After hearing the bullsh*t Marquis Evnen’s been spouting, I agonized over one thought.
…Am I really not allowed to kill that guy?
He’s going to die anyway, I was just moving up the schedule a little bit. Wouldn’t it be alright?
No, at the very least, if I couldn’t kill him, I’d like to give him as much pain that’s equivalent to all the insults he had inflicted upon Albert.
Even though these were my own thoughts, I found them absurd. Still, it was not easy to resist the temptation to act on it.
Stepping up for Albert here and now would mean twisting up future events, but I still had the strongest urge to do so.
The chance to change the future of the person I love was right in front of my eyes.
And at the same time, the chance to enact revenge was right before me as well.
How could I possibly let things go.
Even if it was for the sake of meeting him again in the future, how could I not do anything when he was being subject to such pain?
I bit my lips. If I could feel any pain right now, I would have felt it until blood trickled down.
With my eyes closed, I repeated the same words to myself.
This is an ordeal. I shouldn’t do anything. At the end of the day, Rosteratu would still loathe Albert.
If anyone would see that someone was helping out Albert here or harming the people around him, Albert’s future might greatly be distorted.
I placed a hand over Albert’s.
He flinched for a moment. As he looked down, Albert’s gaze relaxed a little.
As though he felt relieved that I was with him.
In time, Albert opened his lips to speak.
“What would you like me to do for you?”
He answered calmly back, and it sounded as if he had given up on everything.
Marquis Evnen’s face brightened up with a broad smile, expressing his desire to crush other people beneath him. It was an ugly sight.
Stroking his chin, Marquis Evnen answered slowly.
“I can’t dare ask for monetary compensation from the Young Count, as you are currently in need of money…”
The marquis pointed out weakness and mocked him in public.
“As expected, apologies should come from the heart.”
His eyes glinted. With his eyes closed as though he was thinking about it long and hard, he soon opened his eyes and made up his mind. He then walked in front of Albert.
“Kiss the feet of everyone in attendance here as a sign of apology.”
…What?
I wish I had just misheard.
But Marquis Evnen continued cruelly.
“Ah, everyone’s wearing shoes, so it would be more accurate to say that you will kiss the footwear of everyone here.”
Knowing that everyone in this banquet hall was not fond of Albert, Marquis Evnen was demanding him to kneel down and bow his head towards them like a dog.
With his hand in mine, I felt the back of his hand trembling. Anger rose from the depths of my heart.
This hellish heat surged up all over my body to the point that my mind had gone blank. I didn’t even want to think about anything at this point.
I was so infested with raging emotions that were incomparable to what I had been feeling just moments ago.
This was far from humane.
If the marquis had even the smallest semblance of humanity in him, he wouldn’t force someone else to do something that would shatter their human dignity.
“Until you do it to everyone in this hall, I shall take it that you don’t wish to sincerely apologize.”
Not a hint of guilt could be heard from Marquis Evnen’s voice.
This entire event was designed to trample on Albert, and it was nothing but entertainment for him.
It was of pure enjoyment for him to see how Albert could do nothing to disprove the ridiculous evidence of the child’s ‘wrongdoing’, to see how he could not even express his anger at the unreasonable demands being placed upon him.
It filled him with perverted satisfaction to see Albert being forced to obey him until the very end.
…Because the prince who they would soon welcome was that insignificant.
“Shall we start with this boy?”
Marquis Evnen made a gesture for Shubert to move towards Albert. As he was still being held by the marquis’s servant, Schubert rebelled ferociously.
However, even this could not last long. Breathless as he gasped, he was not strong enough to resist.
Marquis Evnen then muttered as though he had just remembered.
“Ah, are you feeling reluctant because this boy is not a noble?”
When he asked this, Marquis Evnen’s eyes twinkled as though he found the answer to the inevitable reluctance.
“Then, why don’t you kill this boy instead? After all, he failed to obey your orders properly, and he even went so far to get caught by me, hm?”
Facing Albert with trembling eyes, Schubert did not even have any ties with Albert. All that could be seen was a child who was afraid of everything, afraid to be hurt and violently beaten.
Though I had only met him a handful of times, I remembered how the future Schubert followed and respected Albert.
And I recalled how he said that Albert had saved his life.
“Or will you grant this boy mercy as well?”
The ‘mercy’ that the marquis was speaking of was Albert kneeling down in front of Schubert instead of killing the boy. It was one or the other.
Resignation clear in his countenance, Schubert closed his eyes.
I already knew what Albert would choose.
And knowing it was making my heart ache.
The entire banquet hall was still. All those who stood by on the sidelines watched the conversation between Albert and Marquis Evnen as though it was entertainment for them to enjoy.
My emotions boiled up heavily within me.
[ You are being given a chance to save the person you love. How can you turn a blind eye? ]
The life where Albert would be happy… Was it truly his future with me?
Or, would it be better for him to be able to live as a child, keeping his innocence as he would live freely with Emmett as his guardian?
Wouldn’t it be a better choice for him to live as a happy extra, instead of a male lead who had to suffer through a wretchedly unfortunate past?
As I was about to move my hand away from Albert’s.
At that moment.
“Don’t do anything.”
Albert murmured in such a hushed voice that I was the only one who could hear him. I bit my lower lip.
“Close your eyes.”
He moved his head slightly and made eye contact with me. It lasted only a split second, as he looked up at Marquis Evnen once more.
It was but a single instance, yet his straightforward gaze stopped me at once.
Albert looked at Marquis Evnen with a still gaze.
And, he nodded.
“Alright.”
And, thereafter, Albert knelt before Schubert and slowly bowed his head.
