Beast, Blue Blood - Chapter 83

Chapter 83

Ah-eun gently removed her arm from his shoulder and carefully laid Si-woo down on the steps in front of the gate. Looking down at Si-woo, who was already lifeless, Ah-eun couldn’t hide her despair. There was no miracle. Even after giving him her blood and waiting for a long time, Si-woo’s pulse did not return. Life, as if mocking those who desperately try to hold on to it, slipped away without a trace.

Ah-eun grasped Si-woo’s hand and pressed it against the doorpost, then smeared the blood as if it had flowed down naturally. It looked as though he had made it here on his own but collapsed at the door when his strength failed him.

Thud, thud.

She knocked on the door. Hearing footsteps approaching, she quickly turned the corner.

Someone came out to the front gate and caused an uproar upon seeing Si-woo’s collapsed body. “Madam! Madam!”

The panicked shout was followed by hurried footsteps, and soon, the mistress’ wailing could be heard.

“Si-woo!”

Before anyone could see her, Ah-eun turned away, biting her lip hard.

* * *

Wails that could shake the sky echoed from beyond the wall. The weeping continued without end until the sunset faded and night fell. Finally, when the night deepened, Ah-eun climbed over the wall and entered the inner courtyard. She went to the room where the coffin was placed.

In the middle of the room was a closed coffin.

‘Young Master…’

Ah-eun looked at the coffin with trembling eyes. When the only son returned as a corpse, his mother had beaten the ground and wailed until she fainted. Tae-eul, too, had stopped eating and drinking, swallowing his sorrow with a pale face.

No matter how widely they searched, there was no one who knew anything about why the missing son had returned as a corpse. On that day, Changwon-gun was in the palace, and even if he wasn’t, there was no evidence to dare accuse him of the deed.

It seemed they didn’t think much about the maid who disappeared on the same day and hadn’t been found yet. More accurately, they didn’t have the time to think about it. The servants would start to say, ‘Then, Ah-eun…’ but would swallow their words, not wanting to bring up another troubling topic in a household already shaken by the son’s death.

Ah-eun looked at the sword in her hand. She recognized it as the same sword that was used to kill Eop-ji, the one Changwon-gun insisted he had never seen. The murder weapon had been buried with Si-woo.

Two precious lives had been tragically cut short because of him.

A boiling rage rose from deep within her, like bubbles bursting to the surface just before water boils. It felt as though something was being born beneath that surface—something grotesquely twisted, something she had never seen before.

Ah-eun drew the sword.

Srrrng.

The blade, which had taken lives, gleamed white.

He was less than human. The voice in her heart questioned whether it wasn’t just to return such a being to the earth. It felt as though the tiger slumbering in the rabbit’s heart had awakened.

Thud.

Just then, a sound echoed. Ah-eun, coming to her senses, looked up with bewildered eyes.

What was that sound just now…?

Thud.

When the sound was heard again, Ah-eun could hardly believe where it was coming from. She stretched out her trembling hand and placed it on top of Si-woo’s coffin.

Thud. Thud, thud.

The sound was so loud that she couldn’t understand how those outside couldn’t hear it. It was the sound of life. At that time, Ah-eun didn’t know the mechanism of the infection, that once infected, a person’s heart would stop completely before starting to beat again.

She urgently tried to open the coffin, but then she heard a sound from outside. Ah-eun flinched and turned around, quickly tearing down a curtain hanging on the wall. She tore it into strips, fashioning them into a rope, and wrapped it around the coffin. Then, with great effort, she lifted the coffin, which was larger than herself, onto her back.

She listened carefully to the sounds outside before flinging the door open. The moonlight poured in, so bright it seemed ominous, as if preparing for a ritual. Ah-eun bent her knees slightly, then leaped into the air. She soared so high it felt like she could touch the moon. It was the first time she realized she was capable of such a feat.

* * *

She hastily set the coffin down under a tree. Even then, Ah-eun looked at the coffin with eyes that couldn’t believe what was happening. In her rush, she had carried it here, but she wasn’t sure if Si-woo was really alive.

‘First… let’s check first.’

She grabbed the lid of the coffin and pried off the nails that had sealed it shut.

Creak.

The lid fell to the side. Inside, the body wrapped in hemp burial shrouds lay still. The body was bound tightly with several horizontal bands, even covering the face, showing no sign of movement.

Her hands trembled slightly as she untied the band around his neck.

‘If I misheard the sound…’

In that brief moment, many thoughts passed through her mind—whether she was desecrating the peace of the deceased by disturbing him, or whether she was committing an immeasurable sin against the Chu couple by stealing the body.

As she removed the hemp cloth, Si-woo’s face, with closed eyes, was revealed. A greenish hue glowed on his skin. Unlike the last time she saw him, when he was pale and dull, his skin now had a cool, smooth surface, reminiscent of freshly sprouted leaves, with a bluish tint.

‘Did his face always look like this?’

