Shadow's Oath

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Chapter 48: Nightmare (1)

Charlon still couldn’t control her trembling hands.

She wanted someone to grab hold of them, yet also didn’t want anyone to do so.

Charlon didn’t want to talk about her dream.

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

She felt like she wouldn’t be able to calm down if she didn’t.

As she hesitated, Damion opened his mouth.

“It seems I should go first.”

Charlon swallowed hard and felt relieved.

“In my dream, I was in Hag Olga’s house. The same table, the same chairs. There was a teacup, and Olga was sitting in front of me.”

Damion paused as he spoke, then, lost in thought, suddenly became aware of everyone’s gaze and said:

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

Charlon felt the same.

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

And it terrified her to share it all.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“You were the only one sitting next to me, Charlon. Jedrick and Stuga weren’t there. Then Olga suddenly predicted my death. Darkness descended around her, and everything disappeared. My surroundings turned black too. I looked beside me and saw you, Charlon, standing up and walking away. I called out, but you didn’t respond. Of course, it was a dream…”

Damion emphasized the word “dream,” as if trying to differentiate it from reality.

He also spoke in a hushed tone, likely concerned about anyone outside the grand hall overhearing.

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

Damion shuddered as if reliving the eerie sensation.

“Many men with my brother’s face appeared and drove swords into my body. Yet I couldn’t die. Then, I heard the sound of a trumpet from the sky.”

Damion looked up at the ceiling.

“A trumpet?”

Jedrick asked, frowning.

“It was like a loud ‘buuu’ sound, or perhaps more like ‘guuuu.’ I can’t quite replicate it. Didn’t they say such a sound was heard around here recently? Could it have been that?”

Damion glanced at Jedrick and Stuga, but neither of them spoke.

He 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. To avoid being stabbed, I had to do as it said. I ran and found myself at what looked like a coastal cliff. There was a sea, but it was far below, a dark abyss. The voice spoke again, telling me to throw myself into the sea. It felt less like divine revelation and more like a devil’s command. I couldn’t resist, so I jumped. But instead of the sea, it was the mouth of a giant whale. As I fell inside, the whale closed its mouth, and then there was nothing but darkness. Everything around me turned pitch black…”

Damion shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“In most dreams, when something like that happens, you wake up, right? But I couldn’t wake up. I stayed in that darkness, unable to see, hear, or move. It was maddening. Then, I heard Stuga calling me, and I woke up. After that…”

Damion gestured at Clave’s corpse and shrugged.

“Now that I’ve said it out loud, it doesn’t sound like much. Who’s next…?”

Damion looked at Charlon and flinched.

“Your face is pale. Are you feeling unwell…?”

Charlon was terrified but hadn’t realized her expression showed it.

“Your Highness, your dream is connected to mine.”

Damion’s eyes widened.

Jedrick pressed his clenched fist to his lips and observed the two silently.

His sharp gaze, which Charlon usually found attractive, was now frightening.

“Can you explain how they’re connected?”

Damion asked cautiously.

Charlon wanted to refuse, but there was no way out now.

Especially after the prince had shared so much, she couldn’t back out.

Charlon began to recount her dream.

“My dream was like yours, Your Highness. It started in Hag Olga’s room. I was sitting next to Olga. She said something to you. You mentioned she predicted your death, but in my dream, I couldn’t hear either of your voices. Suddenly, darkness came. I left the room.”

Charlon deliberately left out one detail.

It wasn’t just Olga and the prince in the room; Jedrick was there too.

She had left the room because of him.

He had reached out his hand, and she had taken it, leading him out of the room.

No, it was she who had reached for his hand first!

Charlon couldn’t bring herself to share that part.

She continued instead.

“There was a door. Like in your dream, I opened it and found myself in the castle of Vormont. My twin brother, Aduer, stabbed me with a sword.”

From that point, Jedrick had disappeared.

Though they had fled together, he was gone when she reached the castle.

“I was stabbed repeatedly but couldn’t die. It was excruciating, so I ran. Unlike your dream, there were no trumpets or voices from the sky. I was only being chased, though I don’t know by whom. I was too afraid to look back. I reached a cliff and threw myself off without looking down. I didn’t know if it was a sea or a mountain below. I just jumped. Instead of a whale, it was a bird, as large as a whale. It swallowed me, and then there was darkness. I couldn’t see anything. I struggled but couldn’t wake up.”

Charlon had screamed for help, but not to Damion.

Not to Rusef.

She had called out for Jedrick.

‘Help me, Jeje. Save me from here.’

Charlon had woken to Stuga’s voice.

What frightened her most after waking wasn’t the scene before her.

‘What if the prince heard the name I called?’

Damion stared at Charlon with unnervingly wide eyes.

‘Did he notice my lie? Is he looking at me like that to make me confess?’

For the first time since meeting him, Charlon avoided Damion’s gaze.

Luckily, he wasn’t staring at her for that reason.

“It’s terrifying how similar these dreams are. Could something truly be happening to us?”

Damion turned to Jedrick.

“What about your dream?”

Jedrick exhaled sharply through his nose and said,

“It’s similar. Not as close as yours, but still. How can such a thing happen?”

Jedrick began to speak.

