Garden Of Poison-Chapter 244: Old church

Music Recommendation: To Yeonjin - Jung Se Rin

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Emily stood before Julia’s grave, the weight of the guilt still heavy on her heart, despite her efforts to view the situation from Raylen’s perspective. Her maid had died at a young age, without being able to experience life to the fullest.

’This is for me?’ Julia asked Emily when she was presented with a box containing a dress.

’Yes,’ Emily replied with a smile. ’You will be accompanying me during the gatherings, and I want to make sure you look as elegant as I do, Julia.’

Julia stared at the dress, and when her eyes lifted to meet Emily’s, Emily noticed tears welling up in them. Julia quickly offered a deep bow and thanked her, ’You are exceedingly good to me, Princess Emily. I hope to always be able to stay by your side and assist you.’

Returning to the present, Emily’s expression was blank, unaware that the sun had set and the weather had turned cold. Raylen stood at the back, near the carriage, his back leaning against the vehicle. He brought a cigar to his lips, inhaling the smoke and exhaling it slowly.

"You feel so deeply," Raylen murmured, his lips barely moving. It only meant that when she eventually fell in love with him, it would be in an irrevocable and profound way.

Raylen pushed himself to stand straight and addressed his coachman, "You can take the carriage back to the castle. The princess needs a little more time. Take the servants with you."

"Yes, Master," the coachman replied, and he promptly took his place in the driver’s seat, driving the vehicle away.

"How long have you known her?"

Raylen’s voice reached her ears, prompting Emily to turn and look over her shoulder, catching sight of Raylen but not the carriage, as she hadn’t heard it depart. She answered,

"More than a month. Probably a year from afar, as she used to assist my sister. You must think that is hardly enough time to know someone."

"I wouldn’t belittle your feelings, Princess. Rather, I find them endearing," Raylen remarked, desiring to see those affections and emotions directed towards him. He came to stand beside her and met her gaze. "Don’t worry," he reassured her. "It happened once, but I won’t allow it to happen again. What I need from you is to remain brave, just as you have been until now."

"It’s hard..." Emily confessed, as if another brick from the protective wall around her had been removed.

"Is that so?" Raylen hummed before adding, "I could hardly notice it."

"Where did the carriage go?" Emily inquired.

"I thought we could use some time to take a stroll. It might help clear your head more than having your mind stuck in one place," Raylen replied, his blue eyes filled with patience. He then asked, "Shall we? Julia might need some time to settle in as well."

Emily gave him a soft, pointed look before nodding in agreement. She spared another glance at the new grave before turning and starting to walk away with Raylen. Finally, paying attention to the weather, she said, "I might catch a cold."

"I will keep you warm," Raylen assured her, walking beside her. "I’ll keep the cold wind away from you when I sense it. We need you to stay healthy and strong."

Emily slipped her hands into her coat pockets, her breath turning into visible fog in the cold air. As they walked along the side of the street, with the street lamps casting a warm glow, she observed the few people around hurrying towards their homes.

"Thank you for earlier," Emily thanked him, feeling grateful towards him.

"I don’t think you would have appreciated her body being thrown somewhere," Raylen stated, his expression ever so calm.

"That too. I was referring to forgiving my mother and not holding her accountable. For releasing Celeste," Emily clarified, giving him a grateful glance. "I don’t understand why Mother would do that, as it’s very unlike her."

"She probably had a change of heart." Raylen clicked his tongue. He added, "Let us hope that in the future, she will be as understanding as I am," a hint of amusement twinkling in his eyes.

"How do you go on? Witnessing people around you die and leave?" Emily asked him. She couldn’t help but ponder this, as his entire family was gone, and he was now left with only a few servants and his subjects, who would eventually pass when their time came.

"Considering I don’t have a beating heart, it’s not that complicated," Raylen replied with a hint of humour. As a carriage was about to pass them from behind, getting dangerously close, he gently tugged Emily to the side, positioning himself beside the road. He continued, "Things that I was once attached to were detached by my own hands."

When Raylen’s gaze fell on Emily, he observed that her cheeks had turned pink from the cold. She surprised him by asking, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you not find another cat? Or someone to become attached to?"

"There wasn’t anything worth attaching to. Not until now." Raylen’s response was straightforward, and Emily’s hazel brown eyes briefly fleeted towards him.

When they came to a church, Emily couldn’t help but notice that it was smaller than the other churches she had seen in this kingdom. The walls were dark grey, which, combined with the darkness of the night that had descended upon them, gave the church an almost black appearance.

In doubt, Emily said, "I didn’t know you prayed."

Her words elicited a chuckle from Raylen, making her frown at him in response. He said, "Not anymore. But there was a time when I, believing I was an earthling, came here and prayed. Now that I think about it, it makes me smile."

Emily noticed how Raylen’s smile faltered, as if there was something behind it. She wondered what a young Raylen might have prayed for in those days.

