Chapter 9
-Click!
“Huh?”
The pulled trigger made a loud noise, but that was all. Noah felt the light sensation of the cylinder turning. Raising an eyebrow, he opened the side of the chamber, and, as expected, it was empty.
“Tsk, I barely fired a few shots.”
He glanced down at Regina, who had frozen in place, holding her breath. Clicking his tongue, he spun the revolver’s cylinder back into place and tucked it away in his coat.
“H-Hyick!”
Regaining her senses, Regina tried to push herself away from the spot, her legs trembling violently. However, her strength failed her, and she only managed to push against the ground futilely. Tears of unbearable fear blurred her vision.
“What now? I wanted to see if you were a fairy or not with this. Seems I’m out of spare bullets.”
“P-Please spare me! Someone, help! Please, please!”
“Would you wait here until I fetch more bullets from the mansion?”
Noah’s words fell on deaf ears. Regina struggled with all her might to escape the madman, her dress tearing under Noah’s shoe in her desperate attempts. Seizing the opportunity, she grabbed the dirt and crawled forward.
Watching her, Noah sighed lightly.
“Right, of course, you wouldn’t wait. I was just saying.”
“Kyaa! Let go, let go!”
As Noah grabbed Regina’s nape, she flailed her arms desperately. But he easily pinned her down with one hand, using his inhuman strength.
“Stop it, let go, let me go!”
Regina trembled all over, her face pressed against the ground. Noah nonchalantly held her down with his right hand while using his teeth to pull off the glove on his left hand.
“I’ll make this quick, just hold still.”
His neat hand appeared from beneath the white glove. As his cold fingers touched the back of her neck, Regina stopped screaming and writhing, feeling a primal sense of danger.
“It’d be more certain if it were closer to the heart. Well, might as well do it here since you might still be human.”
Noah focused his strength into his fingertips. His blue eyes flickered faintly as a mist-like substance seeped from his palm. It pierced Regina’s skin and swiftly attached itself to her heart, beginning to pull strongly.
“Ungh, ah, aaaah!”
Regina felt a searing pain as if her heart was being sucked out through her back. She gasped and screamed, her nails clawing at Noah’s firm hand, but his grip didn’t budge.
“Ah, I see. The energy was faint, so I wasn’t sure, but you are indeed a Black Fairy. Didn’t expect to find another one.”
Noah smiled as he admired the black fairy energy seeping into his palm.
“Ah, aaaah!”
She couldn’t understand a word of what he was saying; she just wanted the pain to end. The agony made her limbs tremble uncontrollably, her eyes rolling back as she scratched at his unyielding hand.
“You can’t even shed your skin. Must not be long since you were born.”
Despite the excruciating pain, Regina remained in her human form, which puzzled Noah. It was rare for two low-ranking Black Fairies to be born in the same region at the same time.
“Aaagh, aaah!”
Tears streamed down Regina’s face. The pain was unbearable, and she only wished for it to end quickly. As she squeezed her eyes shut, memories of her nanny, Emma, and Margaret Jenkins flashed before her eyes. The faces of her loved ones filled her vision, ending with her mother and father.
Her body trembled with both pain and sorrow. Desperate to survive, she reached out and felt something firm under her fingers.
In that moment, a refreshing energy surged from her fingertips and poured into her body with tremendous force, like a dam bursting.
‘Just a little more!’
After a few failed attempts, Regina managed to grasp something solid.
-Crack!
What she held turned to ash in her hand and then transformed into a white spore that rapidly absorbed into her body.
“…?!”
The sudden powerful force made Noah’s hand recoil, causing him to step back involuntarily. His hand tingled from the impact.
Looking down warily, Noah was shocked to see the corpse of the Black Fairy crumbling under Regina’s hand, as she absorbed it.
He had never seen anything like this before.
“Damn it!”
Noah hurried to stop her, but it was too late. The white powder had already completely merged with her body. Rather than Regina pulling it in, it seemed the substance yearned for her.
“How can a fairy…?!”
While Noah stood stunned, Regina, having completely absorbed the remains, crouched, gasping for breath. A faint, glowing mist quivered like transparent wings on her back before dissipating into the air.
“Huff, huff!”
The sensation that had surged through her like a fierce current first enveloped her aching heart, then spread a tingling feeling throughout her body. It felt like being submerged in water and then resurfacing.
Tilting her head back, Regina took a long breath as if she had been holding it for ages.
Her tangled black hair covered her shoulders and waist. As her eyes, glowing like amethysts, locked onto him, Noah felt a chill run down his spine.
“…”
He adjusted his posture, his blue eyes darkening with a hint of menace.
“…I am human.”
