“This place will do.”
Cabelenus hurled James straight into the room.
Even though he hadn’t used much force, James staggered for quite a while to regain his balance.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
“This isn’t something to talk about in front of the child.”
“In front of the child? Since when have you been looking out for Michael like that?”
James sneered.
“I didn’t know before, but I do now.”
“No. Your Highness knows nothing. You’re only pretending to look after Michael to win Alicia’s favour.”
“Do you think you’re any different? You looked after Michael to win Alicia’s favour, too.”
“I didn't. I just—”
“Then why did you just yank your hand from the child? That so-called great title of ‘family’ changes so easily depending on the situation, doesn’t it?"
James clenched his fists under the gaze of those piercing golden eyes.
As if they were some kind of god, those eyes that looked down on people as if they knew everything always annoyed him.
“Leave now.”
"…You’re telling me to leave?"
“I believe I’ve already warned you. To stay within the limits. You’re the one who ignored my warning.”
“I can’t leave.”
“Then I’ll have to make you leave.”
Cabelenus leisurely brushed the corner of his eye.
Schwarhan was his domain.
There were countless ways to ensure a single person could never set foot on this land.
“Is that a threat?”
"Glad you finally get it."
“If you harm me, Alicia will know immediately.”
"You have the nerve to mention her name after doing something like that."
"What do you mean by that?"
James furrowed his brows.
“That’s exactly what I want to ask.”
"What did you say?"
“You made her cry.”
Cabelenus’s gaze sank, layer by layer, as if settling like sediment.
James unconsciously stepped back, frowning.
“Did she go and tell Your Highness already?”
“No. She didn’t say a word. But it’s obvious who in my castle would talk nonsense and make her cry.”
Cabelenus’s gaze settled on James’s neck.
It was as slender as the frail body that had never known a day of training.
A neck that could be snapped bare-handed without the need for a weapon.
“I wasn’t sparing you because I liked you. I only looked the other way because she didn’t want me to act.”
“...”
“You’re the one who ignored my warning.”
“I didn’t say anything wrong.”
“You didn’t say anything wrong?”
Cabelenus’s right eyebrow arched.
“Because the way Alicia behaves toward Your Highness, and toward Michael, is far from ordinary.”
“So?”
"Your Highness may not wish to admit it, but Alicia does not love you. That is not love — it is a lack. Alicia will blindly follow anyone who shows her affection—"
Bang—!
At that moment, the chair beside him toppled over with a loud crash.
James exhaled harshly, fixing his gaze on Cabelenus.
Cabelenus’s face remained expressionless; he had merely flicked his foot lightly.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
“I’m trying not to lay a hand on you, but you keep spouting so much nonsense I can’t help myself.”
“How very considerate of you.”
James scoffed under his breath.
"I’ll say it again: enough already. My patience seems to be reaching its limit."
Or perhaps, it had already reached its limit.
Cabelenus muttered lazily, but his eyes had been filled with a deadly intensity from the moment he entered the room.
"Since when have you been so considerate?"
"Even if it irritates me, the fact remains that you helped her."
Cabelenus let out a short, mocking laugh.
The only thing keeping his anger in check was the reluctant acknowledgment that, for the past eight years, James had done more for Alicia than he ever had.
"Don’t pretend to care about Alicia."
“That’s my line.”
“What are you talking about?”
James’s expression crumpled.
“If Alicia was just blinded by affection, there’d be no reason for you to spout such nonsense.”
“What do you mean—”
“You said she’s the type of woman who easily follows anyone who shows her affection, right?”
“...”
“Do you really need to be so desperate just because you couldn’t win over a woman like that?”
A sharp fang peeked between Cabelenus’s lips.
The man’s eyes, sharp as a finely honed blade, were locked onto his prey with unerring precision.
“I’ve never been desperate over not being able to win over Alicia.”
“No. You are desperate. Even at this very moment.”
Cabelenus’s mouth twisted.
“The strange thing isn’t her — it’s your inferiority complex.”
“...”
