Drip, drip.
Droplets of water fell from the ceiling door. At first, Michael thought it was water splashing from the barrel, but actually, the sky was becoming cloudy.
It suddenly rained.
The thin raindrops soon became showers. The sound of the maids’ singing from afar turned into clear screams.
Before he even fully went out of the basement, Benimus’ silver hair was already wet.
“I’m looking for a way to make the Princess happy.”
Such a romantic remark… that did not match the indifferent tone.
Michael looked through his blond bangs at the boy who didn’t even wipe his face and crossed his arms.
“Killing Bryce won’t make her happy.”
“I know that. The fact that I killed this will be kept secret.”
Benimus spoke of Bryce like an object and wiped the blood stains on the floor.
Michael stared at him and snapped sharply.
“What if I tell her?”
“……”
Benimus’ hands stopped mowing.
He drew to his full height slowly. The moment their eyes met, Michael instinctively got chills in his spine.
“You’ll regret it.”
It was definitely a threat no matter how he heard it. However, Benimus’ eyes contained no emotions.
The boy with purple eyes looked at Michael like he was an ant on the side of the road. Such a trivial object to be trampled on if he got in the way while passing by.
“…What’s the experiment?”
Michael raised his chin arrogantly.
He was sweating a lot on his back, but he couldn’t back down. He wouldn’t even have asked Lily to take him with him if he was going to run away with his tail curled up from such a threat.
“If you don’t tell me, I’ll go back to the Duke’s Castle and tell Lily everything. You’re doing something suspicious.”
Benimus, who had been calm all the time, frowned. He didn’t know exactly what it was, but he didn’t seem to want Lily to know about the ‘experiment’.
“Don’t do that.”
Thump.
The silver-haired boy took a step closer.
Michael secretly swallowed dry saliva and bluffed.
“Are you going to kill me? If you do that, you’ll be stepped on quickly. Lily and I were close even before we knew you, and of course she would suspect you if I disappeared.”
It was an absurd story, but Benimus didn’t call him out.
He stopped three or four steps away. The rain-soaked cheeks were as pale as death.
“I’m going to make a world only for the Princess.”
Brrr, bang!
Thunder rang and lightning flashed over the door opened in the ceiling.
Michael loosened his clenched fist. He was wary of Benimus rushing in at any moment, but unexpectedly, he only uttered a plain statement.
“…What nonsense are you talking about?”
“A world where everyone cares about, loves, and never hurts the Princess.”
Benimus lowered his delicate eyelashes and whispered.
“I’m going to make it.”
“…Haha.”
Michael laughed out loud.
It was a story that could only appear in fairy tales, a world loved by everyone.
“No matter how pretty that kid is, she can’t be loved by people all over the world. Even the emperor couldn’t do something crazy like that…”
“I just have to control them to love only the Princess.”
Benimus spoke quietly and reached out toward Bryce’s body.
Michael’s expression hardened. The dream of being instructed to poison the princess’ medicine passed through his mind.
“…Are you planning to do some brainwashing?”
Mihael tilted his head tightly.
“It won’t work as you please. I’ve been brainwashed before, but I didn’t move completely according to the other person’s will. I didn’t even know it was black magic back then.….”
“Yes, as you said, brainwashing magic is unstable. It’s hard to go against human free will.”
Squeak!
Michael heard gutter rats crying from where Benimus pointed. At that moment, Benimus bent his hand as if squeezing a spring.
The boy’s hands became a sulfur-like liquid and stretched out into the darkness.
Squeak, squeak!
The mischief of rats cried at once as he grabbed their bodies.
“I won’t use such trivial black magic.”
Krr! Krr–ck!
The sound of cracking bones rang out. It was the same sound as when Benimus covered Bryce’s face with demon’s hands.
The creepy noise continued as if it would not end, but it actually subsided fairly quickly.
Benimus returned his hand to human form and nodded toward the direction in which the rats cried.
After a while, dozens of rats appeared in the dark.
The rats crawled uniformly like a single creature and stopped still in place. The black eyes of the beast without any vision were creepy.
“What’s that?”
Michael’s eyes got bigger.
The sight in front of him was abnormal.
He couldn’t believe a group of untamed gutter rats suddenly calmed down. It was as if Benimus had threaded the joints of the rats and controlled them like marionettes.
