Chapter 20
Episode 20
“Sorry.”
Doyeong spoke suddenly while lying beside her. Gamal lifted her eyes in puzzlement.
“For what?”
“Pushing you off the cliff.”
As he said this, Doyeong stroked Gamal’s head.
“Are you hurt?”
Gamal couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard such a question. Few people ever considered she might get injured.
Truthfully, she’d been shocked and felt a flicker of betrayal when Doyeong pushed her off the cliff. But since she’d also hidden things from him, she understood.
Gamal shook her head.
“I’m strong.”
The sheer confidence in her tone left Doyeong momentarily speechless before he snorted a laugh.
“I envy how easily you can say that.”
“Doyeong is strong too.”
“If Ruas heard that, he’d think you’re mocking me. But well—everyone has different strengths.”
“I can’t do anything.”
Gamal lowered her eyes and murmured. Doyeong studied her, sensing weight behind her words. Then she raised her gaze to meet his again.
“Can we sleep together?”
They were already lying side by side, and he had no intention of enjoying her company only to send her away. Her round, watchful eyes were endearing.
Doyeong leaned closer.
“A human man dares sleep with a goddess?”
“Yes.”
Gamal answered instantly, almost urgently.
“Because the goddess wants to.”
After their intimacy, Tora lay languidly until she turned to Aki, who lay naked beside her.
“So our Mati’s taste was that sort of man,” she mused. “Now I see. She must’ve liked being handled roughly.”
Aki glanced at her.
“Even though he’s human.”
Tora shrugged.
“Precisely because he’s human. Becoming a vampire makes things easier. But a human reaching such heights? That’s pure effort. The Captain’s tenacity—stubborn as Moai statues—must’ve moved Mati’s heart.”
“Difficult,” Aki muttered, then added worriedly, “But won’t Lord Rato rage? He might try to kill that guest.”
Tora didn’t answer, her eyes fixed on the ceiling.
Yes, everything was fine. Being shipwrecked, unwittingly kindling romance with a vampire woman older than most boulders...
But would he truly live here with Gamal until old age claimed him?
Doyeong lay in a hammock slung between trees, watching sunlight ripple through leaves. Suddenly, he scowled.
“Stop talking nonsense.”
“What nonsense?”
Tora looked up from her work on the ground, her long hair braided in twin plaits—oddly charming on her.
“Everyone starts with denial, like you,” she said sagely. “Later, even if ordered home, you’ll refuse. Trust me.”
“Even if you say ‘trust’—”
“I lived outside for years. Foul air, cramped spaces crammed with pale, sun-starved humans—zombies stewed in stress...”
Her description was so vivid she could blend into any city today—with proper clothes, anyway.
“I have family out there,” Doyeong said.
Tora tilted her head.
“Married?”
“Three hideous toad-like sons. Elio, Nicolas, Julien.”
She stared.
“You lie well.”
“Aced drama class.”
He admitted freely, never expecting belief. Tora shrugged.
“I’ll say this for your sake: building a new family here will help you accept reality.”
As if it were that simple. Yet she continued calmly,
“Once you’ve truly become one of us, we’ll inform your outside family.”
“What defines ‘truly becoming one of you’?”
“Not something you can fake.”
She added,
“My father came from outside three centuries ago. A half-blood, so he adapted well—died before we were born, but still.”
Tora rambled on, unprompted.
“Johannes was the same. Oh, that letter you saw? Pure fiction. He drifted here, met Angella’s grandmother first, and courted her shamelessly at first sight.”
“But his wife and children outside—”
“His family was wealthy. Their inheritance battles made the papers—gruesome stuff. Johannes abandoned it all to sail. A Henry David Thoreau type.”
A tribeswoman referencing Thoreau...
“He was a failed writer. I took his manuscript to a publisher—‘John’s Mysterious Journey.’ Never read it?”
“I’ll look it up when I escape.”
Doyeong’s disinterested tone made Tora snort—proof he still planned to leave.
Just then, feminine laughter chimed as Gamal emerged from behind a hut with other women. Watching her approach, Doyeong didn’t notice Tora sidle up until she whispered,
“Our Mati’s beautiful, isn’t she?”
