Chapter 152: Red and Black (End of the Song)
The Romani Doctor wouldn’t let the girl leave.
From quiet pleas at first to hysteria days later. The girl tried everything—crying, yelling, going on a hunger strike, even threatening to d*e—of course, all silly antics. But what could a disabled sixteen-year-old girl do when she was at the mercy of others?
She couldn’t escape the cave. She didn’t even know how big it was or where the exit was. Without the Romani Doctor’s help, she wouldn’t make it out of here, and even if she somehow did, finding her way home would be a nightmare.
And the Romani Doctor was firm—she would not let the girl leave. She had everything sharp removed from the girl’s dark room and ordered the Black Robe to guard the door day and night. Despite her unchanged attitude toward the girl, she still fussed over her, trying her best to prepare her favorite foods. But all this only made the girl’s heart grow colder.
The girl wasn’t stupid.
She realized that everyone in the cave, including the doctor, was not the “good person” they claimed to be. Their job had nothing to do with breaking through herbal medicine dilemmas. All the patients, herself included, were merely tools to achieve some “experimental purposes.” Nothing more.
She remembered the patients she had seen.
Nearly every single one had disgusting raw wounds, rotting away in varying degrees. Especially the dead bodies they dragged out to dispose of—the stench from their decaying flesh was unbearable, even from a distance.
Back then, the girl thought they were gravely ill. But now, reflecting on it, only she and that white-haired little girl had no rotting wounds, their skin still smooth as ever, barely managing to live like normal humans.
Maybe this was why the Romani Doctor cared for the two of them so much.
After realizing all this, it felt as if she had plunged into an icy cave.
The patients’ pained wails, the smile on the Romani Doctor’s face—everything happening in this cave had turned upside down in her heart.
She began to pay attention to those “medications,” the little scarlet pills she swallowed daily—those might not even be medicine.
Like the liquid injected into her, the “pills” had a strong, acrid taste, mingled with a faint, fishy odor, almost like… bl**d.
Yes.
Her instincts screamed that these “medications” contained bl**d. Perhaps even more…
The girl couldn’t bear to think any further. Nausea surged within her like a tidal wave; she refused any further treatment.
But the rebellion of a disabled girl brought no results.
The Romani Doctor ordered them to inject her with mandrake serum, paralyzing her body. She couldn’t move a single finger, but her mind remained clear, watching as the thick red liquid trickled into her body bit by bit. They crushed the pills into powder and forced it down her throat. Even when she vomited, they wouldn’t stop.
“Hang in there, Peilo. You have to get through this… Once you do, everything will be alright… Your legs will be healed, trust me…”
After each treatment, when the girl cried, filled with thoughts of d*ath, the Romani Doctor would hold her hand, saying such things, her eyes flickering with pain.
She felt guilty, that much was clear to the girl.
But what did that matter?
“You hate the Romani Doctor.”
Suddenly, a voice whispered in the girl’s ear. Sweet as water, it seemed almost familiar, like a dream.
“She saved you, yet you despise her deeply. Because if it weren’t for her, you would have died that night, instead of this miserable existence, losing your freedom, your dignity, your hope, suffering endless pain… The happy dream was shattered the moment you fell off the cliff. But the real suffocating despair began in the countless nights of darkness that followed, creeping up your neck… choking you…”
“Who are you?”
In the endless darkness, I asked.
But the voice ignored me: “And all this stems from that woman saving you. You hate her, even more than Edward. On countless tortured, sleepless nights, you wished you could k*ll her, k*ll everyone in this cave…”
The girl’s weak voice, filled with sadness and unwillingness, along with twisted rage, seeped into my heart, rippling with intensity.
“But the irony is, you can’t even k*ll yourself. You continue to live, no matter what they feed you. You can’t d*e like the other patients; you have to let others control you, living in pain and fear each day. Until they send you to Silgaya for even crueler ‘treatment’…”
Ah…
I remembered. That girl was me.
Suddenly, everything was clear.
In a daze, I found myself back in that black room outside the snowstorm. Beautiful murals adorned the walls, and ancient books lined the shelves. Thin moonlight streamed in through the window, illuminating the shining, tripod piano in front of me. The silver-haired girl sat at the piano, elegant and serene in her black skirt. Her jade-like fingers danced gracefully over the stark black and white keys, producing hauntingly beautiful notes.
Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” played softly in my ears.
As the music flowed, the girl turned her head, her smile calm and gentle.
It was a face just like mine, but with scarlet eyes.
“Do you remember what happened afterward?” she said softly to me.
What happened afterward…
I shook my head slowly.
“Right… you can’t remember. So I can’t either.”
“You…”
I was about to ask, but she quickly interrupted: “Iliush might know something, but she’s dead. You killed her…”
“No, I didn’t! That was you…”
“Who am I?” the girl smirked.
“You are… the will of the Abyss.”
“…Hehe.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“Do you know who you are?” the girl asked calmly.
“I…”
I thought for a moment, then shook my head.
“Are you sad?”
“…No.”
“It seems you still can’t fully accept yourself, accept me…”
The music stopped.
The silver-haired, scarlet-eyed girl stood up.
“But since you’ve remembered so much, follow your heart and seek the truth… look.”
She started counting on her fingers, one by one: “The secret research organization beneath the cliff, the Romani Doctor, bl**d, the Gate of Truth, Sister Teresa, the Divine Reliquary, Chaotic Power, Sin Fire, the Abyss, and Deities… even the Holy Church. There must be essential links between them, and you’ve started to notice this, haven’t you?”
“Uh-huh…”
“What do you plan to do next?”
“…I don’t know; my head is a mess…”
The wind and snow outside vanished, plunging the room back into darkness.
The silver-haired girl’s fragile figure faded away in the shadows.
“Calm down, think carefully…”
Her voice still echoed in my ears, crystal clear.
“When I’m not here, take good care of this body. Cherish it, love it a little… k*ll anyone who poses a threat to you, devour their bl**d and flesh… You are powerful enough, aren’t you? You just don’t want to reveal that power completely. You’re afraid others will fear you…”
“But sometimes, you need to make them fear you… silly girl…”
…………
I had a dream.
An extraordinarily long and heartbreaking dream.
“Little Black Charcoal…”
In a half-dream, half-wake state, I vaguely heard someone calling me.
The next moment, I opened my eyes.
