Codename Vestia

Chapter 46: Joonie

「Are you really not human?」

Gamal nodded.

「I’m not.」

「Then what are you?」

「A vampire.」

Gamal answered honestly, and Nika burst into laughter. Since the tribe’s myths included creatures similar to vampires, Nika was at least familiar with the concept.

「As if such things exist.」

However, when no one joined her in laughing, her amusement slowly faded. With a voice that quivered slightly, she asked,

「Is it true?」

Tora and Rato nodded.

When the twins grew a little older, Gamal had revealed the truth about being a vampire. Surprisingly, the two accepted it without much reaction.

After all, it had long been obvious that their Marti wasn’t human. And at this point, whether she was human or not didn’t matter.

If Gamal hadn’t taken them in, the defenseless children would have been devoured by animals.

「Then… their blood…?」

Nika gestured alternately between Tora and Rato, murmuring in a trembling voice before suddenly jumping to her feet in anger.

「That… that’s not right!」

Tora quickly raised his hand to calm her.

「Relax. Marti eats flowers. Like this.」

He picked up a flower from the bench nearby and showed it to her.

「If she eats this, she doesn’t need to drink blood.」

「Flowers…?」

Nika took the flower and examined it closely.

「I’ve never seen anything like this before.」

「That’s because they only grow on the other side of the mountain.」

The opposite side of the island, covered in forest, was a place the tribe shunned, as they believed it was the domain of the god of darkness.

Nika glanced at Gamal, the so-called god of darkness. The sight of someone who lived by eating flowers fit her so well that any lingering suspicion that she might live by drinking the twins’ blood melted away.

Gamal then asked,

「By the way, Nika, are you lost? Why are you here?」

「She said she came to get the monster’s hair to prove her bravery.」

When Rato explained, Gamal pointed to herself.

「If it’s a monster, does that mean me?」

Gamal was well aware of how people saw her as a monster. In fact, she intentionally allowed them to think that way.

This ensured the tribespeople avoided the forest, keeping themselves at a distance from her and avoiding any chance of associating with her that could lead to a confrontation with Kunis. More importantly, it meant that Tora and Rato, seen as cursed twins, could remain safe.

When Gamal looked at Nika, Nika’s face turned flustered.

「I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that….」

Unexpectedly, Gamal plucked a few strands of her hair and handed them over. Nika, caught off guard, accepted the hair.

「You’re giving… this to me?」

Gamal smiled.

「Nika is a good child. You cared about Tora and Rato.」

The smile, completely free of ulterior motives, made Nika’s face flush. She looked at the strands of hair and, as if making up her mind, said,

「Thank you.」

Then, glancing at the three of them, she cautiously asked,

「Would it… be okay if I came back again?」

Tora smiled.

「Of course.」

He then turned to Gamal and Rato and asked,

「Of course, right?」

Rato, looking displeased with the situation, shook his head and walked away. Nika cast a furtive glance at his retreating figure.

***

“Ultimately, we married Nika,” Tora said.

“Excuse me?”

Jain felt like she had just heard something she couldn’t let slide.

“We?”

Tora tilted his sweat-covered face as if he had expected the question.

“Back then, our tribe had far more men than women, so it was traditional for brothers to marry the same woman.”

For a moment, Jain felt as though she were staring into an abyss. But she tried to remind herself that she should respect other cultures.

In a society where men outnumbered women, concentrating the gene pool into one woman might have been a rational choice…

“It’s a tradition that faded with time, but it was still around back then.”

No matter how much she tried, Jain couldn’t make sense of it.

So, one woman had monopolized two men who looked like this? How was such an absurd monopoly even allowed?

As Jain pondered this with a blank expression, Tora continued his story.

“After coming to the forest, Nika gradually became close to us—to the point where she also began calling Marti ‘Marti.’ She worked tirelessly to resolve the tribe’s misunderstanding about us. Nearly every day, she ran between the forest and the village, telling people about us and trying to convince us to visit the village.”

In the end, the two couldn’t resist her persistent efforts and visited the village….

“When Nika declared her intention to marry us, she practically threw herself down in front of the opposing tribal elders. That’s when we realized no one could win against Nika’s stubbornness.”

At that moment, Nika was their light—the light that pulled them out of the dark forest.

Thanks to their devoted Marti, the forest was a livable place. But without any social interaction, the quiet forest felt like an isolated nursing home.

For two energetic young men, it was a place where nothing ever happened—a place that felt stifling.

Gamal, too, wanted the twins to return to the village. They promised to visit the forest often, and they kept that promise. Over time, Gamal and the tribe began to communicate, and eventually, Gamal even participated in the tribe’s festivals.

At the time, it seemed as vast as the universe, but on this relatively small island, the disconnected threads began to intertwine.

In that way, the island, once a collection of separate, individual universes, became a single cosmos.

“But there was one problem.”

Of course, there was. In life, there’s always a problem.

“Rato didn’t love Nika.”

Judging by Jain’s face, it seemed she had already figured out who Rato truly loved.

