Side Story: New World (Final)

“Where… is this?” Eli rubbed his aching head, pain like a dull drum in fog, and scanned the room like a hawk over a ruined field.

Edlyn sat on a chair, legs crossed like a cat on a windowsill, a high-stemmed glass of wine glowing red like sunset in her hand. Her eyes flashed, playful and sharp as sparks. “Heh. My bonded thrall, how do you feel?”

Eli frowned, thoughts rustling like dry leaves. He sighed, voice flat as dust. “Sis… why’d you drag me here? And where is ‘here’?”

“Heh. Don’t ask so much. Don’t you feel… different?” Edlyn smiled, sweet as sugar with a thorn under it.

“Hm?” At her words, Eli checked his body, breath held like a man under winter ice. He froze for a beat, then whispered, slow as a rising moon, “My… my body… what did you do?”

He flexed. The thick iron chain looked heavy as a mountain, yet it snapped in his hands like brittle bamboo. Fury flared like wildfire; in a blink he hauled Edlyn close and pinned her down, like a storm slamming a door.

Edlyn stared, startled, then flustered, words tumbling like beads. “Don’t hurt me!”

“What’s going on?” Eli’s roar broke like thunder in a close valley.

“Simple.” Edlyn’s smile bloomed like a red camellia. “You’re my bonded thrall, my servant. I just strengthened you.”

Eli’s face went ashen, color draining like tide at dusk. “You mean…”

“Yup.” Her finger tapped her chin, regret a faint shadow across her cheek. “You’re half Bloodkin now. You’ve got a body that won’t die or age, a winter that never ends. Shame you didn’t get the full suite.”

“Damn it.” Eli’s teeth clicked, anger tight as a bowstring.

“Hey, don’t get so heated.” Edlyn patted his shoulder, soft as falling rain. “You’re half Bloodkin, but sunlight won’t burn you.”

Eli lifted his eyes, gray as ash in wind, and stared at her.

Edlyn stiffened and crossed her arms, guarding herself like a bird tucking its wings. “W-what do you want? I said don’t hurt me. A thrall must obey their Bloodkin’s command.”

“Nothing. I just… suddenly thought.” Eli’s gaze sank, hopeless as a winter pond. He snatched her wine, the sunset-red spilling like a last light, and drained it in one swallow.

“You—what are you doing?” Her voice quivered, a chime hit by the wind.

Edlyn’s eyes widened, confusion flickering like moths at lamplight.

Eli shoved her down, movement sharp as a falling blade, then straddled her like a rider gripping a wild horse.

Edlyn blinked, shock cracking like ice, then snapped back, voice rising like a kettle’s boil. “You—get off me! Now!”

“I don’t care anymore.” Eli’s words were stone under snow. “You turned me into Bloodkin. That means you’re ready for the consequences.”

“Wait—sorry! Help!” Her cry scattered like sparrows.

What followed isn’t for minors.

After, the girl lay with eyes empty as a winter sky, her clothes in tatters like torn paper, staring at the castle ceiling like a blank wall of clouds. Her face was chalk-pale.

The boy lay beside her, the same emptiness in his gaze, the same ruined clothes, the same hollow stare at the same ceiling, his face as gray as old ash.

For a long time, silence pooled like night water. Then the girl pushed herself up and climbed onto the boy, anger flaring like a struck match. “Damn you! You—how could you—how could you do that to me!”

The boy didn’t move. He let her shake him, a log in a river, drifting and mute.

She faltered, then shoved him aside, brow knotted like a tight knot. “Even when people did that to me, I didn’t go off. And you’re the one falling apart first?”

Eli lowered his head, his gaze resting on her face like dew on a leaf. In the hush between heartbeats, he felt a pull, a red thread in the dark, binding him to this girl.

It was like the first day of school—the first glance at her was a hook in his ribs. He’d been bad at talking, words slow as honey, so he never approached. But there’s a shape of strangeness that sits in the heart like a crane on cold water.

Did he… hurt her heart?

In that moment, his mind cleared, a window opened to spring air. He would take responsibility.

He reached out and held her, his voice low, gentle as moonlight. “A thrall, then. If so… I’ll serve you well. Is that enough?”

She froze, and warmth rose inside her like tea steam, sudden and soft.

Maybe it was his blood stirring her?

She didn’t know.

She only knew that the first time she saw him, a fierce urge bloomed like a peony—tie him to her side forever. Her heart howled like wind in pines, urging her on.

It made her blush, dizzy as heat haze. She never thought it would happen so soon. Or this wildly.

“I… don’t think I’ll forgive you.” She gripped his tie, fingers pale petals pressed tight.

“It’s okay.” He sighed, a long drift like falling snow. “I’ve decided to protect you.”

She said nothing. She stood, face blank as porcelain, and turned away, wiping tears slow as rain. Then pain tore from below, a split seam, and she pitched forward, face-first.

The floor’s chill never touched her. Instead came a scent both strange and familiar, and a warm embrace like a hearth.

“Then… take responsibility,” she whispered, looking up at him with quiet eyes.

“I will,” the boy said, solemn as an oath under stars.

“Mm.”

The view rose, up through air bright as a river of light.

Here, two people stood in the sky, sharing the same faces as the pair below, like reflections in still water.

Edlyn hugged a bag of chips, crunching like dry leaves underfoot, while her fingers twisted at Eli’s waist, a playful snake coiling and uncoiling.

Eli’s mouth twitched. He shook his head, helpless as a reed in wind. “Edlyn… I don’t get it. How did he end up… forcing you?”

Edlyn turned her head and gave him a cold smile, thin as a blade’s edge. “If there had been no Celestial God and no chaos, your first move to ‘win me’ was to force me? Are you even human?”

“Hey, hey—my bad, Edlyn. My bad.” Eli pulled her into his arms, apology warm as sunlight.

Below was the mirror world Eli had gifted Edlyn, a lake-window reflecting another sky. Each of them split off a soul-essence, two bright seeds, and planted them into the ‘Eli’ and ‘Edlyn’ down there.

Then they watched from the clouds to see how those sprouts would grow.

Edlyn leaned on him, a willow in easy wind. “Honestly… this makes me even more curious about their future.”

“Their future, huh…” Eli’s grin curled like smoke.

“Don’t get weird!” Edlyn’s cheeks flared red, and she swatted his face, a playful breeze.

“Hey, hey. You’re the one saying those words at a time like this. How’s that my fault?” Eli whistled, light as a lark.

“Tch. Smooth tongue. Hmph.” Edlyn turned away, frost over cherry.

Eli ducked and buried his face in the soft valley of her chest, a man at a temple’s incense. He chuckled. “Hey, Edlyn~~~”

“Mm! Dirty daydreaming is bad!”

“No worries. I can wave and turn day into night.”

“You’re awful!”

“Edlyn,” Eli slid lower, eyes on her pretty face, bright as peach blossom.

“Mmm…” Edlyn flushed, head turned, shy as a maiden in spring.

“I love you,” Eli said, earnest as mountain stone.

“Me too.” Edlyn’s arms circled his neck, her gaze locking to his like joined stars.

“We can stay together, till forever. That’s my greatest fortune in this life, Edlyn.” He stroked her cheek, devotion soft as lantern light.

Edlyn smiled. To be loved this deep—wasn’t that her greatest fortune too?

“Mm. Forever. By my side.”