“It doesn’t matter what kind of feelings you have. Just don’t arbitrarily force responsibility onto her.”
Cabelenus stepped forward.
James instinctively clenched his jaw.
Though the height difference played a part, it was the beast-like golden eyes, with their prominent pupils, that sent a chill down his spine at the mere sight.
“I’m not forcing responsibility; I’m trying to help her recognise reality.”
“Reality?”
“If you can’t take responsibility, why do you keep unsettling Alicia? Why make her harbour empty dreams when she was living well?”
His legs went weak under the beast-like gaze, but he didn’t want to back down.
James gritted his teeth, struggling to stand his ground against Cabelenus.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Alicia is a commoner! That status will cling to her — and to Michael — for life. Everyone will condemn them both!”
“I thought I already told you that doesn’t matter.”
“Of course, it wouldn’t matter to Your Highness! After all, you have nothing to lose, do you? But Alicia is different! All the blame will fall entirely on her, and in the end, she will suffer!”
James shouted urgently.
But Cabelenus’s gaze on him was nothing more than dry and detached.
“Whether then or now, all you’ve ever been able to do is wag your tongue.”
“What did you say?”
“But you know what? No matter how much you wag your tongue, in the end, you’re still just a third party.”
“...”
“Don’t get the wrong idea. This is between her and me. You have no business getting involved.”
Cabelenus stepped closer.
As a result, the shadow cast over James’s face darkened.
“I can’t just stand by and watch Alicia head down the path of misfortune.”
“You probably just don’t want to see things not going your way.”
“There’s a limit to how much you can insult someone—”
“You’re the one doing the insulting.”
The corners of Cabelenus’s mouth curved into a faint smile.
An arrogant smile lingered on his lips, completely out of place in this situation.
“You don’t know anything about her.”
“…You’re saying I don’t know?”
“If you knew the life she’d endured, you wouldn’t even dare utter something as trivial as whether she craves affection.”
“So you take pride in knowing everything about Alicia, Your Highness?”
‘Who really doesn’t know anything about Alicia?’
James’s lips twisted noticeably.
"Even if I don’t know everything, I at least know more than you.”
“No. Your Highness knows nothing. If you truly knew Alicia, then you wouldn't have treated Michael that way.”
His emotions twisted beyond recognition; he could no longer tell right from wrong.
The only thing he was certain of was that he wanted to destroy that arrogant look on that man's face.
“I don’t know how long I’m supposed to put up with your nonsense. Anyway, that sort of thing—”
“Michael is a monster.”
“...”
“As you predicted eight years ago, a monster was born.”
That man's gaze wavered, subtle but unmistakable.
James curled the corners of his lips and immediately continued speaking.
“Eight years ago, Alicia gave birth not to a human, but to a beast.”
“...”
“To anyone who saw it, it was a four-legged beast. Even the midwife who delivered the child fled in terror, and Alicia, crushed under the stigma of having given birth to a beast, couldn’t even compose herself and had to run.”
“So?”
“What do you mean by ‘so’? I’m telling you, he’s a beast! He’s a monster!”
That man's gaze had clearly wavered, but before long, it steadied again.
Growing desperate, James flailed his hands in the air.
That man was the one who had tried to kill Michael simply for being a monster.
There was no way he would let this pass so easily.
“Beast or human, it doesn’t matter anymore. I’ve decided to protect him, and I will.”
“You’re protecting the very child you once tried to kill? Are you doing this just to win Alicia’s favour? You now want to pretend to be a good person?”
“It’s better to at least pretend.”
“Ugh!”
Cabelenus snatched the offending hand and hurled him to the ground.
James lay sprawled on the floor, exhaling harshly.
Cabelenus’s boot pressed down on James’s chest.
“You thought I would kill the child, and yet you said something like that? I’d rather be a hypocrite than someone like you.”
“Kh-ugh!”
“Killing you would be easy. I could just as easily drag your life into the abyss until death would be a mercy.”
With just a little force from him, his life as a painter would be over.
Cabelenus shifted his foot onto the back of James’s hand.
