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“Ah shit!” Cale pressed his eyebrows.
The man who was supposed to be sleeping peacefully suddenly jolted awake with a massive headache.
Cale slowly opened his eyes and saw a familiar luxurious room. Oh, he’s back at the Henituse Mansion——— wait. Did he faint again?
Cale slightly tilted his head as if trying to remember what on earth did he do again for him to experience this kind of headache.
He tried sitting up only for his body to fall back on the bed. His body felt numb right now. Very numb.
Cale frowned, ‘All I did was kill that White Radish, seal that god bastard, steal his temple, finally end this war, extend Eruhaben life, meet His Maje—’
- C-Cale, please stop right there….
- Oh lord, you’re giving me a headache too even if I don’t have a body!!
- Yeah listen to the Cry Baby, Cale! He’s been through a lot just to heal you!
Cale’s frown grew deeper yet he remained on his bed, staring on the ceiling for who knows how many minutes.
‘I should call Ron for water.…’ He tilted his body and tried reaching for the bell on his side only for him to freeze in his place.
Cale immediately sat up despite the aching and numbness of his body.
“N-no, this cannot be— How—”
Cale’s eyes trembled as he touched his face and body with terror. Each touch made him tremble in disgust.
Still couldn’t believe what he saw, he rushed towards the bathroom and unconsciously slammed the door hard. He didn’t realize what he just did as he looked at his reflection in the mirror.
His supposed-to-be-very-pale body now had ugly scars around it. Big and small. Very ugly scars.
Cale slowly touched every corner of his face. He removed his garments and observed the positions of each scar. Some were in random places while some were in very critical places like his neck—
“H-how—” He kept murmuring as he looked very disgusted.
The ‘Record’ ability of course didn’t fail to record this incident. Every single one of these scars…. somehow perfectly matched those that Kim Rok Soo had. A disgusting new scar can also be seen on his chest, a scar he got from stabbing himself. Very old scars from his past battles are now on this fragile body, scars when he used ‘Instant’, scars when failed to save people, scars when he was beaten up, scars when he nearl—
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Young Master, it’s Ron.” A calm voice was heard outside the door but Cale ignored him. He can’t face Ron while looking like this!
A few seconds passed and just when Cale thought he left already, another loud knock interrupted his thoughts.
“Young Master, I know you’re awake. Please pardon me for forcing my way in.” Ron sounded so serious. This was when Cale realized Ron actually heard him slamming the door. He bit his lip as he tried looking for a towel to hide himself.
Footsteps slowly approached the bathroom and Cale grew a bit restless. Why does Ron have to be the one to look for him first?? He must not know about this —
“Young Master, please tell this old servant of yours if you’re feeling pain somewhere so that I may help you. I brought a glass of water with me too.” Ron sounded worried but he didn’t force his way inside the bathroom. The door was slightly open but he didn’t take a peek. He just waited for a response.
Cale drowsily approached the door, thinking what he should do instead.
“Ron… I need water.” He said a bit dejected.
The door opened slightly and a glass of water was placed on the floor, as if waiting for him to grab it. Cale looked at his hand that was now covered with scars and slowly grabbed the glass, hoping Ron would not notice anything.
Ron knows something is going on inside that Cale doesn’t want to show him. Even his tone reveals he’s not feeling okay. Even when he grabbed the glass, it was slow and…
“Thanks Ron.” Cale smiled when he finally got to drink water. What he didn’t know was that Ron got to see his scars from the reflection of the glass. No, he didn’t mean to but—
“....May I come in?” Ron could feel his heart beating fast. Oh how he hopes he was just imagining things….
Cale nearly choked on his water when he heard Ron, should he? but….
“Please forgive me but I need to see what’s going inside, Young Master Cale. The Duke-nim and Duchess-nim entrusted me to make sure you’re not suffering any side-effects from the battle.” Ron frowned in worry. No, it’s not just his parents, everyone in the group did.
Before Cale could even reply, the door slowly opened, revealing a frozen Ron outside. He could see a young man covered with towels while sitting on the tub. Perhaps it’s because of urgency that he wasn’t completely covered that Ron was still able to see the scars. Scars on his feet, his neck and his arm.
“D-don’t come near!” Cale didn’t mean to shout, he just didn’t think Ron would quickly open the door. He was planning to reply yes but this action caught him off guard, turning him into a mess.
“Young master… How did you get these scars?” Ron asked in a calm voice. He maintained his distance. Are these the side-effects? But how come there weren't any signs yesterday?
A quiet and hesitant ‘I don’t know’ came from Cale’s direction. He seems to be tired. Do the scars hurt?
“Can I take a good look at them?” Ron slowly approached him. A nodding motion can be seen. This made Ron smile a bit as he knelt in front of the young man.
Ron excused himself as he slowly removed the towels covering his head, down to bottom. The scars became more visible and Ron could only bite his lips as they became harder to count. He silently winched seeing how the scars actually spread across the pale body of his young master.
