IBYSRHML | Chapter 38

Episode 38

“Edgar.”

“I know exactly what it means to point a sword at my brother.”

“Are you doing this despite knowing the meaning?”

“I’m doing this because I know.”

At fifteen, Edgar had already grown as tall as an adult, taking after his father.

He even held his sword with such poise that, in a few years, he was bound to become a swordsman as skilled as Leopold.

“I can overlook this once. Edgar, put down your sword and step aside.”

“…….”

“Edgar! What’s so important about some girl that you’re doing this?!”

“Her name is Liliana.”

With those words, Edgar lunged at him.

In the pouring rain, an intense clash ensued.

Max dared not intervene, and Marius, half-stunned by shock, could only block Edgar’s attacks on reflex.

Edgar, too, didn’t seem to have the intent to wound Marius. He had several chances but only pushed him back instead.

“Why are you doing this? Why are you… why…”

Marius was utterly confused.

Had he done something wrong? Had he failed in raising Edgar?

He hadn’t been the most affectionate brother, but he had given him all the care he could.

Did Edgar, like his other siblings, desire the throne? Or did he want Marius dead?

Ah. Maybe he blamed him for Leopold’s death.

Despair spiraled through his mind, chilling his blood and setting his pulse racing.

He tightened his grip and swung his sword. Clang! Steel collided against steel.

“What do you want?”

His voice had dropped dangerously low, and Edgar’s gaze wavered.

The heavy rain blurred Marius’s vision, but those green eyes—so identical to Leopold’s—remained painfully clear.

“Are you holding me responsible? Leopold’s suicide wasn’t my fault.”

Every tragedy had started with that damned Rebecca Marchione.

Because of her twisted schemes for revenge, Marius, Leopold, François—
All of them had been caught in her games.

Leopold chose death because of it.

As Marius seethed in frustration, Edgar shouted,

“I hate you!”

“I did everything I could for you! How can you say that?!”

“Yes, you did everything. Even killing innocent people for the sake of love—if that’s what you call doing your best, then sure. You, Leopold—you’re all insane. None of you are in your right mind.”

“……So, are you going to kill me?”

“If necessary.”

Edgar’s blade slashed Marius’s arm.

The instant the searing pain spread, Edgar recoiled in shock, dropping his sword.

Marius’s vision flickered.

His own sword, swung without restraint, grazed the boy’s cheek.

Blood dripped steadily, mixing with the rain pooling on the ground.

Edgar, his eyes bloodshot, spoke.

“Let it end with me.”

“You’ve committed treason the moment you aimed for my life.”

“I know. That’s why I’m saying this—don’t kill Liliana. Don’t kill anyone else. Just end it with me.”

Hearing those words, Marius felt as though he would go mad from rage, betrayal, and sorrow.

Without hesitation, he swung his sword.

Lightning reflected off the silver blade, flashing brightly.

But Marius couldn’t kill Edgar.

The sword merely sliced through the boy’s coat.

Instead, he locked his cousin away in the underground prison, concluding the matter.

How could I ever kill you?

A fifteen-year-old boy had risked his life to stand against him.

For days, overwhelmed by emotion, Marius had been tempted to storm down to the prison and shout at Edgar.

How could you do this to me?

But it was Edgar.

He might not have loved his cousin with the same desperate devotion Alice had for her younger siblings,
but Edgar was still the last person in his life for whom he held genuine affection.

“Ugh.”

Marius let out a groan.

The injury Edgar had given him no longer existed, ever since he had turned back time.

Yet whenever he recalled that moment, his left arm throbbed strangely, as if the wound had never healed.

The more he tried to sever his feelings for Edgar, the worse the pain became.

But in this life, he wanted to keep his distance from him.

Though this Edgar was different from the one in the past—

He was still the same child.

Marius refused to suffer that pain twice.

He wouldn’t endure the tragedy of crossing swords with Edgar again.

Of course, the same situation won’t repeat itself, but… you never know.

The tragedy that no one else knew about was, to him, a wound still fresh—less than half a year old.

So he rubbed his arm, wishing for the phantom pain to fade.

It had already been a week since Edgar’s birthday party.

In that time, I had been forced to drink François’s disgusting, bubbling magic potion twice.

Afterward, my older sister had pricked my finger with a needle, drawing a few drops of blood.

“AAAAHHH!”

She claimed it was for some kind of research, but she never explained properly.

All I knew was—needles were terrifying.

“I’m going to hate you forever, Sister.”

I shrank back, hiding my hands behind me.

Seeing my fear, my sister’s eyebrows drooped apologetically.