Tora gave a bitter smile.

“Marti had, by then, become younger than us. We had grown up, but… still, Rato tried to let go of his feelings for Marti. He tried to accept her as just ‘Marti.’”

Tora glanced at the patterns on the prison floor for a moment.

“At the time, people often thought of twins as a single entity. But we were so different. Nika must have sensed that too—that we weren’t the same person. Maybe that’s why she loved Rato more. I don’t know why.”

“……”

“It was just how it was. Like how Marti, who had brushed past countless men, vampires included, opened her heart to someone as ordinary as the Major. The workings of the heart are incomprehensible.”

Tora gave a faint laugh.

“And women are perceptive. Nika quickly realized where Rato’s heart truly lay. She was furious.”

It was understandable—what wife wouldn’t be angry upon noticing her husband harbored feelings for someone else? But the more Nika burned with anger, the further Rato’s heart drifted from her.

“Nika would cry and rage almost every night, eventually falling asleep in my arms. I…”

He paused, as if recalling the events.

“I didn’t mind the situation. The further Rato drifted, the closer Nika came to me. She shared everything with me, played coy, and asked, ‘Tora, you wouldn’t do this to me, would you?’”

Tora glanced at Jain and smiled.

“I know. It’s the worst.”

Jain shook her head.

“I didn’t think that. It just… it sounds like something I’ve seen before. In high school, girls often act like that with each other.”

Tora laughed.

“At the time, we were probably only about as mature, mentally and emotionally, as today’s high school students. Eventually, Nika and Rato’s relationship became so strained it was beyond repair.”

Tora let out a dry chuckle.

“But back then, it really felt like Nika was mine.”

The moment of laughter quickly gave way to a deep pain in Tora’s eyes.

“My arrogance, my inability to see beyond the moment and my satisfaction with the present—that was my hamartia, my fatal flaw.”

It felt strange to hear him use a term from Aristotle, but in truth, there was no word more fitting.

"That day... looking back, it felt like everything fell into place perfectly for it to happen."

That day, Gamal and Tora had gone out to the fields together. In their absence, Rato and Nika fought again. This time, it was louder and more intense than usual.

***

「Why do you keep coming here? This isn’t your home.」

Nika’s tone was hysterical. Rato, already looking weary, replied flatly.

「Because Marti is alone.」

It was an argument they’d had countless times before.

「Marti’s always been alone!」

Rato shot Nika a sharp look. She flinched under his gaze but refused to back down.

「I’m your wife.」

「Who doesn’t know that?」

「Then why does it feel like you’re the only one who doesn’t?」

「Nika.」

Rato was completely worn out from this never-ending cycle.

He had tried to explain gently, had made efforts to be kind, and even lost his temper at times, but none of it had made a difference. It was as if Nika had decided to shut her ears entirely.

She had already concluded that Rato loved Gamal, and any action or remark that could be interpreted as evidence of this suspicion led to fiery accusations.

Rato admitted to himself that his feelings for Gamal were not exactly the same as Tora’s. But it was a sentiment that was steadily becoming a thing of the past.

He wanted Marti to be happy, her smile to last forever.

He liked Nika’s quirky and charming personality and believed that he could love her more than Gamal. Yet, the moment they got married, Nika began to change in strange ways.

Rato never considered that it was because Nika had come to love him too much.

He stifled a sigh and asked,

「What do you want me to do?」

Nika bit her lip hard.

「Stop coming here.」

Rato fell silent. Her reaction was different from their usual arguments, and for the first time, Nika felt a spark of hope. But then Rato spoke.

「When we grow old and die, Marti will be left alone again. And you can’t stand the thought of her being alone for now, so you’re willing to make her lonely ahead of time?」

Nika was stunned by this unexpected argument. Rato, feeling for once that he had gotten through to her, felt a sense of relief.

But the part that shocked Nika was entirely different from what Rato intended.

Nika muttered, dazed,

「That’s right. Marti doesn’t age.」

Even when Nika grew old and wrinkled, Gamal would remain as she was now—youthful, fresh, and beautiful, gazing at Rato with those same eyes.

「Stop it.」

Rato, utterly exasperated, turned away. There was no point in continuing the conversation any further.

Nika, left behind, trembled faintly.

She was a strong-willed and determined person—brave enough to venture alone into the forest where demons were said to live, with a quirky streak that set her apart.

But perhaps because of that, when a misguided seed took root in her mind, it clung stubbornly, growing into delusions, distrust, and jealousy that no reasoning could uproot.

「Rato!」

Suddenly, Nika threw herself into his arms. Rato sighed and held her gently.

「Nika, I….」

A dull sound echoed.

Rato looked down in disbelief. A knife was lodged in his side.

「Nika.」

Nika staggered backward, her face pale as if she’d been the one stabbed. Her voice came out strangled, like someone being choked.

「It’s your fault.」

Then, as though she were the victim, she grabbed her hair and let out a wailing scream—a sound more primal than rational. Though he didn’t understand it at the time, it was a textbook hysterical reaction.

「It’s your fault!」