Red String (Series #1) \\ Ateez ✔

viii. run away

JANGMI

"I knew it! They were the ones who were poisoning Jemma to death!"

Later that hectic day, the darkness serenely painted itself into the sky, radiant stars glowed, the vibrant streaks of the moon faintly illuminated us.

"I tell you, the look on their faces after I told Daeun to drink the tea was amusing!"

We both seem to have gotten closer than I had expected; it's as if the moment I saw her entering the room earlier, my soul and hers bounded into a knot.

As she stood behind me while brushing my hair, I realized that there are much more than meets the eye. Chaehwa was almost like a sister rather than a lady-in-waiting, and I found a strange sense of comfort whenever I was with her.

"Based on the sorceress earlier, what was the poison called?"

Her delighted expression faded as she focused on the poison marking on my upper chest. "It was easy because it was based on how it looked," She remarked, surveying the marking that imprinted my body. "Ardentis Papilionem, that is the poison coursing your veins."

A chill ran through my spine at the mere mention of it. How can a name be so beautiful but deadly at the same time?

"She also mentioned your death may await many years from now because of the coldness and pain it may cause you. Though you are still a stranger to me, I'll try my best to keep you living," She added with a playful huff.

An unexpected smile tugged at the corners of my lips. Here I was, a stranger in a foreign dimension, inhabiting a body I barely understood, and yet the trust she placed in me was bigger than her mouth.

"But hey! I was not finished," Chaehwa interjected after she noticed the slight change of my expression. "Did you know there is a good part to having this poison?"

I raised an eyebrow. "That is?"

How could a deadly poison possibly have a good thing with it?

"This poison was said to be dominant," Chaehwa explained, her voice gaining excitement. "It cancels out and automatically detoxifies any poison you consume, just like your mother. You can be immune to other poisons, and you can become a poison expert!"

The mention of my mother caught me off guard. "My mother?"

"Jemma's mother, I mean," Chaehwa clarified, her tone tinged with bitterness. "She was a poison expert before she murdered Jemma when she was eight."

Right, the deaths.

As far as I remember, ever since Jemma was a young girl, her father was the powerful First-Ranking General working under the monarchs, and he died when he protected the borders. And exactly a month later, Kim Hongjoong— Her biological brother died after a so-called mystical beast ate him.

After Jemma's mother's death, her father remarried a noblewoman, Lady Minseo. Then it marked the beginning of all the pain and suffering Jemma went through for years before she killed herself.

Then I came into the picture and took over her body.

"Speaking of sorcery, do you think I could become powerful like that sorceress you told me about?" My eyes twinkled in anticipation before I eagerly asked the latter.

"Well, you can, but it takes time to practice and master martial cultivation skills."

"How do I start?" I added, the tone in my voice was indecipherable.

"It's simple," Chaehwa said, pointing her index finger for emphasis. "Find a master who has the abilities and is willing to teach you."

I took a moment to consider her words, my face turning into a deep thought.