“The Princess is a demon revived from the body of ‘Lillieta Von Bauner.’”
Michael glared at Benimus instead of answering.
He wasn’t surprised because he had already heard it from Lily.
“Nevertheless, the Princess’ body is the same as that of a living person. Breathing, blood flowing. The black magic flowing through the body has returned its vitality. There’s a hypothesis that came to mind after I learned that.”
Benimus snapped his finger.
A gutter rat approached and walked in circles around him at a constant speed. It was a movement closer to a placenta doll than an animal.
“I can control evil spirits. To be exact, I can treat the black magic power flowing through their bodies as if it was mine.”
“……”
“So maybe… If I put my black magic into the body of another person, just like filling a bag doll…”
The boy looked indifferent to Michael.
“…Wouldn’t I be able to keep it alive under my control?”
Michael faltered back while alternating his gaze between the mischief of rats and Benimus.
Instinct rang an alarm. Benimus was dangerous.
The boy in front of him was incomprehensible with human common sense.
“Benimus Albrecht.”
The boy who controlled the mouse recited softly.
“That’s my name.”
Michael froze like a statue of salt. The shock akin to being struck by lightning ran through him.
“Did you say… Albrecht?”
“Yes.”
Albrecht County. A family that brought about a rebellion four years ago and was destroyed by the hands of the duke.
Although their records disappeared in history, there was no one in the empire who didn’t know the family’s name.
“I wanted to take revenge for my mother by killing the Duke.”
“…….”
“But the Princess asked me not to do that. I guess she has grown attached to him.”
When Benimus bent down, the gutter mouse climbed onto the back of his hand as if it had been waiting. In the rat’s movements that were like a machine’s, there was no such thing as the old free will.
“I understand. I’ve also been attached to humans.”
“You…”
“I don’t intend to destroy the Princess’ favorite doll. She’ll be too sad. The Duke will continue to laugh, talk, and be happy.”
Michael gritted his teeth until it made a crackling sound.
Benimus put the gutter rat on the floor, not paying attention to Michael’s red eyes whether he was angry or not.
“Because I’m going to control it that way.”
At the end of that statement, Michael rushed to Benimus.
Bugh!
Benimus’ body was pushed helplessly and he hit the stone wall. The sound was loud, but he didn’t blink.
“Don’t be ridiculous, you monster.”
Michael pressed his wrist against Benimus’ collarbone and pulled out the hidden blade so quickly that it was almost invisible. The blade that came out of the thick ring was much sharper sleeker than the one he used when he was young.
Benimus blinked his eyes, not realizing that he was being threatened.
“Why are you against it?””
“Don’t you know? You said you’d kill my father with your own mouth.”
Michael growled and crushed Benimus by the collar.
Benimus still looked like he didn’t quite understand.
“That’s not death. The Duke’s body will continue to live.”
“Stop talking nonsense. Just because the shell is the same doesn’t make it real.”
Michael’s voice got stronger.
This was because Benimus’ crazy actions overlapped with what he had done.
He once tried to make Lily a fool so that she would always pretend to be real. It was a disgrace that was justified by bluffing, but now he thought he was reallywrong.
“…….”
Benimus closed his mouth and looked at the rain-soaked ladder.
Even though the blade pressed accurately near the carotid artery*, there was no trace of fear in the clear eyes.
(T/N: The carotid arteries are a pair of blood vessels located on both sides of the neck that deliver blood to the brain and head.)
“It’s not a bad result for other beings except for the Princess.”
He spit it out softly.
“Unless someone comes forward and stops it, there will be no end to war on this land. Even if the evil spirits disappear, the other three races will bite each other from then on. Even if only one race remains, there will be another reason for dispute.”
The boy slowly turned his head and made eye contact with Michael.
“If I manipulate everyone, eternal peace will come to this world.”
“…….”
“There’s no war, no fear, no pain…”
The boy gathered his hands and gently lowered his eyes.
“Even death.”
As if imagining a precious person, a light smile spread around his mouth.
“No misfortune will ever exist.”
Pssh!
Blood splattered on the black wall.
Benimus blinked his blood-drenched eyelashes slowly, then pressed his palms against his neck. Blood gushed from the clean cut in his skin.
Michael put the blade that cut the nape of Benimus’ neck back into the ring and raised his chin arrogantly.