After hearing the bullsh*t Marquis Evnen’s been spouting, I agonized over one thought.
…Am I really not allowed to kill that guy?
He’s going to die anyway, I was just moving up the schedule a little bit. Wouldn’t it be alright?
No, at the very least, if I couldn’t kill him, I’d like to give him as much pain that’s equivalent to all the insults he had inflicted upon Albert.
Even though these were my own thoughts, I found them absurd. Still, it was not easy to resist the temptation to act on it.
Stepping up for Albert here and now would mean twisting up future events, but I still had the strongest urge to do so.
The chance to change the future of the person I love was right in front of my eyes.
And at the same time, the chance to enact revenge was right before me as well.
How could I possibly let things go.
Even if it was for the sake of meeting him again in the future, how could I not do anything when he was being subject to such pain?
I bit my lips. If I could feel any pain right now, I would have felt it until blood trickled down.
With my eyes closed, I repeated the same words to myself.
This is an ordeal. I shouldn’t do anything. At the end of the day, Rosteratu would still loathe Albert.
If anyone would see that someone was helping out Albert here or harming the people around him, Albert’s future might greatly be distorted.
I placed a hand over Albert’s.
He flinched for a moment. As he looked down, Albert’s gaze relaxed a little.
As though he felt relieved that I was with him.
In time, Albert opened his lips to speak.
“What would you like me to do for you?”
He answered calmly back, and it sounded as if he had given up on everything.
Marquis Evnen’s face brightened up with a broad smile, expressing his desire to crush other people beneath him. It was an ugly sight.
Stroking his chin, Marquis Evnen answered slowly.
“I can’t dare ask for monetary compensation from the Young Count, as you are currently in need of money…”
The marquis pointed out weakness and mocked him in public.
“As expected, apologies should come from the heart.”
His eyes glinted. With his eyes closed as though he was thinking about it long and hard, he soon opened his eyes and made up his mind. He then walked in front of Albert.
“Kiss the feet of everyone in attendance here as a sign of apology.”
…What?
I wish I had just misheard.
But Marquis Evnen continued cruelly.
“Ah, everyone’s wearing shoes, so it would be more accurate to say that you will kiss the footwear of everyone here.”
Knowing that everyone in this banquet hall was not fond of Albert, Marquis Evnen was demanding him to kneel down and bow his head towards them like a dog.
With his hand in mine, I felt the back of his hand trembling. Anger rose from the depths of my heart.
This hellish heat surged up all over my body to the point that my mind had gone blank. I didn’t even want to think about anything at this point.
I was so infested with raging emotions that were incomparable to what I had been feeling just moments ago.
This was far from humane.
If the marquis had even the smallest semblance of humanity in him, he wouldn’t force someone else to do something that would shatter their human dignity.
“Until you do it to everyone in this hall, I shall take it that you don’t wish to sincerely apologize.”
Not a hint of guilt could be heard from Marquis Evnen’s voice.
This entire event was designed to trample on Albert, and it was nothing but entertainment for him.
It was of pure enjoyment for him to see how Albert could do nothing to disprove the ridiculous evidence of the child’s ‘wrongdoing’, to see how he could not even express his anger at the unreasonable demands being placed upon him.
It filled him with perverted satisfaction to see Albert being forced to obey him until the very end.
…Because the prince who they would soon welcome was that insignificant.
“Shall we start with this boy?”
Marquis Evnen made a gesture for Shubert to move towards Albert. As he was still being held by the marquis’s servant, Schubert rebelled ferociously.
However, even this could not last long. Breathless as he gasped, he was not strong enough to resist.
Marquis Evnen then muttered as though he had just remembered.
“Ah, are you feeling reluctant because this boy is not a noble?”
When he asked this, Marquis Evnen’s eyes twinkled as though he found the answer to the inevitable reluctance.
“Then, why don’t you kill this boy instead? After all, he failed to obey your orders properly, and he even went so far to get caught by me, hm?”
Facing Albert with trembling eyes, Schubert did not even have any ties with Albert. All that could be seen was a child who was afraid of everything, afraid to be hurt and violently beaten.
Though I had only met him a handful of times, I remembered how the future Schubert followed and respected Albert.
And I recalled how he said that Albert had saved his life.
“Or will you grant this boy mercy as well?”
The ‘mercy’ that the marquis was speaking of was Albert kneeling down in front of Schubert instead of killing the boy. It was one or the other.
Resignation clear in his countenance, Schubert closed his eyes.
I already knew what Albert would choose.
And knowing it was making my heart ache.
The entire banquet hall was still. All those who stood by on the sidelines watched the conversation between Albert and Marquis Evnen as though it was entertainment for them to enjoy.
My emotions boiled up heavily within me.
[ You are being given a chance to save the person you love. How can you turn a blind eye? ]
The life where Albert would be happy… Was it truly his future with me?
Or, would it be better for him to be able to live as a child, keeping his innocence as he would live freely with Emmett as his guardian?
Wouldn’t it be a better choice for him to live as a happy extra, instead of a male lead who had to suffer through a wretchedly unfortunate past?
As I was about to move my hand away from Albert’s.
At that moment.
“Don’t do anything.”
Albert murmured in such a hushed voice that I was the only one who could hear him. I bit my lower lip.
“Close your eyes.”
He moved his head slightly and made eye contact with me. It lasted only a split second, as he looked up at Marquis Evnen once more.
It was but a single instance, yet his straightforward gaze stopped me at once.
Albert looked at Marquis Evnen with a still gaze.
And, he nodded.
“Alright.”
And, thereafter, Albert knelt before Schubert and slowly bowed his head.
