Chapter 8 Part 2

The place where he opened his eyes was neither unfamiliar nor familiar. That’s why he was embarrassed.

Rumpel felt as if he had been ‘placed’ there for a long time. He had no idea how he got here, and where he was.

But when he asked himself if it felt like this was his first time seeing this place, that was not the case. An unknown, strange sense of déjà vu enveloped Rumpel.

“……What on earth is this feeling?”

Rumpel’s question dissipated like dust. As if he existed, but didn’t exist.

“My name is Rumpel…”

The muttering voice, as if possessed by something, was full of conviction. But that was all. Aside from his name being Rumpel, he couldn’t remember anything, really, absolutely nothing.

“……Really?”

“That’s right.”

At that moment, he heard a voice from far away. Rumpel instinctively felt that he had to catch them. He ran in the direction of the voice.

There were two young women dressed as maids. They were walking down a long corridor, chatting affectionately. Rumpel stood in front of them.

“Excuse me, I have to ask you something… …”

The two women walked past Rumpel. Or, to be more precise, it would be more accurate to say that they passed him.

Rumpel didn’t immediately realize what had happened to him. So he just stood there dumbfounded as they walked away.

“Hahaha! No way!”

“Really!”

It was only when their casual, daily conversation pierced his eardrums that Rumpel suddenly came to his senses. He raised his voice so they could hear him and hurriedly chased after them.

“Excuse me! ……What’s going on? What happened?”

He blocked them again, but this time they walked right through Rumpel. Of course, they were so engrossed in their own conversation that they did not hear Rumpel’s call. Here, Rumpel was like a non-existent person.

Fear suddenly crept in. While he couldn’t remember anything other than his name, he felt like a ghost thinking that no one could see him. A fake that didn’t exist in the first place.

Rumpel hurriedly wandered around the castle. He encountered many people along the way, but none of them recognized him.

It was hopeless. No matter how much he screamed and tried to grab passersby, no one acknowledged Rumpel’s struggles.

Rumpel, who was walking aimlessly, suddenly stopped in front of a mirror hanging on the wall. His reflection was clearly visible in the mirror.

Rumpel put his hand on the mirror. The cold, smooth texture of the glass was felt on his skin.

Why did he exist here like this, why was he here… … .

Rumpel stared blankly at the mirror. It was as if the trapped self in the mirror was asking. Who the hell are you? 

Quite a bit of time had passed. At first, one day, then two days, then three days, then four days…… he counted the days. He didn’t know what was going on, but he believed that someone would surely recognize him. Because he was alive, his existence was still here.

As he spent his days like that, Rumpel was able to figure out where this place was. The place he was in was the Imperial Palace.

As he explored the vast castle little by little every day, he was able to gather a lot of information. But that was all. None of this proved the existence of Rumpel.

It was around that time that he realized he had a strange ability. He could do something similar to magic.

If he really thought of something he wanted, it would appear before his eyes, and he could even do mysterious things like flying in the sky or passing through walls.

But that was it. The magic created by Rumpel was also invisible to others.

No one discovered him flying in the sky, and even if he surprised people by passing through walls, there was no reaction.

As the time of being ignored lengthened, Rumpel gradually lost his confidence.

Did he really exist? Was he actually a ghost?

The suspicion grew that he might be a soul that had been trapped in the castle without even knowing if he was dead, without even a memory.

More time passed like that.

Now, there were no more questions or doubts. He no longer had the desire to prove his existence. He just wandered through time.

That day was the same. Rumpel was up in a tree, lying on a thick branch sheltering from the sun. At that time, he heard a chattering sound.

The voice of a young girl was getting closer and closer. Rumpel didn’t care at all. After all, that child had nothing to do with him.

Rumpel closed his eyes, intending to take a nap.

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!”

A high-pitched cry was soon heard from right below the tree. Rumpel irritably opened his eyes at the sound of the child’s crying nearby.

Looking down, he could see the top of a girl’s head with golden hair.

“Noisy.”

Rumpel muttered in a subdued voice. Since his voice wouldn’t be heard by the child anyway, there was no problem with his tone.

“……Huh, who are you?”

At first, he thought he had misheard. So he couldn’t say anything. He couldn’t do anything other than stare blankly down at the child.

“Why are you on the tree?”

The girl’s eyes, filled with tears, were full of curiosity. He couldn’t believe that someone had answered him, so he just stared at the girl quietly.

A cool breeze blew through the hot summer air from somewhere. For the first time in a long time, a wind that didn’t contain moisture tickled Rumpel’s smooth skin. At that moment, his heart, which he thought had frozen, started beating.

What was reflected in the green eyes that resembled greenery was surely his own figure.

“……Can you see me?”

The short words made him tremble. He swallowed his dry saliva and waited for an answer.

He thought any answer would be fine. Whether the answer was yes, or the answer was no. First of all, since his voice reached her, he thought it would be okay if they could communicate even if she couldn’t see him.

“Yes! I can see you.”

The child answered cheerfully, then tilted her head. She seemed to realize that there was something strange about the question.

“You’re there, so isn’t it natural for me to see you?”

Rumpel was unable to respond to the question as if he was puzzled. Dozens, hundreds of things he wanted to say came to his mind, but when he actually tried to speak, only his lips fluttered, and no words came out.

“……Are you crying? Why are you crying? Adults don’t cry. Well, I cried a little too…”

It was because tears were welling up in his throat. He tried hard to hold back the bursting tears, but he couldn’t help but have tears welling up in his eyes. The child saw Rumpel’s tears.

Rumpel didn’t even have the presence of mind to feel ashamed of crying in front of a child. He was just overwhelmed with emotion. The fact that someone recognized him.

‘You’re there, so isn’t it natural for me to see you?’

It was like hearing an answer to the question Rumpel had been asking himself all along. Yes, he was always here. It’s not that his existence was an illusion, or a ghost.

He didn’t know why his figure, which was invisible to other people, was visible to the child, but Rumpel was just overwhelmed and happy.