CH 93

Alan kept his eyes closed quietly. It was an unfamiliar sight.

It had been four years since I had known Alan, and I still hadn’t seen him sleeping.

He was infinitely kind to me and never showed any weakness.

The tears he showed at the first meeting were the only tender parts of him that I knew.

That’s right. He never showed how he felt.

I had no idea when the end of the relationship Alan wanted would be.

‘…No way.’

My frozen brain turned quickly.

‘Let’s think about it in common sense.’

If it was revealed that I was a monster, the Bauner family would be caught up in rumors again.

Benny went from being a monster to a hero, but that was an unusual case.

‘He may do it if I am a real daughter, but will he take that risk for a fake daughter?’

Alan did not reveal to anyone that I was a monster until this moment.

Even to Pedro and Hugo.

What if the reason was because he didn’t want to leave a stain on the Bauner family?

Maybe he didn’t plan to show my abilities to the world in the first place?

‘If Alan poisoned me…’

Strangely, even though I had always imagined it, I couldn’t escape the shock.

‘If Alan is the culprit. Then…’

The thoughts swirling around came to a conclusion.

‘I have to drink it.’

I clenched my teeth.

If this was my end prepared by Alan, I must accept it.

I must pour out all his wrath into my stomach.

Of course, it wasn’t that I wanted to die.

I had something to believe in.

Four years ago, I vomited the poison that Michael had fed me.

The blood of monsters that I didn’t even know was flowing through me protected me.

That cursed yet helpful power had always answered my pleas. It would definitely be the case this time as well.

‘Alan doesn’t know that I can spit out the poison.’

I didn’t even bring up what Michael had done, so I never told Alan about my poison-neutralizing abilities.

‘So if I drink poison, it will look like I’m ready to die.’

‘If I pretend I’m in critical condition, Alan will think I’m poisoned and can’t move. Then it will be much easier to get out of the castle.’

In my head, I listed the reasons why I should drink poison.

But actually, it was all just excuses.

“…….”

I gave strength to the veins in the hand holding the glass.

An irresistible desire flowed from the depths of my heart.

That tremendous impulse was far from rational judgment.

‘…I want to drink it.’

I slowly lowered one hand and took Alan’s hand.

Alan’s eyelids fluttered. He paused for a moment, but eventually opened his eyes.

I looked at him and smiled, raising the corners of my trembling lips.

‘I want to be punished.’

I picked up the silver ring that had turned black and placed it on a tray.

It meant accepting the punishment he had given me.

‘What is the meaning of an apology that doesn’t give up my life?’

‘I hope I’ll get sick from drinking this.’

My pain was my last gift to Alan.

Alan looked at my face with a puzzled expression, then his gaze belatedly moved to the silver ring.

The moment his eyes widened, I tilted the glass.

Tuk! 

Just before the potion reached my mouth, someone took the glass from my hand.

It wasn’t Alan.

The person who stole the glass suddenly jumped out from behind my chair.

Come to think of it, it seemed I had heard footsteps running up the altar just now.

I looked up at the person in disbelief.

“…Michael?”

The blond boy stared at me like he was going to kill me.

Michael leaned the cup to his mouth before I could even think about stopping him.

Gulp, gulp, gulp.

The decoction, as black as a monster, disappeared through his red lips. A thick liquid flowed in all directions.

The powder on his face was erased, and the star-like freckles were revealed.

It was the real face of Michael that he had inherited from his father.

The damp neck was tilted back and forth.

It was the first time I noticed he had an Adam’s apple.

“That, that rude boy!”

The guests under the altar opened their eyes and stood up.

“What is this?! How can you, to the Princess!”

“Duke, please get him out of here immediately!”

The nobles sighed loudly. There was a mayhem in the huge greenhouse.

No matter how unexpected the situation was, it was too harsh for words directed at a prince.

It was because Michael was an illegitimate child… No. It was because this child was not the duke’s family.

Keuk!

The commotion in the crowd was cut off at once with the sound of a dry cough.

My white dress was dyed red.

A terribly provocative color spread like ripples on my dress, on the jewel decorations, and on the altar.

“What…”

My mouth was pursed like a crucian carp’s.

My hands were hot. No, it’s all hot. Drops of blood covered me.

My tongue was dry. So it was not a dream.

Michael vomited blood like a deer shot by an arrow.

Because he drank poison that was originally meant for me.

“It smelled like poisoned herbs. Damn it…”

Turk!

No longer swaying, Michael grabbed my shoulders with his wet hands.

The bright red eyes that were lit on his face were like the puddles of blood on the floor.