Cale didn’t get to see this which is why when he took a quick glimpse on Ron, all he could see was a serious expression on his face. None of them said a word as Ron slowly caressed that huge scar near his neck. He could feel Cale flinching on his touch so he withdrew his hand instead and looked for a cream on the cabinets.
Slowly applying cream on each scar, Cale could feel the cold liquid seeming to give him relief. The numbness was still there but as if connected to the scars, it slowly disappeared with each gentle touch.
Cale leaned his body on the wall while staring at Ron's every hand movement.
'...How do I explain this to Ron? Should I tell him about Kim Rok Soo? Or should I just blame the God of Death for this again….. Wait, I'm pretty sure it's his fault again! Next time I see him, I'll surely smack him back to the point he can't move for a day—!'
"You don't have to force yourself to explain, Young Master. If you desire, I could cover the scars with powder to hide them. I won't report this to anyone either…” Ron raised his head and looked at Cale’s eyes. Those eyes remained indifferent.
‘It’s my fault for not noticing how much he had suffered… These scars might have been the side-effects of using too much of his ancient powers. I’m pretty sure he was using his regenerative ancient power to hide all of these scars. The battle yesterday might have taken a great toll on his body.’
…
‘...Why do I feel like he’s misunderstanding me? Well anyways…’
“Thanks a lot Ron.” Cale wore a gentle smile even though he was looking away from Ron’s vicious eyes. He really doesn’t know what this old man is thinking for him to have such a vicious gaze but it’s not like he wants to know them at all—
“Young Master, I do hope you would reconsider letting the Duke and the group know about this. You don’t have to keep hiding your pain, you know?” Ron sat up after making sure all the scars were applied with the cream. He doubts they would disappear seeing most of them were already very old. He isn't sure if these were only from the battles and not way back in the past.. Who knows, he might have been hiding them for a very long time already.
Cale, who had no clue what this old man was thinking, just hummed in agreement.
“Sure, I will soon. But I want to rest for today, if there are any problems and such, you can report them to me later. I’m pretty sure everyone is busy right now too, so you can….” Cale looked at Ron but soon stopped talking after seeing his benign smile again.
“Don’t worry, Young Master-nim. This Ron will be sure to keep it in mind, please rest for now. I already prepared your favorite tea at the table.” Cale could only silently gulp as he slightly nodded. No words were spoken again as Ron helped Cale get clothed with his request of wearing a black turtleneck and long sleeves. The scars were left as it is too.
Bidding goodbye to the pitiful hero, Ron then left silently to take care of any possible works that would interfere with Cale’s rest.
*
*
*
After making sure he was all alone now, Cale opened the black book with the ominous title, How to Die Peacefully .
“Hey. It’s you right?”
His voice sounds vicious as if he’s not hesitant to tear this terrible book apart.
- Haha… Hello again child…. W-what are you talking about? Haha…
“Stop pretending, there’s no other being who can make this happen.” Cale sounded calm but the ancient powers and the poor god knows he’s very pissed.
God of Death could only gulp, hoping he won’t get beaten up by this vicious child of his.
- Alright haha… It was me– But Cale! I didn’t mean to! I swear! I was trying to.. to do something but the God of Balance suddenly rushed into my place. I-I ended up panicking and realized too late what I had done…
The poor god sounded like a child being scolded by his parents. He was so nervous to realize he was stuttering too. This attitude of his made Cale want to smack this bastard yet again!
“You better find a way to undo thi——” Cale raised the black book and was about to throw it in the corner when he suddenly saw a pair of 3 bright eyes on his door. Bright eyes that looked at him with curiosity and confusion.
The human, the Cat children in their human forms, and the dragon just stared at each other's direction, unmoved as if processing what just happened.
That was when the book on Cale's hand slipped and fell on the floor. The 3 pairs of eyes then quickly shut the door as if they didn't peeked at him earlier.
"Haha…" Cale began to relax a bit after seeing what just happened. The kids saw him with the scars.
"Are you just going to stay there, Raon, Hong, On? Come inside." Cale's tone was replaced to that of a gentle one. A wide smile was also visible on his face.
Upon hearing their human's voice, the kids opened the door and acted as if nothing happened. An odd expression was also on their face as they tried their best not to explode in embarrassment.
"H-hello Human! Long time no see?" Raon flew towards Cale and landed on his hair. He closed his eyes for a while with his paws covering his face. Then he took a quick peek below and saw more scars on his human’s body.
“I’ll destroy this world…” Raon ended up murmuring with a huge frown on his face. Cale didn’t get to see his expression but he could tell he’s being vicious yet again..
“Cale, are you in pain?” On slowly approached him with a complicated expression. She wanted to hold onto him but the thoughts of hurting him even more, scared her. The scars clearly were not there yesterday!
“It looks painful nyaa…” Hong looked so sad too as he stared at the scars. His tiny finger attempted to touch the huge scar on Cale’s hand but he couldn’t bring himself to. Cale found their actions funny and ended smiling brightly.
He brought his arm closer to Hong’s finger to let him know it’s alright. This startled the poor kid, causing him to look at Cale with a frown.
Cale could help himself but to laugh.
