Rose Garden: Chapter 17

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Parinié Village was a small settlement halfway up the mountainside, built along a steep slope. There was hardly any flat ground, and every house had been constructed by cutting into the incline. Kyle landed in a forest on the edge of the village and concealed his wings in the shadows of the trees. As he made his way up the steep mountain path, he came across an old woman carrying a hoe on her shoulder.

When he spoke to her, she toppled over backward with the hoe still on her back.

“My goodness! An angel!”

Startled, Kyle glanced over his shoulder, but his wing-concealing spell was still intact.

“I’m not an angel. I’m looking for someone.”

But the old woman didn’t seem to hear him; she clasped her hands tightly together and began to pray.

“My great-grandmother used to say if you ever see something too beautiful to be real, it's either an angel or a demon. You're definitely an angel.”

“My appearance doesn’t matter. Do you know a girl named Ayla?”

The old woman tilted her head. “Never heard of her.”

“I’ve lived here seventy years,” she went on, “but there’s never been a girl named Ayla in this village. Maybe she died young, or got sold off.”

Even after parting with the old woman, Kyle asked several others, “Do you know a girl named Ayla?” But the answer was always the same, no one knew her.

In a village this small, there was no way no one would know the name of a nine-year-old girl. He wondered if she and her family lived in seclusion, avoiding all social contact. With that in mind, he began visiting each house on the outskirts, searching for Ayla one by one.

At the fifth house a green-roofed home he saw a girl around ten years old playing alone in the garden, wearing a light blue skirt. For a moment, he thought she might be Ayla, but her hair was brown.

“Hey, girl. Do you know anyone named Ayla?”

The freckled child said nothing and ran inside the house. A short while later, a woman in her forties, wearing a gray skirt, came out with the girl in tow. She gasped when she saw Kyle’s face, but her expression quickly turned wary, her eyes sharp and guarded.

“What business do you have here?”

Her tone was curt, her face stiff.

“I’m looking for someone. A girl named Ayla, who turns nine this year do you know her?”

A deep furrow formed between the woman’s brows.

“Ayla, you say?”

“Yes. She has blond hair, gray eyes…”

“And what do you want with this Ayla?”

Her question was loaded neither confirming nor denying she knew the girl.

“Her sister, Claudia, is on the verge of death from illness. Her last wish is to see her little sister. I came to bring her.”

The woman widened her eyes and brought a hand to her mouth.

“You do know Ayla. And Claudia.”

Without meeting Kyle’s eyes, she tilted her head slightly to the right. “Well… yes. Claudia and Ayla are the children of my master’s older brother.”

Finally, Kyle thought with relief. If they left now, he could have them reunited by early afternoon.

“Where is Ayla? I want to take her right away.”

The woman said nothing. With an awkward expression, she fidgeted with the hem of her yellowed apron.

“Well, as you can see, we’re dirt poor,” the woman began. “We already had three kids of our own, and that was more than we could handle. To make matters worse, five years ago there was a bad harvest. The wheat crop failed. Our whole family was teetering on the edge between life and death… so we had Ayla go into service. At least with live-in work, she wouldn’t starve to death.”

Five years ago Ayla would have been four or five. What kind of work could a child that young possibly do?

“...Where is Ayla now?”

The woman replied vaguely, “Who knows…” as if it were someone else’s problem.

“She was taken by a buyer from Dotor. Maybe she’s in Dotor now.”

The woman had used the word buyer. So it wasn’t service work Ayla had been sold. Kyle clenched his jaw. When women and children are bought by such people, it almost always means one thing: a brothel.

He stared hard at the brown-haired girl standing by the woman’s side. The woman quickly moved to shield her daughter behind her back.

“I don’t know what kind of relationship you had with Claudia, but blaming us isn’t fair,” she snapped. “If anyone’s at fault, it’s their parents who went and died, leaving two kids behind. If we weren’t this poor, we wouldn’t have sold our niece in the first place.”

No matter what excuse they gave, it didn’t change the fact they sold a child for money. Burning with anger and frustration, Kyle took off toward the town of Dotor.

Dotor was a large port town, bustling with ships from various countries. Since he knew a buyer had taken Ayla there, he went straight to a brothel, explained the situation, and asked to be put in touch with the buyer.

