Chapter 89
“There’s going to be another monster hunt soon. You got picked again. Did you know that?”
Ever since arriving at the academy, Dedrick had been constantly sent to the abandoned forest to fight monsters. His arms, legs, and neck were wrapped in bandages, but he didn’t seem to care.
“The Grand Duchess must have spent quite a bit of money here. Looks like she’s determined to get you killed.”
“I don’t care.”
Even after exhausting hunts, Dedrick continued to train relentlessly with Jacob. Their goal was to master aura techniques before graduation.
“How about taking a break?”
Eugene cautiously suggested, but Dedrick coldly pushed his hand away.
“I can only rest if Mary is with me.”
“…Seriously?”
Eugene sighed, unable to argue against such deep devotion.
“Hey, Dedrick! You got a letter! I personally brought it—maybe today we could—”
“I told you not to touch my letters.”
Dedrick’s cold words cut through the girl’s sentence as he snatched the letter from her. She looked close to tears, but he ignored her completely.
After arriving at the academy, Dedrick’s striking features had gained attention. The dark circles under his eyes and his sharp, underfed face only made him more attractive to many girls.
“Ever since you got here, I’ve been completely ignored,” Eugene joked, but Dedrick paid no attention.
While examining the envelope, Dedrick suddenly froze upon seeing the sender’s name. Eugene’s face twisted in anger.
“Why the hell is that bastard writing to you?”
Dedrick ran his dry lips over his teeth, his heart pounding with unease. A heavy sense of foreboding filled him, making it hard to open the letter.
“Want me to read it for you?”
Eugene offered, but Dedrick’s slightly trembling hands moved on their own.
As he tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter, something small tumbled to the ground.
A tiny glass bottle filled with ashes.
Fear consumed him in an instant. He bent down, picked up the bottle, and began to read.
Then, his hands stopped shaking altogether.
“The wardrobe has been burned to ashes. Just in case you don’t believe me, I sent you some of the remains. It burned so beautifully. That monster was a real nuisance, so I just killed her. The woman with gray hair, right? She screamed and struggled in the fire. You should have seen it—”
The letter slipped from Dedrick’s fingers.
Everything inside him collapsed.
His breath turned ragged as the weight of despair crashed down on him.
[The wardrobe has been burned to ashes.]
That one sentence echoed endlessly in his mind.
His vision blurred. A sharp pain exploded from deep within his chest, tearing through his body.
“Haa… hngh…!”
He couldn’t even breathe. He gasped, choking on his own suffering.
Then—
Thud.
“Dedrick!”
He collapsed, unconscious.
Even as he fell, his hand remained tightly clenched around the small glass bottle.
Cursing under his breath, Eugene quickly lifted Dedrick onto his back. He had never seen the guy collapse before—not even after days without food or sleep.
But one letter had broken him.
“Damn it!”
Eugene sprinted toward the infirmary.
Smack!
The sharp sound of a slap echoed through the parlor.
“Ha.”
Somerset exhaled in disbelief, his cheek reddened from the strike.
Delani’s furious voice rang out.
“Somerset! I told you over and over not to burn the wardrobe! We needed it alive!”
That was the only thing that could keep Dedrick under their control. Now, thanks to her foolish son, it was gone.
Delani trembled with rage.
“Everything I do is for you!”
“Oh, just like how you couldn’t give up your precious luxury budget for me?”
Somerset sneered, making Delani look at him in shock.
“How long are you going to bring that up? Everything I did was—!”
“I don’t need it. I am the rightful heir to Blackwood, whether you’re here or not. As for Dedrick, I’ll make sure he never comes back.”
Somerset coldly turned and left the room.
Delani staggered, too stunned to stop him.
“Fetch a similar-looking wardrobe. We need to deceive him somehow.”
“Ma’am… I checked, and it seems Somerset already sent a letter to the academy. He informed Dedrick”.
“Hah…!”
That left her with only one option. Dedrick could never be allowed to return from the academy.
Delani recalled the way he had begged on his knees for that wardrobe. If losing it made him desperate then, what would he do now?
She shuddered at the thought.
Dedrick had inherited the Duke’s terrifying presence more than anyone.
“Send a message to Herba Academy immediately. Make it look like an accident, but kill him. He must never come back.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
As Gemma hurried off, Delani sank into her chair, gripping her forehead.
“No… No, it’ll be fine. He’ll never come back…”
She repeated the words to herself, trying to believe them.
But her trembling hands betrayed her fear.
For three days, Dedrick remained unconscious.
Eugene sighed, watching over him.
Meanwhile, the academy staff continued their heartless discussions, insisting he be forced awake and sent on the next monster hunt.
“But we can’t just kill all of them…”
Eugene clenched his teeth and grabbed the infirmary door handle, but before he could enter, Jacob called out from behind.
“Sir Eugene.”
“Oh, Sir Jacob.”
“I will stay by the young master’s side today, so please go and rest. You need to prepare for the subjugation mission.”
“It’s fine. My friend is more important. You should rest instead. You haven’t slept at all.”
They exchanged meaningless words as they opened the door.
Crash—!
The sound of something breaking came from inside.
The two rushed in.
Inside the already messy infirmary, Dedrick stood barefoot on shattered glass.
His empty eyes kept shedding silent tears.
“Where’s Mary?”
“…Dedrick.”
He covered his face and screamed.
“Mary…! Mary is…!”
Then, he started tearing apart the infirmary, throwing everything within reach. It wasn’t enough—he even began slamming his head against the wall, harming himself.
Bang! Bang!
“Hey! Stop it!”
Even as blood dripped from his forehead, he didn’t stop.
Jacob and Eugene tried to restrain him, but his strength was too much.
“I… I killed her. I killed her…!”
Bang! Bang!
“Stop it! Do you want to die too?!”
Dedrick, his face covered in blood, stared blankly.
“…Can’t I?”
“Dedrick.”
“How am I supposed to live?”
Suddenly, he grabbed a shard of broken glass from the floor.
Eugene’s face turned pale as he called out.
“Sir Jacob!”
Dedrick clenched the glass tightly, refusing to let go. Blood dripped from his hand.
He didn’t hesitate—he aimed it at his heart.
“I’m sorry, Young Master!”
Jacob struck Dedrick hard on the neck, knocking him unconscious.
As Dedrick collapsed, Eugene barely managed to catch him, stumbling under his weight.
“This idiot with all his brute strength…”
Eugene gritted his teeth at the large body in his arms.
“He’s going to go crazy again when he wakes up. Let’s take him to my room for now, Sir Jacob.”
“Yes…”
Jacob easily lifted Dedrick onto his back.
Eugene frowned as he noticed the glass shards stuck in Dedrick’s feet.
“…Let’s treat him first.”
Late at Night
Eugene, unable to sleep from restlessness, finally opened his eyes.
He sat up to check on Dedrick but froze in place.
The ominous red moonlight poured down onto Dedrick’s bed, casting an eerie glow.
Dedrick was sitting up, staring endlessly at a small bottle and a letter in his hands.
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• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •By Freya• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •
If you want to support the translation and the translator, you can buy a coffee~
Advance chapters of this novel are available on my kofi channel
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