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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Chapter 21
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“Oh? Young Master Aselt?”
Mabel, who had been sitting quietly in her chair, turned around.
In the air, Aselt's white eyes met Mabel's red ones.
But...
Nothing happened.
Of course.
Aselt had been able to control his abilities for a long time now.
Of course, it wasn't perfect, but Aselt was confident he wouldn't make a mistake.
Yet, people still didn't trust Aselt.
“They say basilisks turn their mothers to stone the moment they’re born?”
“That’s why many lose their mothers. The child kills its mother.”
Some of the Grand Ducal family members were busy spouting unreliable information they’d picked up somewhere.
Nonsense.
‘A basilisk’s abilities grow stronger as it matures.’
Aselt, still a boy, could only petrify for a few hours at most.
Furthermore, when they first hatch from their eggs, a film covers their eyes, preventing them from even using their abilities.
The Grand Ducal family members were unaware of these facts, which one could easily learn by simply visiting the black market or the recently rampant beastfolk market.
Because they were ‘good people who didn’t buy and sell beastfolk.’
With the prevalent notion that studying beastfolk characteristics was something only illicit traders did, it was unlikely the servants would study for Aselt’s sake.
But just as a universally good person isn't good for everyone, sometimes good people hurt others precisely because they are too good.
Because of this paradox, Aselt was always lonely and isolated.
It was the same even when he sought Kellik’s consent, turned him to stone, and then showed that he had safely returned to normal.
Everyone only cared that Aselt ‘wasn’t wearing his blindfold.’
Knowing this, Sigmund stepped forward and asked if he should warn the people, but Aselt shook his head.
If he did that, it would just be him enduring his fear out of obedience to Sigmund’s command.
That wasn't what Aselt wanted.
He wanted them not to avert their gaze when their eyes met, not to check if he was wearing a blindfold before approaching him...
He wanted them to treat him normally.
He’d rather they discriminate against him for being a beastfolk than treat him like a terrifying monster that no one dared approach.
‘But even that must be too much to ask.’
So the reason Mabel was now sitting perfectly still, her eyes wide... was probably because she was too surprised.
That child seemed unable to even breathe properly, let alone speak, when she was too scared.
‘Just like when she first saw me.’
With my ugly face and now her eyes meeting a basilisk’s, it was only natural for her to freeze.
The outcome of this test was already decided, so Aselt was about to turn his head away.
“Is it okay if you don’t wear your blindfold?”
“...What?”
He looked at her in surprise, and Mabel was hopping up and down in her seat.
“It’s true. You didn’t turn into stone.”
Mabel, who had been clenching and unclenching her hands, asked again.
“Can you, by any chance, control your abilities?”
And she was staring intently into Aselt’s white eyes as she asked.
It was Aselt who had turned to stone instead.
Mabel’s actions were different from Aselt’s expectations.
He had expected her to scream.
He had expected her to cry hysterically in the arms of the people she called.
But Mabel didn’t scream, didn’t cry, and didn’t call for people.
She simply approached Aselt, looking straight at him with clear eyes.
“You, you... you’re not scared of me?”
Mabel felt a strange sense of déjà vu at Aselt’s retreating question.
‘Where had I heard that before?’
Mabel thought hard and then realized.
“C-Can you see me...?”
It was similar to what she had said to Sigmund.
That moment when he first met her gaze directly and answered her.
That moment when she couldn’t believe she was actually having a conversation, and asked him several times.
Remembering that moment, Mabel unconsciously smiled softly and nodded.
“My eyes met yours, and I didn’t turn to stone. You don’t intend to turn me to stone, do you? Then I’m not scared.”
In fact, she said he looked really handsome without the blindfold, and Mabel was moving closer, closing the distance Aselt had created.
“Gasp!”
CRASH!
A sharp shattering sound came from the direction of the door.
A maid, entering with a tray of teaware, had dropped it in surprise upon seeing Aselt without his blindfold.
Startled by the sound, Aselt momentarily activated his ability.
“Ugh...!”
It was a mistake.
But Aselt quickly looked at the floor instead of the maid, and Aselt’s ability reflected off the silver tray on the floor, turning towards him.
“Gasp, Young Master’s legs!”
Because of that, Aselt’s lower body turned to stone.
“Oh, no...”
The petrification would wear off after some time, but that wasn’t the problem.
“Aaaah!”
The maid, who had almost turned to stone, screamed and called for people.
She was one of the people who feared Aselt’s ability.
“What’s going on?”
