In the meantime, a brother who was a little weak died at the end of his given lifespan. Although his body was weak, he was a much stronger brother than Leone, and died before his mother and father. After that, another death followed. An independent brother died, and he died at the end of his life… It was varied.
Leone was barely able to move his limbs properly and was able to jump over the rocks, though not as strong as his brothers. His brothers, father, and mother were already passing through the twilight of their lives. The strangest thing was that he was unable to become independent as an adult even though his brothers were dying at the end of their lives.
His father died long ago and his mother continued her life as if waiting for the day to die. It seemed that she was only going to hold out until the independence of his remaining brothers. Then his mother was stabbed to death. The opponent that stabbed her was said to be a human.
The appearance of being stabbed by a human and screaming. That was his mother’s last appearance. For Leone’s people, life was short and death was always something that could come, so they usually didn’t grieve too much. But being hunted by humans was a different story.
When he was very young, his mother and father told him about humans. Unlike the forest world where people hunt each other to survive, humans hunt for fun. And they were very strong. Precisely, what they called ‘weapon’ was strong. Of course, they had valiant fangs and sharp claws, so they often won battles. But those victories used to inflict great damage and wounds on them as well. He made so many sacrifices that he couldn’t say he won.
So they hid in this depth, long ago.
‘Do not fight against humans, my dear. Humans are creatures of endless greed.’
Brother and Leone cried. He couldn’t get revenge on one. Humans quickly disappeared. Soon after, the brothers became independent, and Leone, who had nowhere to go, followed him with his group. It was rare in this world. He was constantly entrusted to someone.
To an independent brother, to an independent brother’s child, to a brother’s child’s child… Nobody wanted anything from Leone. The people knew love and consideration and always loved and stayed by Leone, who was weak and unique. Leone liked that and it was strange. He met new family members several times, but was never strong enough to become independent. Finding a female to promise eternity was also impossible.
He didn’t know why, but he would have a very long life left to himself. His vitality grew day by day, but only death was swarming by his side. The good times were always short-lived. He met the death of a loved one, and again, and again.
Then, humans came. They hadn’t been seen in this forest since his mother died. Humans had long sharp spines growing up and down. It was the moment when Leone thought that appearance was odd.
“There, there… There is a child!”
“Look at the appearance and age!”
“About 10 years old… blond hair… It looks like a blonde haired boy!”
“Blond hair…! Oh my god…!”
“At last!”
“Let’s go to our prince! He finally came to us!”
“Wow! Move!”
Shouts echoed through the forest.
“Yeah, but what is that? A wolf?”
“Could it be that they’re trying to eat Your Highness!”
“Spear troops, line up in formation! We outnumber us, but you know that hunting wolves isn’t easy! Even seasoned hunters avoid wolves! Make sure there are no other groups around!”
“Yes!”
Everyone was on their way back from hunting, so all that was left was the retired leader and a very young wolf that had just been born. No matter how weak Leone was, it was easy to see that they had come to harm his family. Just like they killed his mother.
“Be careful not to leave a scar on Her Highness’s body!”
“Yes!”
“For Your Highness the Prince!”
“For him!”
Loud shouts. Creepy sounds made by sharp metal clashes. In the meantime, the howls of Leone, the leader, and the young wolf were also mixed in. The three of them cried, hoping that their families would hear and come back soon. First of all, Leone had to buy time for the leader to bite the young wolf and run away. The moment he was about to run towards the humans. It smelled like family. It was after 13 years had passed. He was still weak and had a hard time hunting, but running wasn’t bad. He always instinctively knew what to do with his body.
If Leone lured humans, his brothers would bite them. He trusted his brothers. He had seen how sharp their teeth are, how their huge bodies crush their prey, for ages. So it would be fine. Her mother was just weakened in the face of her death. Leone ran. He put his foot down as best he could. It was the first time he had run so hard since he was born.
“His Highness the Prince is coming this way!”
“Oh oh! Did you find out!”
“Gentlemen! Bind the prince safely!”
