Chapter 13 - The Crack Between The Page

The Next Morning...

The Happy Carnival camp was unusually quiet that morning.

Dew still clung to the tips of the grass, sparkling beneath the gentle warmth of the rising sun. The festival booths remained exactly where they had stood the night before, their colorful banners swaying lazily in the breeze.

Only yesterday, laughter had filled every corner of the camp.

Now...

Silence lingered where joy had been.

At daybreak, Sebastian had already returned to the forest with the town guards. They were combing every trail the Shadow Bandit might have taken during the night.

Only a handful of people remained behind to watch over the camp. Isaac was one of them. From a distance, Rosella watched him. In the middle of the training grounds, he swung his sword again and again.

Swish.

Swish.

Swish.

The blade sliced cleanly through the morning air with every strike.

He wore no shirt. Sweat glistened across his athletic frame beneath the golden sunlight. Though he was only nineteen, his broad shoulders and disciplined movements made him look like a seasoned knight who had survived countless battles.

Yet it wasn't his physique that caught Rosella's attention. It was the way he wielded his sword. Each swing carried far more force than usual. As though he wasn't cutting through the air...

But through his own frustration.

Rosella crouched behind a large wooden barrel, secretly peeking at him.

"If he weren't so hot-tempered..."

A voice suddenly whispered right beside her ear.

"...girls would probably be lining up all the way to the city gate just to chase after him."

"Eek!"

Rosella nearly jumped out of her skin. She lost her balance and landed on the ground with a soft thud.

"S-Sahila?!"

"What are you doing hiding back here?" Sahila asked, trying not to laugh.

"I... well..."

Rosella hesitated.

"Everyone's been in such a terrible mood since this morning."

Sahila sighed.

"What else can we do? The Shadow Bandit escaped again."

Rosella hugged her knees.

"...I really thought last night's festival was going to end happily."

Neither of them spoke after that.

From across the camp, Isaac's sword continued to cut through the silence.

Swish.

Swish.

Swish.

Sahila let out another long sigh. She couldn't stand the heavy atmosphere any longer. Suddenly, she cupped her hands around her mouth.

"Hey, Isaac!"

Rosella's eyes widened.

"W-Why are you calling him?" she whispered frantically.

"Huh?"

Isaac stopped mid-swing and glanced over.

"What is it?"

"Rosella's looking for you!"

"What?!"

Before Rosella could deny it, Sahila grabbed her wrist and pulled her out from behind the barrel.

"H-Hey! Sahila!"

Rosella stumbled forward, nearly tripping over her own feet. A second later, she found herself standing right in the middle of the training ground.

Isaac looked from Sahila to Rosella with obvious confusion. He lowered his sword before grabbing the shirt draped over his shoulder and wiping the sweat from his face. Droplets still rolled down from his jaw.

"H-Hi..."

Rosella gave him a tiny, painfully awkward wave.

"I... um..."

Meanwhile, Sahila quietly took one step backward. Then another. Before Rosella realized it, she had already turned around.

"Have fun talking!"

"SAHILA!"

Rosella's desperate shout only made Sahila laugh.

She waved cheerfully over her shoulder before disappearing between the rows of tents. Isaac watched Sahila leave.

Then he looked back at Rosella.

Silence.

Rosella sincerely wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole.

At last, Isaac sighed.

"...So."

"What did you actually want to talk about?"

Rosella scratched her cheek awkwardly.

"Actually..."

"I just wanted to make sure..."

"...that you're okay."

Isaac froze.

For a brief moment, he simply looked at her without saying a word.

"...I'm fine."

The answer was short. Too short. Like someone who had no intention of talking about what he was really feeling.

He walked past her.

Rosella quietly let out a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness...

That wasn't nearly as awkward as I'd imagined.

But then...

Just as they passed each other...

Pat.

Isaac casually dropped his sweat-soaked shirt over Rosella's head.

"Aah!"

Rosella let out a startled yelp. Grimacing in disgust, she immediately yanked the damp shirt off her head and flung it back at him.

"What was that for?! That's disgusting! It stinks!"

Isaac caught the shirt effortlessly, the corner of his mouth lifting into the faintest smile.

"Then... Wash it."

Rosella stared at him as though she'd just heard the most absurd thing imaginable.

