I lowered my head in a hurry.
‘I really shouldn’t have said that…’
I couldn’t take away what I had already said. I was embarrassed and desperately added nonsense.
“I know it too. That the Duke doesn’t love me.”
“……”
“B-But I like the Duke the most in the world.”
‘What the hell am I talking about?’
My whole face was burning. The sincerity I accidentally showed him was sinful and shameful.
“I’m sorry. You probably hate me…”
“I don’t hate you.”
Alan cut me off firmly.
I raised my head in surprise. Alan pressed hard on his tightly shut eyelids, so I still couldn’t see his expression.
“I don’t hate you.”
The low-pitched voice was muffled.
I was fidgeting with both hands and asked for it again.
“I’ll go to war.”
“….…”
“I know how much time and money it takes to raise a person to be useful. You don’t have to give me that kind of support.”
Alan didn’t have to take care of me. I was so apologetic that I wasn’t his real daughter. And about a way to train the power of the demons, I had a good idea.
“My body… No, I’ll protect Lily’s body on my own. I promise.”
I straightened my neck and made eye contact with Alan.
“Please help me”.
I wanted to protect Alan. I wanted to do what only I could for those I love.
I waited for Alan’s answer, enduring the tension in my stomach. He was silent for a long time.
‘Even if he refuses, I understand. Lily’s body could be damaged.’
Unless it was through Benny, I didn’t even have a chance to prove to him the power of the demons. I was always in a position protected by Alan.
‘If he rejects me, I have to develop my skills and persuade him again.’
“Okay.”
Then Alan replied, surprisingly coolly.
“Huh…?”
“Didn’t I promise you?”
Alan’s eyes were opened and he slowly approached me.
I stared up at the man blankly. The sunlight reflected by the light window sharply poked my eyes.
The moment I frowned reflexively, he tucked my hair behind my ears.
“I’ll do whatever you ask me to do.”
It was both a familiar yet unfamiliar touch. I almost blacked out on the spot.
Alan passed by me as it was and opened the door with soundproof magic hanging on it.
Beyond the white-painted outer door, Garou and my brothers’ voices were heard.
“Little Brother, how can you lead the battalion? You can’t even manage your academy colleagues properly.”
“I agree with that. I heard that the one who the Archmage kicked out 4 years ago came back to the academy.”
“I kicked him out? Who said that?”
“There’s a guy who looks like he’s been beaten under his eyes. He sold your evil spirit to the circular stadium on purpose… Ah! I remember the name. I mean Bryce.”
(P/N: a reminder since it’s almost 100 episodes ago – Hugo kept an evil spirit to experiment on.)
Boom! Alan opened the outer door.
The heavy sound was as loud as hitting the top of the head. It might sound like that because my heart was beating rapidly as if it was exploding.
Alan paused for a while and declared it sternly like a firm castle wall.
“House Bauner will hold hands with the Crown Prince.”
***
As soon as Benimus returned to the mansion, he headed to the dried garden.
In the middle of the weed field, a basement door was seen. Perhaps because of the strong wind, the sand covering the door was almost all blown away.
Benimus opened the door and went down the ladder step by step.
A piece of bright sunlight flowed into the damp and musty warehouse. In the corner where the light could not reach, he heard a rough breathing sound.
Benimus slid toward the source of the sound. Whenever he took a step, his body turned into a demon’s, as though it assimilated into a shadow.
A panoramic view of the basement came into view, which was turned upside down like flowing water.
The man tied to the chair exhaled with a frightened look. His cheeks were hollow like a ghost’s, and his mouth was muzzled.
Benimus slowly reached out his blackened hand to him.
“Upph! Upph!”
There was a rattling sound, the sound of the legs hitting the chair.
Just before the chair tipped over, Benimus grabbed the backrest and removed the man’s muzzle.
“S-Save me! Save me!
The man shouted at the door on the ceiling as if he had been waiting.
But no one responded. Only the laughter of incompetent employees from afar could be heard.
“It’s useless. By hiring only things whose past is so filthy that they can’t go anywhere but this mansion.”
Benimus looked down at the man who was in despair and uttered quietly.
“What, what did you say…?”
“Even if they find this basement, they will pass by pretending not to know.”
