Lonely footsteps echoed across the marble floor. A lamp carrying a small, flickering, multicolored flame illuminated the path Lenore was taking, deep beneath the church.
Frowning slightly, he gently rubbed his temples. On the vaulted ceiling right above his head, a complex glyph appeared under the firelight, depicting a human brain pierced through the center by a long needle. As the lamp in Lenore's hand swayed toward other areas, he saw hundreds of similar glyphs densely carved all over the walls. The deeper he went, the more twisted and intricate their lines became.
"Concealment, mental elimination, cognitive decline... Even the ability to make the affected target completely lost?"
Sighing, he continued forward, leaving the complex glyphs behind, his mind wandering as he walked.
'I didn't see the one that makes people get lost last time, did the Church of Crystal carve new ones?'
When he reached the end of the corridor, before him stood a simple oak door reinforced with a metal plate on the outside. In the center of that metal plate was an exceptionally complex glyph. It was a bizarre combination of a pair of eyes with pupils made of countless interwoven film reels, and beneath them, a mouth faintly visible behind two crossed fingers made of flowers. The lips of that mouth were formed by a series of ink strokes engraving characters from various languages.
Lenore took a step toward the door, reached out to touch the handle, and pulled gently. The door slowly opened to reveal a room inside as flower petals drifted out, carrying a faint fragrance.
"Everyone... I'm here again this week. Ah, I brought pastries!"
Entering the room and quietly closing the door behind him, he walked leisurely across the carpet of flowers toward the center of the room. It contained three large tanks filled with an off-white liquid and dozens of other mechanical devices. On each tank, a solemn name was engraved alongside a body, or rather, the remaining fragments of a body.
Those bodies were, respectively, a brain with a spinal cord and nerve fibers extending from it like silken threads, with the name "Ashton" engraved underneath; a still-beating heart pumping blood through the surrounding capillaries and veins to form a human silhouette, a body named "Gideon"; and finally, a pair of beautiful, crystal-clear blue eyes that looked as though they held an entire sky within them, known by the name "Chloe."
Placing the bag of pastries on the ground next to the flowers, Lenore leaned his back against Gideon's tank, staring blankly ahead with a distant gaze. After thinking for a moment, he lowered himself to lie flat on the carpet of flowers, raising one hand toward the ceiling to examine it for a while before letting it drop, beginning to speak and tell his stories.
"Hey Gideon, do you know about Allerleirauh, the Many-Furred Princess? The story goes that once upon a time, there was a king... Today I went to work... My landlord..."
As if in response to those stories, Ashton's nerves twitched slightly, Gideon's heart seemed to beat a bit faster, and Chloe's eyes grew even clearer. But that was all, for in the end, he was merely speaking to fragmented parts of bodies that were no longer whole.
Letting out a self-deprecating laugh, he sat up, pulling his knees to his chest and burying his head in them, letting the silence of the vault swallow his trembling shoulders. His thoughts gradually sank deeper into the fragments of memories from a distant past. Eventually, he spoke again, but this time, it seemed he was talking to himself.
"...Hey everyone, I'm pretty useless, aren't I?"
His voice was barely audible, like the quiet whispers of a child talking to their toy in search of comfort.
"Just because of my foolish and selfish thoughts, we decided to embark on that reckless journey. But in the end, what did we gain? You risked your lives and sacrificed yourselves so that I could live, yet I still couldn't escape her grasp. Now I still have to bear this curse, and you can't even rest in peace... I'm... really so tired..."
A sudden rustling sound echoed faintly in the small vault. Lenore raised his head, turning his gaze toward the source of the noise. The bag of pastries he had left on the ground had shifted a short distance away. Right next to it were a few tiny, slender creatures that looked like moving letters, straining themselves to lift the pastry box and carry it toward a nearby crack.
'Damned curse... I haven't even had a single bite yet...'
He didn't give chase, nor did he bother to snatch the box back. Lenore just watched blankly as the tiny letters carried away his only sweet joy of the day. He buried his head back into his knees. The space beneath the crypt fell into silence once more. The empty void was like a mirror reflecting his current pathetic state, until finally, he could bear it no longer and gave up, letting the melancholy thoughts in his heart burst forth.