Watching Raylen enter the church, Emily followed him. Her eyes took in the old wooden benches and the faded, broken stained glass windows. She looked around, noticing that there was no one else in the church except the two of them.

"There’s no statue," Emily noted loudly as she observed the space before the candles. Instead, there was only a blackened pole, which she found to be strange.

"It once used to be a church, but now it’s just a ghostly building. A shadow," Raylen said, his tone nostalgic as he admired the old walls as if they carried memories.

He waved his hand above the candles, causing them to light up. Soon, the candles began to cast light across the front half of the church, which was also when she noticed the multicoloured windows casting their vibrant hues onto the ground outside the church. It looked beautiful. Turning to face her, he said,

"Long ago, this place was used to kill me."

Emily was stunned by this information, and this time, she took a closer look at the inner walls of the church, noticing that they appeared blackened compared to the back half. She asked, "Who did?"

"The people. My family," Raylen replied nonchalantly, taking a seat on the nearest bench. "Sit."

Emily complied, sitting on a bench parallel to the one Raylen occupied. "Was it because they found out who you are?"

Raylen hummed. "They had begun to notice that I wasn’t one of them, and before my mother would be questioned, she chose to sacrifice me, as it seemed to be the most logical solution to her."

As Raylen stared at the blackened pole, his thoughts drifted back to that fateful evening when he had been dragged into this place, surrounded by a crowd eagerly waiting to witness him pay for a crime he had never committed.

’Bring this murderer here!’ someone from the crowd shouted. ’Killing people mercilessly just because of who you are! He has been cursed!’

A confused Raylen furrowed his brow and anxiously protested, ’You have made a mistake. I had nothing to do with any of the things you claim.’

But his words were met with anger as another voice shouted, ’Shut up, you demon!’

Before long, Raylen was forcibly tied to the pole so that he wouldn’t be able to escape. He demanded, ’Where are my parents? Where are the King and the Queen?’

’If you are wondering, you won’t be saved by them. It was your parents who ordered us to tie up their disgraceful son!’ one of the guards stated sharply.

As the people both inside and outside the building fell into an eerie silence, the sound of footsteps approaching became audible. Raylen’s parents and siblings entered the space, standing behind them.

’Has the powder been thrown at him?’ questioned his father.

’Yes, Your Highness! We weren’t able to capture him earlier, and it has weakened his senses,’ answered the guard standing to the side. ’It is confirmed that he is a demon’s child!’

Gasps and accusatory looks continued to be directed at Raylen. He attempted to clear his name, saying, ’Father, I didn’t kill anyone. I would never hurt—’

’Silence!’ the King commanded, avoiding looking into Raylen’s eyes, as if he were ashamed and in disgrace. He said, ’You are not our son; the demon exchanged you to cause chaos. I might have believed you if you hadn’t gone opening people up.’

Raylen couldn’t believe that his family had given up on him. His gaze then shifted to his mother, and he asked, ’Do you believe I am the one responsible for the deaths?’

’I don’t want to talk to a murderer. You are no son of mine,’ his mother replied without even looking at him.

’Pour the oil!’

The people gathered couldn’t help but whisper amongst themselves, noticing that Raylen appeared remarkably calm even though he was about to die. They detected no fear, but that was only because the anguish of betrayal masked his true emotions.

As the oil was poured from various cans to ensure the demon that people believed was the cause and reason for the deaths would burn, Raylen didn’t move but only stared at his family. The oil trickled down his face until he was completely drenched in it.

The onlookers moved far away from him as they left a trail of oil on the floor.

’This is for killing all those innocent people, monster!’

’Torch him!’

’Feel what you di—’

’You think killing me will stop the killings?’ Raylen asked, his voice eerily calm. ’The killer is somewhere among you.’

’What are you waiting for? Light him!’ one of the townsfolk exclaimed, grabbing a torch and lowering it towards the ground where the oil awaited.

Once the flame touched the ground, it began to advance towards where Raylen was bound, and it took less than two seconds before fire engulfed him entirely. The crowd breathed a sigh of relief, believing they were finally rid of the demon, and watched with satisfaction as the flame consumed him. However, their happiness was short-lived, as, despite the fire’s successful capture of the young man, he showed no signs of burning.

’W—what is going on?’ someone asked in shock.

A commotion began to break out within the building as people started shouting, ’Pour more oil!’ Yet, despite their efforts to throw the remaining oil at Raylen, it had no impact. ’RUN!’ Panic began to spread among the people. While the majority of them fled, a few opted to remain and witness him being charred to the ground.

Raylen’s eyes locked with his mother’s fearful ones as she realised what she had done. She had shattered the last remnants of his trust and respect for her. The betrayal was too big to forgive. She took a hesitant step backwards, her trembling body recoiling, before hastily ushering her children out of the church to protect them.

What the commoners and most of the royal family were unaware of was that Raylen was no ordinary demon, but the son of the Devil himself, born from the very essence of fire and chaos. And they had awakened the chaos.