Shadow Oath

Chapter 48. Nightmare (1)

Charlon still couldn’t stop her trembling hands.

She wanted someone to hold them, yet wished no one would.

Charlon didn’t want to talk about the dream.

At the same time, she wanted to share it immediately.

She felt that staying silent would only prevent her heart from calming down.

As she hesitated, Demion spoke first.

“It seems it’s better if I start.”

Charlon swallowed hard, feeling relieved.

“In my dream, I was in Hagra Olga’s house. The same table, the same chair. There was a teacup, and Olga sat across from me.”

Demion paused mid-sentence.

He seemed lost in thought for a moment, then belatedly noticed everyone’s gaze and continued.

“Ah, apologies. It’s surprising how vividly I can remember it, even though it’s a dream.”

Charlon felt the same way.

She was afraid that if she started talking about her dream now, she would remember it too vividly.

And she was terrified of revealing every detail.

“You were the only one sitting next to me, Charlon. Jedric and Stuga weren’t there. Olga suddenly began to foretell my death. Then darkness descended around Olga, swallowing everything. Darkness surrounded me too. I looked to my side, and you stood up and walked away somewhere. I called out to you, but you didn’t respond. Understandable since it’s a dream, but still…”

Demion emphasized the word “dream,” as if trying to draw a line between it and reality.

He lowered his voice as much as possible, perhaps wary that their conversation might escape the banquet hall.

“When I left Olga’s room, I found myself in the royal palace. My brother Ramuel was waiting for me. Naturally, I didn’t question how I had traveled hundreds of miles instantly. I asked him why he called me, but he stabbed me in the chest with a knife. It hurt, even though it was a dream. I ran away. I opened a door to escape, but another door appeared, and beyond it was Ramuel again. Behind me, Ramuel. In front of me, Ramuel…”

Demion shuddered as if recalling something chilling.

“A crowd of men with my brother’s face appeared, stabbing knives into my body. Yet, I couldn’t die. Then, a trumpet sounded from the sky.”

Demion looked up at the ceiling.

“A trumpet?”

Jedric asked, frowning.

“It was a sound like Bwooo or Gwooo. I can’t quite replicate it. Didn’t someone say a sound like that was heard in the area recently? Could it have been the same?”

Demion looked at Jedric and Stuga, but both remained silent.

He simply continued his story.

“After that sound, a voice came from the sky.”

“The sky?”

Charlon asked.

“Yes. Strange, isn’t it? The voice told me to flee to the sea. I had no choice. If I didn’t want to be stabbed, I had to do whatever it took. I ran and found myself at the edge of a coastal cliff. The sea was there, but it was a sheer drop to the dark waters below. Then the voice spoke again. It told me to throw myself into the sea. It wasn’t divine revelation; it felt like the devil’s command. I couldn’t resist. I jumped. But it wasn’t the sea; it was the mouth of a giant whale. As I fell inside, the whale shut its mouth. Darkness consumed everything. Around me, it was pitch black…”

Demion shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Usually, when something like that happens in a dream, you wake up, don’t you? But I couldn’t. I stayed in that darkness. I couldn’t see, hear, or move. It was unbearable. Just when I thought I’d go mad, I heard Stuga calling me. And then I woke up, and after that…”

Demion gestured toward Clave’s corpse and shrugged.

“Now that I’ve said it, it doesn’t seem that impressive. Who wants to go next…?”

Demion turned to Charlon and froze.

“You look terrible. Are you feeling unwell?”

Charlon was stricken with fear.

But she didn’t think her expression would give her away.

“Your dream connects with mine.”

Demion’s eyes widened.

Jedric, resting his clenched fist near his lips, silently watched the two of them.

He always looked impressive with his sharp gaze, but at this moment, it was terrifying.

“Can you tell us how they’re connected?”

Demion cautiously asked.

I wanted to say no.

But at this point, I couldn’t refuse.

Besides, after the prince had shared so openly, could I hold back now?

No, I couldn’t.

Charlon began recounting her dream.

“My dream was the same as yours, Prince. It was Hagra Olga’s room, and I was next to Olga. Olga said something to you. You mentioned that she foretold your death, but in my dream, I couldn’t hear either of your voices. Then suddenly, darkness came. I left the room.”

