Chapter 9

"Heuk!"

Sid woke up and immediately jolted up from her bed. She hurriedly put her hand around her neck to check that it was still attached to her body, she also raised her shirt and checked her stomach to make sure that there was no hole in it.

She can still remember vividly what happened in her dream. The demon caught her and wrapped his long bony fingers around her neck as it slowly tightened its grip. Sid can still feel how his long sharp nails dug a hole in her stomach, making her blood pour out from her belly, like a waterfall flooding the ground beneath her.

"Huff...huff..."

Her body was trembling with her uneven breathing. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead, and tears began to fall from her mismatched eyes.

It was an extremely chilling experience. It feels like she's now living her second life after she experienced death while she was possessing Saintess Lucia's body. She felt as if her soul was ripped out from her body when the demon stabbed her in the stomach before breaking her neck.

It was a painful and traumatizing experience. Sid tried to calm herself, but the scene of her death keeps playing in her mind, like a loop seen from a broken film.

"Fuck! Fuck...huff, huff..."

Paakk!

She slapped herself hard to calm her nerves, leaving marks on her cheek. Thankfully, the sting on her face overtook her senses, allowing her to finally calm.

She tried to stand up, but her shaking knees gave out, making her fall on the hard wooden floor. She crawled toward the low table to reach for the water bottle.

She wanted to drink, thinking that it would help her to get herself together. She immediately removed the lid and took big gulps from the bottle. Sid looks like she hasn't drunk a single drop of water for days, because she quickly emptied the bottle in seconds.

Her parched throat felt refreshed after drinking, her trembling also decreased and her loud thumping heart subsided. Her breathing also came back to normal and her tense body relaxed.

Sid slumped her upper body on top of the low table. She's starting to have doubts about her becoming a dreamer.

'I really don't know what will happen next. What if I really die next time? Can I break the contract with Oneiroi? But if I stop being a dreamer, I won't be able to find out about what happened to my dad.'

Sid sighed heavily as countless thoughts rose up, giving her a lot of anxiety just by thinking about them.

'Did dad also experience something like this?'

She glances at the clock, and it's 3 am, it's still early for Sid to wake up, but she had no choice but to keep herself awake. She's afraid to go back to sleep, thinking that she might encounter that demon again.

She can't forget those blood-red eyes full of murderous and malicious intent. That demon is powerful, even though he's just a mere servant of a high-ranking demon.

What if the demon king appeared instead of that guy?

She was sure that the whole kingdom might be obliterated instantly without fighting back. The saintess is too weak to fight a lesser demon, and the church might not be able to hold back any attack from those high-ranking demons.

Sid shook her head. She doesn't want to think about it anymore. It was lucky that she didn't die in her world when she experienced death from that alternate world.

* * *

Oneiroi was cackling while watching Sidereal. He was extremely entertained when she saw her death as saintess.

The look of helplessness, anxiousness, and fear in her eyes were enough to make him excited. He started to eat her dream right before she woke up, but he decided to save the most delicious part.

"Mmm...!"

Lirrians' dreams are truly top-notched compared to the other dreamers. However, what excites Oneiroi the most is Sidereae's dreams. They were tastier compared to her father Elknox.

Oneiroi had thought when he took his first bite. The taste of her dream is almost similar to the Lirrians' first-ever dreamer.

"Kekeke...this is amusing! It's a shame to leave the best part." He shook his head with clear disappointment in his violet eyes.

If he wanted to eat something more delicious, Onieroi had no choice but to save all the best parts of Sidereae's dreams. The intense feelings and emotions that she'll experience, will make her dreams denser and tastier.

He reluctantly finished his meal and wiped his mouth with a white napkin made of woven starlight silk.

"Master, are you going back to earth?"

The dream eater handed him a glass filled with translucent liquid, which was made from a dreamer's dream.

Dream eaters also had a humanoid appearance like him. They're beautiful-looking creatures, like dream fairies. Dream eaters have a horn sticking on the left side of their foreheads and black wings that sprouted from their waist. While Dream fairies have translucent wings, and long ears that were similar to elves, and have smaller heights compared to dream eaters.