Even though he was only pressing down lightly, the weight made James’s blood run cold.
“If you don’t want your hand broken, stay still. That goes for that mouth of yours, too.”
“...”
“The moment I lift my foot, return straight to your room. Pack your things and leave this place immediately.”
“Th-this threat—aaaaah!”
“I’d appreciate it if you stayed quiet. Even eight years of enduring everything has its limits.”
“Endure? What exactly did you endure?”
Tears streamed down from the pain, but more than that, his heart ached.
At this rate, he would remain a loser forever.
"I see, you still haven’t come to your senses.”
Cabelenus clicked his tongue.
Foolishly, the man at his feet seemed not to understand that restraining himself from crushing the bones was far more difficult than actually doing it.
In such cases, it was faster to make them experience it firsthand.
“Alicia is going to die soon!”
“I wanted to end this peacefully, but it seems I’ll have to roughen you up.”
“Alicia raised Michael at the cost of her own lifespan!”
“…What is that supposed to mean?”
In an instant, Cabelenus stopped in his tracks.
“You spoke as if you knew her so well, yet you didn’t know this?”
James curled his lips in a sly smirk.
A smile naturally tugged at his lips at the first crack shown by the once-arrogant man.
“Alicia has the power to make wishes come true. And the price of that power is her lifespan.”
“…Her lifespan?”
“During the eight years you forgot about her, she raised the child while shortening her own lifespan.”
“...”
“In the end, what you feared most has become reality.”
“...”
“Your child became a monster that devours her.”
James barely managed to stand.
And, leaving the stunned Cabelenus behind, he limped out of the room.
Pain coursed through his body, yet his heart pounded more fiercely than ever.
It was only when he discovered the child huddled in front of his door that he finally realised what he truly wanted to do.
“…Uncle, are you okay?”
Sensing someone’s presence, Michael lifted his head.
Even after being clearly rejected, the child was still worried about him.
But to the man, whose gaze was twisted to the extreme, even that didn’t look pleasant.
Now, James could no longer see Alicia in Michael’s face.
All that could be seen on Michael’s face was Cabelenus alone.
“Michael.”
James smiled at Michael.
He then gently grasped the child’s shoulder.
"Could it be that Mister— "
"Not 'Mister.' You should call him: 'Dad.'"
“...”
“You already knew who your real dad was.”
James’s grip tightened.
"U-Uncle, that hurts…"
“Well, of course, that man wouldn’t let you call him ‘Dad.’ Who would want a child like you as their own?”
‘You’re like a parasite gnawing at its own mother.’
In an instant, the smile vanished from James’s face.
“Michael, do you know why your real dad and mum split up?”
“...”
“It was because of you. Your mum became unhappy because you were born.”
“...”
The child’s face had turned deathly pale with shock, unable even to cry, but James didn’t stop.
Instead, he gripped the child’s shoulders tightly to keep him from running away and continued speaking clearly, enunciating each word.
“Your mum will only grow more unhappy from now on.”
“M-Mum—”
“Because you’re a monster.”
“...”
“Your mum became unhappy because of a monster like you — rampaging like a colt, oblivious to the fact that you grew up trampling over her misery.”
Moisture welled up in Michael’s eyes, reddening as if he might burst into tears at any moment.
But the more that happened, the firmer James’s grip on Michael’s shoulders became.
“Never forget. Your mum’s unhappiness is all because of you.”
He had spent a long time with Michael, from the moment he was born up until now.
There were moments when he thought of Michael as no different from his own child, moments when he even found him lovable.
But the more he looked at the traces of Cabelenus on the child’s face, the more he realised:
For now, he might be wearing the mask of a child, but in the end, Michael was Cabelenus’s son.
Just as Cabelenus had, his son Michael would follow in Cabelenus’s footsteps.
He would shed the blood of countless people, conquer vast lands, and become yet another monster.
The child of a monster was, in the end, a monster.
Translator's Corner:
This despicable man!! How dare he direct his anger at a child and hurt Michael (ꐦ¬_¬)
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