Charlon intentionally left out one person from her dream.

It wasn’t just Olga and the prince in that room—Jedric was there too.

She had left the room because of Jedric.

He had taken her hand and led her out, almost seductively.

No, it was Charlon who had been the one to seduce.

She had taken his hand first and led him out.

Demion, still in the room, shouted something.

She couldn’t hear it clearly.

No, she chose not to listen.

Charlon ran, holding Jedric’s hand.

She fled as if abandoning the prince.

That part she could never confess.

Then, the door appeared.

“And then a door appeared. It was similar to your dream, Prince. When I opened it, I was already inside the Bormont estate. I too was stabbed by the sword of my twin brother, Aduer.”

At that point, for some reason, Jedric was no longer there.

Though they had run together holding hands, he wasn’t with her when she passed through the door.

“I kept being stabbed—again and again—but I couldn’t die. It was unbearable, so I ran away. I didn’t hear any trumpets from the sky or voices, like you did. I was just being chased. I don’t even know who was chasing me. I was too terrified to look back. Ahead of me was a cliff, but I didn’t look down. I don’t know if it was the sea or a mountain below. I just threw myself forward without a second thought. The prince mentioned a whale? In my case, it was a bird as large as a whale. I was devoured by the bird, and then there was only darkness. I couldn’t see anything. I struggled, but I couldn’t wake up from the dream.”

Charlon, whether in the dream or reality, cried out for help.

But she didn’t call Demion’s name.

Nor Ruseph’s.

Charlon called out to Jedric.

“Help me, Jeje. Save me from here.”

Charlon also woke up to the sound of Stuga’s voice.

But what scared her upon waking wasn’t the terrifying sights from her dream.

“What if the prince heard the name I called out in my dream?”

Demion stared at Charlon with wide, frightening eyes.

“Did he catch my lie? Is he looking at me like that because he wants me to confess?”

For the first time since meeting Demion, Charlon avoided his gaze.

Thankfully, Demion wasn’t staring because of that.

“It’s eerily similar,” he said. “I can’t help but wonder if something is truly happening to us.”

Demion turned to Jedric and asked, “What about your dream?”

Jedric exhaled sharply through his nose, his fist still near his lips, and then spoke.

“It’s similar. Not as closely as the two of you, but similar nonetheless. How could this even happen?”

Jedric began recounting his dream.

“Just like you two left each other behind, I also left the two of you.

But I wasn’t beside Olga.

I don’t know where I was—just a plain.

There are many similar grasslands around here, but it’s hard to pinpoint the exact one.

I left you two behind and kept walking, alone, to somewhere.

My case was less painful.

I wasn’t stabbed by knives, nor did I fall off a cliff.

Instead, I just walked.

I walked for a long time.

A very long time…”

Jeje massaged his knees as he continued.

“It’s hard to explain, but it felt like I walked for a month in the dream.

Not just a metaphor for how long it felt—I mean, when I woke up, my legs ached as if I had actually walked for a month.

Seeing the banquet hall again, I felt as though I had returned to a point a month ago.

As if time had rewound… I don’t know how else to explain it.”

Jeje shook his head.

“At the end of that path, a red pond appeared.

It was surrounded by thick fog.

I couldn’t breathe, and I think I genuinely stopped breathing.

When I woke up, I gasped for air as if I had just escaped suffocation.

Just like you two threw yourselves off cliffs, I threw myself into the pond.

Was someone forcing me?

It felt like I was being chased, but… I’m not sure.

I just did it.

It was probably my own choice.

After I jumped in, there was darkness as well.

No whale or bird appeared.

But I think I heard a voice like that of a god.

I don’t know which god.

It simply said, ‘You’re late. Why have you come only now?’”

Charlon worried that she might appear in his dream.

She was afraid he would tell Demion about it.

Fortunately, there was no mention of her.

So, she should have felt relieved.

But surprisingly, Charlon felt disappointed.

She wanted to ask, "I dreamed of you, so why didn’t you dream of me?"

Then she scolded herself for thinking such a thing at a moment like this.

“Get a grip, Charlon. This isn’t the time for those kinds of thoughts.”

Finally, everyone turned to Stuga.

