Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 64

[Translation By Divinity]

Although he hadn’t caused any particular trouble, Damian didn’t want to continue the conversation with this man. Ray’s stories only served to confuse him.

Lost in his thoughts, Ray spoke up again.

“Mr. Stern… you don’t seem very surprised by what I’m telling you.”

“No, I am surprised. I was quite taken aback when you said Oracis was a half-spirit, half-human.”

Damian replied instinctively in a quick tone, and Ray chuckled softly and shook his head.

“That’s not what I meant.”

Damian looked at him, and Ray continued in a slightly mischievous tone.

“I meant you weren’t surprised to hear that there are half-spirit, half-human hybrids. You said it as if such a thing was possible. People usually react with surprise at this point, as they’ve never heard of such cases before.”

Caught off guard by Ray’s sharp observation, Damian hesitated for a moment before responding.

“…I thought it could be possible. Spirits and magic are all part of a fantasy world, after all. Nothing would surprise me.”

Damian thought his excuse was quite plausible. Anyway, he didn’t see any benefit in continuing the conversation with Ray. He could read the exhibition catalog later if he wanted to understand the paintings…

Damian was about to use the excuse of having company to leave Ray, but he quickly changed his mind. He had a feeling he shouldn’t bring this person back to Lilliana. Damian groaned inwardly.

“I see. Then do you have any more questions?”

Damian shook his head at Ray’s question. He didn’t want to ask anything more, nor did he want to hear anything more. But Ray, misinterpreting Damian’s reaction, continued speaking without being prompted.

“Well, anyway, the interesting thing is that Oracis’s existence paradoxically led to the decline of interaction between humans and mythical creatures. As I mentioned before, seeing Oracis control the fate of a nation with the power of mythical creatures, countless humans sought to exploit them. The mythical creatures didn’t just stand by and watch. They immediately severed ties with humans and went into hiding. They willingly gave up their freedom to avoid humans, hoping that humanity would forget about their existence.”

Ray clicked his tongue and continued.

“But as technology advanced, humans proliferated on the land, and mythical creatures had to isolate themselves in deeper places to avoid human hands. Although mythical creatures are now considered mere legends, it would be difficult for them to live freely as they did in the past with so many humans around. Why did they have to face such a situation?”

Ray muttered with a bitter smile.

“Even though they didn’t care about humans.”

“Um…”

Damian hesitantly started, and Ray looked at him. Damian pretended to check his wristwatch and said,

“I have another appointment, so I should get going. I’ll buy the catalog and look at the rest of the paintings at home. I’ll visit again when I have time.”

Ray looked disappointed.

“I see. That’s a shame. There are many interesting stories not included in the catalog.”

“Yes, I’m also disappointed, but thank you for the explanations today.”

Ray waved his hand.

“I was worried my stories might be boring, but I’d be grateful if you could come back another time to see the paintings I couldn’t show you today.”

Damian almost frowned at those words but quickly controlled his expression. He found Ray quite unsettling and just wanted to leave the museum with Lilliana as soon as possible.

“Well, then… I’ll be going…”

Damian said goodbye awkwardly and quickly walked away from Ray. He pretended to head towards the exit but then turned a corner and hid, observing Ray’s reaction. Ray stood in front of a painting for a moment, then walked in the opposite direction from where Damian had gone.

Once Ray was out of sight, Damian sighed softly and headed towards Lilliana, keeping an eye on his surroundings and hoping not to run into Ray again.

When Damian found Lilliana, she was just starting to paint the base colors of her canvas. She was surprised to see him back so soon, as she had said it would take her five hours and she had assumed he would be wandering around until then.

“Damian? Did you see the paintings? I’ve only done the base colors so far.”

Damian wiped the sweat from his palms on his clothes and looked around. Seeing only ordinary visitors strolling around besides Lilliana, he asked her.

“Lilliana, has anything happened?”

“Happened? Like what?”

“Like someone suspicious approaching you…”

“No. Besides people looking at the paintings, no one who came near me seemed suspicious. Why? Did something happen?”

Lilliana looked at Damian with concern, his face pale.

“Are you feeling unwell again?”

“No, I’m fine. My body’s okay. I’m not in pain either. But…”

Damian looked around again, alert, and then continued when he saw the visitors moving away.

“This might just be me overreacting, but I have a bad feeling. I think it’s best if we pack up and go back home. I’m saying this as your bodyguard.”

Lilliana looked a bit surprised at Damian’s serious tone.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but calm down, Damian. This is just an art museum; there’s nothing dangerous here. I’m not doubting you or refusing to follow your instructions. I’m just saying you seem too tense.”

Lilliana tried to soothe Damian while busily packing up her art supplies. After all, there was no point in having a bodyguard if she didn’t follow his instructions.

“It might be nothing, as you said, Lilliana, but something just feels off.”

Damian helped Lilliana pack up her paints and brushes. He didn’t rush her, but he quickly organized the art supplies based on his experience of packing and unpacking countless times.

“I met the museum curator… and he was a bit unsettling. I don’t think it would be good for you to run into him. It’s hard to explain exactly what’s strange about him, but…”

Lilliana frowned at Damian’s words.

“What? The museum curator? When I asked at the information desk earlier, they said the curator wasn’t working today.”

“What?”

“I asked at the information desk on the first floor because I thought it would be nice to have the curator guide us around since you might get bored alone. But they said the curator wasn’t on duty today.”

Lilliana’s words made Damian’s chest tighten.

“Then who was the curator I met?”

“How would I know?”

Damian muttered, and Lilliana, looking a bit flustered, replied,

“Shouldn’t we report suspicious people to the police? Did he seem dangerous?”

“He looked like a curator, but he didn’t pose any direct threat to me. If he had shown open hostility or done something harmful, I would have called security or taken some action, but I’m not sure how to handle this kind of situation…”

“But impersonation is a crime. I think it’s better to inform the museum staff. We need to ask them to keep my painting anyway since I couldn’t finish it.”

Lilliana packed up her things and stood up, and Damian walked ahead, scanning the surroundings for Ray.

Fortunately, Ray was nowhere to be seen.

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