His father had schemed and committed this act alone before dying. In the secret confines, he hid his son. Zion, ignorant of what he had learned, foolishly filled his mouth with a lock.

“Zion, why did you…”

Hardeen reached out to his cold younger brother again. He was afraid that his brother had transformed like the previous earls. Even if he did, he still wanted to mourn his father’s death together.

However, Zion, ignoring his brother’s feelings, harshly pushed away the approaching hand.

Although Laurel’s attendants noticed his reaction, Zion paid no attention.

The memories transmitted by that man were vast. Therefore, Zion learned not only about the events to come but also various knowledge he didn’t know.

Among them was information about the curse.

The man had been cursed for a much longer period than Zion, so he obsessively unraveled the true nature of this hateful shackle.

Thanks to that, Zion could understand it himself.

The principles of the curse. And how messy the current situation truly was.
To bind Zion after his commissioned curse was broken, my father used the cuffs that Harden had. With them, he cast a new curse on Zion.

As a result, the unwitting requester of this curse was Harden Laurel. The mediator of this curse was Zion, who originally received it from its true owner.

Thus, the foolish brother became entangled in the curse without even knowing.

So Zion was twisted once again.

In the end, my father used the life of the second son as collateral, not satisfied with taking away the first son’s life as a gamble.

While asking him to release his heart verbally, he did another dirty deed to him.

He was given the choice of either closing his mouth for the sake of the family or killing his brother to gain freedom.

“Zion…”

And Harden Laurel mourns without even knowing the reason. In front of me, contemplating whether to kill you or not.

“Take that corpse and get out right away.”

Zion, unable to bear it, muttered. Then, leaving behind the shocked brother and attendants, he turned away.

“Wait, Zion! What’s wrong, seriously!”

Harden, who was pushed away, tried to grab his younger brother again, but Zion ruthlessly pushed him away. Then he coldly stared at his brother’s collapsed face.

“Don’t make that kind of expression.”

Don’t act pitiful while being the same kind of human.

Zion wanted to lash out like this. However, his mouth wouldn’t open, and once again, his stomach crumbled.

Even though he now had the innocent face of his brother, Zion had already seen it.

The brother who would inherit the position of Grand Duke in the near future. The disgusting Harden Laurel who inherited the family’s secrets and turned away from me, confined to the boundaries.

So Zion now understood. He understood the man who killed both his father and half-brother.

On the other hand, he regretted that he hadn’t done it himself. If I had killed my father first, I wouldn’t have been bound by such a curse again.

With that, Zion turned back while grinding his teeth.

He heard his brother’s voice begging from behind.

So he wanted to kill him even more. He wanted to interrogate the not-yet-committed crime, resenting how you could do this to me, accusing him of betrayal, and warning him that if you abandon me, I won’t let you go.

But he couldn’t say anything, so he decided to turn away for now.

This was the most merciful option Zion could choose.

But you probably won’t even know this. Maybe forever.

The curse of concealment imposed on Zion was a more malicious hell than he had imagined.

My father’s misguided actions, focused only on Laurel’s safety, eventually made the entire continent precarious.

Zion soon learned that a disaster was imminent, but because of his father, he couldn’t inform anyone of this fact.

In despair, Zion quietly contemplated, pressing his forehead against the desk.

‘Should I just die?’

It was still the period of my father’s funeral.
Despite the tragic death, the funeral of Duke Laurel was held grandly. His death was mourned for a whole month even in the Tardes Hall.

So, within this absurd solemnity, Zion pondered.

Should I really die?

Everything is annoying.

Should I just pass everything on to this one or that one?

What am I supposed to do when I can’t do anything?

Let’s just die. Then whether it goes well or not, other humans will figure it out.

Is it more of a problem if the world collapses just because I step back?

Zion ground his teeth, feeling frustration spread throughout the world.

“Darn it…”

Zion, who unexpectedly choked up, desperately suppressed the tears.

Everything was unpleasant and repulsive. However, these emotions were not reasonable.

Most of the events that fueled Zion’s disgust had not yet happened. They existed only in the memories handed over by that man.

Therefore, Zion could not grasp it even more.

Is it fair to hate Harden Laurel for the mistakes he hasn’t made yet? But it’s also true that he’s a person who will turn away from me and betray me.

Then, is Zion Laurel righteous? He killed. His own father, brother, Rorica Sedro, and other people with unknown names.

Zion closed his eyes tightly at the vile memories.

He has never harmed anyone so far. But in his mind, the vivid memories of the blood he shed were clear.

Ah, what I feared has finally come true. Memory is experience, and experience is the foundation of humanity. That man’s memories made Zion unclear.

The boy can no longer distinguish today from tomorrow.

Unable to separate what has already happened from what will happen in the future, he only fosters resentment in his own world. Hating himself, he can’t do this or that.

He can’t appeal this confusion and conflict anywhere. The only one buried in secret was Zion Laurel.

So, while looking at the black mourning banner commemorating Duke Laurel, Zion blankly thought about death.

But sadly, even that wasn’t easy for Zion. It would have been comfortable if he could just breathe his last a little higher than his father, but even if he was trampled by a dragon, Count Laurel survived.

In the end, he found himself in a situation where he couldn’t even choose death.

He thought he would become an emperor, thought he could do everything, but he couldn’t do anything.

So Zion became even more empty than when he was under the curse of immortality.

He spent several days like that.

Then suddenly, he remembered what he had to do.

“Ibby…”

Fortunately, Zion had a debt.