“Like you two, I also left you behind. But I wasn’t near Olga. I don’t know where I was, perhaps a plain. There are similar grasslands nearby, but I can’t say for certain. I walked away, leaving you two behind. My experience was less painful—no stabbings, no cliffs. But I walked for a very long time. A very long time…”

Jedrick rubbed his knees and continued.

“I don’t know how to explain this. In the dream, it felt like I walked for a month. Not metaphorically, but literally. When I woke up, my legs ached as if I truly had walked for a month. Returning to the grand hall felt like traveling back in time. Like I had rewound a month.”

Jedrick shook his head.

"At the end of the path, a crimson pond appeared. The surroundings were completely shrouded in mist. I couldn't breathe—in fact, I think I truly wasn't breathing. When I woke up from the dream, the first thing I did was gasp for air. Like how you all threw yourselves off the cliff, I also threw myself into the pond. Was someone forcing me? Was someone chasing me? I’m not sure... Maybe it was just my decision. I think it was my will. After jumping in, there was only darkness. No whale or bird appeared. But I think I heard a voice, like the voice of a god. I don’t know which god. It simply said to me, 'You’re late. Why did you come only now?'"

Charlon worried that she might appear in his dream.

She was afraid he might tell Damion about it.

Thankfully, there was no mention of her.

She thought she would feel relieved.

But surprisingly, Charlon felt hurt.

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

And then she blamed herself for thinking such a thing at a time like this.

‘Get it together, Charlon. This isn’t the time for such thoughts.’

Finally, everyone turned their gaze to Stuga.

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As always, with an emotionless face, he began speaking without any inflection.

"My dream didn’t end in darkness; it started in darkness. When things became visible, I was already holding a sword, and with it, I seemed to have killed all three of you."

"All three of us?"

When Damion asked, Stuga pointed at Damion, Jeje, and Charlon one by one.

That simple gesture was chillingly terrifying.

"After that..."

Stuga hesitated for a moment.

"...I woke up to a sound and ended up fighting the captain of the royal guards."

He then detailed the process of the fight.

But Charlon wasn’t paying attention to that part.

‘He just switched topics to hide something!’

At first glance, his expressionless face seemed capable of concealing anything.

But from his actions, it was clear he wasn’t adept at lying.

‘There’s something he didn’t want to talk about. Just like me. Maybe the prince and Jeje feel the same… No, I shouldn’t think like that. I’m the one who betrayed him. Even if it was in a dream, I betrayed the prince.’

Suddenly, Charlon was scared of everything.

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

‘It’s all because of me. I’m the one who suggested we go to Olga.’

She wanted to cry but couldn’t.

If she cried here, everyone would try to comfort her, and at such a crucial moment, they’d focus only on a woman’s tears and nothing else.

‘I have to endure it. Not now.’

Stuga finished recounting how he killed Claive and continued immediately.

"I can’t stop thinking about Tanu."

"Tanu? What’s that?"

Damion asked.

"Jedrick would explain it better than I could."

Stuga gestured to Jedrick.

"Should I tell the story?"

Jeje asked to confirm.

"Yes. Please do."

Stuga replied firmly.

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

He explained that Hak Maraka had called Stuga "Tanu" and the significance of Tanu in the myth of Geron.

Had it been over a drink by a warm campfire, it might have been an enjoyable story.

Charlon, who loved such tales more than anyone, found herself wanting to interrupt and ask questions multiple times.

But now wasn’t the time, nor was the atmosphere suitable.

So, even though one of the gods' names caught her attention, she couldn’t ask.

‘The god of war and fire, Akamantum? That’s the name Olga mentioned when talking about Jeje. She called Jeje Akamantum.’

Damion stared intently at Stuga and asked,

"Hak Maraka called you Tanu?"

"Yes."

"Could it be that he was referring to me instead?"

"To you, Your Highness?"

Damion pointed to where he had sat during the feast.

"I was sitting there, and you were standing in front of me. Maraka might not have been pointing at you but at me. In that case, I’m Tanu. To them, the one who destroyed their tribe is me. That makes sense, doesn’t it?"

Jedrick shook his head.

"Does it matter? Right now, we need to figure out how to deal with all of this."

"The dreams or the corpse?"

Damion asked.

"Both."

Jedrick responded curtly.

Damion got up and walked toward Claive’s corpse.

"I will confront my father about this personally. His captain of the guard tried to kill my shadow. I’ll demand answers about his involvement or intent. But we can’t escalate this matter here."

Damion called out loudly,

"Knights, come in!"

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

It was the same three as before.

Jedrick whispered,

"What are you planning?"

"For now, just to remove the corpse. The fact that a murder happened here must remain unknown to your people."

"And the dreams?"

Charlon quickly interjected.

"It’s strange, yes, but now is not the time to be swayed by dreams,"

Damion said firmly.

Charlon shrank back and didn’t press further.

Then Jedrick spoke.

With the knights standing nearby, his voice was even quieter.

"But we can’t just ignore them either."

"Then what do we do? Dream again?"

"Olga needs to be consulted."

"…Yes, that’s how it started."

"If you permit, I’ll go alone. It’s enough."

"No. I am the conqueror of this village. It was never your role to go."

The knights stood in formation before Damion.

"You called, Your Highness."

In an unusually commanding voice, Damion issued an order.

"Bring Hak Olga before me."

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