Cameron wished it was all just a terrible nightmare.
He’d give anything to make what lay before him a sight he’d be happy to wake up to.
“You’re terrified.”
Behind Rex, the monsters scrambled to their feet. They were surprisingly well-behaved, not rushing toward any visible beings as monsters typically would.
Furthermore, some of the monsters had exposed bones, and there were even some in a pitiful state that Cameron couldn’t bear to look at.
As Cameron observed the monsters, his mind raced for the first time.
“They’re corpses.”
Rex was controlling the corpses of monsters in this forest. Cameron felt a chill run down his spine.
He realized that Duke Bluea hadn’t just thrown Rex Bluea out, he’d thrown him out because he was afraid.
“There are more dead than alive in this forest.”
Rex’s voice was eerily calm. Cameron’s trembling legs barely managed to take a step back.
The fear Cameron felt now was nothing compared to what he’d felt when Rex pulled out the dagger.
Back then, he could make some noise. But now, as if under a curse, not a sound came out of his throat.
“Your Highness, you were curious about who was cleaning up the forest, right? It was me. Well, to be precise, it was them.”
When Rex referred to “them” and pointed behind him, Cameron’s gaze absentmindedly returned to those monsters.
It seemed that he had manipulated the corpses of the monsters to deal with the ones that were currently alive. How could something so inhumane exist…?
“Controlling the corpses of beasts is harder than I thought, so I’ve been working hard on my physical strength.”
His expression and voice didn’t seem tired at all.
He had put in a lot of effort to reach a point where he could manipulate the corpses of monsters with ease.
It was Logan’s suggestion when Mary had been kidnapped that he try to control the corpses of beasts with a little more power.
Sometimes Logan regretted making such a terrible suggestion to a young Rex, but Rex was always grateful to him.
After all, his ability could have helped the Grand Duke.
He remembered the first time he spoke to Mary, and how she comforted him when he was pessimistic about his abilities, saying that it would save her labor costs.
Now that he had dealt with the monsters in the forest, he wondered if Mary’s words back then might have been a form of foresight…
“W, what do you want from me?”
Cameron said to Rex, who was deep in thought, in a much calmer voice than before.
Rex smirked at Cameron, who was much more ready to talk than he had been earlier.
Is he the type to become calmer the more afraid he is? It was like a survival instinct that came from wanting to live so badly.
“Mary Conler? I-I don’t know, I don’t know where she is.”
“…….”
“I-I’m serious! If I knew, I would have negotiated with you somehow by now!”
Cameron shouted at Rex as if making a solemn oath, placing his hand on his chest, but Rex just stared at him without saying a word.
Growing more impatient, Cameron started to take a step to get closer to him, but then stood back.
Seeing what was behind him, he didn’t have the courage to move any closer.
“Do you know a person named X?”
“……I don’t know.”
“I think it would be better if you were honest. I’ll be fine, but the ones behind me…”
“I know, I know, but I don’t know where he is, and I haven’t seen him since that hunting bet!”
Rex looked at Cameron and rubbed his chin with his index finger.
He didn’t expect him to be so useless. Cameron heard Rex muttering like that and fell to his knees..
Rex came slowly up to him. Feeling his presence, Cameron screeched.
He was relieved to see that the bodies behind Rex were still in place.
“Oh, don’t kneel down. It’s burdensome. What good will it do?”
“I, I’ll help you find Mary Conler, even if it means using the Imperial Army to find her, please……!”
“Enough of that. Tell me everything about X.”
“W-What about him?”
“Anything and everything.”
Cameron rolled his eyes and recalled X.
“I first heard of him because Sofia Bruno introduced me to him…….”
“Sofia Bruno?”
“She said he was someone I should keep by my side. That person claimed to have known and spent time with the god of the underworld. He said he could help me become emperor! And that Mary Conler knew the future, and in that future, I wouldn’t be emperor, so I had to get in her way to change the future…….”
“……She knows the future?”
“Yes! That’s why I chose Astina Borneau as my fiancee, because he said she should be my fiancee.”
“What the……. If my sister knew the future, there’s no way the Grand Duke would be like that.”
Rex looked puzzled. As he listened to Cameron’s words, he felt pity for him for the first time.
How foolish must he have been to believe such lies and be deceived to this extent?
“Well, that’s why I suggested a hunting bet because X said he could take care of the Grand Duke.”
“Huh?”
“That way, Grand Duke Conler would be shaken up, and I wouldn’t have to deal with him when I’m crowned. He didn’t say he’d wake up this fast…….”
Rex scratched the back of his neck in rising irritation.
His irritation must have had an effect. One of the quiet monsters behind him made a growling sound.
Startled by the sound that seemed to reverberate in his brain, Cameron stumbled back. Cameron’s heart sank as he realized the look on Rex’s face.
How could he save himself from Rex now? Cameron thought quickly.
“Oh, I wonder if Astina Borneau did this? Yeah, it’s weird now that I think about it that something so innocuous keeps getting involved. Why does she keep getting involved? Go ask Astina Borneau.”
Astina Borneau. He didn’t think she’d do that at all.
Mary called Astina her best friend. She even talked about Astina to him, complimenting her hair and eye color.
She said he had the same hair and eye color as the nicest person she knew. Why would such a person……?
However, since he hid this side of him in front of Mary Conler, who knows what kind of person Astina Borneau is behind Mary Conler.
She doubts everything, but she still treats people according to what she thinks and how she sees them, so she wouldn’t assume Astina would have a plan like that.
‘They’re the only ones who got adopted from the orphanage…….’
Rex shook his head and brushed aside his doubts about Astina Borneau, though he wondered how they were the only two adopted from the orphanage in the middle of nowhere.
Somehow he didn’t think she would. Maybe she was the victim of all of this.
The most important thing right now is Cameron Arstans, who was clearly siding with the perpetrators.
“Okay? So let me go now!”
Cameron grabbed Rex’s leg. The moment Cameron’s hand touched him, a shiver ran down his spine, but Rex simply looked at him calmly.
If Mary had seen this, would she have liked it? She would be saddened that the good Rex she knew had become so cruel.
If he said something a little immoral, Mary would hate it.
It still hurt to think of the look on her face, especially when she learned how rude he’d been to Demimore.
And that was the first day they entered the Cold War. Rex turned to Cameron, who was clinging to his leg, and asked him why.
“Why did you do that?”
“…… what?”
“Why did you do it to a little kid?”
Cameron looked at Rex with a puzzled expression, not understanding what he meant. Rex pointed his finger at the spot where he had thrown the dagger earlier.
Finally understanding what Rex meant to say, Cameron’s expression changed to one of despair.
“That… That’s because I was so angry that the child beat me. It’s because I… I’m inadequate. I’m really sorry.”
“Now, at this point……”
“But that was something that Count Stein made me do! He said I had to punish that child!”
“I don’t think you deserve to be an emperor.”
“What?”
As if a switch had been flipped, Cameron stood up and glared at Rex.
“Where can you find an emperor who is easily manipulated by others? Ah, well, looking at the emperor now, I suppose it’s not out of the question for you.”
“Shut up!”
When Rex went so far as to involve his own father, Cameron grabbed Rex by the collar.
Rex, who was smaller than Cameron, calmly smiled even with his collar in Cameron’s grip.
“In the future that sister Mary knows, I understand why you didn’t become an emperor.”
“This…!”
“So, let go of me, you little rascal.”
