Sorry, the Patricidal Tyrant Seems Beastly - Chapter 44

It’s dark.

‘Where is this place again.’

Vision was blocked. Everything below is black.

‘Is it a volcanic area?’

The ground was oxidized and turned red, with yellow flames blazing above.

Flame particles drifted in the sulfur spring, and toxic gas rose from various places.

Rotting corpses were tangled and sprawled on the ground.

The corpses of demonic beasts rotted and lay scattered on the ground, their melted bones a hideous sight.

Flags were stuck in various places on the ground, and rusted armor and helmets lay alone in the sulfur spring.

“Demonic beasts?”

They were corpses of demonic beasts. Bones were deeply buried, and the corpses of demonic beasts were larger and more grotesque than others.

Horns sprouted from the skull of the demonic beast, and what looked like ribs were stuck in the ground.

It was a grave made of bones.

‘Gurgle gurgle’

There’s nothing.

Everything was just black. No form.

Just existing.

Charlotte passed between the graves.

By its side…

An invisible pressure crushed Charlotte as if pouncing on her.

“Huk!”

Her chest felt tight as if her lungs were filled with water. Her vision flipped upside down.

Her breath was choked.

When she scratched her nape with her nails, the skin tore off.

The torn skin dangled, and blue veins bulged on her neck.

“Don’t bite your tongue.”

A low voice woke Charlotte.

Charlotte felt something foreign in her mouth. A blunt fingertip touched her tongue.

“Relax.”

Her breathing trembled. Her face turned pale and one cheek twitched.

Her own arms were choking her neck, biting his fingers and mumbling in her mouth.

“Charlotte. Relax your arms. Don’t choke your neck.”

Haa, Charlotte let out a shallow sigh.

“You seem a bit calmer now.”

“……”

“Are you alright?”

He grabbed Charlotte’s wrists and laid her down straight.

“Lower your arms and relax.”

Her vision flipped once more.

Charlotte lay straight looking at the ceiling. Her wheezing breath trembled faintly.

“Stop biting.”

As she kept grinding with her teeth at the foreign sensation in her mouth, his fingertip twitched. Ah, she was still biting.

“You bit your tongue so I quickly put my hand in first.”

Benjamin pulled out his hand scratched by teeth.

“…What is it?”

“Sort out your breathing first. Your neck is stiff.”

A salty taste of blood fills her mouth.

It seemed she really bit her tongue.

Red marks were carved on his fingers where her teeth scratched.

“Weren’t you in your office?”

Her breath trembled sharply. Her airway felt tightly blocked as if narrowed.

Her skin turned white. Her face that had turned pale from blocked breathing lost its color.

“…Why are you here?”

“After the Taran delegation left, you seemed to be napping for a while so I was about to wake you.”

Charlotte, who had been rambling, suddenly realized.

‘The New Year’s festival is over.’

The Taran delegation had all left. By now, they would have already departed from Poputa Harbor.

All schedules were finished.

As she tried to get up, her arms weakly folded.

Her body sank back into the blanket. Her long hair tangled like a spider web.

“I’ll call the imperial physician, so wait.”

“…It’s hard to breathe.”

After sending off the delegation, her breathing remained heavy.

She felt this feeling yesterday too. The feeling of being cut off from the world, as if her whole body was disconnected.

“I saw a grave.”

It was a place piled with bones and corpses. Rotten bone fragments were buried in the ashes, and the whole place felt like a grave.

“You shouldn’t have seen that, strange.”

His answer was ambiguous.

As if asking, why did you see that, in that tone.

“You saw the grave of demonic beasts.”

“…What kind of grave?”

“When the demonic beast border area enters an active period, those sensitive to ki sense it and become aware first. Being close to the border gap, when the gap opens they unconsciously touch that place, those who have long fought against demonic beasts.”

His eyes lowered.

“…Why do you look like that?”

Instead of answering, he shook his head.

[This is the timeline separator]

“You’ve scratched quite deeply. I’ve applied scar ointment, so don’t touch the medicine with your hands. Just be careful with your hands.”

Aaron wrapped a bandage around Charlotte’s neck.

“Be careful going outside today. The neck is a vital point. Scars on the neck should not be shown outside.”

“What about other parts?”

“…For that, I must request a private audience. Will you allow it?”

Benjamin spoke to Charlotte, who was leaning on the bed.

“Stay alone for a moment. Shall I call the chief lady-in-waiting?”

“I’m fine. Just go.”

Benjamin left, leading Aaron away.

With the bedroom door closed, Benjamin turned to face Aaron with his back to the door. Aaron bowed his head low.

“It’s exactly as written in the imperial records. Her Majesty did indeed glimpse the grave of demonic beasts. Be prepared. The active period will begin soon.”

When the demonic beasts’ active period begins, they become even more violent and fierce.

“A long subjugation will begin.”

“The timing is not good, just as the imperial family is regaining stability.”

“I expected it around this time. However, this active period is a bit different. They’re scratching under the ground, it feels like things that shouldn’t be above ground are crawling around.”

Until now, the imperial family had organized demonic beast subjugation units to reduce their numbers.

They dispatched mercenary groups and the imperial knight corps to minimize damage from demonic beasts, established a subjugation system to aid in conquering them.

“I’m also concerned about the grave of demonic beasts.”

Someone who had no contact with demonic beasts glimpsed their grave.

