part of us, yet different from everyone else."
"Don't worry, you're the only one who'll forget it. As for helping you, I'll lead our people myself, just like you've already seen before. So, look upon this world with your beautiful eyes, Lin!"
—
... Who even cares about my life anymore... Kayo is going to give me a path to atone for all the sins flowing through my body.
All I need to do is become the innocent Lin who knows nothing once again, only to eventually return to the person I am now, consumed by endless regret and frustration.
Everything... Don't worry, the blood remaining inside me will stay with me until the day I die and meet all of you again.
When that moment comes... Please, unleash every ounce of hatred you hold toward me. Don't try to pity me, even if I'll suffer from it... Please, don't hold any of it back.
Because of that, I will wait for all of you to return within my memories. I promise~