He was able to meet the man quickly. But the buyer traded over a hundred children a year and didn’t remember individual names. There were also several buyers operating in Dotor, so Ayla could have been purchased by someone else. Seeing Kyle's disheartened face, the man suggested that instead of tracking down buyers, it might be faster to search brothels that dealt with a large number of children. He kindly pointed out four such establishments. Though helpful, the shadow of hell still clung to his kindness.

Kyle first went to the largest of the four, a brothel reportedly ten times the size of Luanlily and lavishly decorated with rich fabrics. In one corner of the opulent space, he explained the situation to the plump madam.

“Happens all the time,” she said flatly, clearly unenthusiastic, but she still took the time to check through the “goods” currently working in the brothel.

“No one here came from Parinié Village. We’ve got a nine-year-old girl, but she’s got red hair. You’re looking for a blonde, right?”

Kyle thanked her and was just about to leave when the madam stopped him with a casual, “Hold on a sec,” and went into the back. She returned with a register, a thick ledger listing the names and places of origin of those who had worked there in the past.

“Ah, here it is. Knew I’d seen it. Parinié Village, Ayla.”

Kyle lunged at the ledger. Sure enough, there was Ayla’s name.

“We get so many kids, you forget the names fast, but I remember this one. Poor thing was skin and bones when she got here probably hadn’t eaten properly for a while. She was so thin, she was cheap, even for a blonde. I figured I could fatten her up and make her presentable, so I bought her. But the very next day, she went and died. Just like that. Damned waste of money. I couldn’t sleep that night, I was so pissed off.”

When Kyle asked where the grave was, the madam tilted her head.

“She was from a known village, so I had a courier take her body back there. But these days, you’ve got a lot of shady types. They take your money and dump the corpse in a ravine somewhere. Disgraceful, really. Blasphemous.”

Kyle left with a feeling not of sorrow, but something far bleaker. He managed to return to the town before sunset, but now he sat silently beside the fountain in the square, unsure how to deliver the news that Ayla had died five years ago. Or whether it might be better not to say anything at all.

Even if he lied or if he didn’t Claudia would never see her little sister again in this life. That was the unshakable truth. Shoulders slumped, Kyle returned to the brothel.

Tosha came running up to him, face crumpled with worry.

“Hurry, go to Claudia. I can’t do anything for her. She won’t stop crying unless it’s you.”

When he reached Claudia’s side, her gray eyes were bloodshot, and the tracks of her tears were still stark against her cheeks. And yet, the moment she saw Kyle, she smiled like a small flower opening to the sun.

“I’m sorry I left you alone, Claudia.”

“Welcome back. Did you find Ayla…?”

Kyle gently embraced her through the quilt. He’d come back with the resolve to tell her the truth, even if it made her cry harder, even if it hurt her more.

“I want you to listen calmly to what I’m about to say.”

Claudia’s gray eyes slowly closed.

“…Ayla passed away.”

Claudia’s eyelids tightened shut, and deep lines formed between her brows.

“She died when she was five… it was an illness.”

Thin fingers rose to cover her face, and from between them, tears spilled forth. Her sorrow poured out. Kyle already regretted his honesty. If he had just said, “I couldn’t find her,” perhaps she wouldn’t have had to carry this pain, not in this world.

“I’m so sorry… she met such a sad end.”

But Claudia gently shook her head.

“It’s all right… You kept searching for her all this time, didn’t you? And because I’m like this, you must have agonized over how to tell me. You’re so kind. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. But now I can finally let her go.”

That night, Kyle slept on the floor beside Claudia, their hands clasped together. By morning, her condition had worsened. Her lips trembled, and her voice was growing harder to understand. Even the roses Kyle had brought, blooming in full, seemed unable to lift her spirits she hadn’t the strength to admire them. A few of her fellow prostitutes came to check on her, but Claudia could barely muster a reply.

Sunlight streamed through the window. The sky outside was bright and blue, peaceful. But inside Claudia’s room, sorrow and silence hung heavy in the air.

Kyle was tormented by guilt. Uselessness. If only he’d had more power if he could have purged the poison from her body. Or if he’d realized the depth of Leda’s crimes sooner… maybe then, it wouldn’t have come to this.