'Why do they think I'm in pain right now? Other else than that headache and numbness earlier, I feel perfectly fine right now.'
Cale ruffled Hong’s hair and then raised him up to sit on the bed. He also caressed On’s head and told her to sit with them. Raon also refused to move away from Cale’s hair, making Cale pat his scaly head instead until he’s willing to be carried by Cale.
The children still looked at him worriedly, flattering the smile of their human. He spread out his arms and let them touch it. He noted how cute they were when they realized it was alright to touch him.
Cale also noticed how On kept glancing at him as if wanting to know the history but is afraid to. He smiled warmly.
"Are you curious about them? They may not be very pleasant."
"I'll listen!" On looked serious.
Raon and Hong looked at On before wearing a serious expression too.
"Me too! We won't tell anyone!" Hong exclaimed.
"I-I'm curious too human! You already know our scars so it's our turn to know too!" Raon smiled brightly.
'Haaa.. Why are they so….'
"Well, to be honest, these scars are quite old already. Way back when I was younger, though, not in this body…. You two will understand someday." Cale patted On and Hong's head, swearing to himself he'll tell them soon.
"These….. older scars.. they were when I was about your age I guess?" Cale pointed out the older ones. These were from his uncle and the orphanage.
"Ahem, some of these were because I was too weak to protect myself." These were when I didn't yet have the ability to fight against the monsters and his fellow survivors.
"....these were because of my "Instant" ability. I'm pretty sure you've heard about it once, it's the ability that allows me to move very fast but in exchange, my body became like this everytime. And lastly…."
Cale paused and touched his neck.
"Uhmm… you don't have to know about the rest. They aren't that significant actually." He proceeded to touch the back of his neck and looked at the children who had been unmovable since earlier.
'.....did I say too much?' Cale shutted his lips tight as he glanced at the kid's hidden scars. He's thankful their scars aren't severe like his.
“....They’re terrible, right?” He unconsciously murmured.
The kids' expressions quickly changed and their eyes widened as if they couldn't believe what he just said. He quickly approached him even closer.
"What are you talking about, human??" Raon looked like he's about to cry.
"It's not your fault you got them, Cale nya! They aren't terrible at all!" Hong looked vicious.
“No they’re not Cale! Didn’t you say it yourself? Scars are symbols of what we have overcome?” On who's usually calm exclaimed in worry.
Oh…
“.......Sure, but that doesn’t apply to me. These are not something I'm proud of.” Cale murmured with an odd expression. The smile disappeared from his lips too, instead, he looked surprised.
‘These scars only remind me of my failures.’
Cale kept quiet as the children nonstop showered him with concerned and vicious words. Despite this, he could feel his heart warming.
'Does he even deserve this?'
A few peaceful minutes had passed by and the kids were cuddling with their guardian who was spacing out. Wait, is he actually sleeping now?
The kids giggle as Raon took his colorful washable pens out from his spatial bag.
"You know, I still remember those times when the human used to draw stars on my (already healed) scars because I thought they were ugly." Raon landed on Cale's chest, causing the other to frown on the sudden weight but still remained asleep.
"Ah! I still remembered them! They were beautiful!" Hong giggled as he remembered Cale doing the same thing for him.
On nodded with a smile too.
These kids listened to every single word Cale spoke earlier. The person himself may act indifferent about his past but they knew how painful it is to have wounds so bad that it left a scar. They used to hate their own scars but they learned to love each one of them.
But seeing the amount of scars Cale had, they became curious what he experienced to have them. They knew it had a longer history… why it only appeared now, they don't know.
The human's words seem deeper too and their curiosity only deepened but they don’t want to force him to recall all those bad memories again.
Hong then brought his face closer to Cale's. He stared at him as he slowly bopped his guardian's cheeks to check if he's really asleep.
Seeing no response, Hong grinned.
Hong quickly opened the cap and covered a scar in the neck with lines and formed them like a star. Seeing a longer scar, he drew a half moon instead.
Raon also did the same on Cale's arms.
'I hope he won't find these annoying…. especially when his scars are too many.' On crossed her hands together before opening the marker cap.
Like a canva, Cale’s body was soon covered with doodles of stars, moons…. wait, why is there a random flower??
Twitch. Twitch.
'Why is it so cold…'
The red haired was about to raise his hand and rub his eyes but stopped when he realized someone was hugging his arm. His other hand was also lying on someone's hair with his arm becoming a pillow to another.
Cale slowly opened his eyes and looked below him, only to find the kids sleeping on him… with markers on their hands??
Ink stains are also visible on their tiny hands. Soon, he noticed the colorful doodles on his body, from head to foot!
Cale stared at his body, trying to process everything that he saw.
Now relaxing his body, he wore a soft smile. How adorable the kids are, to think they cover up my scars with doodles just like we did with them.
'These scars may not be something I am proud of but……….'
Cale closed his eyes and soon went to the dream land again with his children.
You drew stars around my scars, but now I'm bleeding….
Ron soon went inside to check his Young Master only to be greeted by this adorable scene. Stealthily, he placed blankets on each one of them and ordered the servants not to disturb them.