I held back my tears and returned home. Harura... That day felt like the last I had left. If I went to Gyeol, what if someone pursued me? The whole situation was cursed. Perhaps someone had been watching me since the Supreme Priestess considered me her successor. I had always lived my life diligently, so they probably wouldn't have found fault with me. Except for the war, that is. But becoming her successor wasn't the path I wanted.
I wanted to end it. I wanted to erase everything. As I neared home, the tears I'd been holding back finally burst out. Resentment for the years that had passed welled up within me. Resentment for the father who abandoned me, resentment for the mother I didn't even know. Resentment for the Supreme Priestess who threatened me instead of embracing me with love. Resentment for the people who turned their swords against the wolf tribe I loved. Resentment for the war that had broken out.
At this very moment, I desperately missed my childhood, playing in the fields. Perhaps the girl who played in those fields, thought to be gone, still lingered in my heart. I'd always thought I could just go to the wolf tribe village if I hated this place. That was my only solace. But now that place was gone. Humans had ruined it. And now that the Supreme Priestess knew of Gyeol's existence, what if I put her in danger? I absolutely did not want that outcome.
. . .
When I got home, I was startled. The yard was littered with footprints, like those of soldiers. All the little belongings I'd kept were strewn about. The furniture was overturned, and everything inside was strewn about, as if someone had thoroughly ransacked the house. What on earth was going on?
"Who's there!!"
I shouted. A silent silence flowed without a response. It seemed like everyone who searched the house had already left. The servants hadn't returned yet, so there was no one home. My already chaotic mood became even more chaotic. I tried to organize my private affairs, but was this how it was going to be organized? I chuckled. I hadn't wanted this to end... I felt miserable. Life isn't always what you want, but it felt like nothing I wanted in my life was there. It went beyond resentment, and I began to feel angry. It was a rage I'd been suppressing since childhood, a rage that had been building since birth. So, I finally decided to mutter a spell.
"Curse me."
That shouldn't have happened... but the words just came out of my mouth.
"I curse this land..."
The spark of resentment that began with feeling alone was now fanned into a raging conflagration by the sight of my home in shambles. I remembered the curse spell I'd read in the forbidden book. It required extreme sacrifice. If I erected a curse wall here, bordering the wolf-clan forest, I would no longer belong to this land. My thoughts were running wild. I wanted to destroy everything.
"I curse this land. With all my heart and soul."
As evening fell, a dark red glow began to rise in the sky, which had been turning bluish.
"What are you doing!!!!!"
Those hiding in the grass poured out, screaming. Sure enough, there were watchers. Seeing the crimson aura, they panicked and began to stumble, until they saw the congressman.
That congressman was the culprit! You told the highest priestess about this, and you ransacked my house. I won't let you off the hook.
I aimed the crimson aura emanating from my body at the doctor. He was engulfed in the crimson aura and began to be dragged in.
"Eww"
The old man tried to hold onto the soldiers around him, trying to keep himself from being drawn into the aura, but it wasn't enough. This forbidden spell grew stronger and more powerful as more human lives were consumed. I intended to fortify the wall of curse, even at the cost of the lives of the guards here, or even my own.
That was the time.
"Seol-ah..!!"
A knot appeared before my eyes. Startled, it approached me. The small storm caused by the crimson aura blew the hem of its blue robe. How did it get here... How did it happen...?
"No, Gyeol-ah! Don't come near me..!!!"
I screamed desperately.