Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 663

Thump!

Berik flung open the door of the hut.

The outside world didn’t exist. Neither did the windows. The sound of rain pattering was so vivid, yet when he opened where the window should have been, there was nothing to see.

Berik banged his head against the wall, cursing. ‘That damn wizard bastard, why the hell show me something like this?’ He turned around at the sound of movement, and young Berik was glaring at him.

‘What the hell-‘

Short, spiky red hair, eyes that were narrow and stubborn. Was he really like that as a child? Berik tried to recall, but he couldn’t quite remember. It wasn’t like he was someone else, but how many people could clearly remember their childhood selves?

‘…Get lost.’

‘What?’

‘Get out of my house!’

Young Berik pulled out a dull sickle and charged at him.

At that moment, a clear image flashed in his mind.

Right. He knew that. It was the weapon he had taken from the storage room and swung around as a child. A sickle so dull it couldn’t even cut a single blade of grass.

Swish! Swack!

The child clumsily swung the sickle at Berik. Dodging it was nothing. He was too young, too small, and too agitated.

As Berik twisted his body to avoid all the attacks, the child screamed, his face contorted in rage.

‘Aaaah! Aack!’

Berik bit his lower lip. He knew better than anyone what the child’s screams meant.

The fear that he would die if he didn’t kill the intruder. The despair that his mother and sisters would die if he didn’t stop the intruder.

Ignoring the ache in his chest, Berik grabbed the child’s wrist.

‘Why are you here! Get out, get out of my house!’

‘Calm down. It’s me. Me, it’s you.’

‘Don’t talk nonsense! Give it back! Give it back and get out of here right now!’

Thwack! Thud!

Young Berik wildly swung his arms and legs. At the child’s desperate struggle, Berik suddenly realized how to get out of here.

The wizard was trying to figure out his purpose with this dog-shit illusion. Why he came here alone without Ian, what he did here, and what was in his pocket.

Tap!

Berik hardened his expression and roughly pushed the young version of himself away. He was light. Too light, which made his heart heavy.

He muttered, looking at the child who had tumbled into the corner. The child’s nosebleed dripped onto the floor.

‘Stop it. You dog-shit wizard. I swear I’ll tear you apart myself.’

‘Haaah!’

Young Berik didn’t give up. Like his past self, he got up again even after falling and clung to him tenaciously.

Berik frowned, grabbing the child by the collar with one hand. Was he really going to have to kill this child with his own hands?

‘Ugh…’

The child, dangling in the air, groaned.

‘If I cut you down, I’ll be stained with defeat again. Like that stormy night.’

But there was no other way. He had already experienced it, and it had remained as a deep scar that had brought him this far. So, he hoped that it wouldn’t hurt too much.

It was the moment Berik was about to draw his sword with his other hand.

‘No!’

‘…!’

Berik’s eyes widened. The girls who had been hiding under the bed ran out, their faces covered in tears. His heart sank.

‘No! Please, spare him!’

‘Please don’t kill Berik, we’ll go instead, we’ll go! Please, don’t do this, sob-!’

‘Please save us, please save us…’

The blurry faces of his sisters in his memory became clear. His cute little sisters. As Berik hesitated, the child didn’t miss the chance and slashed his face with the sickle.

Swish!

It was dull, but it was enough to cut flesh. A long cut appeared under Berik’s chin, and blood flowed down. It was hot and wet. This was not an illusion.

‘Haa, haa-‘

‘Berik, are you okay?’

‘Brother, don’t die. Waaah!’

Berik stumbled back, clutching his chin. He was frustrated to death. Part of him knew that they were just illusions and nothing more-

‘Damn it.’

Even if it was him, how could he kill his sisters with his own hands? Not being able to protect his younger siblings had been a burden for his entire life, and now he was supposed to cut them down? The children’s screams and cries were still vivid in his ears.

‘Berik!’

‘No, don’t go!’

‘Dieee!’

Young Berik charged again as soon as he caught his breath.

‘Why are you here!’

As Berik grabbed the child’s hair, his sisters, startled, rushed at him. They were just as light, fragile, and warm.

The children clung to Berik’s waist, shaking him and crying not to do it, and young Berik didn’t miss the chance and immediately swung the sickle.

Thwack!

But that was it.

Berik gritted his teeth and punched the child in the stomach. As young Berik collapsed with a groan, his heart suddenly pounded. It was strange.

Thump, thump-thump, thump….

Berik put his hand on his chest and paused. It was familiar, but what was it? This unpleasant and dirty feeling….

‘Despair.’

That was it. The feeling he had when he was struck by the thugs as a child. The moment young Berik fell after being hit by him, the emotions had synchronized and rushed in all at once.

Berik grabbed onto a wall and vomited.

‘Cough-!’

His stomach was churning too much. The organs in his body were reacting abnormally due to the uneasy and fearful emotions.

As Berik stepped back, this time his sisters picked up the sickle on the floor.

‘Please, let’s not do this.’

Berik pleaded, frowning. But his sisters cried, tears streaming down their faces.

‘You’re the one who shouldn’t, shouldn’t do this. Please. Please leave. Please save us.’

‘Please, there’s nothing here.’

‘I know! I know. I know that our house was a miserable, broken-down place!’

