353. Side story – Story added by Death (1)
[Son, whatever choice you make, we will support that choice.]
***
On the night that Deon Hart returned as a hero after eight years of long war, Hart The head of the count family sat in front of his wife holding a bottle of wine.
Time just for the two of us, without anyone else or Cruel. After hesitating for a long time in a calm and quiet space, he calmly opened his mouth against the background of his spouse’s silence as he calmly waited for him to speak first.
“I’m sure you heard the news that Deon that child came back alive.”
The Countess’s glass was filled with alcohol.
If other people saw this, they would probably think it was a drink meant to celebrate the son’s becoming a hero. That’s absurd. A wry smile appeared on the Count’s lips.
“Probably… they’re blaming us.”
“….”
“No, I think it’s safe to say that he definitely resents me when he doesn’t come home even though he’s alive.”
Isn’t alcohol something you only drink when you’re happy?
The red-purple water that fills my glass shakes mercilessly. At first glance, his voice seemed shaken.
…I couldn’t bring my child. I couldn’t get it out. It was also impossible to change to a healthy and skilled swordsman. As if something supernatural was deliberately interfering with the situation, all efforts to bring back Deon were always mixed.
Even at this very moment when we are moving to take action, the child must be crossing the line between life and death. I felt like I was going crazy.
“…That’s a new thing to say.”
The wine bottle slipped out of the Count’s hand.
The Countess neatly poured the drink into a glass, wiped the liquid that had splattered around with a handkerchief, and threw it into the fireplace.
The moment the Count’s eyes were caught by the burning handkerchief, a beautiful hand reached out and cupped his cheek and turned it toward me.
“I fully expected that. “What information did you hear?”
“….”
The matriarch’s expression, which had always been firm, crumbled in front of her spouse’s stern yet worried face.
“That child…”
The father, revealing his weak side, said with a face as if he had been stabbed by a knife.
“…I asked for a private meeting with His Majesty at the exhibition.”
“Ah…”
Usually, it is customary to say what you want in a public setting. There is no reason to do so unless you wish for something that should not be known.
The countess’s face, as she had expected something, became clouded with sadness.
“Our family could be in danger.”
“…exactly.”
In the worst case, everyone in the family will die.
“It seems like we were very resentful.”
“Because I was dragged to hell against my will.”
Since that weak child has come back from hell alive, of course all that remains is evil. Everything must have been worn away in the bloodbath that lasted eight years.
“…ma’am.”
The count called his wife in a trembling voice.
“I want to accept whatever choice he makes.”
I couldn’t save the child because I was incompetent.
I want to atone, but there is no way to atone here first. I would be rather happy if the child gave it to me because he wanted revenge. That’s why I’m willing to accept it even if a knife is held to my throat.
However, it is almost certain that the child’s resentment is directed not only at the ‘head of the family’ but also at the entire ‘family’.
“So… fake your death and leave with Cruel.”
Unable to bring in other family members, the Count covered the back of his wife’s hand with his own and pressed his lips to her palm as if pleading.
“A carriage accident would be enough. That child will also be satisfied if I, the head of the family, and my family suffer a blow…”
“Honey.”
“….”
“He’s ‘our’ child.”
The word is ‘blow’, but the Count is prepared for the worst assumption, ‘death’.
The Countess withdrew her hand with a stern expression.
“I am also the one who failed to protect my child, so why are you trying to leave me out?”
“….”
“Well… Still, I like that you tried to get Cruel out. “There is nothing for that child to be responsible for.”
At the time when Deon was taken to the battlefield, Cruel was not a saint either. Even if he was an adult, he was not the head of the family and he was not the parent who gave birth to Deon, so it would be unfair to pay the same price for his sins.
At least that’s what a mother who loves her child thought.
The Count let out a heavy sigh.
“…It’s not something to take lightly.”
I could die.
Words that I couldn’t say linger in my mouth. The Countess smiled softly as if she knew everything at the Count, who was silent after saying it briefly for fear that something she had planned to do would come true if she said it out loud.
“i know.”
“…I guess I can’t win against you.”
The Count let out a bitter smile.
“The child said he would set out again as a warrior’s companion. “Perhaps what was requested was excessive and conditions were added.”
The desire is so ‘excessive’ that the current emperor, who cherishes talented people, has added conditions. The Count somehow seemed to know what it was.
“Perhaps, given your majesty’s personality, he will fulfill his promise as soon as Deon returns from his purpose.”
“…I guess we will have to reduce the number of people little by little until the child returns.”
Because I don’t want anyone to see blood.
In order to avoid being found out, there needs to be a minimum number of users left, but it would still be better to reduce the damage as much as possible.
Of course, I know that in most cases, it doesn’t even touch the users. Still, the Countess, who chose to prepare for any unexpected situation, fixed her gaze on the Count again. The Count read the meaning of the urging and laughed.
“okay. And on the day the child returns, I will send Cruel somewhere else.”
“It’s a wise decision.”
Even if you try to evacuate by faking death, it’s clear that Cruel’s strong-willed child will refuse as soon as he understands the situation. In that case, it would be better to naturally send them somewhere else without telling them anything from the beginning.
“There may be a situation where you are accused of treason, so I will also prepare for identity laundering there.”
