The Secret Code of Monsters.

Chapter 8 Silent Stars
Roland spread out his palm and pushed the brooch forward.

The other party did not hesitate and was ready to take the brooch from Roland's hand - but just as her fingers touched her palm, Roland suddenly raised his other hand, grasped the woman's wrist tightly, and pulled her towards him!
The honey-colored eyes stopped flowing, he looked into nothingness, a layer of frost floated on his face.

As expected, the blade was pressed against his neck again.

"I'm warning you."

However, the sharp blade could not bring any more fear to the stern-faced boy.

His eyes brushed the woman's face and looked somewhere, but she felt as if she was cut by a frozen ice knife: "You can imagine all the stories in the book: complicated family, secrets between the bed and pillow, quirks - but there is one thing I hope you understand: although I am blind, the servants are not blind."

"If you fool me..."

The woman didn't say anything, and her arm that was being held shook a few times.

Roland subconsciously loosened his hand, and the other party immediately withdrew his arm.

Not only that, she was like a nimble little bird, floating quickly backwards and away from Roland.

"…You are the most rude rich man I have ever met!"

The woman mumbled something indistinctly, and then said from a distance:
"You're the freak of the Collins family. I've heard of you being weird and rebellious... You can ask around. I'm the most reputable person in this area..."

Roland nodded: "...the thief?"

"Why, do you also think that I was instigated by a man?"

Roland imagined that the woman who said this was probably like a cat with bared teeth. He pondered for a moment, blinked, and his voice became smaller and smaller: "I guess the person who got into that narrow window should be a clever lady...right?"

The woman widened her eyes slightly, as if trying to tell the truth from the false, and didn't say a word for a long time.

After a moment, the dagger jumped a few times between her nimble fingers and disappeared into her sleeve.

"Freak."

She concluded, feeling better.

"The Collins freak." She snorted, stepped forward again, and snatched the brooch from Roland's hand like a bird pecking at it.

Take it quickly.

"Here's the deposit, pretty face," she said, tossing the brooch up and down in her palm. "I don't care if you're joking or not, but you can find out. It won't be a good thing if you cheat me. I'll send someone to the Collins' back yard at sunset to-morrow - why, you don't know when the sun sets, do you?"

The voice sounded somewhat gloating.

Roland: ...

It is clear.

Sooner or later this female thief will be caught because of her mouth.

"After dinner, ma'am."

"Don't call me Madam, my name is Rose." She chuckled, and her mood became very happy after getting the brooch back. "After dinner, I will arrange for someone to go around the area - you throw a stone first, and I will prepare what you want, pretty face."

"My name is Roland. I'll be waiting for you tomorrow after dinner, Rose."

"Very good, pretty face."

"My name is Roland."

"Really, pretty face."

…………

……

Roland didn't know whether it was the right choice to pin his hopes on a thief - of course, he was blind and he had no better choice.

You can't really smash the windows of a jewelry store?

When he got home, he told Nina about it.

"If something is wrong, the ceremony cannot begin."

"We still have time." Nina answered calmly: "If she cheats on you, tomorrow, you leave tomorrow."

She was so weak that she couldn't lift her head.

Those sores that were oozing pus eventually crawled onto her face.

"…I will soon become a living pus cocoon. Fortunately, you are blind, so I won't disgust you."

"It's a pity you're not dumb."

"If I were dumb, would you be able to hear so many interesting stories?" Nina laughed and coughed up bloody phlegm from her mouth. When Roland helped her wipe, she could knock her teeth out with just a slight touch - her mouth was also full of abscesses.

"It's a good plan. We have to make preparations for both situations. You, you know how to get to the carriage station, right?"

This time…

Roland didn't refuse again.

Even though he was blind, he could tell that Nina wouldn't live long.

If he stays here, it's hard to say what will happen to him.

Complete Nina's so-called ritual, the last wish...

That was all he could do.

It's time for him to go.

Maybe he wouldn't even have time to say goodbye to Yam. "Someone will know." Roland wouldn't be unable to find his way in the most familiar place.

"I have a decorative painting on my head. The money from selling it is enough for you to get to the next town - but you have to be careful not to be mistaken for a thief. You have to learn some skills and live well..."

Roland replied to her nonchalantly, saying that he only had some basic sewing skills and that he needed help from others.

“You don’t know how to massage?”

"…Ms. Nina, now is not the time to joke around."

"There is no time when you can't joke." Nina's throat was filled with phlegm every time she spoke. "Today, I will tell you one last story..."

“You should rest.”

"I'll have plenty of time to rest when I die." She urged impatiently, asking Roland to sit down and lean against her bed.

Thus, the rainbow curtain covering the mysterious world was slowly pulled open again by the hoarse voice.

'A long time ago.'

'There is a family living under the floor.'

Roland did not know the colors of the stars.

He imagined what it would feel like to lie on the fluffy grass rug, resting his arms on it, letting the starlight and the evening breeze caress his face.

The sound of the grass swaying in the wind must be much more beautiful than the singing in the theater that Yam mentioned.

"You'll feel it soon enough."

Nina said this inexplicably without any reason, but did not answer Roland's question.

The story is short but full of emotion.

It's hard to describe the sadness.

'The little man, riding down the stream...'

Roland said he still thought the little guy who lived on the fireplace and whose house caught fire was more interesting.

A little man screaming in flames.

Nina couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.

Roland slowly leaned forward and wiped the pus that spurted out of her.

“…I miss home.”

Nina said this out of the blue.

Family.

"This is not your home."

"Of course not..." Her voice became more and more ethereal: "I am not the daughter of the Collins family. I come from a very, very far place..."

"Very far."

"I miss my mother. I miss my mother."

"I…"

"I miss mom..."

She called out to her mother in a low voice, and Roland felt as if he had returned to that night half a year ago.

The night his friend, Daniel, died.

In the drafty room, the boy lay in Yam's arms, calling out "Mom" over and over again.

His eyes were burned so that he couldn't see anything, but his arms were still strong and he held Yam tightly.

That night, Roland heard the word "Mom" too many times.

The 'hope' in Yam's pocket can't buy anything, certainly not his mother - ladies often say that people are sad because they get something and then lose it.

But Roland doesn't think so.

He never 'got' his mother.

But I can still feel the sadness and pain.

"Go to sleep, Nina, my sister."

Roland curled up at the head of the bed, hugging his legs and resting his chin on his knees.

In the darkness, the deep golden eyes gradually dimmed.

"Go to sleep," he said.

He remembered the song Nina often hummed when she was bored.

So he read it from memory, stumbling and humming.

'Stars don't talk...'

The ballad swirled around the stuffy and smelly room for a while, then slipped out through the crack in the door, into the corridor, and out the window to join the moonlight.

It took the risk without looking back.

(End of this chapter)