‘Then why did you come here!’

‘The kids-!’

Berik almost sighed and answered without realizing it. To help the Bariel wizards, to get some item.

But he barely regained his senses and cut himself off, covering his mouth. It was dangerous.

‘I might actually spill it if I’m not careful.’

Stay focused. Berik gritted his teeth and glared at his sisters. Two small girls. Beings he could easily kill with one hand.

It’s okay. They’re illusions.

‘Kyaaaah!’

Berik’s rough hand gripped his sister’s neck. The child struggled and tried to escape, but it was impossible. Horrifyingly, he could vividly feel the small pulse beating under his palm.

‘Ugh, ugh.’

Eyes that seemed to beg for mercy. But the only sound that came out was a groan that squeezed his throat.

Berik felt it. The warmth of the skin, the tear-soaked sleeve, the unkempt fingernails, the shiny strands of hair, the two eyes that were bloodshot and red….

Berik squeezed his eyes shut. It would be better not to see, it would be less painful. Berik didn’t even have time to realize that he was crying. They were desperate to live, but he was desperate to kill.

‘Please, please…’

Disappear.

Berik pleaded as he continued to strangle his sister. He felt self-loathing beyond guilt. As a tear fell from his sister’s eye, Berik paused and released his grip.

‘Haa, ha, cough-!’

The child gasped for breath and cried, and Berik just sat down. He had no other way to release this anger except to hit the floor over and over again.

‘You dog-shit bastard!’

Berik cursed at the wizard who was listening somewhere. He had never felt such murderous intent in his life, and he would kill him painfully.

Then his younger sister cautiously approached Berik.

‘Um-‘

The child begged, her hands trembling.

‘Can you, can you just let us go?’

‘…Yeah, just go. I really don’t want to see your faces.’

‘But we don’t know where to go…’

‘…Somewhere safe and warm.’

‘Where is that?’

Exhausted, Berik muttered with his eyes closed. The only safe place he could think of was where his comrades were.

His younger sister lightly grasped the back of his hand.

‘Where are we going?’

Whirring, whirring, a voice that lingered in his ears-

Berik muttered without realizing it.

‘Hielo.’

‘Hielo? But this is Hielo too.’

The child whispered. Where in Hielo was the safe and warm place you were talking about?

Berik, who had been slumped down, slowly raised his head. Fierce eyes and furrowed brows. He grabbed his sister’s face with his large palm.

‘…Stop with your tricks.’

Are you asking where Ian and the wizards went, you dog-shit bastard? Screw you!

As Berik made a fierce expression, his sister cried again. It was a night in the hut that would never end unless one of them died.

* * *

Ian opened his eyes. He was on the sofa. He had fallen asleep without realizing it. There were five blankets covering him. Was that why he was sweating?

As Ian slowly got up and moved, the wizards, sensing his presence, approached one by one. They were all resting, either receiving first aid or eating.

‘Ian, sir. Oh my, you’re sweating…’

‘No, who put all these blankets on? I told you to only use three, you never listen!’

‘Were you uncomfortable? I’m sorry. You were sleeping so soundly that I couldn’t move you. You collapsed as if you had fainted earlier.’

‘No, it’s okay. How long did I sleep?’

‘Not long. Just an hour or two?’

‘Yes. Would you like to eat? The butler seems to be very meticulous. There’s quite a bit left to fill your stomach. This is Gula stir-fry, right?’

Ian took a moment to catch his breath and looked around. He didn’t know if it was because he was tired, but even though he had slept, he didn’t feel refreshed.

Rather, it felt like he had a nightmare he couldn’t remember, his heart was pounding and he felt uneasy.

‘…Where’s Berik?’

Everyone was there except for one person, Berik. The wizards took off Ian’s blankets and told him.

‘He went to the wizard’s forest. He said he was going to get the item he saw earlier.’

‘Ah, that.’

‘We were thinking of going with him, but Berik refused, saying that everyone’s condition was too bad. He’s a bit of a lost cause, but he seemed confident, saying something about the smell of dragon blood… If he doesn’t come back by dawn, that friend is going to go meet him.’

The wizard pointed to a wizard from Ruthwena who was curled up in the corner, snoring. Being from there, he would know the forest paths better than anyone.

Ian got up from his seat and straightened his clothes.

‘Did that wizard say he didn’t know what Berik was talking about either?’

‘Yes, it seems he doesn’t know because it’s been over 10 years since he left. We suspect it might be related to the second generation, the new wizards who were trained in Ruthwena.’

‘But Ian, sir, why are you sweating so much…’

‘I don’t know.’

Ian sighed softly and looked out the window. It was completely dark. It meant that they were the only ones alive in Hielo.

‘…I feel strangely uneasy.’

‘Are you worried about Berik?’

Ian nodded slightly. He closed the window curtains and turned to the wizards.

‘You guys stay here. I’ll be back in a bit.’

‘Absolutely not! You haven’t recovered yet!’

‘Yes, and if you’re going, we’ll go with you-‘

He felt like he had to find out what this unease meant. Ian calmed down the wizards who were insisting on following him.

‘I swear I’ll meet Berik and come back soon. I’ll come back and lie down in that spot again and rest with you. So, you guys recover your magic until I return. That’s how you’ll help me.’