"...Excuse me? Why would I wash your shirt?"

Isaac draped it back over his shoulder.

"I've heard..."

he said flatly,

"...cats mark their territory."

Rosella blinked.

Once.

Twice.

A few seconds passed before she finally understood what he meant. Her face instantly turned scarlet.

"Are you saying you're a cat?!"

Isaac looked up at the sky, genuinely appearing to consider the question.

"Hm... I don't know."

Then he looked back at her with the same unreadable expression.

"Maybe."

"That's not an answer!" Rosella stamped her foot. "Stop messing with me!"

Isaac merely shrugged before turning away. He started walking across the camp.

"Hey!"

Rosella called after him.

"Where are you going now?"

Without looking back, Isaac lifted the shirt hanging over his shoulder.

"To take a bath."

His reply was short and casual. Rosella folded her arms with a huff.

"Well, you definitely need one! You smell!"

A quiet chuckle escaped Isaac.

"So?"

He glanced over his shoulder for the first time.

"Want to join me?"

Rosella froze. Heat rushed to her cheeks.

"Y-You shameless idiot!"

She scooped up a handful of dirt and threw it at him. It didn't even come close. "Just go already!"

Isaac simply raised one hand in farewell without turning around."Then..."

"I'll pretend I never asked."

He continued walking toward the river at an unhurried pace. Rosella remained rooted to the spot, stomping her foot in frustration.

"He's so annoying! So unbelievably annoying!"

She crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

"...I was worried about him all night."

She muttered under her breath.

Isaac had already taken several more steps before he paused.

Only for a moment.

A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips, so slight it was almost impossible to notice.

Then he kept walking without another word.

---

Rosella let out a long sigh.

"Bored..."

"So incredibly bored."

Rosella reached for the very book that had brought her into this world.

The Travelling Carnival and The Shadow Bandit.

She had already read it countless times.

It was supposed to be a story with a happy ending.

The novel followed the journey of Happy Carnival, the most renowned traveling troupe in the Kingdom of Aster, led by the legendary magician Vincent. Together, they wandered across the continent, delighting audiences with breathtaking magic shows, graceful dances, lively music, and spectacular acrobatic performances.

Happy Carnival's fame reached even greater heights after a young dancer named Sophie joined the troupe.

Her dancing was so mesmerizing that people often claimed watching Sophie perform felt like witnessing a fairy descend from the heavens.

Yet during that same era...

Another name spread across the continent.

The Shadow Bandit.

No one had ever seen his face.

No one knew where he came from.

Like a phantom, he slipped unnoticed into castles, ancient libraries, museums, and the estates of noble families.

Oddly enough...

He never stole gold.

Nor jewels.

Instead, he vanished with ancient maps, weathered scrolls, rare books, confidential letters, forgotten research, priceless artifacts, and relics long buried by history.

No one understood what he was truly searching for.

Then, during one of Happy Carnival's journeys, Sophie met an old woman who gifted her a mysterious fountain pen.

Legend claimed...

...that the pen possessed the power to rewrite a person's destiny.

From that day forward, the Shadow Bandit began pursuing Sophie.

No one knew why.

Some believed he coveted the pen itself.

Others claimed he wished to rewrite his own fate.

There were even those who whispered that the Shadow Bandit was not a man of this world at all, but a traveler from another realm, wandering the continent in search of magical relics.

Yet...

None of those rumors were ever proven.

Determined to stop him, Vincent led Happy Carnival in search of an ancient scroll said to be hidden within the Celtic Mountains of the North.

According to legend, the scroll contained an ancient spell powerful enough to defeat the Shadow Bandit.

It was there...

...that the final battle took place.

The Shadow Bandit was defeated.

And according to legend...

He was struck by an ancient curse before disappearing into the shadows without a trace.

And that was where the story ended.

Happy Carnival resumed its journey, bringing laughter and wonder to every corner of the continent. Meanwhile, the name The Shadow Bandit gradually faded into nothing more than an old legend. There was no record of what happened afterward.

The novel ended with Happy Carnival continuing its travels across the world. It never mentioned that Sophie later gave birth to a son. It never revealed that, years later, she would mysteriously disappear. Nor did it mention Sebastian. The child who would one day lead Happy Carnival wasn't even named.