All he could do was hold her hand. That was it. Powerless, helpless, he could only sit there and wait for her life to fade away. No matter how much it tore at him, this was all he could do.

Sometime after midday, the sound of music drifted in from the distance, cheerful percussion, and the clear ring of bells. Claudia, who had been half-asleep until then, suddenly opened her eyes.

“A wedding,” she whispered.

And in an instant, her gray eyes lit up with sparkles of joy.

“Wedding carriages parade through the town! Kyle, Kyle, take me to the window. I want to see the bride.”

Lifting her weightless body, Kyle carried her to the window. Though the bells rang closer, the carriage itself took its time arriving. Tosha entered the room and blinked in surprise to see Claudia sitting up.

“Should she really be out of bed?”

But when Claudia pleaded, “I want to see the bride,” Tosha just gave a small sigh. “Well, can’t be helped, I suppose.”

Finally, the carriage came into view decorated in white ribbons, carrying the bride, groom, and musicians. Music burst from it in celebration, showering the air with flower petals. But Kyle wasn’t watching the carriage. He was watching Claudia, who stared at it with such joy and intensity it was as if the scene before her were a dream.

“How rare,” Tosha murmured. “That bride’s bouquet, it’s carved from wood.”

Startled, Kyle leaned out the window to look, but the carriage had already passed. All he caught was the bride’s red hair, and the groom’s black.

Warren would be happy now… or so Kyle thought. To say it didn’t hurt, that he didn’t feel lonely or sad, would have been a lie but strangely, his heart felt at peace. There are many forms of love, he realized, and he was being taught that truth firsthand. Watching the back of a man who no longer loved him fade into the distance was one kind. And so was the way he cherished the weightless presence in his arms now.

As the wedding carriage rolled farther away, Kyle sent all his love to the white roses that adorned it. Be beautiful, delicate, bloom with all your might…

“What a lovely red-haired bride,” came a frail murmur from the pale lips beside him.

Tosha reached out and gave Claudia’s nose a gentle pinch.

“You’re not looking so different yourself, you know.”

Claudia smiled shyly but the moment passed quickly. A fit of coughing seized her. Kyle hurried to lay her down gently on the bed. The coughs came again and again, small and relentless, no matter how much he rubbed her back. Her breathing turned shallow, wheezing in little gasps. Her face reddened from the effort.

“Ky… Kyle, To… sha…” Claudia whispered, and from her gray eyes, a tear slipped down.

“Th… thank you… for e-everything…”

Her thin fingers closed softly around Kyle’s hand.

“Ky… Kyle, someday… when you go to heaven… tell Ayla… I couldn’t… I can’t go… not to heaven… so please tell her. Even if we were apart… I loved her…”

It hit Kyle then, with a shock that left him breathless when Claudia had said she wanted to see her sister again, it wasn’t simply longing. She had known, all along, that when she died, she would fall into hell. That she would never be able to reach the place where her sister’s soul surely resided. That’s why she had wished so desperately to meet her while she was still alive.

But Ayla had already died.

And Claudia, after shedding so many tears, had accepted it: even in this world, even as a soul she would never see her sister again.

“I love you… Kyle,” she whispered hoarsely and then, her body slackened completely.

Tosha threw herself over Claudia, calling her name again and again. But when it became clear that her friend was truly gone, her voice broke into a wail.

Kyle stood frozen, staring at the body now emptied of life. Then, he saw it softly, gently, Claudia’s soul rose from her form, glowing with a tender cream-colored light.

A harsh, grating sound like teeth grinding came from the corner of the room. Just like with Leda, little demons appeared, drawn to claim the sinful soul and drag it to hell.

But Kyle stepped forward and wrapped the cream-colored soul gently in his arms. He glared at the approaching demons. They hissed and scraped their claws in frustration, then melted away into the walls.

Even if he had kept her from being taken to hell, a soul left too long on earth would become lost and wandering. Kyle wanted to carry her himself to heaven, if he could, but a fallen angel like him would never again be allowed past those gates.

He dropped to his knees, hands and forehead to the floor, his back bowed low. He released the magic that kept his wings hidden.