“What in the world was that just now...!”
People, hearing the breaking teaware followed by the maid’s scream, gathered instantly.
And everyone saw Aselt, his legs turned to stone.
The expressions of the people, who had always been so kind and affectionate, instantly hardened and began to fill with fear.
“W-wait! It’s okay! Because–”
It was no use, even when Mabel tried to explain.
“Aaaah!”
“H-help me!”
People shrieked at the sight of Aselt, whose legs had turned to stone, and ran out.
Then, incited by fear, people became agitated, not even trying to understand the situation properly.
They pushed each other, wanting to get out first, and bumped into things, causing objects in the activity room to overturn.
CRASH! BANG!
The glass table was pushed and shattered, and chairs toppled over.
“Eek...!”
The noise, reminiscent of a battlefield, was so loud that Mabel covered her ears and sank to the floor.
Meanwhile, Aselt’s heart, which had faced such noise and the people’s fear head-on, had been beating erratically for some time.
‘Calm down, just calm down...’
No matter how much he urged himself internally, it was no use.
Behind his tightly closed eyelids, the maid’s frozen face and the contorted faces of the people, twisted in fear, were vivid.
Even their screams for help as they fled, and their retreating backs...
Scenes he never wanted to face kept resurfacing, carving deep wounds into Aselt’s heart.
“H-huh, ugh...”
Aselt frantically covered his eyes.
It wasn’t his imagination.
His eyes felt burning hot, as if they were being scorched.
The basilisk’s ability was running wild!
“Kuh...”
He felt something lukewarm flowing between the fingers that covered his eyes.
Were those tears?
No, it smelled metallic for tears.
“This is... blood?”
“Young Mas-ter...?!”
Mabel, who had been sitting on the floor, gasped in surprise when she saw blood flowing down Aselt’s hand.
‘Was she still here?’
Aselt, his shoulders trembling slightly, pressed harder on his eyes and shouted.
“Don’t come near me!”
“B-but you’re bleeding!”
“I said don’t come!”
Aselt gritted his teeth and yelled.
Since his legs were stone, he couldn’t leave the spot.
Everything was a mess.
‘I just wanted to take off the mask that child was wearing.’
He didn’t know how things had ended up like this.
Most of all, Aselt was terrified because this was his first time experiencing his ability running wild.
What if he lost his eyes like this? What if he could never see again?
But then, for a moment, he felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.
As if he had once, long ago, experienced his power running wild like this...
‘I... I had run wild before?’
Starting with that question, forgotten memories of his power running wild poured out, like a dam with a small crack finally collapsing.
‘My head... my head feels like it’s splitting open...!’
By then, tears had mixed with the blood pooling in his palms, making them slick.
Pitter-patter.
He heard something light approaching, stepping on broken glass shards.
Those hurried footsteps were coming precisely towards Aselt.
And when the footsteps stopped right in front of him, Aselt caught an unfamiliar scent.
A faint scent of baby powder, which he hadn't noticed before, due to the blood pooling in the hand covering his eyes.
Then, something warm and small touched the back of Aselt’s hand.
“Calm down!”
It was Mabel’s hand.
“You, what are you doing! Are you crazy? Why are you coming to me?!”
“But you’re bleeding–”
Aselt, terrified, pushed Mabel away and screamed.
Thud!
Mabel fell backward with a thud.
“Ouch!”
Then, the scent of someone else’s blood, not his own, grew stronger.
At the same time, another scene flashed behind Aselt’s eyelids, where only the terrified faces of people had been appearing.
The activity room was a mess from the panicked people rushing out.
The floor, littered with shattered glass.
‘No way...!’
Aselt wanted to check on Mabel, but he couldn’t bring himself to lower his hand.
Because Mabel would turn to stone.
What if the only person who understood him also turned to stone, and then became afraid of him...?
At that point, there would be no escaping despair.
But he was worried about Mabel, who seemed to have fallen onto glass shards because he’d pushed her away.
‘What should I do?’
Aselt unconsciously twitched his hand and bit his lip.
“Do you want to lower your hand? Then I, I’ve closed my eyes!”
Hearing that, Aselt’s heart lurched, as if it had plummeted.
There was still no trace of tears in Mabel’s voice.
No hostility either.
‘Even after all this, you’re... not scared of me?’
He had deliberately shown his eyes to scare her, and then his ability reflected, turning his own legs to stone.
And despite all that, he’d pushed her away when she approached, hurting her.
So why are you still not bothered by me?
