The Invisible Barrier

“I don’t go toward Nox,” I countered.

If he had tried to drag me toward Nox, I would have refused. I’d gone there once because of the emergency with Elliot, but it wasn’t an experience I wanted to repeat. At the very least, that place was far too dangerous to enter relying solely on my trust in Luke.

Luke is strong, certainly. Strong enough to rank high in the cutthroat hierarchy of Nox. But that didn’t mean he held an absolute advantage over everyone else. If he were in a situation where his own body was at risk, there was no way he’d look out for me.

But the regular alleys were a different story. I had already finished mapping out the “safe” and “unsafe” zones while roaming around with Verrinen. More importantly, in the alleys outside of Nox, Luke’s mere presence was a free pass.

Luke let out a light snort, scanning me from head to toe.

“You think Nox is the only thing that’s dangerous?”

He sounded as if he actually cared deeply about my safety. This time, I mimicked him, letting out a huff of disbelief.

“Did the streets suddenly become perilous overnight?”

“Not the streets.”

Luke took a single step, and the distance between us vanished. As his considerably larger frame pressed close, a distinct sense of intimidation washed over me. Fingertips that felt far too solid for his age touched my cheek. He tilted his head, and our foreheads—offset by our height difference—brushed against each other.

“I’m talking about me.”

At his low voice, my lips hovered, unable to find words. Luke watched me as if observing a specimen. Unable to maintain eye contact, I lowered my gaze, only to see his chest hovering inches away. I forced a stiff smile and tried to step back, my legs moving clumsily as my heels dug into the dirt.

I wanted to laugh it off and chide him for suddenly dropping his voice into that deep, serious register, but looking at his face made it hard to speak. He was smiling with a veneer of tenderness, but the sharpness beneath it was exposed—unflinching and impenetrable.

Luke slowly pulled his forehead away and began to fiddle with my hair, which had been dyed brown. It was just dead keratin; I shouldn’t have felt anything, but my nerves were so frayed that I could almost swear I felt the phantom sensation of his touch.

“The truth is, I don’t really get it.”

“……”

“There’s nothing you can gain from me.”

“I…”

The sudden remark felt like a stab to my solar plexus.

Because I want to be close to you, because your influence in these alleys is useful… Any excuse that came to mind sounded ridiculous given that he already knew my true identity.

He was definitely doing this on purpose—knowing full well I had no answer. He hadn’t brought it up this whole time; I had no idea why he was being so perverse now. I tried to brazenly shove my initial excuse in his face again, but Luke cut me off, as if he hadn’t expected an answer anyway.

“Poking your nose into places you don’t belong, without even knowing what kind of state you’re in.”

It was annoying how easily I reacted to words clearly chosen to provoke me. I suppressed the urge to ask him exactly what he meant by “my state.”

“Don’t come here anymore.”

“What?”

My efforts to stay calm were rendered useless. My voice spiked at the unexpected demand. I couldn’t wrap my head around the escalation from “not for a while” to “never come back.” I looked at him, hoping for a sign, but Luke didn’t tell me it was a joke.

“If I find you inside the alleys again, then…”

Then what?

I swallowed hard, waiting. He leaned down toward my ear as if he were about to whisper a monumental secret. I waited for his words, but instead of a soft murmur, what came was a sharp, searing pain as if my ear were being torn off.

“Ah…!”

You… you son of a b*tch. The curse tore out like a scream. Tears pricked my eyes from the sudden sting.

Luke was laughing, seemingly delighted by the fact that he’d just bitten someone’s ear. However, under the pale light, his smile didn’t look particularly joyful. I clutched my ear in irritation and shoved him away with my other hand. He could have closed the gap again easily if he wanted to, but fortunately, Luke didn’t try to overpower me or stay close.

I kept checking the distance between us, my heart hammering. Even though he was just standing there, I couldn’t find an opening. Even if I attacked him with a sword while he was barehanded, I didn’t think I could win. I’d be lucky just to hold my ground.

At first, I instinctively calculated the difference in combat power, but the more I chewed on it, the more dejected I became. I’d sought out Spellman specifically to overcome this gap, but looking at things now, I wasn’t sure I could ever close it. I never expected to beat the Grand Duke—the empire’s greatest swordsman—but I thought I could at least take on the others.

