The Girl Wants to Be Murdered

TL/Editor: Butter Cat

Status: 4/week mon-thurs

Illustrations: none

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〈 Chapter 16 〉 Chapter 16. Blood Scent.

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**

Ever since I was born into this world and witnessed the passing of seasons, experiencing my second first snowfall, Remi began reading fairy tales to me every night.

She was so cute back then.

I would burst into laughter whenever she encountered a word she couldn't read, secretly asked Mother for help, then proudly resumed the story after learning the correct pronunciation.

Honestly, I can say this now, but I knew it all, Remi...

Remi would read me a new story every day, but she would often read her favorite fairy tales over and over again.

Among them, the first fairy tale she read to me.

And the book Remi loved most out of all the fairy tales.

『Alice of the Blue Forest』

The protagonist, Alice, was a young girl who dreamed of adventure. She felt like her life was fixed, spinning in place like a windmill.

So she resented her parents who kept her from entering the forest.

'A monster who eats people lives in the forest, so never go in there.'

To Alice, the forest wasn't a scary place inhabited by a monster, but a peaceful space where birds chirped and deer frolicked.

Why wouldn't her parents let her enter the forest?

Could there be treasure hidden there?

If she had been an obedient child who listened to her parents, the story wouldn't have progressed. She would have grown up to be an ordinary girl, gotten married, had children, and lived a long life without causing any trouble.

But unfortunately, this story was a fairy tale.

And — fairy tales exist to teach lessons.

This story is a warning.

Good people are rewarded, and bad people are punished.

Children who disobey their parents' advice will face misfortune.

Excessive greed only leads to harm.

Foolishly, on a day when the sun was shining brighter than ever, Alice ignored her parents' words and entered the forest.

And there, she met fantastical beings and formed bonds with them.

She helped a little fairy who had lost her wings by the water and found them for her.

She transplanted a tree that was worried about not receiving enough sunlight because it was shorter than the other trees to a new location.

She gave advice to a dwarf who dreamed of making boots that would last a hundred years, and to a passionate fish who aspired to one day fly in the sky by training its gills.

These encounters with mystical beings, something she had never experienced before, made Alice's heart race.

‘Living is the most enjoyable thing,’ Alice said.

She couldn't call herself alive just because she was breathing. She said that her past self wasn't a living person, but rather a sculpture that merely existed.

'Now, I am more alive than anything.'

With each precious bond she formed, her surroundings became noisier, but to her, that noise was a pleasant one.

But a child who disobeys their parents must face punishment.

Because this fairy tale was written to warn children who don't listen to their parents.

A warning.

A place where her friends told her not to enter, a place everyone warned her about.

The deep, dark forest.

A box that should never be opened, but was more tempting than anything else.

'Hey, hey, who are you?'

'....Me...?'

Alice, entering that place, encountered the 'monster'.

**

I felt the soft touch of fabric against my eyelids.

I tried to move, but it was as if my entire body was weighed down by heavy stones, and I was drowning in the sea. A strange scent wafted around me.

The bitter scent of medicinal herbs mixed with the coppery tang of blood, creating an unsettling smell.

Haa.

My consciousness gradually awakened.

I tried to remember what had happened to me, replaying my last actions.

A perfectly executed plan, a death so beautiful, the affection of those I cherished—yes, I remembered everything.

I was stabbed multiple times in the stomach by Anna. Even though she avoided vital points, I ended up falling off a cliff that seemed to be at least tens of meters high.

Even if they pulled me out of there immediately, there was absolutely no way to save me.

Yes. It wasn't just a low possibility, it was completely impossible.

Then, what is this sensation? Was I reborn after dying?

No. This is different. Something is wrong. I, more familiar with death than anyone else, could tell. This wasn't that feeling.

Something more desperate, more pitiful, more tragic than death.

A wave of despair, misery, and sorrow washed over me.

I felt tears welling up.

So that's it.

—I'm alive?

"......ㅡㅡ,Ahㅡ"

Where, am I?

My mouth was as dry as parched earth. I tried to speak, but only a small groan escaped. It felt like my vocal cords were cracking.

The voice was raspy, with a lower pitch, but it was so familiar. I was certain.

For some reason, Aris Akaia had survived.

Click.

"—You're awake."

"...Ah...!!"

"Please don't move. I'll give you some water first. Carefully, take it easy."

The sound of a solid object being placed on a wooden table, followed by the voice of an unknown woman.

The woman's voice, heard from nearby, was so captivating that I forgot I was crying.