As always, he began speaking with an emotionless face and voice.

“My dream didn’t end in darkness; it began in it.

When I could finally see my surroundings, I was already holding a sword, and I think I killed all three of you with it.”

“All three of us?”

When Demion asked, Stuga pointed to Demion, Jeje, and Charlon in turn.

That simple gesture was chillingly terrifying.

“And then…”

Stuga hesitated for a moment.

“…a sound woke me up, and I ended up fighting Captain Clave.”

Stuga then described the details of the fight.

But Charlon wasn’t interested in that part.

“He just changed the topic to hide something!”

Although his expression showed no emotion and seemed capable of hiding everything skillfully, his behavior revealed that he wasn’t skilled at lying.

“There was something he didn’t want to say. Just like me. Maybe the prince and Jeje too… No, I shouldn’t think like that. I’m the one who betrayed them.

Even if it was just a dream, I betrayed the prince.”

Charlon suddenly felt scared of everything.

She realized she was hiding her true feelings from the three people she thought she could trust with everything.

“It’s my fault. I’m the one who suggested going to Olga in the first place.”

She wanted to cry but couldn’t.

If she cried now, everyone would try to comfort her, and at such an important moment, they would waste time focusing on her tears.

“I have to endure it. Not now.”

Stuga finished recounting how he killed Clave and immediately continued.

“The matter of Tanu… it’s bothering me.”

“Tanu? What’s that?”

Demion asked.

“Jedric would explain it better than I could.”

Stuga pointed to Jedric.

“Can I talk about it?”

Jeje asked for confirmation.

“Yes. Please do.”

Stuga replied firmly.

Jeje condensed what might have been a long story into a very short explanation.

He mentioned how Hak Maraka had called Stuga “Tanu” and explained Tanu’s position in Geran mythology.

If they had been drinking and sitting by a warm fire, it would have been an enjoyable tale.

Charlon, who loved such stories more than anyone else, wanted to interrupt and ask many questions several times.

But it wasn’t the right time, nor was the atmosphere suitable for that.

So, even though one of the gods’ names caught her attention, she didn’t ask about it.

“The God of War and Fire, Akamantum? That’s the name Olga used when mentioning Jeje. She said Jeje is Akamantum.”

Demion stared intensely at Stuga’s face and asked, “Hak Maraka called you Tanu?”

“Yes.”

“Could it have been directed at me instead?”

“At you, Prince?”

Demion pointed to the spot where he had been sitting during the banquet.

“I was sitting there, and Stuga, you were standing in front of me.

It’s possible that Maraka wasn’t pointing at you but at me.

If that’s the case, then Tanu would be me.

To them, the conqueror who destroyed their tribe is me.

Couldn’t they see it that way?”

Jedric shook his head and said, “What does that matter?

Right now, we need to quickly decide how to handle all of this.”

“Are you talking about the dreams or the corpse?”

In response to Demion’s question, Jedric answered briefly.

“Both.”

Demion stood and walked over to Clave’s corpse.

“I’ll deal with my father directly regarding this matter.

The captain of my father’s guard tried to kill my shadow.

I’ll determine whether there were other motives or if my father was involved.

But we can’t escalate this here.”

Demion called out loudly.

“Knights, come in!”

As if waiting for the cue, the knights opened the door and entered.

It was the same three who had been there earlier.

Jedric whispered to Demion.

“What are you planning?”

“We’ll just remove the body for now.

The fact that a murder occurred here must not be known to your tribespeople.”

“What about the dreams?”

Charlon asked quickly.

“It’s a strange matter, but this isn’t the time to be swayed by dreams.”

Demion replied firmly.

Charlon, feeling intimidated, didn’t speak further.

Then Jedric spoke, lowering his voice as the knights stood nearby.

“But we can’t ignore it either.”

“Then what do you suggest? Should we try dreaming again?”

“We need to meet Olga.”

“...Right, that’s how this all began.”

“If you allow it, I’ll go. Alone is enough.”

“No.

I’m the conqueror of this village.

From the start, it should have been my responsibility to go.”

The knights stood at attention in front of Demion.

“You called for us, Prince.”

Demion issued a command in a voice firmer than ever before.

“Bring Hagra Olga to me.”