Yet, I didn’t feel like I could beat Cedric Klein, who would eventually become the Master of the Magic Tower, either. Does that leave only the Crown Prince? But I didn’t see what great prize I’d win by using brute force against someone whose real power lay in his status.

“Don’t regret it later.”

I bit my lip at his attitude—the sheer ease with which he threatened me. The most wounding part was that his arrogant confidence was backed by fact.

“Following someone just because they told you to, without even knowing where you’re going… You act all smart, but you’re actually quite stupid. It’s cute, in a way.”

The more he spoke, the harder it was to grasp his intentions. I understood that he found me interesting. I understood that he found it funny how I acted like an old soul but folded instantly under a real threat. What I couldn’t grasp was why he was pushing away something he found interesting.

Erkel had been certain that Luke was the type to chase interest and fleeting pleasures. He might be young and different from his “original” self, but a person’s core nature doesn’t just sprout out of nowhere.

As if reading my turbulent thoughts, Luke asked, “What kind of words are you waiting for me to say?”

“I just… want to know why you’re doing this.”

“Whatever my reasons are, is there any reason I must make you understand them?”

Again, I was speechless. As the lingering ghost of a smile vanished from his face, the atmosphere turned frigid. Luke looked away. Standing at a tilt, staring off into some corner of the alley, he looked utterly bored, as if the current situation were a tedious chore.

“Even if I do it for no reason at all, there’s nothing you can do about it. If I… were to use violence, or r*pe you, or kill you. Do you really think you could even put up a fight?”

I could finally guess the end of his earlier sentence, “If I find you again, then…” Since I hadn’t caught on, he’d kindly provided the examples.

Was he serious? Or… I tried to find the truth behind those intentionally violent words, but his calm expression remained unchanged. I realized then that even if he didn’t mean it right now, he was the kind of person who could do all those things without a shred of hesitation.

He was the “trash” that Erkel had called the worst of the four. It wouldn’t be surprising if he, like the Crown Prince, suddenly turned on me and tried to kill me. A chill ran down the nape of my neck.

I wanted to turn around right then and scream that I’d never see him again, but the thought that I wouldn’t see him for years if I left now held me back. If I let go because it was hard now, it would be even harder later. Yet, the temptation to quit while he was still “politely” warning me was immense.

As I hesitated, Luke took a sudden step forward as if to help me reach a conclusion. I retreated until my back hit the wall.

“Look at this. Even now, if I don’t go easy on you, there’s nothing you can do.”

“…Get away.”

“Is the phrase ‘If you’re scared, go back to your world and stay there’ really that hard to understand?”

“I said stop!”

Startled by his hand moving from my cheek down to my neck, I shoved it away violently. Surprised by my sharp reaction, Luke stared at his hand hanging in mid-air, then curled one side of his lip. His face, which had always seemed relaxed, now felt predatory.

Ever since coming to Robenus, I’d been too busy adjusting—and too relieved to be physically far from the Crown Prince—to have nightmares. But the dark alley and the overwhelming difference in physique brought back memories of the Prince. As I hunched my shoulders and gasped for air, his hand reached out again, unable to just leave me be.

“Don’t touch me.”

You bastard. I didn’t even know if I’d muttered the curse or said it aloud. My vision was swimming, making the ground feel like it was pitching beneath me. I couldn’t even tell if I was standing straight. I bit my lip anxiously, over and over. I just wanted to get out of here.

Luke moved in, almost as if to pull me into an embrace. Trapped between the wall and his chest, my body shook against my will. My heart was pounding so hard I felt like I might vomit it up. Bracing for whatever was coming next, I chose to close my eyes and try to steady my breath.

He must have known that I reacted strongly to being touched near the throat. Contrary to my expectations, where he touched wasn’t my neck, but my forehead. I opened my eyes at the sensation of a soft kiss pressed against my hair. Luke slowly stepped back.

“You don’t get many chances, Lin.”

I couldn’t answer. My knees were shaking so badly I had to press myself hard against the wall. A moment later, I felt a wave of relief that I hadn’t pathetically collapsed.

Luke retreated slowly into the shadows where the light couldn’t reach. His blurred silhouette was soon swallowed by complete darkness. Across the line that now divided the two of us, a low warning fell.

“Just like you said, I’m a goddamn bastard. If I get angry, there’s no telling what I might do.”