“…It cannot be interpreted in a good way.”

“How is she?”

“For now, her energy is unstable. It seems she realized she touched something she shouldn’t have, and is protecting herself.”

“This is difficult.”

“…The Empress has touched a place she shouldn’t have.”

Aaron recalled Charlotte’s childhood appearance.

He had watched her since she was young, and she still retained that appearance from those days.

“She’s been living precariously since childhood.”

“Is that so?”

“The border area is like a grave of ancient demonic beasts, a trace of the ancient covenant, and ordinary people can’t even touch the grave.”

Aaron carefully added.

“Only those who have touched death can barely reach it.”

Those who have experienced death.

Those who crossed the line of death because of demonic beasts.

“In the past, it was mercenaries. Those who spent their entire lives with demonic beasts, and whose deaths were also with demonic beasts.”

“How were their ends?”

“They ended their lives early.”

They were those who had fought against demonic beasts.

Those who lived their lives with those wicked creatures also ended their lives with them.

“They were closest to death, and even that death was unfortunate. Also, there are few who remember their ends well.”

“Keep this part confidential. Be careful not to let this story leak outside.”

After that, they had a brief conversation. It was mostly about what to be careful about.

“Also… No, nevermind.”

“Is there still something left to say?”

“This part might not be related.”

“I’ll hear it and think about it.”

“In the past, Her Majesty the Empress mentioned the Lupetic disease.”

Benjamin asked if it was the Lupetic disease he knew.

“You mean the endemic disease that affected miners in the Southern Continent?”

“Hmm… It’s a disease not well known in the empire, but you seem to know it well.”

“I’ll listen for now.”

“Lupetic disease is an illness where muscles gradually harden, and ultimately one dies when the lungs harden. The cause was due to the toxicity of a mineral known as ‘Lupetic’.”

Due to this mineral, hundreds of miners died in the past.

Miners in the Southern Continent frequently contracted it,

And many blacksmiths who processed the mineral also died.

“In the past, Her Majesty the Empress once asked me if I knew about this disease.”

“Why?”

“It’s strange, isn’t it? It’s a disease miners suffered from. It’s odd for someone who was a central noble of the empire to be interested in this.”

Aaron added with difficulty.

“This may sound disrespectful, but…”

“Speak.”

“It was the look of someone who had given up.”

That look that says there’s nothing to be done even if one dies.

‘It would be best to keep this story confidential.’

The weight of emotion was different. He thought that weight was due to her mother’s death, but it might not be all.

“It feels like I’ve missed something. I feel a sense of emptiness, as if sand held in my hand is scattering.”

This emptiness is both faint and deep.

He read resentment in it. The resentment hidden deep in the bones was thick and distant.

“There are still many unclear parts. However, I thought Your Majesty should know.”

Aaron bowed deeply.

“You may withdraw for today.”

Benjamin pressed his temples.

It’s being stepped on. Something was left behind, but it’s not clear what it is.

He touched his neck. The muscles in his nape expanded and stiffened.

“Then, I shall take my leave first.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Aaron left.

“Hmm, something’s not good.”

Requesting a separate audience was like that.

The grave of demonic beasts… This was something I had never experienced in my previous life.

‘It’s become too different from my previous life.’

It was time to reflect now.

Tap tap. Charlotte tapped the bedside table with her fingertip.

‘Was it time to be bound by an engagement?’

By now, Charlotte would have been bound by an engagement and be a marriage commodity.

On that day when my life hit rock bottom, a completely broken life came crashing down.

The Lupetic disease was just a part of that life.

There was no time to turn my eyes to outside affairs, I was confined at home, and Charlotte’s life was limited.

‘There was no one.’

There were no people of mine in the mansion, all relationships were cut off.

I was barely managing to conduct myself.

Knock knock.

At that moment, Benjamin returned.

“Is your conversation with Aaron over?”

“Just finished.”

“It took a long time.”

“It went a bit longer than expected.”

A brief conversation followed. Their eyes looking at each other began to penetrate and thoroughly draw out each other’s inner thoughts.

“I’ll just ask a few things for fact-checking. If it’s difficult to answer, you can just say yes or no. But don’t mix in lies.”

“…Yes.”

“Were you ever hurt by a demonic beast when you were young?”

An intense gaze was directed at Charlotte.

Charlotte shook her head and answered.

“I was the only daughter of the Tueta family. Even when I was young, I only stayed in the Tueta mansion, and there was no chance to encounter demonic beasts.”

“…Then, have you ever glimpsed the grave of demonic beasts before?”

“No. It was the first time.”

“Are you sure?”

“It wasn’t an environment where I could come into contact with demonic beasts.”

This part was the most puzzling.

It was something I had never experienced in my previous life.

“Were you ever sick with an illness when you were young?”

“No.”

“…No?”

“Yes. You can check with Aaron if you’d like.”

It’s not a lie. At least, not when I was young.

Also, the death from my previous life is now a non-existent event.

“I have never deceived myself with lies.”

“I can see it in my eyes too. You appear calm and unaffected, but why do I feel like I’m constantly about to lose you, Charlotte?”

Their gazes crossed diagonally at an angle.

He looked down at Charlotte like that.

“Don’t avoid my eyes.”

Benjamin fixed the crossed gaze entirely on himself.

“If you keep avoiding, it looks like you’re hiding something from me.”