Please, Divorce Me

Like a burning wick, flames occupied the railing on the second floor. I stared as the flickering flames stretched from the top and descended.

“F-fire! Fire!”

From the top floor to the second floor, people ran out like wild dogs. They broke through the fire as if swimming in a waterway.*

Fearful screams like gunfire, flames rising unpredictably from the source, and people’s eyes gleaming red. The horror in front of me slowly unfolded.

 “Come on! Vicky!”

“Kyaaa!”

Someone’s clothes caught fire and fell off the railing; another ran downstairs carrying their child. Some even disappeared into the fire. Most people fell off the railing while shaking off the clothes on fire, so the people coming down to the first floor were being filtered like impurities.

People struggled and went down the stairs to reach the first floor, and only then did Carje finish understanding the situation. He groaned, pounded his buttocks, and stepped back.

“Ugh, n-no…!”

The man, who was once the head of the group, was hit and trampled by the crowd. While dozens of footprints were left on the hem of his robe, no one looked back at the man they had served until now. He backed away, terrified, crying, and crawling like a dog.

Carje, who had lost strength in his legs, groaned and eagerly grabbed the passing legs. When the man whose ankle Carje grabbed turned around, Carje’s face brightened immediately. He had no doubt this person would help him.

“T-take me! If you take me out to the forest–” 

“You idiot!” The man smashed Carje’s face with his foot to get him off him. Carje immediately fell.

“Ahh!” Carje collapsed, covering his eyes with his hands. Heavy tears and blood fell through his hand.

“Let go!”

The man groaned and shook his foot, but Carje relentlessly grabbed his leg and wouldn’t let go.

“Save me…Help me…!”

The arrogant Carje who looked down on people was no more. He looked up at the man, his face full of fear. At that moment, a flash of flames lit the man’s face.

“You…!”

Carje’s eyes widened in a flash. The person he was holding on to by the leg was none other than the soldier I had seen underground. Carje’s facial muscles convulsed with shame.

“Let go, let go!”

The man, who had acted like a loyal subordinate until just a few minutes ago, stumbled and ran over Carje. Even though the man disappeared in the crowd, Carje followed the path with his remaining eye.

“T-take me! You must take me!”

The crowd’s panic swallowed his pleas. I stared blankly as he crawled to the crowd.

As I witnessed his tragic end, the rage that had been churning deep in my heart was extinguished, unlike the raging fire.

Bang–! Bang–!

My eyes turned to the sudden noise. The sound of friction spreading through the crowd was very hasty. Several men rushed to the door, but the door did not budge.

One of the men ran to the dining room, grabbed a wooden chair, and tore through the crowd.

“Get out! Get out!”

Slam–! The man pushed the chair over his head and hit the door once, but the chair bounced off. It flew off the man’s hand, hit the wall, and broke into pieces.

“D*mn it! Come with me!”

As the man rushed to the door again, a group of men followed him and ran with him. Bang, bang–! 

In despair, the girl holding her mother’s hand ran to the restaurant. No, come back! People screamed behind her, but the girl brought iron bars from somewhere and knocked down the window.

Crash–.

People turned their heads at the sharp noise that pierced their ears.

In an instant, the girl who broke all the windows on the first floor beckoned her family. The crowd in front of the door jumped into the open gap in a hurry to save their lives. And the girl and her family went out.

I looked around as I inhaled the smoke.

“Cough!”

My upper body shook as I coughed endlessly.

The fire had not yet spread entirely to the first floor, but my throat was sore, and my eyes stung. The flames were spreading, and I bowed my head.

My gaze went to the oil-stained hardwood floor. This place would burn once the fire reached it.

My hope to live disappeared; so did my hope to find my brother and save Takan. I couldn’t think of anything now. There was a vacuum in my head, and I had no will to do anything.

I blinked and bowed my head.

Would things have been a little different if I had stopped Rafnel? No, I wouldn’t have met her in the first place if I hadn’t come to Tigger. No, if I hadn’t gotten pregnant. If only I hadn’t met Kyle.

No, no. I smiled sadly and shook my head. Thinking about it was futile. As someone said, everything went wrong the moment I was born. Yes, it might be better to die like this. This might be my fate.

I struggled to try to compromise with reality. It would have been easier if I had let go. But there was one thing I continued to do–I always followed in my brother’s footsteps.

I didn’t know if I could find my brother in this burning place, so if he was alive here, we would die together.* 

The firepower increased when the flame crossed the stairs and reached the first floor and touched the oil.

In the roaring flames, Kyle came to mind. I remembered the last expression I saw on that man’s face.

Tak–.

At that moment, someone grabbed hold of my arm. My body trembled at the warmth of his hands, and I looked down to see Takan frowning at me.

“Are you doing this because you want to die?” He asked, his voice cracking.

When I saw him, my mind wandered back. 

“Takan?”

Takan stood, supporting his body with his arms before collapsing. As he struggled, he coughed up the fumes in the room.

“Sh*t.”

Bang–. He slammed his head against the hardwood floor to keep himself alert and opened his eyes. His previously unfocused eyes gleamed fiercely through his tangled hair.

His bloodshot eyes made it look as if he had been beaten in the head.

It felt as if cold water had been poured into my brain that was spinning in a daze. I quickly took off my cumbersome robe, wrapped one hand around him, and placed Takan’s arm over my shoulder. 

Takan, realizing the intention, resisted and asked sharply, “What are you doing?”

“What am I doing? We have to go.”

It was a struggle to carry an adult man on my shoulder, but I stubbornly got up. Like a newborn deer, I wobbled as I wrapped my arms around Takan’s waist.

“Go alone.”

“No, I won’t.”

Tak–. Takan shrugged off my arms and fell to the floor.

“I don’t care, even if I’m alone–”

“Don’t be stubborn!”

Takan looked up at me with blank eyes and frowned. He swore, closing his eyes tightly before opening them again. He groaned and got up and put his hand on my shoulder.

“I owe you one.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Every time his leg left the floor, I staggered under the weight, but it wasn’t unbearable. As we headed toward the shattered window, the railing on the second floor began to collapse. 

Bang–. Bang–!

When the darkened wooden board fell and shattered, I turned to the noise and found a woman sitting on the burning railing. I narrowed my eyes and saw a familiar figure.

“Rafnel?”

Rafnel looked down at me with empty eyes, her bandages off and a torch in her hand. The hand holding the torch gradually loosened, and it fell.

The torch, which spun and fell to the first floor, was swallowed by the fire. She smiled brightly for a moment as she looked down at the blazing fire.

Her eyes turned to me and narrowed. Her face was clouded by the smoke rising like a haze.

It was a clear noon with the sun rising in the east, and the sound of horses running echoed through the forest. Chirping birds flew away at the noise. 

As Kyle struck the horse’s thigh, the horse roared and accelerated.

“Your Grace!”

As he sprinted, the knight commander struggled to follow. The horse galloping through the air was panting and drooling due to extreme fatigue.