Chapter 216. Mabel’s past life 2022.02.26.
Upon receiving Esteban’s summons, Oscar headed straight for the castle. Hwangseong, which had been silent since Mabel didn’t wake up, was enveloped in a more bizarre mood today.
‘Why did he call me?’
Arriving in front of Mabel’s bedroom with doubts, Oscar faced his close friend, the emperor’s two escorts, and Lisandro.
“Why are you together?”
They hadn’t been escorted together since Mabel fell into a coma, but today they were together.
“My uncle is also with me… Wait a minute. Did something happen to Mabel?”
Oscar, suddenly feeling strange, kicked off his seat and tried to run into the bedroom, but Lisandro grabbed him.
“Calm down, Oscar. If you go in with such excitement, the situation will strike a sutra.”
“I have calmed down.”
“What is true?”
Lisandro took Oscar in his arms and patted him on the back, as he had done when he was very young. Oscar, who was hugged out of nowhere, was hugged in a daze.
“Why are you doing this all of a sudden, uncle?”
“Suddenly, it feels like it’s been over ten years since I’ve hugged my nephew. You’re all grown up now too. It’s hard to hold you… So have you calmed down?”
“…yes.”
Enrique gave a brief explanation to the excited Oscar.
“It seems that Shinsoo told His Majesty Sang Sang that there is a way to wake His Majesty the Emperor.”
“really?!”
Oscar shuddered again. When his efforts were in vain, Lisandro laughed and shook his head, adding an explanation.
“He said he would access His Majesty’s unconscious. So, while you were defenseless, you summoned trustworthy people to entrust your back to you.”
‘Those who can be trusted.’
Oscar stared at the three of them. Lisandro and Enrique and Aidan. Aidan was actually surprised. It was because the scene Oscar saw was Esteban’s wary of Aidan every time.
‘It’s a time that can’t be ignored.’
When Aidan first fled to Ermano, there were no longer those whom he feared and called ‘Devlin’s Devil’. People now remembered Aidan as Count Aidan Aserad and the Emperor’s first bodyguard. It was all Mabel’s intention and achievement. Making it impossible for anyone to point fingers at Aidan for being Devlin’s. For Oscar, Aidan was a close friend and an important colleague…
‘Perhaps the father started to trust Aidan as well.’
Facing Aidan with an expressionless face today, Oscar tapped him on the shoulder. I suddenly felt uncomfortable.
“no. Still can’t.”
“…?”
“I will go in.”
Oscar entered Mabel’s bedroom with the three escorts at his back and found his father guarding the side of the bed.
“Emperor. I heard you called me.”
“Welcome, Oscar.”
He said that he would not skip meals and take rest, but Esteban’s face was haggard. Maybe because he lost weight, the cold atmosphere seemed even sharper.
“I just heard the story. You say you’re accessing Mabel’s subconscious.”
“okay. It is said that you can access it through the core of the tree that Mabel was carrying. We must use this power as a medium to assemble the pieces of Mabel’s broken soul.”
“That core is…”
Oscargi, who accompanied Mabel to the cave where he went to meet the last tree of creation, was well aware of how important the core was to this world. The story behind the hidden oracle Mabel had told him ran through his mind, but Oscar ignored it.
“I respect your father’s choice.”
Because there was nothing more important than Mabel. Even if disaster strikes the world.
‘Because a world without Mabel would be a disaster to me.’
I would give anything in return if only Mabel could wake up. Knowing that Oscar’s heart was the same as his own, Esteban found some comfort in his choice, which he considered selfish.
“Only you knew how to say that, Oscar.”
Esteban laughed lightly at Oscar and finally got to the point of calling Oscar.
“The Shinsoo says that there are times when you approach unconsciousness and cannot return because it is swept away by the waves of power.”
“yes?”
“So, if things go wrong, I will ask the Empire for you.”
What Esteban calmly handed over was a letter with the official seal of Hwang Sang-je. Oscar quickly realized that it was a will. The case of no return was death. it’s death Upon hearing the story for the first time, Oscar was momentarily dazed, then enraged.
“Don’t talk nonsense. How can you say that?”
“I’m sorry, Oscar.”
“I’d rather go get Mabel instead of my father.”
It was Shinsoo who was crouching in the corner who put the brakes on Oscar’s determined words as if he were declaring. The giant Shinsoo walked out leisurely and spoke sternly.
[No.]
“Why!”
[Because that human is the one who matches Mabel and the wave of power the best. You won’t be able to handle Mabel’s power. Do you think I just went and told that human?]
Oscar shut his mouth at the blunt answer of the divine beast. I couldn’t hold out any longer. It was sad. If Esteban goes wrong…
‘I will lose my brother and father at the same time…’
Will he be able to endure that? Oscar stood still, devastated. There was a hand holding his hand. When I raised my head, I saw Esteban looking at me with a serious face.
“I always put a heavy burden on you. Even though I thought that shouldn’t be the case, this dad always turned away. I thought it was right.”
The first child born of an arranged marriage to the first empress, Duke Donovan. He was a lovely child with silver hair similar to his own and green eyes inherited from his mother. I couldn’t help but love However, one of the conditions for an arranged marriage was that they did not get involved in raising children. So Esteban had no choice but to watch Pasifika raise her son strictly. So Oscar grew up precocious even at a young age. An adult who doesn’t complain and is bad at expressing emotions. How sad it was to realize that Oscar had drawn the line between father and son when he was first called father instead of father.