The man’s eyes became slightly watery, apparently frightened by those words
“Please, I beg you. Let me go!”
“Didn’t I say no?”
“Is it because I came back to the academy even after I was kicked out? If you let me go, I won’t show my face again. Please…!”
“Keep your mouth open like that.”
The boy’s black hands stretched like oil and they wrapped around the man’s neck. The man’s face, who was still pale, grew purple and blue.
“W-Wait. What are you trying to do?”
“……”
“I said wait. Shoot… Get out of my way, you monster! I want to kill you…!”
The boy’s hands covered the man’s face. The black flesh that tightly blocked the opponent’s breathing looked like skin on his face.
“Argh! Let me go!”
The suffocated man made a choking noise and struggled recklessly.
But Benimus continued to crush his face. The expression of the boy who committed cruel acts showed no common sadism, let alone sympathy.
“I’m a relative of Her Majesty, the Emperor! How dare you, to the great archmage nominee, Bryce…!”
Bugh!
The man’s raspy roar was cut off with a dull rupture.
Benimus focused his gaze on what was in his hands – a tilted head like a doll with a broken string.
“Like this, if I regenerate it from inside…”
Crack.
There was a sound akin to bones hitting from the inside of the demon’s hand.
After a while, Benimus took his hand off the head.
The face of the man who stopped screaming was quite similar to before. The difference was that all the whites disappeared and became pure black eyes like animals.
“….…”
Benimus took a step away and beckoned the man.
Then the man’s joints twisted with a bizarre sound. When Benimus beckoned once more, the man raised his head as if he was following orders.
Benimus’ lips slightly raised at seeing the reaction he wanted.
But the boy’s smile didn’t last long.
Cough!
The man vomited blood. Then red blood flowed down from his eyes and nose.
The man’s body, which had rope marks, stumbled like a roly poly and fell off the chair. Thump. A dull sound rang in the basement.
Benimus sighed lightly while looking at the man who fell onto the floor.
“Why don’t you stop hiding and coming out now?”
Those words weren’t for the man.
After a while, a blond boy appeared from the shadows. His red eyes were full of vigilance.
“What did you do?”
Benimus ignored Michael’s words and brought a big barrel and towel from the corner of the basement. As if expecting the current situation, the barrel was filled with clear water.
“Did you kill him?”
Michael asked, looking at the man who fell on the floor.
“Answer me. Did you kill him?”
“It’s not intentional, but that’s what happened.”
Benimus simply answered.
His tone was calm without hesitation, even though he killed a person and the scene was seen by others. It was as if he had merely accidentally destroyed a doll.
“That’s not intentional? Don’t make me laugh.”
Michael gestured to Bryce’s bloody body and chuckled.
“Why did you kill him?”
“As I said, I didn’t mean to kill him.”
“You bastard…”
“I rather hoped he would survive.”
Benimus soaked the towel in water and wiped the blood off the floor. Each time the white cotton cloth was pushed, it glided like on a pond overflowing with red liquid.
“But it failed. disappointingly.”
“….…”
Benimus turned his back to wipe the blood stains that splattered in the corner.
Michael gently approached behind him, touching his ring which contained a hidden blade.
“The guy you killed is Bryce, right? The guy Hugo kicked out of the academy four years ago.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you kidnap him?”
“…….”
“If you don’t answer…”
As soon as he tried to push the blade into the back of his white neck, Benimus turned his head.
Michael, who missed the timing, hurriedly drew his hands back again. Benimus pointed to Bryce’s body without paying attention to the flustered blond’s expression, who was also in cold sweat for fear of him noticing the ring.
“This tried to hurt the Princess.”
Purple eyes, which had always been indifferent, were filled with icy anger.
“…What?”
“He was vengeful to the Bauner family for being kicked out of the academy and tried to kidnap the Princess.”
Benimus calmly squeezed the wet towel over a bucket. The red blood dyed transparent water thickly.
“There is no need to worry if the experiment fails, as it is a person who deserves death.”
“…Experiment?”
Benimus climbed the ladder with a muddy barrel.
Michael looked up at the hole in the ceiling, frowning.
Thud!
Benimus dumped the blood in the garden.
The summer breeze gently shook the weeds. The land that absorbed human blood could not grow green, and only dry bushes survived.
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