Ah-eun thought, somewhat startled. He had always been a handsome man, but now his beauty seemed almost unreal.

Just then, Si-woo’s eyes opened.

* * *

Ah-eun swallowed nervously as she stared at the massive boulder in front of her. She set down the bundle she was carrying and placed both hands on the boulder.

The boulder began to move.

After cautiously looking around, she squeezed through the gap between the rocks. Going deeper than usual, she came to a large pit that opened up beneath her. Inside, a person was sitting.

“Young Master.”

When Ah-eun called out, the person sitting against the pit wall flinched and slowly lifted his head. Si-woo’s appearance was shocking. His face had grown gaunt, with half the flesh seemingly wasted away. His complexion was pallid, his eyes were sunken, and his gaze was dull and dark.

“What… happened to Changwon-gun?”

With lips as dry as tree bark, Si-woo asked. His voice was so parched it seemed as if it would break apart. Ah-eun clenched her hand tightly over her chest.

“The King is searching for the culprit behind the incident.”

There was no way she could let Si-woo go out in his current state; he no longer looked like a normal human. Moreover, if Changwon-gun found out that Si-woo was still alive, there was no telling what he might do next. So for the time being, she had no choice but to keep Si-woo confined here.

In truth, considering Ah-eun’s physical abilities, climbing out of such a pit would be no challenge for Si-woo. However, Si-woo was still unaware that he was no longer human, and since she had given him the bare minimum of blood, he was weak.

Si-woo let out a faint, bitter laugh.

“The culprit is Changwon-gun. What is there to search for? Among those who buried me, there was Dong-ryang, one of Changwon-gun’s servants.”

Ah-eun remained silent. It was later revealed that Dong-ryang was also one of the two servants who had dumped Eop-ji’s body over the city wall.

“How are you feeling?”

Ah-eun asked, trying to assess Si-woo’s condition.

“I’m… hungry.”

Si-woo murmured slowly, like an old man without teeth. Ah-eun felt a pang of guilt, and her eyes grew hot with tears.

Seeing someone she considered like a son deteriorating into such a decayed state broke her heart. And she knew better than anyone that the hunger Si-woo felt was not ordinary hunger.

“I’m sorry, Young Master. Truly…”

Ah-eun whispered tearfully, feeling sorrow for him. Whether Si-woo understood her emotions or not, he murmured.

“Please… let me out of here.”

“Please wait a little longer. Soon…”

Suddenly, Si-woo’s eyes flashed with anger.

“I said, let me out!”

His roar echoed through the cave. Ah-eun flinched and stood up. Si-woo, supporting himself against the wall, cried out in anguish.

“What have you done to me? Why do I… why do I feel so different? Why am I so hungry…!”

His legs gave out, causing him to stumble, but even then, he continued to wail.

“I will kill that bastard with my own hands!”

Ah-eun, startled, began to retreat and then ran toward the entrance. The sound of Si-woo’s anguished cries, like the roar of a beast, followed her. She couldn’t bear the sound of his pained sobs.

Once outside, she hurriedly rolled the boulder to close the entrance. The roars from within faded, as if being strangled into silence. Finally calming down, she rested her forehead against the boulder.

She felt suffocated by the fear of what she had created. Her body belonged to a tiger, but her heart was still no braver than a rabbit’s.

* * *

Creak…

Ah-eun pushed the boulder aside and stepped inside.

“Young Master.”

But as she approached the pit, she was struck by an eerie silence. Her heart sank, fearing something might have happened to Si-woo. She rushed to the edge of the pit and looked down anxiously.

Ah-eun sighed in relief as she stroked her chest. Si-woo was lying on his side, asleep. It was the first time since he had become a vampire that he looked so peaceful.

Ah-eun raised her voice to wake him up.  

“Young Master, wake up. I’ve brought you something to eat.”

But Si-woo didn’t respond. A faint bluish hue seemed to wash over his face as he lay there.

“Young Master…?”

Ah-eun’s heart filled with dread. Could he be… dead?

She quickly jumped into the pit and rushed to Si-woo’s side to check on him.

Only then did Si-woo’s eyelids flutter. Slowly, very slowly, he opened his eyes.  

“Ah-eun…?”

His voice was cracked, but he seemed conscious.  

“Are you alright? Are you feeling unwell?”

It was almost absurd to hope for him to be alright in such an environment, but Si-woo’s condition was clearly unusual, so she asked.

Si-woo blinked slowly, as if even the question was difficult for him to comprehend.  

“Strangely… I feel… very sleepy. So… very…”

Then, as if suddenly snapping back to reality, he grabbed Ah-eun’s arm and asked in a drawn-out, barely comprehensible tone,  

“What about Changwon-gun… what happened to him?”

“He was punished.”

Ah-eun blurted out without thinking. She knew he would realize it was a lie as soon as he got out, but she didn’t want to disturb his rare moment of peace.

Si-woo looked at Ah-eun, as if he couldn’t believe what she was saying.  

“Really…?”