Tosha, who had been crying beside Claudia’s body, let out a scream.

“Wh-What the hell, Kyle?! What’s that thing on your back?!”

Kyle folded his two wings tightly against himself.

“Tosha. I need you to tear my wings off.”

“What?! Tear…? I I can’t do that!”

“Do it. Now!”

His shout made her flinch. Half in tears, Tosha reached out a trembling hand to the wings but with her strength, she couldn’t pull them free.

Kyle bolted to the kitchen. He returned with a heavy butcher’s knife in hand.

“Tosha. Use this. Cut them both off.”

He held the knife out to her. Tosha was nearly hysterical now.

“N-No! Why do I have to do something like that?! I’m losing my mind!”

“Do it, Tosha! You don’t want Claudia’s soul sent to hell, do you?!”

Tosha, her face flushed bright red with tears, finally pressed the blade against Kyle’s back. Her hesitant hand moved slowly, and because of that, the pain dragged on, sharp and excruciating. But Kyle feared that if he screamed, her hands might stop altogether, so he remained silent, not uttering a single sound. His face turned pale as he trembled from the pain, enduring it in silence.

The moment the wings were cut off, all strength drained from his body at once. His limbs and torso felt as heavy as lead, completely unresponsive. It struck him this sensation was exactly how he used to feel when he lived with Warren. He hadn’t remembered it in so long.

“Ka-Kyle… are you really gonna be okay after doing something like this? Don’t tell me you’re gonna die too,” Tosha asked, her tear-streaked face contorted with worry.

“…I’ll be fine.”

Lifting his leaden body, Kyle raised the soul of Claudia, which he had been cradling against his chest, and floated it before him. Then he took the freshly severed white wings and attached them to either side of the pale cream-colored soul.

“Right now, Claudia’s soul is right here in front of me. I’ve given her wings. Tosha, can you see her?”

Tosha shook her head.

“I can see the wings. But… nothing else.”

Kyle turned his attention to the cream-colored soul and spoke gently.

“Claudia, with these wings, you can make it all the way to heaven. I’m giving them to you, use your own strength to fly.”

“Kyle… Kyle…”

The soul trembled anxiously.

“It’ll still take some time for the angels to determine whether or not to come retrieve a soul. So if you pass through Heaven’s gate right now, they won’t be able to confirm who you are from the records. Even if a gatekeeper angel calls out to you, ignore them and go through. Once you’re inside, no matter who tries to stop you, just keep going upward. If you do, you’ll be able to see your sister and your parents.”

He gently stroked the cream-colored soul.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of… I’m sure God will love you. Now go.”

The cream-colored soul brushed softly against Kyle’s cheek, as if giving him a kiss, then flew out through the open window in one swift motion. Before long, faint cries from the direction of the plaza reached them, voices crying out, “It’s a miracle! A miracle!” repeatedly.

◇:-:◆:-:◇

Kyle remained seated, leaning half of his body against the wall. It seemed like he could still walk, but his body felt unbearably heavy. The sun had already begun to sink toward the west.

“Kyle… were you really an angel?”

Tosha asked as she rubbed Claudia’s now completely cold hand. Kyle nodded faintly, still facing away.

“No wonder… no wonder you were so naive about the world.”

Kyle gave a faint, bitter smile.

“You really fell for a great man, Claudia. An angel, of all things. Not a prince but an angel. And a pretty standoffish one at that. But I bet it wouldn’t have mattered to you whether he was an angel or a devil, a baker or a farmer. You’d have loved him just the same, huh?”

Kyle slowly pushed himself up using the wall, but his knees buckled, and he dropped into a crouch. Tosha rushed over to him in alarm.

“Are you really okay? You don’t look it. Maybe cutting off your wings really was a bad idea.”

Kyle shook his head.

“I’m fine. I’ll be better soon.”

“If you say so…”

He stood up again. But his body still felt so heavy, his back curved like that of an old woman.

“Tosha, do you have a stick or something I can use as a cane?”

“You’re barely standing. Where do you think you’re going in that condition?”

Even just talking was exhausting. Kyle crouched down again.

“…I want to leave this town before the sun goes down.”

At once, Tosha’s expression changed.

“Leave? You mean leave the brothel for good?”

