Old Man-Bun Kukkinos

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Rara gritted her teeth as the cute-looking guard, adorned with a white pendant tied to his belt, shoved her for what felt like the hundredth time.

“You—! Don’t push me around! It’s already generous of me to allow myself to be cuffed! I know how to walk without your help!” Her cheeks puffed out like a Bubble Eye fish, her frustration palpable.

The guard with the green pendant, his irritation barely masked, muttered under his breath, “Stupid woman…”

Despite his quiet tone, his words cut through the air and reached Rara’s ears. She halted abruptly and turned to face him, her eyes blazing with indignation.

Before she could retort, a bone-shaking roar reverberated through the castle, startling both guards and prisoners alike.

“Ahhhh!”

The guards’ faces drained of color as they exchanged shocked glances. “Assistant Bear!” they shouted in unison, their eyes wide with alarm.

“Assistant Panda... Chief Lisun... help me…” Assistant Bear, visibly distressed, reached out to his colleagues with a desperate plea.

The dazed Assistant Panda and Chief Lisun snapped back to reality, their expressions hardening with urgency.

Assistant Panda lunged to pull Rara away from Assistant Bear, grabbing her arms with a firm grip. Meanwhile, Chief Lisun, his face set in determination, grasped Rara’s jaw, his fingers digging in as he struggled to pry her mouth from Assistant Bear’s right wrist.

Assistant Bear leaned heavily against the cold dungeon wall, sweat pouring down his face. His eyes were locked on Rara, who clamped her teeth onto his wrist with unrelenting force. The pain was excruciating, and he could feel her teeth sinking into the flesh, her grip relentless.

It would have been manageable if she had bitten his hand, but the sheer intensity of her bite on his wrist was unbearable.

Blood oozed from the wound as Assistant Panda and Chief Lisun finally managed to free Rara. The sight of blood trickling down Assistant Bear’s hand only heightened his distress. He shuddered at the lingering sensation of her teeth in his flesh.

“Get Assistant Bear’s injury treated immediately,” Chief Lisun commanded one of his subordinates, his voice terse.

As Assistant Bear prepared to leave the dungeon with the subordinate, he heard a sudden thud behind him. He turned, his eyes widening in shock.

Rara lay on the floor, her face pale, and the blood from her mouth now stark against her pallor. Her once fiery demeanor had vanished, replaced by a distressing stillness.

“This… what happened to her?” Assistant Panda’s voice wavered as he looked down at her in astonishment.

Chief Lisun, kneeling beside her, placed a finger under her nose to check for breath.

She’s still breathing.

His frown deepened. He had never seen someone faint after such a violent act. It was unsettling.

“Lift her up and throw her into one of the dungeon cells,” Chief Lisun ordered his subordinates, his tone brooking no argument.

“Yes, Chief!”

The subordinates carried out the order, dragging Rara to an empty cell. They uncuffed her and unceremoniously tossed her inside before quickly retreating.

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The prisoner in the adjacent cell stirred when the guards had left. He shuffled closer to the bars of his cell and peered through the narrow gap, his eyes sharp with curiosity.

“Little girl… wake up…”

When Rara did not respond, the old man, disheveled and rugged, searched his surroundings. With a practiced flick of his wrist, a small, light-purple ball of energy appeared in his hand.

He directed the glowing sphere toward Rara’s head. The ball shot forth with a soft hum, striking her gently.

Rara, who had been floating in an ethereal realm with a nagging Hara beside her, was abruptly jolted back into her physical body. She woke with a start, a dull ache throbbing in her head.

She sat up groggily, her hand instinctively reaching to rub the back of her head. The sudden return to reality was disorienting.

Strange, she didn’t remember hitting her head.

“Little girl! You’re finally awake!”

Rara’s head whipped around, and her scream pierced through the dungeon, echoing off the stone walls and rousing the other prisoners from their uneasy slumber.

“Ahhhh! Ghost! Ghost! Please help me! I’m going to be eaten by a ghost! Help me! Ahhhh…”

The old man’s face turned a deep shade of crimson as he covered his ears. “I’m not—Little girl, you… please, quiet down!” His attempts to calm her were met with louder shrieks.