Therefore, Regina’s statement was quite unexpected. Noah, who had been tense, furrowed his brow at her sudden declaration.
“…What?”
“I am human! Regina Evelyn. The only daughter of Viscount Evelyn.”
“What nonsense…?”
Noah was about to dismiss her words as gibberish but stopped. He finally realized that the creature before him had not been born long ago.
“…Do you want to deny reality?”
“Can’t you see? I am human! You’re the monster!”
“Listen, I’m sorry, but I’m not a Black Fairy. I’m a half-blood, half-human and half-Black Fairy. And I’m someone who can kill Black Fairies like you.”
“I am human!”
Regina glared at him with intense eyes. Unlike the terrified girl who had been trembling at his gaze moments ago, she now exuded a fierce determination. Yet, despite her strong front, her arms were still shaking.
She was still firmly convinced she was human, but she couldn’t possibly be unaware of absorbing the corpse of a creature just moments ago. Her eyes were filled with confusion and fear.
Watching her, Noah weighed whether to kill Regina immediately or not.
“…True, even if I kill you now, you haven’t shed your skin, so I wouldn’t get the core. And it’s the first time I’ve seen a fairy absorb another fairy. Perhaps I should postpone killing you.”
“I am not the Black Fairy you speak of. Really, I’m not.”
Regina repeated herself like a parrot, her body trembling. Noah shrugged, showing he had no will to fight any longer.
“I have an idea. How about this? Since Black Fairies feel extreme hunger if they don’t absorb a living being once a month, I’ll kill you if you end up killing a human because you can’t resist the hunger.”
Noah smiled as if he had solved the problem. Regina looked up at him, dumbfounded, and then realized he wasn’t really talking to her. He was simply contemplating whether to kill her or not.
“Does that sound good to you?”
“…Y-Yes.”
Maybe this was her chance, her opportunity to survive this lunatic.
Regina swallowed hard and nodded. As Noah’s satisfied expression eased, she slowly stood up and approached Emma.
Stay focused. When he lets his guard down, take Emma and go home.
“Emma, Emma. Wake up.”
With trembling hands, Regina shook Emma’s shoulder, trying to wake her. Glancing sideways, she saw Noah standing at a distance, watching her with his arms crossed. Clearly, he intended to follow her wherever she went.
“Emma…”
When she called out again, almost pleading, Emma finally stirred with a groan and opened her eyes.
“Ugh, my head…”
“Emma! Are you awake?”
Emma, holding her throbbing head, sat up. Groans and sounds of discomfort were coming from others waking up around them. Regina’s face lit up with hope as she urgently supported Emma.
“Are you alright? Get up. Let’s go home quickly.”
As Regina turned to support Emma’s arm, her grip suddenly slipped. Surprised, she turned back to see Emma looking at her with a puzzled expression.
“Who are you?”
“What?”
“It’s alright, I don’t need help. Why am I lying here…?”
Even though she was dizzy from the pain in her head, Emma refused Regina’s help and stood up. Her behavior was that of someone meeting a stranger for the first time. Regina reached out, bewildered.
“E-Emma? What’s wrong?”
Seeing Regina’s pained expression, Emma hesitated before asking.
“Do you know me? I’m sorry, I’m a bit dizzy… But who are you?”
“…Why are you acting like this?”
Emma seemed genuinely confused. The expression and demeanor were genuine.
Regina wanted to cry out of fear, but she held it back, swallowing her tears. She turned sharply to face Noah, who stood watching, arms crossed.
“This is your doing, isn’t it? Give Emma her memory back!”
Noah shrugged at her accusation.
“No, it’s the opposite. The illusion you cast on her has disappeared.”
“Illusion?! I don’t know anything about that!”
As Regina shouted, her voice filled with despair, Noah turned away as if annoyed.
“That’s your power. It’s the instinctive ability of a newly born Black Fairy. You must have unconsciously cast an illusion on those around you to blend into ‘Regina Evelyn’s life.”
“That’s ridiculous! Just return everything to normal, please!”
Regina stumbled towards him, but before she could take a few steps, her legs gave out and she clutched desperately at Noah’s coat. Startled, Noah caught her elbow to support her, but Regina, whose legs had lost all strength, clung to him, kneeling at his feet.
Even as she knelt, she didn’t let go of his coat.
“Please, give her back…!”
Noah silently gazed down at her tear-streaked face, then suddenly spoke in a gentle voice.
“If it’s too hard for you to accept reality, should I help you?”
“What?”
Noah gently wiped Regina’s tear-stained face with his gloved hand.
“I could just kill you right now.”
“…!”
Speechless, Regina backed away from him, but her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground. The man, smiling beautifully like a picture, simply watched her without a word.