He nodded. Tosha grabbed the front of his clothes and shook him violently.

“Why are you saying this all of a sudden? Is it because Claudia died? We still have to hold her funeral! You should be there to see her off. And Leda’s dead too, the shop’s in shambles, and I don’t know what to do with it all…”

Kyle firmly gripped her right hand.

“You’re a strong girl, Tosha. I want to leave everything in your care. There’s somewhere I absolutely have to go. That’s why I can’t stay for Claudia’s farewell.”

Tosha wrenched her hand out of his grasp.

“No! If you’re going to leave, fine but it doesn’t have to be right this minute!”

Outside the window, the sun was slowly dipping toward the horizon. Kyle looked directly into Tosha’s eyes, then bowed deeply, placing both hands flat on the floor.

“Please, Tosha. There’s no one else I can ask anymore.”

A long silence fell between them. The only sound was the quiet sniffling of a nose being wiped.

“…Come on, raise your head already.”

Kyle slowly looked up. Tosha wiped at her red, tear-streaked eyes with the palm of her hand.

“Fine, go. I don’t know what’s so important, but it’s clear you have to go.”

“…Thank you.”

Tosha gave a loud, wet sniff.

“I must be the only one in the whole world. The only person an angel ever asked for a favor.”

With a cane she’d found in the storage room left behind by a forgotten customer, Kyle stepped out of the brothel. His body had no strength, and the tip of the cane kept catching in the gaps between the cobblestones. He nearly fell twice after only a few steps.

“Are you sure you’re okay like this?”

Tosha insisted on walking with him, supporting him from one side.

“At this pace, the sun’ll set before you’ve even left town.”

Kyle said nothing, only continued forward, one slow step at a time. Petals left behind by the festival carriage like a fading snowfall still dotted the stone path. They were the remains of the celebration, returning now to the soil. Kyle tried to avoid stepping on them, but his legs wouldn’t cooperate. The petals he stepped on withered instantly beneath his feet.

He made it to the plaza, beside the central fountain.

“Kyle, where are you planning to go?”

Tosha asked, her voice quiet. Kyle looked around the square, squinting against the harsh western sun.

“…South.”

“South, huh.” Muttering as if to confirm it, Tosha abruptly forced the unsteady Kyle to sit down again, then stepped out into the middle of the street. She stood there for a while, scanning the road, until suddenly she darted toward a horse-drawn cart loaded with milk cans.

“You’re headed south, right?”

The middle-aged man with a mustache nodded sluggishly. “Yeah.”

“Then I want you to give someone a ride.”

The man rubbed under his nose and immediately scowled in open displeasure.

“I came all the way from a distant village, and I’ve got to get back fast. A passenger’s just going to slow me down.”

“Please,” Tosha pressed. “He’s in no condition to walk.”

“That’s all the more reason to say no. If he dies on the cart, it’s bad luck.”

Tosha glared at him, her eyes sharp.

“You’re a regular at Luanlily, aren’t you?”

The moment she spoke the name, the man flinched and nearly jumped out of the cart.

“Wha how do you… ah! Ah! I thought I recognized you. You’re one of the girls from that brothel!”

“If you turn me down, I’ll make sure Luanlily never takes you again.”

“F-fine, all right! I get it!”

Pressed into submission, the man finally gave a grudging nod. Kyle climbed into the back of the cart, settling among the empty milk cans and drawing his knees up. He felt bad about forcing a reluctant man to help but at the same time, he was deeply grateful to have a ride.

“I don’t know where you’re going, but… will you come back to this town someday?”

When Kyle shook his head, Tosha lowered her gaze, her expression clouded with sadness.

“Will I ever see you again?”

“…I’ll pray that you find happiness.”

Tosha bit her lip hard.

“Don’t just pray come see me. When I’m done here, I’m going back home. My village is way down south, in a place called Asled. It’s warm there, and even in winter, spring flowers bloom. You should come find me. Then we can talk about everything that’s happened.”

“Hurry it up,” the man barked.

Urged on, Tosha finally stepped back from the cart. With a jolt, the wagon started moving, rattling slowly out of the plaza. Kyle raised a hand and waved. Tosha waved back and didn’t stop until he was completely out of sight.

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