When the screaming persisted and no one came to her rescue, Rara’s voice finally faltered. Exhausted, she moved away from the old man, leaning against the wall of her cell, her back tense.

She coughed several times, her throat sore and her tongue numb. Her hands, which had been covering her mouth, came away smeared with blood.

Her eyes widened in shock before the realization set in. Her mood shifted from alarm to melancholy.

“Heh! It seems the universe is having a laugh at my expense. I’m dying, and I haven’t even had my revenge yet…”

Hara and the old man looked at her with perplexed expressions, their foreheads marked with visible lines of confusion.

What do you mean, dying? That’s not your blood!

<You’re not dying, you fool. That’s Assistant Bear’s blood.>

Rara paused, her mind racing through the recent events. A wide smile spread across her face as she remembered the fear in Assistant Bear’s eyes when she bit him.

Recalling the satisfaction of her small victory, her mood lifted.

“Little girl—”

“Who are you calling ‘little girl’? I’m not little! I’m a grown woman!” Rara snapped, ending her sentence with another painful cough.

“Then what should I call you?” The old man’s expression was one of genuine confusion.

“I’m Chihara.”

“Chihara…” The old man’s eyes lit up with recognition and delight. He gripped the bars of his cell tightly, his excitement palpable.

“Your Highness, this lowly servant pays his respects to you!” The old man took several steps back and performed a deep bow, his gratitude evident.

Rara’s eyes widened in astonishment. “You—what are you doing?”

“Your Highness, I knew you didn’t die! The others claimed you perished in the fire, but I refused to believe it! If word gets out that you’re alive—” The old man’s voice grew increasingly animated.

“Old man, calm down!” Rara walked over to him and sat down on the ground. She glanced around the dimly lit cell, relieved that their surroundings were relatively isolated from other prisoners.

“Old man, you know me?” she asked, her tone softening as she refocused on him.

The old man nodded vigorously. “Your Highness, don’t you remember me? I’m the Bun child you rescued.”

Rara’s eyes flashed with sudden recognition. “I don’t believe you.”

Her thoughts drifted back to the tragedy that occurred many decades ago. How could a small child like him have survived the inferno?

“Your Highness, I’m Bun Kukkinos.” The old man displayed his palm, revealing a glowing scarlet maple leaf.

Seeing the familiar mark, Rara’s agitation intensified. She seized Bun Kukkinos by the collar. “Who are you?! Why do you have this mark?!”

“Your Highness, it’s really me! That night, you sent me to buy hundreds of sour fruits. I was still a child and couldn’t carry the sack by myself, so I rested a few times on the way. When I returned—” Bun Kukkinos’ voice trembled as tears welled up in his eyes.

Rara was stunned. She released him and slumped to the ground, her face devoid of expression.

He was right.

That night, she had wanted to indulge in sour fruit after dinner and punished Bun Kukkinos for his actions in a game. She had demanded hundreds of sour fruits as recompense.

Who would have guessed that the punishment saved him?

“I hid in the shadows until the fire died down, never expecting them to come the next morning!”

“Them? Who are you referring to?”

“It’s those pretentious people! They wailed and cried falsely when they saw the burned palace. They even held a mourning event for the dead!”

Rara’s ears perked up at this revelation.

The only ones who could stir up such a commotion among the Bun children were the four families!

“The four families?”

Before Bun Kukkinos could respond, the approaching sound of footsteps grew louder. Chief Lisun and his subordinates soon appeared in the dungeon.

Bun Kukkinos grabbed Rara’s shoulder and forced her to lean against the cell bars, his grip desperate.

Rara struggled, shouting for help as she tried to push him away. Her cries caught Chief Lisun’s attention.

“Separate them!” Chief Lisun ordered his subordinates, his voice firm and commanding.

Rara watched helplessly as Bun Kukkinos was dragged away. She recalled his earlier warning about magic and wondered what lay ahead.

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