For the One Who Hates Me - Chapter 42

Karl lit the candles embedded in the stairwell wall. The stairs became dimly visible.

“I’ll get it. Wait for me here.”

“How can I trust you? I’m coming with you.”

“…Then hold on. The stairs are tricky.”

Karl held out his hand. Aura, though reluctant, took it. She couldn’t afford to waste time arguing.

They slowly descended the stairs. As he said, the steps were uneven. Despite that, Karl lit every single candle on the walls.

“How much further down do we have to go?”

“A long way still. That’s why I said I’d get it for you.”

“Don’t blame me. If you were a trustworthy person, I wouldn’t have come.”

“I apologize. For being untrustworthy.”

Aura, who had been bickering with him, silently watched his back.

‘Why does he keep apologizing? It doesn’t suit him.’

Just as she took her eyes off the ground for a moment, her foot slipped on a step.

“Ah!”

Aura’s body tilted forward. Just as a dizzying feeling rushed over her, Karl quickly scooped her up. He gently set her back down on the stairs.

“Are you okay?”

“Huh? …Yeah.”

“I can carry you if you want.”

“Carry me?”

“It’s better than you falling again. We still have a long way to go.”

Karl pointed to the long, dark stretch ahead of them. Aura bit her lip. Had the near-fall been too frightening? She didn’t feel brave enough to walk into that darkness.

‘I don’t like it… but I have to get it done.’

Aura silently extended both her arms. It was her way of saying it was okay for him to carry her.

Karl’s eyes widened, and then he chuckled.

“You really don’t care what you look like, do you?”

He lifted her with one arm by the legs. As she was held in his arms, she was surprised by the feeling of security.

As Karl descended the stairs, Aura replayed his words in her mind.

‘What did he think I looked like? A child?’

A while later, the stairs ended and they came to another door.

“Is it here?” she asked.

“A little further.”

Karl opened the door, and a long corridor lay before them.

“You can put me down if it’s not stairs.”

“Not yet. The floor is bumpy.”

He used the ridiculous excuse to continue carrying her. Aura considered arguing but held back. Once she found Pin, she wouldn’t have to deal with him like this anymore.

This place was like a forgotten storage room. Shabby things were decaying in the corners.

“How did you know about a place like this?”

“I used to hide here a lot when I was a prince.”

“Hide? Why?”

“My brothers used to torment me.”

He spoke as if he were reminiscing about a fond memory. But those “brothers” were the three True-Bloods Karl had killed.

“How did they torment you?”

“They were men, so they’d often hit me. They stole my mother’s belongings and killed my horse.”

Aura pictured the three brothers she remembered. They were all small and foolish. There was no way Karl would have lost to them.

‘He must have let them win. Winning would have only made things more complicated.’

“I’d usually put up with it, but sometimes when I was overwhelmed, I’d run here to calm down. It would help me endure for a few more days.”

Aura tilted her head.

“I don’t remember you running to the annex.”

“Oh, I didn’t come here after we got married.”

“Why not?”

“Because seeing you gave me a sense of relief.”

Aura was reminded of an old memory. Karl would sometimes show up to see her without warning. He would talk to her in a distant tone and then, at some point, say something like, “That’s enough. I’ve been a bother. I’ll be going now.”

Aura tried to forget the memory. It wasn’t the time to offer comfort even if she now understood his pain.

Eventually, they reached the end of the corridor. There were two doors.

“This is the room.”

Karl stood in front of the door on the right. Aura pointed to the door on the left.

“What’s in this one?”

“That’s… where I kept my precious things.”

“Precious things?” Aura asked, as if to find out more. Karl gave a playful response.

“I’m not telling you. They’re mine.”

“…You’re like a crow. Hiding away your things.”

“Haha…”

Karl laughed out loud at Aura’s words.

“Stop laughing and put me down now.”

“Hmm…”

“Come on. You’ve carried me long enough.”

But Karl stood still as a statue. Aura grabbed his shoulders tightly.

“Do you really hate it that much? Zenia regaining its power?”

“Yes, I do. I hate you breaking the seal on the Pin.”

She was furious.

“You’re just like the Crown Prince. Don’t you care how miserable the Zenia people, especially the wizards, are?”

“If you break the seal, you’ll leave me.” Karl said calmly. Aura froze.

‘He knew. He knew I was in the palace because of Pin.’

And every time he did this, she was reminded of something. How much he wanted to keep her by his side. Whether it was because he liked her or because of her bloodline.

“…Yes, I’ll leave.”

