Chapter – 29
Mari and Shasha were still too young to fully understand the complexity of emotions, but they knew very well what the face of someone whose soul had shattered from despair looked like.
Molly’s face had been like that when Dilek couldn’t get out of the exploding house, and Mari’s face had been like that when she lost Molly.
A person whose soul had broken from deep sorrow, frustration, and anger would bleed endlessly in their heart, pierced by the sharp fragments of their soul.
Mari could sense it.
Crofot was bleeding from the shattered fragments of his soul right now.
“Crofot?”
There was no answer.
Shasha anxiously grabbed Crofot’s sleeve.
“Crofot, what is this?”
“What’s on my back?”
Mari’s heart thumped wildly. It wasn’t because she was worried for him, but because she realized that whatever had touched Crofot’s broken soul was somehow linked to her.
As Mari moved in front of him to look at his back, the red magical circle disappeared.
Shasha pointed in surprise.
“Ah, sister! Sister, it’s gone from your back!”
“That? What is it? Was something on me?”
“No, I mean… it was magic.”
Magic.
Mari’s round eyes widened.
A magical circle.
“Crofot, there’s a magical circle on my back?”
Her mind spun at the unexpected information.
“Why a magical circle… Did Mom put it there? Or maybe Mr. Dilek?”
Crofot remained silent, his trembling hands gripping his pipe.
The stiff golden decoration dug into his hand as he held it tightly, the edges pricking him. His veins stood out and his knuckles turned white as his hand trembled violently.
Mari and Shasha watched him with worried expressions.
“Crofot…”
After standing still for a long moment, the children flinched when he finally moved.
Without looking at them, Crofot slowly walked toward the bedroom.
Mari hurriedly buttoned her clothes and followed him.
“Crofot! What’s going on? What kind of magical circle is this?”
Crofot froze at the bedroom door.
He wiped his eyes and, without showing his face, spoke in a low voice.
“You don’t need to worry. It won’t harm you.”
After a pause, he added:
“Sorry. I had things on my mind. I’ll apply the medicine later.”
“Wait, what?”
“Take care of your meals today. There’s bread in the kitchen. Don’t worry about me.”
With that, Crofot went into his room and closed the door.
Mari knocked in vain, calling out several times.
“Crofot! Crofot!”
She stepped back in a daze, unable to understand why…
Shasha, equally surprised, clung to Mari while sobbing. Mari instinctively held her, patting her back gently.
Crofot’s face. It was the face of someone facing even greater despair after already being in despair.
Mari felt confused. She couldn’t figure out why Crofot was like that. The only clue was the magical circle on her back…
Mari slowly closed her eyes and steadied her breathing.
The children stood there for a long time before finally leaving the hallway.
A day passed.
Mari prepared simple meals and placed them outside Crofot’s room, but the food remained untouched.
Morning, noon, evening.
As the day ended, Mari, full of tension, stood in front of his door, unable to knock.
Just as she steeled herself to knock, the door suddenly swung open.
Startled, Mari stepped back.
“I-I’m sorry… C-Crofot…”
“Mariposa.”
“Huh?”
Crofot’s deep blue eyes met hers.
Though the complex emotions in his gaze were still hard to read, he seemed calmer than yesterday.
Mari studied his steady face carefully.
“Come here. Let’s erase the scar.”
“Uh… okay?”
Caught off guard, she followed him as he slowly walked toward the study.
Like yesterday, he took a bottle of medicine and a clean cloth from a drawer and gestured at Mari.
“Turn around.”
“Y-yes.”
Mari stayed silent, not daring to ask what had happened, fearing a bad reaction like yesterday.
As she obeyed, Crofot pressed the medicine-soaked cloth against her shoulder blades.
“Sorry about yesterday. I had things on my mind.”
“Does this have to do with the magical circle on my back?”
Mari’s worry deepened. She wondered why such an enigmatic magical circle had been etched onto her back. She had thought her mother or Dilek had put it there, but Crofot’s reaction suggested otherwise. It was as if something that shouldn’t have happened had happened…
“Yes, the circle on your back—”
Crofot hesitated before speaking.
“It’s a magical circle that reduces magical resistance.”
“Magical resistance?”
“Yes.”
He carefully moved the cloth over her shoulder blades.