“I’m really sorry, little one. But just bear with it a little more.”

“Nooo. I won’t. Help me!”

“That’s not what I taught you to use that word for…”

Tears welled up in my eyes, but my sister wasn’t one to be swayed.

She kept apologizing—”I’m sorry, I really am”—as she forcibly held me down and took my blood.

François tried to console me by conjuring a magic squirrel,

but what I really needed was for him to pretend to stop my sister instead.

“I’m never playing with Sister or Mister ever again!”

Furious, I ran off to meet Edgar at our promised spot.

When I arrived at the fountain, Edgar was already waiting.

The moment he saw me, he asked,

“Did you cry again?”

“I didn’t cry! What, do you think I’m a baby? I don’t cry over needles anymore.”

“If you lie, you’ll grow horns on your butt.”

“That’s not a thing.”

How could it possibly grow horns there?

…Still, just in case, I casually scratched my lower back to check.

Luckily, no horns. It had to be a lie.

As I sighed in relief, Edgar pulled a candy from his pocket and handed it to me.

“Today was a magic juice day, right?”

“You’re giving this to me? Thanks! Edgar, you’re the best! Way better than my sister.”

At my words, Edgar’s cheeks flushed red.

Edgar was definitely weak to compliments, as evidenced by the slight upward curl of his lips.

‘I want to do something for Edgar too, but I just don’t know what or how to do it.’

For the past week, the relationship between Edgar and Marius had been a complete mess.

Marius had tried to speak to him several times, but Edgar wouldn’t even meet his gaze.

On top of that, Leopold was making a fuss about taking Edgar to the Ducal House.

“Edgar, are you really going to live at the Ducal House like Uncle Leo says?”

“What do you think I should do?”

“Hmm. If you go to the Ducal House, we won’t be able to play together like this every day, right?”

“Most likely not.”

“Then…”

Just as I was about to answer Edgar, an unexpected voice interrupted.

“Oh! You!”

It was Chris Ruman, Helen Eldridge, and what appeared to be their friends—the same ones I had seen at Edgar’s birthday party.

Since my eldest sister and Marius were selecting flower children for their wedding, it seemed they had come to the palace with their parents for that reason.

Helen suddenly pointed at me and shouted,

“That’s the one! The monster who eats people!”

With that, the children surrounded Edgar and me.

Edgar frowned in displeasure at the situation.

“Move aside. Don’t block the way.”

“Edgar! Why are you playing with such a barbarian? That’s dangerous!”

“Who’s dangerous? Stop saying weird things and get lost.”

The Empire was a society built on social hierarchy, but for children who didn’t yet fully understand nobility and ranks, Edgar’s status meant little.

“I heard she tried to eat Chris yesterday! You better get away before she eats you too!”

“What?”

These little brats! I felt something hot rise inside me.

It seemed I needed to introduce them to my friend.

Clenching my fist tightly, I asked Helene,

“Should I introduce you to my really scary friend?”

“A scary friend?”

I lifted my right fist and introduced it.

“Say hello. This is Oliver!”

The hammer-fist Oliver only came out when I was truly angry—my most reliable friend.

“If you don’t want to find out how strong Oliver is, you’d better stop. Why would I eat Edgar? If anything, I’d eat mean kids like you.”

I purposely clicked my teeth together, making a sharp sound.

Chris’s face turned pale.

Edgar scoffed at the group surrounding us.

“You’re not kids anymore, and yet you believe in things like people eating each other?”

At that, all of them flinched at once.

For children, being called “a kid” was a matter of pride.

“N-No! I didn’t believe it!”

“Yeah! We were just pretending to believe it!”

“It’s Helen who’s weird!”

All eyes turned to Helene. She stammered in embarrassment.

“M-My grandmother said so! She said Trovancha people eat humans!”

“I thought you were older than me because you’re taller, but you’re still a little kid, huh?”

I clicked my tongue and waggled my finger at her.

She was probably the kind of kid who still believed Santa Claus climbed down chimneys to deliver presents.

The truth was, he actually rode a red-nosed reindeer and delivered them through the window.

“Let’s go. If we stay with these idiots any longer, we’ll get dumber too.”

“Are you calling us idiots?”

Helen blocked Edgar’s path just as he grabbed my hand to leave.

“If you’re not an idiot, should I call you a coward instead? You were the one who ran away last time.”

“Y-You…!”

At that moment, Helen shoved Edgar’s shoulder.

And without thinking, I lunged at Helen and headbutted her.

“Don’t you dare touch my friend!”