'...Why? Why can't I have a normal life like everyone else? Repeating a boring funeral job day after day, no matter how much salary I get, it's barely enough to eat. No goals to strive for, no dreams, even taking care of myself is a mess... A pathetic wretch like me, what value do I have for them to sacrifice their lives to protect? Why am I the one who survived? Why did they choose me? Why? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY?...'
The word "why" exploded repeatedly in his mind like flashes of light. Lenore wrapped his arms over his head, his hands gripping his hair tightly, his teeth clenching so hard they bled to stop himself from screaming in front of the glass tanks.
'Is it because I've never been able to let go of past mistakes... or are other chains dragging me deeper into the Abyss? In the end... have I gone mad?'
…
Returning above ground to the church after calming down and saying goodbye to the three of them, he strode over to the priest. He wiped the remaining tears and smudges from his face with his sleeve as he walked.
"Father, I want to pray to God for a bit."
The priest looked at Lenore's sniffling state, his gaze softening with pity and tenderness. Perhaps it was compassion for the tragic fate of a child trapped in an adult's body with a mature mind, a child who had to shoulder far too much, a child who deserved to be happy.
"Of course. You can sit in the middle row over there; that spot will help you see the holy emblem more clearly. May we all be as beautiful as Crystal."
Lenore sat on a long bench in the middle of the empty church. Since it was currently midday, there was no one else inside except him. He practiced the familiar, devout ritual of pressing both hands to his face in prayer. This was the customary way of praying for believers of the Church of Crystal, mimicking the sacred moment when God wept in sorrow for all creation on the day He witnessed the truth at the End of the World.
In front of him, right beneath the holy emblem's dais, the priest stood preaching, holding the holy scripture revised after the Age of Fairy Tales, titled "The Kaleidoscope." It expounded on the value of human emotion and the humanity within us. It was one of the best-selling books in the Cinderella Kingdom, to the point that every household had at least one copy, despite being incredibly expensive.
"Humanity and the mortal emotions of living beings are like the countless creations within a kaleidoscope. They rotate unpredictably, always differing in color and texture. Yet God declared, 'Though they shift and change, though they transform in ten thousand ways, the essence of humanity always retains its beauty. That beauty is eternal, and its inherent value will never be severed from our souls...'"
Upon finishing his prayer, he stood up, thanked the priest, and walked toward the exit. But shortly after, he was called back. The priest held out a bag containing premium jelly and said gently:
"Here, please take this."
Surprised by this gesture, Lenore quickly waved his hands in refusal.
"Father, I gave this to you earli—"
"It's fine, it's quite fine, go ahead and take it." He smiled warmly, cutting Lenore off. "I hear that sweets can make a person feel happier when eaten. Besides, you look far too thin; eating something will help ease your body's fatigue. Have a day as beautiful as Crystal."
Without giving Lenore a chance to refuse, the priest slipped the bag of jelly into his hands and quickly escorted him to the door, not forgetting to add:
"Mr. Lenore, I hope you can attend the next holy service. It will be held on Friday, two weeks from now."
Lenore walked blankly through the crowded street, clutching the bag of jelly. Around him, people were strolling leisurely, walking their pets, or heading into restaurants for lunch. It was the same peaceful daily scene of Sui Cornal as any other day.
He looked up at the sky; the rain clouds seemed to have cleared. Perhaps because he was looking up so intently, Lenore lowered his guard completely, crashing straight into an oncoming figure. The sudden collision sent the other person sprawling onto the ground.
"Ouch!!!"
"Oh dear, I'm so sorry... Are you okay? You are...?"
Lenore quickly knelt down. Appearing before his eyes was a girl with wild, loose hair that hung down like countless white bird wings. Her eyes possessed an unusual golden-red hue, with faint hints of blue and green shimmering deep within, accompanied by jet-black vertical pupils like those of a reptile. And oh, now that he noticed, her limbs were wrapped entirely in clean white bandages, done neatly yet casually in a way.
"Ivory?"
But before he could even verify if that was her name, Lenore was interrupted by a strange noise. It sounded like the low growl of a starving beast, and apparently, it had just found its ideal prey.
"Grumble... growl... rumble..."
