Vol 1 Chapter 17: Clara Reluctant to Return to the Capital

It was a cloudy day, but there was no rain. Only a gray sky and a gentle breeze carrying the faint scent of wild roses from the fields behind the village. Clara stood in front of the small house that had been her place to return to in silence for the past seven days. She stared at the soft brown wooden door for a moment, then took a breath.

“Why do I always come back here?” she thought.

It wasn’t because of an assignment. The two fugitives she had been chasing had “disappeared”—or rather, had become fertilizer for the tame but terrifying rose monster. Clara herself had finished her report. But she hadn’t left yet. Even when all the formalities were complete, her heart… refused to go home. It was already the eighth day, but Clara decided to stay one more day before returning to the capital.

—

Marry, a Mother Who Is Not Just a Mother…

Behind the words of an ordinary mother and her gentle smile as she wiped the table, Marry el Rose hid many things. But not lies, not cheap masks—but depths that Clara could not reach.

Every time Marry fed Caelan, every time Marry laughed softly as wildflowers dangled from her silver hair, every time Marry gazed blankly into the fields for a moment—Clara realized something: she was not facing an ordinary human being.

Marry was not just a former executioner with a bloody reputation as a rebel. Not just a fugitive who had disappeared from civilization. But—and this was what Clara couldn’t stop thinking about—Marry was the purest human being she had ever met.

Eye of Judgment...
Clara knew that perhaps she had never been able to trust humans wholeheartedly again since she first awakened her [Eye of Judgment] ability. There was too much darkness she had seen. Too many souls rotten, even when their mouths spoke of kindness.

But Marry…

White. More than white. Shining.

Marry’s soul was not just clean, it was healing. Clara didn’t know why, but every time she saw Marry cooking while humming an old song, her heart felt… at ease.

“If this world is broken, then Marry is a fallen fragment of a better world.”

—

Caelan and an Unexpected Friendship...

“Clara! Clara! Let’s play!!”

The cheerful voice echoed from behind the house. Caelan, with silver hair and sky blue eyes, jogged while carrying a rabbit doll.

Clara smiled slightly. This child was too cute for a world like this.

“I’m busy,” Clara replied—pretending to be busy writing in her book. But Caelan pulled her sleeve.

“Don’t lie! That’s a blank book!”

Clara gave up. “Okay, okay. What is it this time? Hide and seek? Fairy tales?”

Caelan laughed happily, “We’ll pretend to be knights and monsters! Clara will be the prince, I’ll be the monster!”

“Huh, why are you a monster?”

“Because monsters have to be strong! But... Mom said, sometimes monsters aren’t evil. Sometimes they’re just lonely.”

Clara fell silent. Again, even from the little princess’s mouth, something deep slipped out. Something that probably came from Marry.

—

Secretly, A Deep-Rooted Admiration...

Clara stared at Marry silently as she hung clothes on the clothesline. The wind blew her long silver hair. She kept smiling as she watched Caelan and Clara playing in the grass.

Clara knew that others would say she was stupid.

Admiring an executioner? A noble assassin? A lawbreaker who even had a corpse-eating familiar?

But that was because they didn't know who Marry really was.

Marry wasn't a woman who tried to justify her sins. She was just a woman who chose to continue loving, even though she knew the world wouldn't reciprocate.

—

When Night Comes...

Before going home, Clara sat with Marry on the porch. The night wind blew softly. Caelan fell asleep on Clara's lap, her mouth still slightly open and a small bead of sweat on her forehead.

Marry looked at them both with a warm gaze.

"Clara," she said softly, "You're like a big sister to Caelan. Thank you for keeping her company."

Clara didn't know what to say. She just stared into Marry's blue eyes and said:

“...I envy you.”

Marry was surprised. “Envy?”

“Because you... can still be human. Even though the world kills the best part of us.”

—

The End of That Day...

When night truly fell and Clara walked back to her small inn, she stopped for a moment. Looking up at the night sky. In her hand, Caelan had tucked a small rose.

White. Not red.

Clara smiled.

Maybe... she could trust the world once again. Or at least, trust one person.

And that person's name was: Marry el Rose.