He raised an eyebrow, but Tora barreled on,
“Johannes wrote about Angella’s grandmother: ‘Her eyes held storms and sugarcane fields.’ He really...”
"Consider it an honor. All the men who've come here practically worship Mati—the famous moai statue of Satadi Island—yet she's never given her heart to anyone. And now, for the first time, she's chosen you, Lord Captain."
I'd heard "Mati" means "mother" in Satadi. So Tora was calling Gamal "Mother."
"Even if you're clientes, isn't it weird for a face like yours to keep calling her 'Mother'?" Tora stood with a hand on her hip, tilting her head.
"If Mati had a child only once every hundred years, how many sons like me do you think she'd have?"
"That's not the point—"
Gamal interrupted then. "What are you two talking about?" She sounded like a jealous child left out of the conversation. Do-yeong waved her off and lay back in the hammock. Gamal hovered nearby. "Do-yeong, sleepy?"
"Sleepy."
Do-yeong answered without opening her eyes. Gamal grabbed the hammock. "Play with me."
"Are you a kid? Fine."
Just then, a young tribeswoman passed by, pressing a flower to her forehead before placing it before Do-yeong and leaving. Do-yeong frowned. Next, a middle-aged woman offered a fist-sized pouch with reverence.
"What's this?"
Gamal answered from behind the hammock: "Barley."
Do-yeong turned. "Barley?"
Gamal nodded. "Barley."
This wasn't some Dumb and Dumber routine. "What the hell? Why are they giving me—"
Another woman presented a small box; two girls left flower bouquets. Tora beamed. "Word spreads fast. The Lord Captain is Mati's chosen—that makes you our tribe's Great Tawa now." Tawa. Father.
Do-yeong was speechless. Were they treating her like a living Buddha now?
"Why not decorate me with flowers and put me on an altar while you're at it?"
"We’ll do that when you die," Tora said. Do-yeong rolled her eyes.
Great Mati!
The gathered girls called Gamal over, who left trailing fragrance. Watching Gamal—hands clasped behind her back, chatting—you’d think she was just another tribesgirl. Even the children treated her less like a deity and more like a village guardian statue. The tribe’s gods clearly lived among them, eating and sleeping as they did.
The girls suddenly giggled, glancing at Do-yeong. Look!
Gamal turned too. Wind rustled leaves, dappling light over Do-yeong’s intent gaze.
The girls swarmed Gamal excitedly. Do-yeong stared like she was seeing through someone—deep, penetrating. Gamal flushed and looked away.
"Wow, our Mati looks like a maiden," Tora mused beside Do-yeong, chewing something. Do-yeong raised an eyebrow.
"What’re you eating?"
Tora offered a celery-like green stalk. "Sugarcane. Want some?"
"Not sleeping?" Gamal asked.
Do-yeong sat by the dying firepit, staring until Gamal tilted her head. "Do-yeong?"
She stood coldly. "Let’s sleep apart tonight."
Becoming this tribe’s "Great Tawa" was impossible—let alone accepting Gamal as some sudden son while unmarried!
"Oh..."
"Sleep well." As Gamal fumbled for words, Do-yeong went inside and lay down... only to toss restlessly before finally storming out—and finding Gamal waiting by the door like an abandoned puppy.
Do-yeong scowled silently. Why does this kid act so forsaken when she’s literally worshipped here?
"Let’s sleep." When Do-yeong turned to leave, Gamal hugged her waist from behind. "Don’t hate me."
After a pause, Do-yeong peeled her off gently—Gamal knew forcing wouldn’t change her mind anyway. Do-yeong had sharp edges and never swallowed doubts...
Which made it shocking when Do-yeong suddenly yanked her inside. Thud. The door shut. Do-yeong pulled Gamal’s arm around her waist while kissing her deeply against the wall. Gamal gasped, tensed—then burned as the kiss intensified. Do-yeong kissed like she had three millennia of practice (or maybe a PhD in it). When Gamal tightened her grip excitedly:
"I told you not to get worked up."
