”Poof.” A chuckle flew by and caught in my ear. I jerked my head within the route of the sound, considering he was laughing at me. I used to be about to curse at him for laughing, however the second he eliminated his masks, goosebumps broke out throughout my physique.

“Why…….”

Is Heo-sang right here?!

He often solely wears shirts or fits, however immediately he was sporting some type of knit, so I didn’t discover him in any respect. On the identical time, informal garments additionally look good on him, so I watched him for some time and caught myself late. Simeon chuckled softly as I squinted. The blood in his head appeared to run chilly.

As he turned to flee, a languid voice interrupted him.

“Shin Hajae-ssi?”

Simeon gestured for me to take a seat throughout from him. He even ordered my espresso now. He should have identified I used to be coming, as a result of he got here and waited for me. I walked slowly, like a cow being led to the slaughter, and sat down in entrance of him.

My throat went dry with nervousness. Instinctively, I lifted the cup, then set it down, fearing I’d burnt myself once more. Decided to not fall for a similar trick twice, Simeon smirked.

“I didn’t burn something.”

“You anticipate me to imagine it?”

The corners of his mouth twitched upwards as he repeated what he’d heard earlier than. Then he took my cup and took a sip. Relieved, I caught the straw in my mouth and took an extended swig. The chilly transfusion of caffeine was life-saving.

“How do you know to return right here?”

“Accidentally.”

He replied, his voice flat and nonchalant.

“You’re mendacity. You adopted me.”

“Properly.”

He was on the cafe earlier than me, so technically I wasn’t being adopted. In any case, the story of an opportunity encounter is 100% false. As I chewed on the tip of my straw and glanced at it suspiciously, Simeon simply laughed at what was so nice about it. Then he modified the topic.

“Why did you say you weren’t going to do the job?”

“Was it you who despatched me the texts this morning?”

“I requested why you mentioned no.”

His stare was intimidating, and I couldn’t assist however communicate up.

“I instructed you within the message, I’m quitting for private causes.”

“On whose phrases?”

“By myself phrases, after all!”

My voice rose on the ridiculous query. Instantly, the eye of everybody within the café was centered. Everybody from the scholars who had simply walked in and ordered espresso to the workplace staff who have been laughing and speaking stopped their conversations and seemed over.

As an alternative of an apology, a clumsy smile and a bow, and the café got here alive. Some prospects nonetheless glanced my manner, however their eyes have been on Simeon, not me.

“Be trustworthy with me, how do you know I used to be right here?”

I demanded, trying him within the eye, and he wordlessly pointed to my neck.

Rattling it. One other leash. Not solely does it maintain me from divulging details about the Apostle, however it should have some kind of GPS. I downed the remainder of my espresso in a single gulp, my head throbbing. My headache appears to be getting worse.

“You’re the rationale I didn’t get the job.”

Simeon’s eyes softened as he set the espresso cup down as roughly as a bottle.

“Do you need to come again then?”

“Don’t joke.”

“I’m severe.”

That’s the issue, he at all times meant it.

I shrugged it off and tugged on the leash with my index finger.

“Right here, you mentioned it will untie itself when the time got here.”

“Yeah. That’s proper.”

“And when is that point? I couldn’t lower it with a knife. Will it even untie itself within the first place?”

Simeon solely laughed, and I couldn’t assist however surprise if he was mendacity. I used to be nervously chewing on the straw when Simeon leisurely sipped his espresso.

“It’s a spirit.”

“What?”

“It’s known as the <Crown of Atonement>.”

He checked out me like I didn’t know what that was, and he started to elucidate.

“A very long time in the past… within the now-defunct kingdom of Celia.”

As soon as upon a time, a wierd hearsay circulated in Celia’s courtroom. The queen had an affair. Nobody believed it, as her accomplice was a anonymous commoner, however it wasn’t lengthy earlier than the rumours have been confirmed true. In response to the principles, she ought to have abdicated and been executed instantly, however the king nonetheless cherished her, so he determined to punish her.

“Punishment?”

“To kick her within the head with it.”

My breath caught in my throat, and I felt sick to my abdomen imagining this spiky vine on my head.

“The king put a situation on the crown: If she lives quietly for the subsequent 12 months, he’ll let her go. But when she sees the person even as soon as, the crown will instantly be tightened, and she’s going to die a painful dying.”

Regardless that the story hadn’t ended but, the tragic ending was predictable.

The stronger the will of individuals for an artefact, the extra sacrifices they make for it, the extra doubtless it’s to turn into a spirit. Ultimately, the thorn vine should have been ate up somebody’s blood to turn into the <Crown of Atonement>.

