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Published at 4th of December 2022 08:18:59 PM


Chapter 12

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Chapter 12

He was unbearably angry. Iellie had never seen such a harsh scene before, but she is now experiencing this… Because of him. Everything was ruined because of him.

“Why are you saying thank you?”

With all the feelings boiled up, the blunt words came out. She rolled her wet eyes at that and answered in a puzzled voice.

“You saved me.”

“If I hadn’t left you, this wouldn’t even have happened.”

“Because I said I’d wait.”

“But, I should have thought of you more.”

Zachary’s voice grew a little more intense. His hatred and disillusionment with himself engulf his whole body. What if he hadn’t found her?

Moments later, the girl walked over towards him and smiled faintly.

“Zachary.”

“…”

“Let’s go back.”

For a moment, his eyes widened. The moment the deep gaze caressed his face, he swayed like a wave hit by the wind. He had no idea Iellie would say that to him.

He was a monster, and she was caught up with him. He had no right to catch her even if she ran away in fear, so he thought.

However,

“Let’s go back together, to our home.”

Iellie’s smile widened. Tears streamed down his cheeks again as he gazed at her.

Thump, thump, thump.

Zachary held his breath and wept silently for a long time.

Tears flowing like raindrops were hot. Iellie, who was watching him silently, reached out her hand. As she wiped away his tears, she hugged him tightly.

“It’s okay, it’s okay…” She said, patting Zachary on the back as if to appease a little child.

Holding his breath for a while, his head remained on her shoulder. The despair he had long swallowed was melting away as her warmth seeped through him.

When it was all over, she lost strength in her legs and could not walk properly. The scent of Asha flowers blooming in groups was strong. In the meantime, the smell of blood mixed in, and her mind was confused. Iellie stumbled unknowingly.

“Are you all right?”

The bewildered Zachary supported her. She blinked her eyes. Her vision that was far away flickered and returned.

Fragmented corpses behind their backs, and Asha petals entangled in blood on the floor.

Seeing the scenery she had been trying to turn away from, Iellie closed her eyes tightly. Then, he whispered.

“Len.”

“Huh?”

“Excuse me.”

At the same time, Zachary put his arms around her softly.

Iellie, who was about to tell him to let her down reflexively, decided to just lean her head in his arm. It was because her head was also dizzy, and the body temperature that reached her was pleasant. In fact, she was not even able to walk on her own.

Zachary murmured as he moved.

“Did you know…”

“Huh?”

“You smell like Asha flowers.”

In an instant, Iellie looked dumbfounded. ‘Asha flowers are in full bloom, what do you mean?’

“That is because Asha flowers bloomed in groups like this. So, it’s natural that the surrounding area smells like flowers.”

“No, it’s your scent.”

“Um, maybe it’s just your misunderstanding?”

“It’s not an illusion.”

He answered with a rare firmness.

Asha scent—A girl who resembles Asha flowers. If it hadn’t been for her, Zachary might have really gone crazy. As he had experienced a few rampages during battle, he was appalled, because when he woke up after the rampage, no one was around.

“Well, if you smell it, it must be.”

Iellie didn’t want to argue too much, so she didn’t pry any further. Then, something white and cold touched her cheek.

“Hmm?”

Blinking her eyes, like a bud, she glanced up at the dark sky.

Between the Asha petals embroidering the air, something pure white and fluffy flew like it was dancing. She whispered idly, “…It’s snowing.”

“Ah…”

Following Iellie, Zachary looked up at the sky as well.

The dragon’s power also affects the weather. He smiled faintly. Moonlight powder sprinkled on long eyelashes, the pale shadows of snowflakes fluttering. He swallowed his breath. The whole world that he sees is filled with the scent of Asha flowers.

“It’s pretty.”

With a single word from her, he was again seized by an unknown impulse.

‘No, you are the prettiest thing in the world. I want to have all of you.’

Biting his lip, Zachary turned his eyes.

***

As soon as they returned to the Duke’s Castle, the first person they met was the Duke of Hessenweitz.

The snow mixed with Asha petals on a sunny spring day was very beautiful, but the Duke would have known that the snow itself was the magical effect of a monster.

He stared at the two with ice cold eyes.

“I knew.”

The Duke moved his stride. On the cold marble floor, only the sound of his heels resounded.

“I knew you were a monster.”

The blue eyes stared down at Zachary. Not a single point of warmth remained, his eyes are like blades. The boy took a breath.

Iellie, who was standing next to him, gives her strength and holds his hand.

“I also know that you have a very pathetic and poor disposition.”

The Duke’s voice sounded calm at first glance. But, upon hearing his words, there are other emotions in that voice. A voice filled with intense anger and hatred as if it would tear Zachary to pieces at any moment.

“But… what you did just now.”

At that, Zachary tightly closed his eyes. The Duke’s tenacious gaze looked at him up and down.

“…Are you out of your mind?” He said, raising the tip of his lips sullenly.

It was an obvious ridicule. A cold voice pierces their eardrums.

“Did you need to prove that you’re a monster in some way?”

