Understanding the Subject Matter of a Delusional Person 46

#46

“Right.”

Theodore responded briefly. His voice was flatly subdued.

“How can you be certain that this guy is outside that range?”

Skyle tilted his head slightly. Though it was a questioning tone, it wasn’t a simple question but rather sounded like he was pointing to a fact.

I become curious every time you talk so calmly about that day.

Those words were only swallowed inwardly.

I know it’s not that you’re truly unaffected, but I wonder if you’ve become a monster instead while trying to overcome the curse.

If you had collapsed, it would have been less eerie.

Suppressing what he wanted to say, Theodore opened his mouth.

He slightly twisted the corners of his mouth then slowly straightened them. His gaze was calm, and his eyes moved from Skyle to the ceiling, then to the floor again.

“So that’s why you were so sensitive.”

Though brief, it was a statement that hit the essence.

He spares no personnel or resources when it comes to the Prince and information coming from him.

This incident was the same. As soon as the clue that Isabella Marsien was involved dropped, Skyle made faster judgments and investigations than usual.

The same with the investigation into Lady Marsien’s affairs this time.

Skyle didn’t hesitate even slightly about the truth of the matter.

Analysis, understanding, action—all of it was carried out as if operating automatically.

Skyle nodded.

His answer was short and firm. His expression remained calm.

“The Prince is strange.”

The nuance contained in those words was ambiguous. Neither criticism nor admiration, but neutral.

His friend who looked down was living wearing the most beautiful facade in the empire.

He seemed more perfect than anyone else.

Shining blonde hair, refined posture, etiquette and dignity, status and authority, even ability.

The appearance that best fit the standards of nobility existing in the empire.

Appearance, status, ability—there was nothing that wasn’t the best.

He wasn’t simply excellent, but an existence with a perfect spectrum.

However, he was also someone who couldn’t let his guard down for even a single moment.

The insomnia hidden beneath his eyelids, the control hidden beneath his neat collar.

Everything was calculated action, restraint for a purpose.

On the day when all the people of Rodias died, only his friend survived alone.

That wasn’t coincidence. A survival that couldn’t be explained by being lucky or being missed.

And a terrible curse was triggered.

It was different from ordinary curses.

The terrible curse of <Beast> that exploded impulses and made love into nourishment for destruction.

Just saying that name made his mouth bitter.

It was a curse that devoured reason and left only instinct.

A structure of amplification that made one harm their most beloved in the most cruel way.

His friend was a mad person who, after being struck by that forbidden curse, was eliminating its influence solely through mental strength and emotional management.

Ten years.

It had been a long time.

Before that curse which no one had endured to the end, he was still holding on.

However, no matter how great someone was, after the tormented years approached ten years, such thoughts would inevitably arise.

‘Was I not originally born this way?’

Theodore echoed the resonance of those words deep in his heart.

Even long after the words had ended, that sentence that had been quietly reverberating inside didn’t easily disappear.

He slowly stroked his chin with one hand and stared blankly at the bed with his half-lowered eyelids.

Just as Theodore had begun to distrust his own mana control.

He was someone with stronger control than anyone else.

Precise figures, predictable reactions, refined flow of magic.

All of those were conditions that made him himself.

“Huu.”

A short breath leaked out.

The unconsciously exhaled breath stirred the cold air in the room.

Though he was skilled at disguising a leisurely-looking face, quite a few thoughts probably flowed beneath that calm face throughout the ball.

Though his expression was neat, the tension in his forehead muscles, between his brows, and at his fingertips was hard to hide.

Throughout the banquet, there was only one target that he, who was sparing with words, quietly cast his gaze upon.

Skyle could read everything contained in that gaze.

After much thought, Theodore spoke heavily.

As much time as it took to bring out the words, that much weight was carried within them.

“If you say it to that extent, then it must be so.”

Though the words were simple, judgment was contained within them.

Actually, he wasn’t convinced.

He wasn’t the type to accept things as easily as one might think.

To be honest, he was inclined to think that the new things he was learning about Prince Ersen were the reason for these new reactions.

The possibility that those reactions might be because of a person, not because of constitution or curse—

He had been placing weight on that possibility.

Ersen Mayer.

