Fairy Trap

‘Judging from their conversation, it could be inferred that Seth is still unharmed. I need to quickly meet him and let him know.’

There’s no time to spare. 

−Seth! Where are you?!

If he had been in his physical state, his face would have been red by now from screaming until his throat hurts.

Yi-Gyeol, who had been wandering all over the castle, now even went into the garden and ceaselessly called for Seth.

−Seth!

He shouted loudly, hoping that Seth would respond from somewhere, but a strange man’s voice suddenly popped out instead.

“Who’s there?”

Yi-Gyeol abruptly stopped and froze as if he had been caught by something. Looking around, he saw a curt, well-built man sitting at a table in the middle of the garden. With his back straightened, he glanced around the garden with sharp eyes.

“Is anyone over there?”

The man raised his voice a little more as if ordering him to answer and got up from his seat. Yi-Gyeol looked around too, but no matter how much he looked at it, he was the only one in the garden.

Yi-Gyeol approached the man by any chance and cautiously called out to him.

−There….

“….!”

When Yi-Gyeol spoke from up close, the man turned his head with a shudder on his shoulder. But what is strange is that the man’s eyes are looking at his side.

“You….”

Yi-Gyeol confirmed that nothing was reflected in the man’s eyes. Nevertheless, the man gave a precise gaze as he floated around and moved to and fro.

−Are you looking at me right now?

He doesn’t seem to have much of an age difference with Sethian, so he instantly asked without honorifics.

When Yi-Gyeol asked due to the unfamiliar reaction he had seen for the first time, the man stretched out his hand. Yi-Gyeol, who was floating still, felt as if his hands were touching him.

−….!

It was amazing. Obviously, even though he doesn’t have any shape, he felt a pleasant touch as if the man was touching somewhere in his body. Yi-Gyeol was greatly surprised at how this was possible.

“It’s not just a mere soul.”

He was even more surprised by the man’s words.

“I’ve seen a lot of white butterflies, but this is the first time I’ve seen a golden butterfly.”

−Butterfly?

Yi-Gyeol remembered the numerous white butterflies he had seen while leaving his body and the golden butterflies that led him to this place. Come to think of it, he had never thought of how his soul would look like in someone else’s eyes.

−Are you saying that you’re seeing me as a butterfly? And a golden butterfly at that?

The man was looking at Yi-Gyeol with ecstatic eyes. His eyes, which used to look blunt, even look innocent like a child.

“Usually, all souls are white butterflies.”

It was the same as what Yi-Gyeol had seen. As a result, he couldn’t help but get excited. It was surprising to know that he also looked like a butterfly, and a golden butterfly at that. But what made him even more excited was to discover that there was another person who could hear his voice.

−Do you possess spiritual power or anything? The same goes for Seth, but you’re also quite amazing. How can you even see and touch me?

When I spoke a little excitedly, the man tilted his head slightly.

“Is there anyone else who can see and hear souls like me? All I know is I’m the only one in this castle.”

−Seth can’t see me. But he can hear my voice.

“Seth?”

The man asked back, seeming to have failed to understand Yi-Gyeol’s words on the first try. Only then did Yi-Gyeol realize that what he was calling was the nickname he had given Seth and immediately mentioned Sethian’s original name.

−He’s originally called Sethian.

The man’s eyes darkened for an instant. When Yi-Gyeol, who got scared of his eyes, flinched, perhaps the man saw his reaction or not, but the glint in his eyes subsided in an instant. For a moment, he wondered if he had seen it wrong.

The man lowered his hand, which was carefully caressing Yi-Gyeol.

“…Come to think of it, you’ve been calling the name Seth since earlier.”

−Right. I’m looking for Seth, but I can’t find him anywhere…!

“Why are you looking for Sethian?”

Yi-Gyeol paused at the sudden question. Instinctively, he retreated little by little from him.

‘Seth is a prince, but he’s using informal language…. No way. Is this man one of Seth’s brothers who wants to kill him…?’

It was easy enough to figure just by looking at the fact that he did not put any special titles on Sethian’s name. Now that he sees it, as if to support his hypothesis, even his hair color is purple, a unique characteristic of the royal family.

Sethian had once said that all his other brothers were trying to kill him. It was clear that if the man in front of him was really Sethian’s brother, he was one of those people who was trying to kill him.

The man frowned and took a step closer. As Yi-Gyeol was slowly retreating, the man’s face came right in front of him, and he immediately stopped breathing.

“Why is a soul like you looking for Sethian?”