“…She should have gone to see him.”

“Sure. The queen died because of this, however the king was prepared to have her physique laid to relaxation within the royal palace.”

The entire tragedy is the fault of the queen who had an affair, so why do I really feel terrified of the king as an alternative of pitying him? She ran away from him on the threat of her life, however even in dying she couldn’t escape him. If it have been me, I might have let her go, as a real lover would need…

“He’s so obsessed.”

I muttered, fondling his leash, and Simeon narrowed his eyes.

“Obsessed, sure. I gave you an opportunity to return again though I used to be betrayed.”

It’s not simply my creativeness that his eyes, which moved apart, cooled down instantly.

The extra I give it some thought, the extra it’s a wierd coincidence. A king who desires to maintain you tied to his facet, even when it means wrapping you in thorns, and a queen who desires to flee even within the face of dying. However I’m not a queen, and I’m not the individual Simeon desires me to be.

“Do you continue to assume I resemble ‘him’?”

“…….”

“Is that why you’re doing this?”

He stared at me and mentioned nothing.

Within the stony silence, my doubts turned to certainties. I used to be starting to know why he had handled me so specifically, why he wished to maintain me round. It wasn’t just because I resembled John.

I’m a substitute. Simply as a baby who loses an attachment doll seems for one thing comparable, he tries to fill John’s place with me. At this level, it not issues whether or not I’m John or not. Regardless of what number of instances I inform him I’m not John, irrespective of how a lot proof I current, he received’t let go of his obsession with me.

“, Shin Hajae-ssi.”

A gravelly voice broke the silence.

“Are you aware why the queen ran away?”

“…As a result of the King doesn’t need to perceive her emotions, he simply desires to tie her down.”

“No.”

His darkish gaze slowly swept throughout my face, then right down to the leash.

“For giving her freedom.”

Simeon smiled gently. I felt goosebumps on my pores and skin on the false innocence on his face. From the second the leash was placed on. No, perhaps from the second we first laid eyes on one another, I’d been in his clutches.

I all of the sudden remembered the <Portrait of Saint-Germain>. Within the body, John is smiling fortunately along with his again to the sundown. It’s clearly a nostalgic picture, however for some cause, the extra I have a look at it, the extra I really feel uncomfortable. It’s like a butterfly specimen with a needle in a glass tube.

Sure, it’s taxidermy. It’s John at his happiest, trapped in a body. As if that weren’t unhealthy sufficient, now he’s holding me, his likeness, on a leash and scaring me. Possessiveness, past obsession, gently squeezes my breath.

If I attempt to escape, Simeon will chase after me, having fun with himself as if it have been a recreation of tag. <The Crown of Atonement> would give away my location, and I’d have to chop my throat to get the vines out, however then I finished considering.

“So you set a situation on it, too, once you stuffed it?”

Simeon nodded silently. If he fulfils the situation, he can be freed from the demon.

“What circumstances?”

”I’ll let if I get a request.”

After all. There was no manner Simeon was going to let me know.

“No, you…”

I used to be about to vent my frustration.

“False.”

Considering I’d misheard him, I requested, “What?” and he smiled wryly.

“It’s my identify.”

“Why… Are you telling me?”

“As a result of I need Shin Hajae-ssi to name me by my identify.”

My eyes shook on the trustworthy confession.

Heo-sang. It’s a reputation I’ve mentioned many instances in my head, however I’ll by no means say it out loud once more. The hard-won partitions of my coronary heart appeared to crumble the second I known as him by his identify. I actually don’t know the way for much longer I can maintain on, however that is my last-ditch effort to keep away from falling.

“I’m sorry, however I’m extra snug calling you that.”

Remorse flashed throughout Simeon’s face as I flatly refused. The best way he quietly dropped his gaze, I may virtually see his childhood fantasies. I didn’t need to make him really feel weak, so I rapidly modified the topic.

“Anyway, should you’re asking me to seek out ‘him’, the reply is similar as ever: I can’t. It’s not that I received’t, it’s that I can’t. If you wish to discover a lacking individual, you’d be higher off letting the Heung-Sin cattle do it.”

Up to now, even his intelligence hasn’t discovered me. If that’s the case, then irrespective of how good an company he rent, they’ll by no means discover a hint of John. Regardless of my confidence, the story took a distinct flip.

“I’m right here immediately to ask you for one more favour.”

”…What’s it?”

“On the finish of the fee, I’ll let you know the circumstances underneath which I’ll allow you to off the leash. What do you assume?”

What do I believe? The reply was already set in stone.