“I should have told you I love you, but it’s too late.”
“…it’s really disgraceful to say that now.”
He never denied his father’s affection. Although there weren’t many friendly expressions of affection, there was a love that couldn’t be hidden in the gaze looking at him. But maybe I just wanted to hear that I love you. Oscar couldn’t help but support his father’s journey to save his little brother, who didn’t know how long it would take in the end.
“You must come back with Mabel. I’m going to burn this will, so if you don’t want to see the empire ruined.”
Esteban smiled at Oscar’s immature complaint and gently hugged him by the neck.
“Yes my son. Please don’t come back.”
“…yes.”
“Don’t burn it, though. I mean, I worked hard on it.”
At Esteban’s words full of regret, Oscar laughed lightly.
***
The bedroom where Mabel sleeps. The three escorts and Oscar stood guard over them. Esteban faced Shinsoo who was staring at him with calm eyes.
[I don’t know how long it will take. I can’t guarantee anything. You can wander in unconsciousness for eons of time.]
“It doesn’t matter.”
[Whew. After all, he is the father of that daughter.]
Shinsoo stuck out his tongue and took the core of the tree of creation and placed it in Esteban’s hand. It was the moment of the final choice. If you committed it, there was no turning back now.
[You can wake up. While wishing.]
Crisp-! Without the slightest hesitation, the core crumbled in Esteban’s hand. The life force that had been condensed in the shattered core was released like an explosion.
‘To save my daughter.’
The vitality that flowed through Esteban’s hands flowed to Mabel. Golden light wrapped around Mabel’s whole body, which contained the life force that supported one axis of the world.
‘Mabel.’
Flash. The moment I closed and opened my eyes, the world shattered into pieces, and soon the surroundings became quiet. . . . The first thing Esteban saw when he opened his eyes was a pitch-black sky, as if ink had been poured into it. Beneath the dim stars, the lights of brighter buildings twinkled so much that it hurt my eyes.
‘Where am I?’
It was the first place I saw. I had traveled all over the continent when I was the crown prince, but I had never seen or heard of a place like this.
“hey! Yoon Winter!”
Esteban’s gaze turned to the source of the sound at the sudden voice. I didn’t know the language, but strangely I could understand it. A snarky voice was heard again.
“How long are you going to run away? give it up for once Then I won’t hit you.”
“Not really.”
Esteban recognized it at first sight.
‘My baby.’
That the girl who was dangerously huddled at the edge of the rooftop, gasping for breath, was his daughter, Mabel.
Perhaps the child came out in a hurry, but he was shivering in the cold, not wearing his coat properly. Either that or not, the man in front of her threatened the child roughly.
“If not, why are you running away? Don’t berate me and give me something nice to say!”
There was no place to retreat anymore, but the child started to walk backwards.
“This is real-!”
At that moment, the child started falling down the roof. The bullying man opened his mouth wide and just stared blankly.
“…!”
There was nothing Esteban could do. Even if I stretched out my hand, I couldn’t reach it, and even if I shouted loudly, it didn’t seem to be heard.
“damn!”
The swearing man exited the building and began to run. Then he stopped, rummaged in the girl’s arms, pulled out two pieces of paper, and ran away again. The girl met her end at the bottom of a back alley where no one goes around because there are few people.
‘…Is it Mabel’s past?’
Before I could comprehend the shocking situation, my vision blended into a blur, and another scene appeared before my eyes. The time of my previous life passed in reverse order. The child who died right in front of his eyes was alive. The child was constantly moving in an unknown and complicated place. Although different from the world Esteban lives in, it was not difficult to notice that it was a restaurant.
“aunt! I ordered 30 minutes ago, so why is it not coming out like this?”
“sorry. I guess it’s late because the order was delayed. I’ll get it to you ASAP!”
“Hurry up please!”
“yes…!”
No matter how diligently he moved, work continued to emerge. Even after the child got out of there, he did other things. By the time the pitch-black night fell, the child’s work was all over.
“Huh…”
Melting his cold hands with his breath, the child headed home. There was no hesitation in the weary steps, as if the dark road without light was not scary. Even in the past time than that, the child always worked. Although he sometimes smiled, it was a tired smile, which made Esteban very sad. You are the one who smiles prettiest than anyone else. He is a lovely child who makes the world feel bright when he smiles wide. The lonely child in this world couldn’t even smile properly. The scene changed again. This time the child was not alone. But I don’t know if I would have been better off alone.
“Where are you talking back to me?!”
It was the same man who threatened the child from the rooftop and drove it to death. He reeked of alcohol and threatened the child violently.
“I’m sorry, Dad. I won’t. sorry.”
The crouching child cried out and begged for the fault. Esteban was shocked.
‘Dad. That’s family.’
I couldn’t believe it at all. I didn’t even want to call the mercilessly punching author family. Esteban finally understood why Mabel, who was a baby, was unfamiliar with affection and avoided him. He was afraid of his family.
‘Mabel, you’ve lived such a lonely and cruel life.’