“I knew you’d say that. And yet…” Karl slowly put her down. “I came all this way. Because you wanted to.”

He used a key to unlock the padlock on the door handle.

Screeeak!

The door opened with a nasty sound. The room seemed to be an old storage space, filled with all sorts of relics. But it was poorly maintained, and the air was heavy with the smell of dust and moisture.

Karl took a small box from the top shelf. Aura quickly went to his side.

“Is it inside?”

In place of an answer, Karl grabbed the lid. He was about to open the box, but then he sighed and called her name.

“Aura.”

“…”

“If you give up on Pin, I’ll make Zenia independent.”

“!”

“I’ll make it completely independent. Give up on Pin and stay as the Empress of Kasa.”

It was a groundbreaking offer. With it, Aura wouldn’t have to struggle to break the seal. Karl would have to face political opposition, but he would overcome it. Just as he always did.

But in that case, they would never get their magic back.

Aura grabbed the back of Karl’s hand. The two of them met each other’s eyes in the dark.

“I refuse.”

“…”

“If we just get our magic back, the Zenia people will have the power to become independent. It’s a longer path, but it’s the right one.”

“Then I will do my best to stop you from now on. I won’t let you get any information about the seal.”

“Try. I wasn’t expecting anything less.”

“You can’t do it, Aura. Not on your own. Accept my offer for the sake of your people.”

You can’t do it. Those words provoked Aura even more.

“Keep your promise, Karl Kasa. Open the box right now.”

Silence. Karl finally opened the box.

Inside, there was a small velvet pouch. She took the pouch and felt it. She could feel something hard and fan-shaped inside.

“Are you sure this is Pin? I thought the pin was a crystal ball.”

“Look at it in the light. Then you’ll understand.”

Karl said with a resigned tone. Aura was skeptical, but she decided to trust him for now.

“I can go up by myself.”

Aura turned around without a word. Her back quickly disappeared into the darkness.

Karl watched the darkness for a long time and then whispered quietly to himself, “…She actually did it.”

As soon as Aura got back to her room, she opened the velvet pouch. Her heart was pounding. She put her hand inside and pulled out the contents.

“…This is…”

It was a fan-shaped piece of crystal. To be exact, it was what was left of a crystal ball after it had been split into three.

‘Is Pin… split into three pieces?’

Aura suddenly remembered Ryan’s letter.

“Pin is with me. Come to Sutra Castle.“

‘That wasn’t a lie. Then what he said to me right after Isen’s funeral… is likely true too.’

“Don’t you have something you’re curious about?“

“I don’t think so.“

Ryan’s eyes had narrowed into a smile.

“For example, Pin.“

“…“

“Or how to break the seal on the Pin.“

‘…He has the second piece of Pin. And he probably knows how to break the seal.’

Aura felt disheartened. She had just thought she had found Pin, and now she had to get two more.

‘That makes sense. I thought it was too easy for Karl to just give it to me.’

But if she had to gather them, she would. That’s why she came to the palace in the first place.

‘Karl took the piece of Pin that the Crown Prince had. So Pin was shared by the Crown Prince, the Grand Duke, and a third person. Who could that third person be?’

He would have been close to both the Crown Prince and the Grand Duke. And someone who had benefited from Zenia’s downfall.

“…Duke Taine.”

Half of Zenia’s land was now owned by the ducal family. The Crown Prince had sold that land to Duke Taine for next to nothing.

‘It won’t be that hard to find the Duke Taine’s piece. He’s not far away. The problem is Ryan.’

With things being the way they were, meeting Ryan was an inevitable next step. But how could she go to Sutra and meet Ryan? Karl would do anything to prevent her from meeting Ryan. No, he would probably try to take Ryan’s piece of Pin first.

In her frustration, she reached for her cloak’s ribbon. The ribbon that Karl had tied so beautifully. Was it because of the ribbon? She remembered what Karl had said earlier.

‘If you break the seal, you’ll leave me.’

At that moment, she almost asked him, “What if I don’t leave? How far would you go for me? Could you live with my hatred forever?”

‘I must be crazy. Why would I even think of something so ridiculous…’

Aura shook her head. In this situation, there was only one person who could help her.

‘Ruan needs to come to the palace soon.’

She made a calm plan. First, she had to confirm if Duke Taine had the piece of Pin. If she could get it, she would. If not…

‘I’ll go to Sutra with Ruan.’

Aura unties the cloak’s ribbon roughly. Slish! The cloak fell to the floor.

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