Rosella stared quietly at the book resting in her hands.

Then...

When did all of that happen?

Her brows slowly drew together.

Then...

Something flashed through her mind.

"...Wait."

"The ancient curse."

She sat upright.

What lingered most vividly in her memory wasn't the final battle itself...

...but the novel's final sentence.

The Shadow Bandit screamed in agony before vanishing into the shadows, consumed by an ancient curse.

What kind of curse was it?

The novel never explained.

It only said that he cried out in agony before disappearing into the darkness.

Rosella quickly reached for Clover's World Encyclopedia, which lay beside her bed.

She flipped it open.

Page after page rushed beneath her fingertips without her truly seeing any of them. The brittle pages whispered softly through the quiet room.

"I've read this before..."

"...with Rowan."

At last, her fingers stopped. A bold title stretched across the page.

The Curse of Immortality

Rosella read the words under her breath.

"...The Curse of Immortality."

Her eyes widened.

This...

This was the curse they had found before.

But she still remembered Rowan's reaction.

"There's no way Sophie used this curse on the Shadow Bandit."

"If anything..."

"...it would only make him stronger."

Rosella frowned. Rowan was right. If someone became immortal...

Wouldn't that only make them impossible to kill?

She quickly flipped to the next page, hoping there might be another ancient curse.

One page.

Two pages.

Three.

Nothing.

The encyclopedia listed only a single spell classified as an Ancient Curse.

The Curse of Immortality.

Rosella lowered her gaze to the beginning of the chapter once more.

This time, she noticed a sentence she had overlooked before.

Many believe immortality is a blessing. They are wrong.

She continued reading.

No human soul can endure the burden of an endless life.

The longer one lives...

The more loved ones they must watch disappear.

Kingdoms will crumble.

Cities will change.

Languages will fade.

Even a person's name will eventually vanish from history.

And yet...

The one who bears the curse...

Will continue to live.

Alone.

Rosella slowly closed the book.

For some reason...

A strange heaviness settled over her chest.

"What if..."

She swallowed hard.

"What if that really was the curse placed on the Shadow Bandit...?"

Then...

How long had he been alive?

It couldn't have been that long.

Had Sophie disappeared only twenty years ago... hadn't she?

He couldn't possibly have lived for centuries...

...could he?

Even so...

Rosella found herself remembering the hooded figure from the previous night.

Those eyes.

Filled with a despair so deep it seemed impossible to measure.

The more she remembered them...

The harder it became to believe those were the eyes of a man who delighted in committing evil.

Rosella slowly shook her head.

"No..."

she whispered.

"He's still a criminal."

Yet somehow...

She couldn't erase those eyes from her mind. Just then, voices outside the tent broke her train of thought.

People were talking. Footsteps echoed across the campsite. Rosella quickly pulled back the tent flap. Sebastian and the others had finally returned. But his expression hadn't changed since last night. The warmth that usually softened his features was gone.His jaw was set, his blue eyes cold, and every step he took seemed heavier than the last.

Rosella hugged Clover's Encyclopedia against her chest. She had wanted to tell Sebastian about her theory.

Maybe...

Just maybe...

He would know something about the curse.

But seeing him now...

She quietly abandoned the idea.

"I don't think... this is the right time."

Instead, she remained where she was, watching the members of Happy Carnival gather in the open field.

Isaac approached Sebastian. Rowan and Magnus stood beside them. They appeared to be discussing something serious.

Rosella strained to listen. Too far away. She couldn't make out a single word.

Then...

Isaac's voice suddenly rose. Sebastian answered. Isaac clenched his fist.

And then...

Thud!

His punch landed squarely against Sebastian's face.

"Sebastian!"

Rosella instinctively covered her mouth. Before Rowan and Magnus could react, Sebastian threw a punch back. The two men lunged at each other. The dull sound of fists colliding shattered the morning silence.

"Stop!" Rowan rushed forward, grabbing Isaac from behind.

Magnus caught Sebastian by the shoulders before he could strike again. Several other members hurried over, desperately trying to pull the two apart.

The camp, already weighed down by yesterday's failure, dissolved into complete chaos.

Rosella stood frozen where she was.

"W-What..."

she murmured softly.

"...is happening?"