As the cold medicine seeped into her skin, Mari shivered and thought deeply.
“You said humans usually can’t handle magic well, right? Is that what this means?”
“Not exactly. Magical resistance is literally the power to resist magic.”
“Mariposa, without this circle, you would have almost died when we first teleported together.”
Having magical resistance was like a kind of condition for a human from a magician’s perspective.
“Normal humans don’t collapse after a few teleportations. But you showed signs of distress after just two. That’s proof of magical resistance. And without this circle, you wouldn’t have been able to ride the Foramen either.”
“W-why… for me?”
Crofot didn’t answer. Mari’s mind was so shocked that she forgot even the cold sting of the medicine.
Her body resisted magic—but thanks to the circle, she could teleport and ride the Foramen.
The answer was simple. Mari turned away, forgetting the scar on her back.
“Mom is a magician.”
Her voice rose.
“Mom had to come to the human world, and since she had to take me on the Foramen, she put this on me, right?”
Crofot blinked his bright blue eyes.
Mari’s green eyes shone with certainty, as if she already knew the answer.
“So I was born in the magical world! Crofot, does that mean I’m…?”
“Mariposa, you’re human.”
Crofot cut off her excitement in an instant.
“Definitely. There’s no magic in your body.”
Mari’s face darkened. Her cheeks flushed red as she looked at her back again.
“…I just thought it might be so.”
“I understand.”
Mari sighed softly, hiding her disappointment. After a pause, she asked quietly.
“Then, Crofot, I did ride the Foramen when I was little, right?”
“Yes. Your mother did it to bring you to the human world…”
Crofot paused, then continued in a subdued voice.
“She would have etched the magical circle then.”
“So I really was born in the magical world… But then why am I in the magical world…?”
“Who knows.”
He removed the cloth from her back.
The scar had vanished, leaving only the magical circle glowing faintly red on her shoulder blades.
Crofot’s expression darkened.
“There must have been a reason.”
Mari swallowed and nodded. She understood that the reason would remain unknown for now.
“All done. The scar’s gone now.”
“Thank you.”
Mari fastened the buttons behind her neck. At that moment, Shasha came out of the bathroom.
“Oh, Crofot! You’re out now?”
Shasha ran to Crofot, her face lighting up.
He looked at Mari, still cautious, and at the cheerful Shasha, hesitating as he arranged the medicine bottles.
But after a long time, his decision was made.
“Mariposa, Shasha.”
The children’s eyes widened.
It was the first time he had said Shasha’s name, which surprised them.
“Why, Crofot?”
Mari asked cautiously. Crofot paused, then spoke in a low voice.
“How about living here?”
“……Huh?”
“You, Shasha, can learn magic, and you, Mariposa, can help me with my work.”
The children’s mouths slowly opened in shock.
“How about living with me?”
Mari couldn’t speak. She just stared at him in disbelief.
Why? Why now?
Shasha broke the stunned silence by throwing herself at Crofot.
“Yes!”
Shasha smiled brightly as she clung to him, and Crofot staggered in surprise.
Mari finally regained her composure.
“Are you… really going to take care of us?”
She didn’t ask why. It was enough that she was desperate for hope.
The magical circle on her back. Crofot’s sudden unstable behavior.
Mari’s heart raced so fast that she felt she might collapse.
Then a large, warm hand touched Mari’s reddish-brown hair.
“Yeah.”
The hand was warm, familiar, and gentle.
“I’ll take care of you.”
All her unease vanished.
Whether she was born in the magical world or not, regardless of her mother’s intentions, all her worries were gone in an instant.
She didn’t have to leave Crofot’s antique shop. She didn’t have to live as if she’d forgotten magic and died. She didn’t have to worry about going hungry in the winter, or the house collapsing in a storm.
She now had someone she could trust to protect her.
A protector.
Mari didn’t know what had changed in Crofot’s heart, but it didn’t matter now.
She smiled as brightly as she could, hoping his choice wouldn’t change.
The children hugged Crofot tightly. Surprised, he shouted for them to let go, but they didn’t.
Tears ran down Mari’s face. Shasha laughed joyfully as she clung to Crofot’s sleeve.
Crofot bore the weight of the children.
A faint smile crossed his face briefly, then gradually darkened.
He hugged the children tightly with resolve.
His choice had begun.