−That….

The eyes of the man I saw at a close distance were so terrifying. Even if it was anything small, I thought I shouldn’t say it in case I say something wrong.

At that moment.

“Doesn’t looking for me naturally mean he wants to see me?”

Yi-Gyeol quickly turned to the much-appreciated voice he heard all of a sudden. Sethian’s eyes, who had already come close at a short distance on who doesn’t know when, shone sharply.

“Is Brother Zair even coveting my ghost friend now?”

The man named Zair looked at Sethian for a moment and then looked at Yi-Gyeol with a squint.

“…Friend?”

“Yes.”

It was the dull low voice that he usually uses with other people, but for some reason, it seemed to have sunk even more.

Zair’s stiff face was strangely distorted.

“It’s already strange that you can also hear the soul’s voice like me, but for it to be your friend….”

Yi-Gyeol felt a sudden chill and flew behind Sethian without realizing it. Even so, he still looked over Seth’s shoulder and looked at Zair anxiously.

Zair’s gaze, which was focused on somewhere else, seemed to shift, and Sethian, who noticed that it was behind his back, strangely felt much better. He would be certain if he could also see his appearance like Zair, but just by looking at his(Z) reaction, he could tell that Yi-Gyeol was behind his back.

“I didn’t know that my busy Older Brother would even accompany my friend. I should be thanking you.”

Although it was invisible to Yi-Gyeol, Sethian’s gaze was never polite, contrary to his polite words. Rather, it contains a sense of pressure to the extent that a throbbing sensation could be felt.

Zair rolled his eyes and approached Seth.

“If you’re really grateful, I’d like to borrow your ghost friend for a moment.”

Saying that, he stretched out his left hand over Sethian’s shoulder and Yi-Gyeol was startled to see the large hand reaching out to him.

That hand looked like it was going to seize him at any moment. However, just before it touched him, it was taken down by Sethian’s grasp. With so much strength, Zair’s face contorted with pain in an instant.

“Hasn’t Brother said something like this before? That you’ll never lend nor pay for what you own.”

Sethian, who held Zair’s hand, grabbed his index and middle fingers tightly and gradually began to twist them slowly. Zair tried to pull it away with his other hand, but Sethian’s grip was so powerful that he thought his fingers would crumble just by him clenching them tightly.

“So I’m also thinking of never lending what’s mine to anyone.”

Seth whispered so low that only Zair could hear it.

“Shh…. The more you move, the more painful it will be.”

Simultaneously as he said those words, the sound of something breaking was heard. Zair’s sweaty face wrinkled more strongly.

“Urgh…!”

Zair swallowed his groan and looked down at the two fingers that were completely bent to the back of his hand by Sethian. Then Seth bent Zair’s left arm with his own hands and made it go inside his uniform jacket. Thanks to this, the broken hand was covered by the jacket and was completely hidden.

Seth, who lightly tapped his bent arm, slightly raised the corners of his mouth as if to flounce off proudly.

“Well, since we’re finished saying our greetings, we’ll get going now, brother.”

Having said that, Sethian walked ahead. Yi-Gyeol, who was floating in the air without knowing what had happened because he was covered by him, hesitated in the frightening atmosphere but then followed Sethian as if it was the most natural thing.

Zair, who was still looking at the butterfly, clenched his teeth, feeling the extreme pain of his hand hidden in the jacket. Since it happened so close, on the outside, it would only seem that they were just talking quietly. No one would have thought that Seth would have broken his two fingers like this in the meantime.

With his hands removed from inside his jacket, Zair took a deep breath and laid down his fingers which were neatly bent, then spread them out in the opposite direction at once. The sound of bones colliding with each other and Zair’s swallowed groan was heard together.

In the midst of this, he felt rather fortunate to realize that what Sethian had broken was his left hand, which he doesn’t use to hold the sword. It was just so funny that he had been beaten helplessly without even receiving any warning.

‘Monster bastard.’

He thought that he had already trained enough, but he still couldn’t compete with Sethian’s strength.

He took a deep breath and wrapped his two broken fingers tightly with the black cravat that was hanging around his neck. The pain in his fingers was so severe that it even made it difficult for him to breathe naturally.

He tied his fingers as a temporary measure and headed to his castle connected to the garden.

‘I don’t know since when Sethian was able to communicate with the spirits, but that butterfly, there’s something about it.’

Unlike other souls, the soul that was attached to Sethian had a splendid golden color. On top of that, seeing Sethian’s reaction, he seemed to like that butterfly a lot.