Chapter 12: The Curse and the Kindness

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He was certain that Lusha also felt just as awkward as he was. While they both lingered in that heavy silence, her voice reached him from behind.

“Lloyd… You don’t doubt me, do you?”

The sudden question made Lloyd snap back to himself. Of course, he wasn’t allowed to turn around, so he answered while keeping his gaze forward.

“Hm…? What are you talking about?”

“The part about me being a ‘Saint.’ Because… If I were a fake being chased by the Church, normally anyone would believe them over me, right?”

Along with her voice, he heard the sound of fabric being dipped into water and the soft rubbing that followed. She must have moved to a different part of her body. Trying not to think too deeply about where she had moved to, Lloyd stared into the forest and answered.

“Maybe that’s how it is for most people. But I decided I would believe you. That’s all.”

He paused briefly, then continued.

“Besides, you actually stopped my rampage. Only a real ‘Saint’ could do something like that. For me, that alone was reason enough to believe you.”

Lowering his gaze, Lloyd looked down at his right hand. A black mark, like a dark bruise, floated on his skin. This was the mark from the Curse Mark called the Malice Glyph. It was the proof of the Shadow Clan, a cursed mark that granted its bearer overwhelming power. But Lloyd’s mark was far too powerful. He couldn’t control it. If he used that power, he would be consumed by the curse in an instant. That was what the Malice Glyph meant for him.

Though… Well, when she puts it that way, Lusha has a point.

If a woman were suspected of being a false Saint and chased by priests, most people would believe the priests. But Lloyd had never doubted her from the start. Even when he asked himself why, he couldn’t give a logical answer. When he’d heard her voice, and when he’d seen her tears, he had sensed something. It was almost as if the Malice Glyph itself had been reaching out to her.

…Was it instinct?

The word passed through his mind unexpectedly. Whether that instinct belonged to the curse or to Lloyd, who was tainted by it, he didn’t know. But the word fit strangely well. After all, the one who wished more than anyone else to suppress this curse was Lloyd himself.

Behind him, he heard another soft rustling of fabric. This time, mixed with the sound of clothes sliding across skin—silk brushing gently. She must have finished wiping her body and begun putting her clothes back on.

“Thank you for waiting. I’m fine now. And I’m sorry for troubling you.”

Lloyd gave a small nod and finally turned around. In the glow of the firelight, Lusha wore a slightly refreshed expression. Wiping herself must have calmed her. At the same time, she looked faintly embarrassed. She had undressed and bared her skin in front of a man. Of course she would be embarrassed. She moved closer, crouched in front of Lloyd, and quietly lowered her gaze to the mark on his right hand.

“I know this is what they call the Malice Glyph. But… I don’t know the details. If you don’t mind, could you tell me about it?”

Her eyelashes—silver-white like her hair—trembled gently as she looked straight at him. Lloyd’s heart skipped a beat under that gaze.

“I want to know more about you too, Lloyd.”

Lusha’s fingertips touched the mark. Her hand was cool, the chill of the water still lingering, and the touch felt pleasant. She was only touching his skin, yet it felt like her fingers reached deeper… Deeper into whatever lay beneath the mark.

Lloyd exhaled shortly and cast his eyes downward.

“…Well, you stopped my rampage, Lusha. I guess you have the right to know.”

His quiet words made Lusha’s gaze waver faintly. Lloyd shifted into a more relaxed sitting posture and began to speak.

“…I’ve had this mark on my arm since I was a kid. Whenever my emotions stirred, the power would run wild like earlier. It’s a real piece of crap.”

In the flickering firelight, he rolled up his sleeve. The ink-black curse mark spread across his inner arm, as though carved into him. From afar it resembled a bruise, but up close it was clearly a magical engraving.

His power had first run wild when he was five. His parents were attacked by bandits while they were traveling from their village to town. When he saw his parents about to be killed, his emotions boiled over and the mark suddenly emerged. What happened afterward was obvious. Shrouded in miasma and granted overwhelming strength, he annihilated everything, unable to control himself.

“Did you… Did you kill your parents as well…?”

Lusha asked in a voice filled with pain. Lloyd gave her a bitter smile and shrugged.

“Who knows. Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. When I woke up, all I saw around me were corpses.”

“I see…”

Lusha lowered her gaze to the fire, her face showing a mix of relief and sadness. Perhaps not knowing the truth was the only mercy he had. Had his parents’ deaths triggered the awakening of the Curse Mark? Or had the curse run wild when they were merely about to be killed, causing him to slaughter everyone, including them? Lloyd had no memory of that.

The fire popped softly.