"Yes. I need to look out for my precious dreamer," He answered with a smirk on his thin lips.

As soon as he finished drinking the dream wine, Oneiroi left his seat and walked toward the open portal.

"Have a safe trip, Master."

The dream eater and the dream fairy, who opened the portal, bowed their heads and bid him farewell as he left his domain.

* * *

"Why are you trembling like a newborn fawn, Dreamer?"

A snickering voice penetrated Sid's ear. Her mismatched eyes blazed in fury when she saw him appear in front of her.

"You–! Why'd you not tell me about it?! Damn, bastard, are you fooling me? I, I almost died!"

"What are you angry at, dreamer? I don't understand." He tilted his head innocently and crossed his arms.

She frustratingly washed her face at his audaciousness.

"Stop pretending that you don't know! You should've told me about it! I thought... I thought I was going to die,"

Her voice cracked and tears began to fall from her eyes again.

"Eh? But you didn't ask."

"Still—You should've warned me! It's your job to tell me everything I don't know."

"I apologize, I thought it was a funny prank—"

"If you're going to tell that it's a prank, then fuck you! It's not funny at all. I'm putting my life on the line here, and you dare to make it a joke!?"

"I'm sorry."

"Hic, hic...damn, you bastard!"

"I am sorry, are—"

"Shut up!"

Sidereae cried for quite some time, while Oneiroi silently sat beside her while patting her back. He let her cry to her heart's content and patiently waited for Sid to calm down.

Sniff. Sniff.

"Are you okay now? Have you finally calmed down?"

Sid slowly nods her head as she wiped her tears, "D, don't ever do that again. It's not funny at all."

"Yes, I am sorry," He answered sincerely, "So, will you please listen to me?"

"Fine, just don't try anything funny." She distrustfully said, making Oneiroi sigh.

"I'll just say this once. Sidereae, you won't die. Even if your head is cut off, even if you swallow poison, or bleed to death you'll still be fine. That's because you're using someone else's body. Of course, you'll be in a state of shock and will experience pain because it's still death."

Relief washed her worried feeling when she heard what Oneiroi said. She doesn't need to worry about dying now, but still, Sid doesn't like the sound of her experiencing the pain once again because she knew how excruciating it is.

'Mn. Let's avoid dying from now on.'

She was busy thinking of ways to avoid death when Oneiroi interrupted her thoughts.

"However, you mustn't let your guard down, dreamer."

"Huh?"

The gap between her brows narrowed when Oneiroi spoke in a heavy tone. His usual playful golden eyes were replaced with seriousness.

"Be careful when meeting another dreamer. You'll never know if he has good or bad intentions because you'll end up in a dire situation if a dreamer has a malicious intent towards you."

"W, why? What do you mean by that?"

Oneiroi went silent. He put her hands on her shoulders and put weight. Sid suddenly felt nervous, her heart started to beat loudly as she looked at his golden eyes looking at hers.

"Remember this Sidereae...only a dreamer can kill a dreamer."

"W, w, what!?"

The blood on her face drained as her eyes widened in shock. Her relief was shattered instantly, and it was replaced by a wave of dreadfulness.

Her mind began to run into turmoil. She doesn't know how to digest the information that she learned. What the hell is going on? Did she just put herself into an impending situation?

'Ah, what have you done, Sidereae!?'

She's such an idiot, she should've thought about it more thoroughly before accepting the contract. But what can she do? She desperately wanted to escape that time.

'Shit, shit!'

"—mer, dreamer!"

"Ah!"

Sid went back to her senses when Oneiroi shook her and called her loudly.

"Calm down."

Her lips parted and her eyes widened when a sudden realization hit her like lightning.

'Wait! A dreamer can kill a dreamer...then, that means dad was—'

She turned her gaze to him, "How?"

"Hm?"

"How can I tell when someone is a dreamer like me?"

"By instinct," He answered. "It's hard to explain, but dreamers can recognize other dreamers instinctively. It's like how animals can tell if you're part of their kin or not."

Sidereae fell into silence. This must be the reason why he said that she can uncover her dad's death if she became a dreamer.

The tail of her lips faintly curved up, 'this is a clue!'