It was a clear, melodious voice, like jade beads rolling. But beneath it, I sensed a hidden depth of experience and wisdom.

Dreamlike. Beautiful.

I've never heard a voice like this.

Who is she?

"I've soaked the cloth in water. I'll place it in your mouth, so please suck on it slowly. Slowly, slowly. Yes, you're doing well."

"......Hap, haa, haa."

"Little by little, little by little... Yes."

A soft, water-soaked cloth entered my open mouth.

I fumbled with my unresponsive tongue, trying to drink the water. A trickle, moisturizing my tongue.

It was like irrigating a dry rice paddy, but even so, the water was fresh and cool.

Swish.

"...—Ah."

"That's enough."

My body craved more water, but the woman refused to give me more, saying I shouldn't drink too much.

The cloth left my mouth.

Hmph.

How mean.

Although the words didn't come out of my mouth, did it show on my face? I thought I saw her smile for a moment.

I opened my eyes to see her, but I felt a stinging pain in one eye and had to close them again. I let out a soft groan.

Ouch.

In the brief glimpse I had, all I saw was darkness. It seemed like something was covering my eyes. Was the foreign sensation I felt around my eyes the touch of cloth?

It felt like a rough bandage was wrapped around my entire head, specifically the eyes.

I heard the sound of her organizing the tools she had brought to give me water. The clinking sounds stopped, and a few seconds later, her voice came again.

"Are you feeling better now?"

"......Yes."

"That's good to hear. When I first saw you, I thought you were dead."

Her voice came from right beside me. I could feel her breath, her scent, her presence, all so intensely.

The scent I felt earlier, I thought it was coming from me.

What is this person?

Is she even human?

"You looked in such bad shape, so I brought you here and 'treated' you... but could you tell me what happened?"

"......Ah...?"

"If it's too difficult, you don't have to speak."

She was being considerate. From what I gathered, she was the one who found me drifting downstream and rescued me. And it seemed she still didn't know me.

She doesn't know me? Is this some remote countryside?

How did she even treat me?

She treated me, all by herself?

My curiosity only grew, instead of being satiated.

And.

Even though her tone was polite and warm, her voice was so full of consideration that it made me think, 'If empathy had a voice, wouldn't it sound like this?'

"Ah, I haven't introduced myself yet."

From your mouth.

From your fingertips.

From your clothes, soaked and clinging stubbornly.

"My name is Saelli."

What is that smell of blood?

And you're saying you're a doctor?

Not a murderer?

"I... I'm...?"

I was intrigued.

I had no attachment to this world, so I could wander around and end up a nameless corpse, or go back to the royal palace to see Anna and Remi.

But if I saw them now, the sculptures I had painstakingly crafted would crumble again, and...

Dying right now wouldn't be right, considering my newfound interest in you, Saelli.

Ah, as I always thought, I'm just too kind.

"Ah.... Aaah.... I... I'm...!?"

"....What?! Calm down!"

Yes, let's just assume I died and was reborn. Let's not overthink it.

Aris Akaia is dead.

That's all.

"I don't, know. Why, why? It hurts... It hurts... I need to know... I had something precious... But it hurts... It hurts... Help me..."

"......!!"

I heard her gasp.

I heard her mumble something beside me as she looked at me, but I continued my act.

I didn't need to force tears. The cloth covering my eyes was already soaked and dripping onto the floor.

"Please don't, leave me... It hurts... I need to know... It hurts, stop, stop it, it hurts, don't stab me— big sis."

"...Ah..."

I raised my hand with all my strength, reaching out to Saelli, who was sitting beside me. Thud, as my fingertips brushed against her, Saelli reacted violently, and I heard the sound of furniture, presumably a chair, collapsing.

While reeking of the thick scent of blood, unlike anything I've ever smelled before, she's weak to this?

My interest only grew.

"This is...!!"

"He,lp, me, big…si— "

Whoosh, something seemed to be flying towards me, cutting through the air. Unable to react, I could only brace for the impact.

How kind, sis.

Thud.

"—Sis."

"...Just how much... has the outside world... fallen!?"

My body shook lightly from the impact. Did she hit my neck? Well, knocking out a delirious child is a valid solution.

Come to think of it, I haven't thanked her for saving me. Well, I'll do it after I wake up.

Then, good night.

My consciousness began to sink back into the abyss.

Sleepiness washed over me. The bright sun-lit surface of the water receding.

Glug, glug.

Deeper.

Gurgle.

Even deeper.

**

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