“Safe?”
“What do we do…”
“There is a loose rope net!”
“Good! Be as careful as possible and lure it in!”
The uproar grew. Their eyes were focused only on Leone. No wonder. Since his appearance is unique, they are bound to be amazed.
He was so glad. He lived his whole life in weak protection. He was not independent and was perceived only as a being to be looked after by his brother’s child and his children’s children. He was always behind his dying brothers hunting. Leone finally thought he was useful.
Even with his death imminent, Leone’s heart was filled with joy. If he could sacrifice his life for his brothers and disappear, he would be able to comfortably say goodbye to those countless mysterious times. He leaped into the air, using the rock as a stepping stone.
“Find a pack of wolves on the right!”
His brothers were watching the timing. So Leone had to do well.
“Spearmen and shieldmen, line up! Protect the right side, and the infantry captures His Highness!”
If only he could hear what they were saying. If he noticed right away that their appearance was like his reflection in the water. Would that day be different? Could Leone have had a different ending?
Leone, who jumped up lightly, pressed the shoulder of the human on the horse, who had the loudest voice. Hard metal hit his toe. It hurted. After killing his mother, they now wanted to kill his family as well. No tree, no rock had ever scratched him with such a cold sound. Was this human?
“Ah…!”
It’s a success. Came in right at the right time.
It’s okay now. Leone opened his eyes to make sure that the leader and the young wolf had escaped. There was no one where they were. Thank god.
He fall to the ground with humans. Sharp thorns sprouting from humans would pierce his body, and then he would die. He closed his eyes. His death was coming to greet him.
“Protect Your Highness the Prince from the wicked pack of wolves!”
“Ki-ing…!”
“Beep! uh…!”
“For Your Highness!”
“For Your Majesty!”
“Kyaaeng, kwang! Kung!”
“Beep! Keeing!”
The brothers’ cries echoed with a strong blow. Pain, moaning, fear. Leone opened his eyes. Something soft took hold of his body and wrapped itself around him. This couldn’t have been death. Death was painful.
Just as the screams of his dead mother stabbed by their thorns was devastating. Just as countless brothers were bitten while hunting and left only as blood. He couldn’t be calm like this.
“Majesty! It’s fine now. How scared were you?”
The smell of death came. At the same time, he felt warm gazes looking at him. Why? Human, Why him?
What came to Leone’s eyes belatedly was the scattered bodies of his brothers. In the meantime, only one brother was looking at Leone. HisThe brothers did not resent Leone. They looked at him with eyes that seemed to say, “Thank God,” and then closed their eyes.
There were thorns stuck in the bodies of the brothers who were lying all over the forest.
Their blood and flesh splattered everywhere, turning the forest bloody.
No one. No one has ever beaten humans. Leone couldn’t help his brothers until the end.
Not even once. He couldn’t make it.
“Ugh, whoops!”
He lunged at the man who had hugged him affectionately and comforted him. Leone’s mouth fell open and his teeth bit the man’s neck. But what it touched was hard, cold metal. It was only natural that the adult male who practiced martial arts every day responded faster than the young and inexperienced Leone. A man’s gauntlet was bitten between Leone’s open mouth.
“Come on, surprise. You’re so fast…”
For a moment, they were surprised by Leone’s sudden action, and soon the soldiers moved in perfect order. Leone was forced to leave his house bound with chains. He ran amok for a long time even in a state of restraint, and was eventually locked up in a small cage.
Anger, sadness, helplessness, guilt. Emotions swirled inside him. When he woke up after fainting from how upset he was, a strange man stood in front of him. Tears flowed from the man’s eyes. He got down on his knees and held out his hands towards us.
“How much… was it hard In order to survive among them with this small body…”
The man was the emperor of the Atarta Empire and the brother of the woman who gave birth to Leone.
Leone realized right away the moment she witnessed the emperor’s heartbreaking tears that this human, this man killed his family. He was the boss. At that moment, the emperor’s thrilled face became Leone’s eternal nightmare.