So that the child can change his or her status if he or she wants to.
“It’s perfect.”
The Countess narrowed her eyes.
The count stared at her smile, then stretched out his hand and took her hand. His lips gently rested on the back of his hand.
And the apples flowed out.
“I’m sorry. “Because I am incompetent, you will also suffer.”
Every time my lips move, they barely pass by and tickle the back of my hand. The Countess, who was watching this, cupped his cheek with her free hand and kissed him on the lips.
An extremely friendly voice whispered with love.
“If you ask that question, I would also have to talk about my incompetence. “Can you please say something other than that?”
“…love you.”
“me too.”
***
The count and his wife, who had been prepared for all kinds of situations, were momentarily dazed when they faced Deon, who had come to kill them personally.
Bloody red eyes and breathtaking life. The child who stood before them, covered in blood as he killed the workers with his cruel hands, was thinner than before and harbored a madness that had never been seen before.
‘ah.’
At that moment, I had no choice but to realize.
‘You have been tainted by the madness of war.’
That this child has gone crazy.
If I hadn’t felt betrayed by my family, if I had held on with the sole intention of returning to my family, it wouldn’t have gone this far. A parent’s senses speak. This child was so sad because of the betrayal that he went crazy.
So, when I saw my son standing in front of me holding a weapon saying he would kill his parents with his own hands, I felt more sad than shocked or scared.
…I was sorry.
“…I don’t have Cruel.”
“Cruel was away due to work. When he returned from the 8-year war, not even his nose was visible, but now his face is showing. “Then what he said was that he was looking for his brother.”
“Who is your brother?”
A young man in an unfamiliar atmosphere glares at me with an unfamiliar expression.
Although his body might have trembled because he was a vicious creature, there was no doubt that he was my child, so the Count quietly looked at Deon and opened his mouth.
“Let me ask you just one question.”
“….”
“During this time… were you injured anywhere?”
“…under.”
Cynicism froze the air.
“Why wouldn’t there be one? “There was a lot of it.”
“….”
“Well, aren’t you glad you managed to buy it and came back alive? …No, I guess it’s ‘lucky’ for them.”
The count and his wife were ready to accept everything, whether it was sarcasm or anger, so they didn’t even blink at the unfamiliar attitude.
He smiled vaguely, as if he was just glad, and obediently closed his eyes. I felt the child in front of me pause due to his lack of resistance.
…The words I had to swallow for the sake of my child lingered in my tightly closed mouth.
‘Son, whatever choice you make, we will support that choice.’
Because that is the only atonement we can make.
but.
‘You found Cruel, right?’
I wish all those choices were only for us.
In the unlikely event that you end up regretting it in some way, Cruel may be there to console you and protect you from any danger.
Cruel is our arrangement.
‘I hope that by killing us, the anger towards Cruel will subside to some extent.’
The dagger pierces a vital point and a sharp pain is felt one beat later.
I think having good skills can be helpful to Cruel if things go well.
Dreaming of a future in which the two brothers depend on each other, the count and his wife did not force their fading consciousness, but obediently let it go down below.
Finally, faint footsteps were heard.
No one will come…
….
“Brother.”
***
On the day that Deonhardt returned with the hero’s body, Cruel received an order from his father.
They said there was a hole in the management ledger of a villa built on an island and told me to go and check it in person. It was an order given in the name of training as the next head of the family.
but.
‘Why today?’
Cruel had a question.
Why is it the day Deon returns? Isn’t it as if he is urging me to leave right away as if he is trying to prevent me and Deon from running into each other?
Since I had already set off to carry out the order, normally I would have just stopped at the question and moved to finish the job and return as quickly as possible, but today, an unexplained feeling of foreboding creeps up my spine.
So instead of urging his words, he held on to the question and delved into it.
‘…Did Deon return from the 8 Years’ War and ask the emperor for a private treaty during the military service?’
And right after that, he became a warrior’s companion and set off on his way.
There is no way for a child with a weak body and a general who has fought in a war for eight years and is worn out in battle to go back to the battlefield. There must be a reason.
‘Was what Deon asked for too much, so additional conditions were attached?’
My extraordinary mind is busy. Cruel slowed his movement speed a little and frowned.
‘What kind of request is so excessive that additional conditions are attached?’
No, in the first place, what is there for Deon to pray for through ‘solitary prayer’? What does Deon want now?
‘No way…’
Deonhardt was dragged into the battlefield against his will. No matter how much of a hero you become and return, the shock and betrayal at that time will not easily go away.
Rather, if resentment and hatred were fostered on the battlefield…
‘…no.’
Green Eye, realizing something, is shocked and shakes as if it will break. I really hope not, but Cruel couldn’t just give up and pray, so he immediately changed his mind.
The destination is Hart Mansion, where my mother and father reside.
I was talking like crazy and chewing my lip. Even while his mind was frozen in shock, he deduced another truth.
‘You two knew.’
After finding out, only I was evacuated.
I thought I knew what you were thinking. There was no way I didn’t know.
After urging his horse over and over again, Cruel covered the distance in the shortest possible time and crossed the unguarded entrance to the mansion. What he found in his parents’ room after crossing the blood-filled hallway.
“older brother.”
…It was Deon, who looked back and pulled out the dagger stuck in his father’s heart.