Monster. That word took his breath away. Although he was determined to break free from it, that word that had entangled him for so long did not come off easily.

Finally, the Duke asked in a sharp voice.

“Besides the girl you call ‘wife’ that you cherish so much?”

The Duke pierced Zachary’s most sensitive part without fail.

He bit his lip tightly. If he is alone, it was all right to suffer like this—because he was used to both insults and killing his emotions. However,

‘Iellie.’

Now, she was by his side. His most precious wife in the world, who resembles Asha flower, is with him.

‘You are not a monster.’

Iellie rescued him from the deep loneliness and despair. If she said so, then it must really be…

‘She said it was fine.’

Zachary showed the magic of winter in front of her. She must have been afraid. To be honest, he is also sometimes afraid of himself. Still, despite seeing him with a monster-like appearance, Iellie did not run away.

‘Let’s go back together, to our home… She said that.’

A bright blue day lit up in his eyes.

He won’t mess this up anymore. His winter magic, the name of the monster, and his original sin. He was determined to fight everything.

“In the past, I would have thought that what my father said was unconditionally right.”

Zachary raised his head in a calm motion. The Duke narrowed his brow a little.

That quiet, calm gaze. It was completely different from the unstable eyes his son usually had. Now, the boy in front of him is more stable than ever.

“I admit my mistake. It could have been dangerous, so I will deeply reflect on that.”

“Reflect? Do you think that reflecting can cover things up now?” He said as his voice fell low, though the boy was not discouraged. He spoke again.

“However, the criticism that father inflicts on me now is unjust.”

“Even with ‘reflecting’ in your mouth, you say, ‘It’s unjust to be criticized.’?”

The Duke laughed out loud. Instead of shaking, Zachary gazed up at his father with cold eyes.

In fact, the Duke’s reprimand was excessive since practically no one in the Duchy was harmed. Although the late snow fell briefly, the northern part was originally a territory with a long winter.

“Just because it snows this much, there is no harm in the north.”

“How dare you talk like that? Even when the monster has gone through an emotional state that might run rampant?”

“I deeply apologize for that. Still—”

He tilted his head at an angle. Its behavior was terribly similar to that of his own father, the Duke.

“Why do I have to endure all this alone?”

Zachary was the first to ask the fundamental question of their relationship.

The Duke was speechless for a moment. Not a single emotion remained on the boy’s face. He was facing him with a pure question.

“…You’re asking an absurd question. I thought you would know the reason well?”

“I see. I have sinned, and I was born a monster.”

The boy took a step back. A bitter smile hangs on the edge of his lips. A sad reply came.

“If I have to endure like this to pay for my sins, I will endure it.”

Something he’s been wanting to ask for a long time. Still, it was something he never dared to ask. From the moment he was born, he had the original sin of being a monster. The sins committed because of that original sin were vividly alive, and it always strangled his throat. Still.

“I was born as a monster… Isn’t it because of the bloodline of Hessenweitz that father inherited?”

“Zachary!”

For the first time, the Duke’s arrogant face collapsed. In front of the Duke screaming sharply, he smiled faintly.

“Perhaps father will give me the reason why he is not a monster.”

“…”

For a moment, a deathly silence passed. Zachary looked straight into the Duke’s eyes. He declared, “Father, no one in the world wants to be born as a monster.”

The Duke was speechless, and the next moment he felt intense hatred. A pure white rage burns in my head.

“How dare you say such a thing?!”

The Duke was always one step away like a lonely being, but now, at this time, he was revealing his own deepest feelings. A bright blue blade stood in his eyes and he uttered atrociously.

“Because of you, I have lost someone!”

He stepped closer. Although Zachary was tall, the boy was a little skinny for his age. His skinny body is completely hidden under his father’s shadow.

‘No…’

Iellie’s pale green eyes widened wide.

“Za, Zachary!” She called her husband’s name like a scream.

Puk!

He kicked without hesitation over Zachary’s stomach.

Kuadang!

With such a strong kick, the boy was slammed into the wall without question.

“Cough!”

Zachary let out a painful cough. However, the Duke pulled his cuffs back and strode forward. It was as though the present Duke seemed to have lost half his reason.

The two glacial eyes stare at each other.

The Duke grabbed his son by the collar without hesitation. A fist flew over the boy’s cheek.

Puk!

“Zachary, no!”

At the same time as the boy’s head turned to the side, Iellie screamed.

His eyes were clouded. One-sided and brutal violence. The Duke now seemed to want to destroy him completely.

Grabbing Zachary’s neck, he raised his hand once more as the blue eyes were tinged with madness.

“You dare?!”

The Duke waved his hand again. Puk! This time, however, it did not go as the Duke intended.

It was Zachary who blocked the attack. The boy’s hand gripped his father’s wrist tightly.

The power is so strong that the wrist of the captured Duke trembles. Grit. The sound of grinding teeth was heard between the Duke’s lips. A tense struggle ensued. The Duke growled with his eyes wide open.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“This is it.”

“What?”

“If I endure father’s violence, this is it.”




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