That name was one he hadn’t spoken for a long time.

His twenty-year-old half-brother, whom he was properly facing after thirteen years……

Had changed.

He was more solid than expected, more dangerous than expected, and above all, closer than expected.

‘Tsk, I shouldn’t have gotten involved.’

Theodore clicked his tongue inwardly.

After briefly running his hand over the back of his neck, he placed his hand on his chin again.

If it weren’t for the nullification ability, no matter what new facts he learned, he wouldn’t have kept him by his side.

That was clear.

Nullification was a shield against half-demons, and it was the only justification for the imperial palace to hold onto him.

‘Now that we’ve even made a mana contract, it’s too late to think about it.’

He let out a short sigh at the end of his thoughts.

Well, then what now?

The problem still remained unsolved.

Theodore sighed quietly and looked at Skyle, who was looking down at Ersen and waiting for his reaction.

His gaze slowly shifted.

After briefly staring at his brother’s face lying quietly on the sheets, it moved to his friend sitting silently beside him.

“But if it’s because of a curse, or because of a cursed constitution, wouldn’t the person who should keep the most distance from that bastard be you?”

Though his words were firm, the sincerity contained within them was complex.

Suspicion, concern, worry, and a trace of curiosity.

The Crown Prince’s curse was a curse of slaughter.

It had the condition of exploding when seeing blood.

Intense condition, clear standard, controllable threat.

But the curse that struck Skyle was the Beast’s curse.

That was different.

A curse with unclear conditions and starting points.

The terrifying uncertainty that if emotions exploded, actions could follow.

To him, who used all his nerves to fight against all kinds of impulses, a constitution that (according to Skyle’s opinion) stimulated emotions would clearly be more deadly.

The most dangerous thing for him was ‘stimulation.’

And Ersen was at the center of that stimulation.

“For now, it would be better to move away from the bed.”

A quiet recommendation.

Those words weren’t joking or sarcasm, but sincere advice.

If Marcus had said it, it would have sounded like mockery, but Theodore was endlessly serious.

His tone, gaze, the angle of his body—

All came from serious judgment.

Knowing this, Skyle only smiled awkwardly.

Only slightly raising the corners of his mouth, his eyes still looking downward.

Certainly, like this now, the very act of silently looking at Ersen was something he shouldn’t be doing.

That was a fact he had to acknowledge.

His gaze had already lingered there several times.

As Skyle pondered what to reply, he slowly shifted his gaze.

He responded with quiet action instead of words.

“……”

Ersen’s fingertips visible beneath the blanket were trembling slightly.

It was a small movement.

Intermittent trembling as if very slightly pushing away the fabric. Without pattern, occasionally one finger would twitch as if convulsing. The blanket quietly hid that movement, but it was clearly visible if you looked closely.

The occasional groans that could be heard kept stimulating his nerves.

They weren’t long, nor did they burst loudly, but they were dry enough to make the listener uncomfortable.

Low sounds mixed with cracked breath from the throat, resonance of breathing that burst briefly as if something inside the body was being twisted.

“……It’s fine.”

Those words came from Skyle’s mouth as he had been quietly watching him for a while.

His gaze was still directed toward Ersen, and his voice was calm.

After staring at that intently, Skyle suddenly smiled slightly.

That smile was quiet and very brief.

Gently folding the corners of his eyes, only slightly raising the corners of his mouth. Though no particular force went into the smile, it was an expression that made it difficult for the observer to grasp his intention.

And he spoke plainly.

Throwing out the words with a ‘tsk,’ but uttering them with a consistent rhythm.

“As long as I don’t believe in it, there shouldn’t be any problem.”

The room was still quiet, and there was no interference in the spreading of those words.

“Hmm. Will it really be fine?”

Theodore asked back in a low voice.

Slight doubt was tinged at the end of his words, and his gaze slowly shifted to Skyle.

“Of course. When I didn’t know, I was helplessly swayed, but now that I know, it will be different.”

Skyle narrowed his eyes once and folded his fingertips over his knees.

Though his tone was gentle, conviction was carried within it.

So, you’ve been helplessly shaken until now?

As that nuance automatically circled in his head, Theodore’s expression became strange.

Author: Hyacinthus B

Hyacinthus