Ivory was now staring intently at Lenore's premium jelly bag. Her eyes sparkled, reflecting the package, but deep within them lay something else, something he was certain of the moment he saw the drooling grin on her face, a completely undisguised, mischievous intent.
"Hey, is that premium gelatin jelly? Could I try some—"
"No!!!"
Lenore flatly refused, immediately clutching the jelly bag tightly and taking a step back as if defending against a thief.
Ivory's vertical pupils dilated, her eyes suddenly turning mournful. Of course, that sorrow was in complete contrast to the mischievous smirk still lingering on her lips a moment ago, but it was quickly replaced by tightly pursed lips, looking aggrieved as if she had just suffered all the humiliations in the world.
'Holy crap, danger! Need to run, fast!!!'
Goosebumps broke out all over him as a chilling intuition warned him that Ivory was about to pull a stunt. Lenore quickly took another step back, intending to spin around and flee. However, before he could even lift his foot, a figure lunged forward. Ivory, face down on the ground, clamped both arms tightly around his ankles like a death grip. She looked up with a tear-stained face, intentionally wailing as loudly as she could so the entire crowd on the street could hear:
"Sob, sob... Hubby! Why are you so heartless to abandon me and our child?! Is it... is it just because of that wealthy sixty-year-old woman??!"
'What the... hubby?!' It felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck right through Lenore's mind.
"I know I'm not good enough to stand by your side, but I tried so hard! From laundry, cooking, to sewing... I did it all. And yet you're still not satisfied??"
Somehow, tears and snot began to stream down Ivory's face like rain. This masterclass in acting instantly achieved maximum effect, drawing judgmental glares from everyone around. Seeing that her prey was trapped, Ivory pressed her advantage, fully immersing herself in the role:
"But even if you have no feelings left for me, you should at least care a little about your own flesh and blood! You're hoarding even this bag of jelly, refusing to share a single bite with me? Then... how is the baby in my womb supposed to survive, oh dear??"
That was all it took. The surrounding crowd instantly erupted. Judgmental fingers pointed directly at Lenore's face all at once, whispers rising like crashing waves, looking as if they were ready to form a public court of justice to try him right then and there:
"Tsk tsk, he looks decent, but he's absolute scum."
"Oh my goodness, such a beautiful, hardworking young lady, why would she marry such an ungrateful scoundrel."
"Go to Former Wonderland, you jerk!!!"
Lenore stood rooted to the spot, completely frozen and deeply shocked by this utterly shameless display of extortion. His face flushed bright red before turning pale under the contemptuous stares of the passersby. After being choked up for a long while, he could only let out a hiss from the very depths of his soul:
"Dammit!!!"
[A while later...]
"This is so delicious!! What flavor is it, hubby?"
Ivory sat on an outdoor wooden bench in the park, her legs swinging carelessly as she enjoyed the cool shade of a lush, leafy tree. She asked while holding a silver spoon, scooping up pieces of jelly and blissfully popping them into her mouth.
"Ocean cherry flavor. Wait a minute, who's your hubby?!"
Sighing helplessly, Lenore turned to look at Ivory, who was devouring his bag of jelly, and grumbled softly:
"It's all your fault, now I have nothing left to put in my stomach."
Ivory's movements suddenly froze. She slowly turned to him, her eyelids lowering slightly, clearly showing guilt and remorse for her impulsive behavior. This time, it was a completely genuine emotion.
"Sorry..."
"Ah, no, no!! I was just kidding, keep eating." Lenore immediately waved his hands in a panic upon seeing her spirits drop.
"Really?"
"Really."
Hearing this, Ivory instantly flipped her mood, cheerfully returning to devouring the next item, a jar of premium coffee jelly topped with a layer of rich cream.
Lenore glanced at her, then turned his gaze toward the sunlit courtyard, watching children play together. He thought to himself:
'Her... her emotions seem a bit excessive at times, yet randomly detached at others. What kind of person is she really?'
Completely lost in thought, Lenore failed to notice a leather ball from the children flying off course, hurtling straight toward him.
Smack!!!
A direct hit made his face flush bright red with pain. Lenore clutched his nose, bowing his head, and muttered helplessly:
"Good grief... I don't know if today is my lucky day or the end of the world for me..."