“After that, someone claiming to be my grandfather appeared out of nowhere and took me to a hidden village deep in the mountains. I learned I was part of the ‘Shadow Clan’ a few years later.”

“…Someone who claimed to be your grandfather? So he wasn’t your real one?”

“I don’t know. There was no way to check. He said he was, so I just believed him. His story made sense at least.”

Lloyd shook his head. According to that man, Lloyd’s mother had been his daughter. She fell in love with a man she met by chance and eloped, leaving the hidden village. She had never manifested the Curse Mark or awakened the clan’s power. The old man had accepted that.

But her child—Lloyd—had inherited it, and awakened a power far greater than normal. So the old man had taken it upon himself to train and contain him. Even Lloyd’s swordsmanship came from him. Lusha spoke quietly.

“That ‘Shadow Clan’… What were they, exactly?”

“I heard they were once the covert knight order directly commanded by the king.”

Lloyd added.

“Though I’m not too clear on it myself.”

The clan’s duty had been “to return those who disrupt order to the shadows.” They manipulated darkness and curses, protecting the kingdom from the unseen. They dealt with rebels and eliminated threats to the realm. Lloyd’s sword, Rukuud, was also a relic passed down through the clan. That was all Lloyd knew.

“…I’ve never heard such a story before.”

Lusha blinked slowly, her eyes wide in confusion and faint awe.

“Of course you haven’t. These days, the clan’s existence has been erased entirely. No records in books or in the kingdom’s archives. They were labeled dangerous and wiped from history.”

That was all Lloyd’s supposed grandfather had told him. With no records anywhere, Lloyd couldn’t verify anything on his own. He didn’t know if the old man’s words were the truth or were just madness delusions… Until he received a royal summons appointing him as Julius’s support.

Lloyd looked down again at the mark etched into his arm.

“According to the old man, this Curse Mark only appears in those with especially great power. It gives ability far beyond any Resonance Skill, but if it runs wild, it drags in anyone—ally or not. A pretty lousy trump card.”

Lusha listened silently, wearing a pained expression. Lloyd sighed softly.

“Because of that, whenever I used my power, people feared me. And when I didn’t, I was useless when it mattered. And with my gloomy personality, I never activated any Resonance Skills with anyone. I couldn’t connect with anyone.”

But then, something had changed. He had met this White Saint. He hadn’t fully resonated with her, but he’d felt something close to it. Even being able to suppress that power without losing control, Lloyd considered that as resonance.

“…But you didn’t fear my pathetic curse, Lusha. You suppressed it. And… That made me really happy.”

Lloyd ended with a wry smile.

“That’s why I believed in you. That’s also why I wanted to protect you from that deranged Church.”

“Lloyd…”

Only the fire crackled between them as Lusha whispered. Her voice trembled faintly. Tears brimmed in her eyes. But then she smiled softly.

“I’ve never thought your power was a ‘curse.’”

“…Huh?”

“Because… You only use that power when you’re trying to protect someone.”

Her voice was gentle, soothing, almost like she was comforting him. And with that tender smile, something hot pricked behind Lloyd’s eyes. Yes. Now that she said it, it was true. Lloyd always unleashed his power to protect someone. It felt like she had spoken a part of him he never voiced and a part of him that quietly wished to be understood.

“Even if someone calls it a ‘curse,’ if you’re using it to protect others, then I think it’s ‘kindness.’ At least… Your kindness saved me.”

“Lusha…”

Lloyd murmured her name and lowered his face. No one had ever said anything like that to him. He had never even thought of it that way either. To him, this power had always been something to loathe, yet she called it kindness.

Lusha continued.

“I was taught to use my power for the ‘world.’ And I believed that myself. But… After meeting you, something changed.”

“Meeting me… What changed?”

“…I want to use my power for you. I don’t know why. But I feel like… Maybe using my power for you is the same as using it for the world. Is that too grand of a thought?”

She laughed softly—warm, divine, gentle. For a moment, she looked like the earth goddess Leafia herself, overflowing with kindness and compassion. Those were the words Lloyd had always wished someone would say. And he had always wished to use his power for someone like that. He felt his heart melt.

Perhaps this was the feeling of trust… The feeling of relief.

“…That’s enough talking for tonight. We’re sleeping. We’ll be walking all day tomorrow.”

Lloyd spoke brusquely. If he didn’t, he felt he might truly start crying.

“Yes. Then…Good night, Lloyd.”

Lusha smiled at him, her voice light, happy. Her words warmed the cold places in his heart. He had no choice but to realize how deeply he was beginning to fall for her.

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