His eyes were just as angry as ever.

“…You.”

Michael couldn’t finish his words as he bent over.

I reflexively grabbed him.

His upper body, which had been falling helplessly, fell on top of the dress.

“You…”

Michael hugged my waist as if hanging above the floor.

Whether it was because of pain or other reasons, tears were forming on the eyelashes that I instantly focused on.

“You must live in this castle.”

Michael muttered. The voice that had passed through the transformation period was distant and desperate.

“For the Bauner family.”

He slowly closed his eyes and buried his face in the hem of my skirt.

“For me…”

There were scattered bloodstains.

A heavy weight was felt over the layered skirt.

I was stunned by the overly unfamiliar sight.

“So… you must not die.”

The whole place became a mess.

The guests clamored and ran to the exit.

Due to the commotion, Michael’s last words were barely audible.

“…Don’t go.”

The surroundings were bright white.

I slowly raised my head while hugging Michael.

A meteor shower fell. Countless stars became lines and fell like showers of rain.

It was as if God’s fingernails were tearing out the night sky, which was nothing but fake.

It was such a beautiful sight that my mind went blank.

A large man hugged me from behind.

My back slammed against his hard chest. Michael’s body, which I had accidentally let go of, fell helplessly on the floor of the altar.

“Lily.”

Alan, kneeling on the floor, grabbed my shoulders and said the same thing as Michael.

“Don’t go.”

The moment I saw Alan’s profile with his head bowed, I almost stopped breathing.

He had the same expression as when we first met.

The only weakness I had ever witnessed flowed out like a ruptured dam.

“Don’t leave me again.”

Alan rubbed Michael’s blood off my hand.

Maybe he thought it was mixed with poison, so his touch was rough as if he was wiping away dirt.

“Stay here. In this world…”

The man spoke gibberish with slurred pronunciation.

It didn’t look like someone who was trying to kill me.

“I’m sorry. I can’t…”

The hoarse voice gradually faded away.

It was strange. His eyes were drenched with a feeling very familiar to me.

“…I cannot let you go.”

Guilt. Alan was apologizing to me.

‘Why?’

It was me who had to apologize. I was the only one who deserved to be crushed by guilt.

‘But why are you looking at me like that?’

As he was crying for no apparent reason, the sound of an animal’s breathing touched my eardrums.

Grrrrr—

Pedro stood tall on the bloody altar. His terrifyingly large fangs protruded from his lips.

He shouted at the people who were panicking.

“Close the castle! No one gets out until we find the person who was trying to poison Lily!”

The roar overwhelmed the entire greenhouse.

I grabbed my head. My skull was throbbing.

It had been a while since I felt this way. It was the same pain as when I unleashed the power of the monsters for the first time.

‘…Ah.’

I realized it late.

The tip of my tongue was bitter. Just before the glass was taken away, it seemed that a few drops of decoction had flowed into my mouth.

The content of the novel in which I reincarnated into came to mind just like that day four years ago.

Most of them were scattered like mist, but a piece of memory that could not be ignored suddenly hit the top of my head like lightning.

Still in Alan’s arms, I slowly turned my head.

Beyond the glass walls of the greenhouse illuminated by the meteor shower, a small human figure could be seen through the trees of the Black Forest.

He hid himself in the shadows, and was clearly the main character of the memory I just remembered.

I couldn’t bear to look at him the way I used to.

I couldn’t even hold his hand and run away from the Duke’s Castle as originally planned.

‘Benimus… Albrecht.’

I remembered Benny’s full name.

The Count of Albrecht, whom Alan destroyed 10 years ago.

Benny was the last blood relative of the Albrechts.

The ground shook. It wasn’t just my feeling. The ground underneath my foot, which was barely stepped on, gradually shook harshly.

Outside the greenhouse, the boy stood motionlessly like a child looking into a glass fishbowl.

I grabbed my fragile head and lost my senses.

***

16 years ago, a major civil war broke out in the empire.

The cause of the war was clear.

Emperor Igdrasil’s lifelong reign caused corruption of the pure-blood imperial family, and in the end, the nobles who were enduring patiently rose up to say that the emperor should be replaced.

Benny’s father, Count Albrecht, was at the forefront of the anti-imperial sect. Quite a few notable houses were on his side, including some of those connected to the imperial family who wanted a generation change.

The civil war slowly engulfed the empire, but came to an abrupt end two years later.

14 years ago. The year Lily was kidnapped.

The legendary military commander, Duke Alan von Bauner, beheaded Count Albrecht.