Chapter 11

It was only then that the men realized who they were facing making them hurriedly bow down their heads.

“Mar, Marquis!”

Rupert looked at them and said coldly.

“It is said that you had some fun in my estate.”

“That, that’s not true!”

“It was a lie!”

“Please forgive-“

He ignored the excuses that came pouring out of them. He was familiar with the sight.

“I’ve already read all the charges, so don’t unnecessarily hurt your jaws.”

Then he proceeded to point at the criminals one by one with his finger.

“Murder, kidnap, and rape in order.”

“……”

The three men went silent and glanced at each other.

After a while, they got down on their knees and started to beg.

“I’m sorry. I am sincerely reflecting on it, so please forgive me!”

“It is the same for me. I will really live a new life from now on.”

“I don’t care whether you guys really reflected on it or not.”

“……”

At his cold words, they zipped their mouths shut.

Rupert glanced at them with a rather uninterested gaze.

“I needed humans to kill, and you deserve to die. That is the only thing that matters.”

“……”

The faces of the three men who understood his words became increasingly white.

“Ah…”

“You want to reflect and live a new life? There will be no chance for that without a future.”

Rupert slowly pulled out his sword and declared-

“Your damn life ends here.”

To them who were shaking in fear, Rupert did not have an ounce of sympathy. It was just like his boring greetings.

The men who figured out the situation shouted.

“My, please forgive-“

Blood splattered.

“Bye.”

Crimson blood splattered inside the prison cell.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!”

“Please, save me!”

Murder, torture, war.

The curse that his mother placed on him upon his birth forced his body to rejoice in the act of killing.

His five senses were extremely sensitive, and even in the dark, the expressions of fear of those at the time of their death was clearly visible.

Even the bloody scent that would make an average person frown, was sweet for Rupert.

It was really disgusting.

Swinging his sword silently, he suddenly remembered what Noel had said to him.

[I hope the Marquis will put in a little effort for Leah as well. I know you hate me, but the child is innocent.]

His mother hated her son who resembled the man who had abandoned her.

She hoped that her child would grow up to be the worst criminal and defile the family of that man.

Instead of wanting her son to grow up to be a righteous person, she wanted her son to be a human worse than trash lying by the roadside.

Such a mother’s curse was still holding onto his dire life even after many years have passed.

The curse gradually ate his sense of reasoning.

Now, as an adult, Rupert has a body that can live sanely only by taking others’ life.

For a person like this, to play the role of a ‘father’ was impossible.

In the first place, what the hell does a parent do? What else does he have to do besides giving his children what they need to grow up?

“Ha….”

Rupert exhaled briefly. Somehow, he was annoyed.

‘That demand felt like the most impossible and difficult one I’ve ever heard.’

* * *

A few days have passed since the conversation I had with Rupert.

That means that it wasn’t long until me and Leah get killed. The start of the story was right before my nose.

Little by little I increasingly got nervous. Rupert still hated me and didn’t trust me. He didn’t show special care for Leah either.

Human relationships could be based on the give and take policy.

As much as Rupert didn’t trust me, I too can’t trust him.

In addition, he is cursed.

A curse that can only keep him sane by killing people.

‘… it’s very scary.’

In the original story, while Rupert was holding back on his urge to kill, Noel, as usual, screamed and quarreled with him. Rupert tried to avoid her, but Noel stuck to him and harassed him with sharp words.

[Ha, such a dirty and terrible human like you shouldn’t have been born!]

It was a word that struck Rupert’s most sensitive spot.

The curse dominated his body.

To make things worse, Leah, who accidentally heard the sound, cried and clung onto Rupert.

But Rupert, who was still in his mad state, didn’t recognize her in time. Killing his wife and daughter, he barely woke up to the pool of ​​blood.

And then, he suffers a terrible sense of self-destruction.

… the story goes on like that.

“It really is terrible.”

It was also a problem that I had to live with a man who could only stay sane by killing people, and to raise a daughter well in that situation only made the situation worse.

In addition, the man being indifferent to his daughter and hostile to his wife was the biggest problem.

Anyway, the only person who can stop Rupert’s curse was his loved one. The heroine was an essential person in his life.

‘Come to think of it, even if I do manage to survive, what do I do after Rupert and the heroine fall in love?’

Will I be kicked out? And what about Leah?

In the end, I couldn’t sleep until dawn. I got out of bed and wandered around my room. My head was all complicated with various different thoughts.

‘Do I really need to be with Rupert?’

First of all, I should let go of the expectation that this man will one day open his eyes and show paternal care?

‘Should I start getting ready to run away with Leah?’

I grew increasingly worried and started taking off the jewelry from the dresses to pack it away.

‘… should I pack a little bit of Leah’s luggage as well?’

While thinking alone, standing in the corner of the room, I heard a sound coming from the hallway.

“Wha-“

I was so surprised that I almost screamed and barely held it in.

It was a sound of unknown identity at dawn, so it was definitely scary.

‘It can’t be a ghost.’

It sounded natural, but me and Rupert used separate rooms. Because of my sharp, previous personality, I didn’t keep anyone around at night.

Thanks to this, I was always alone in my room.

I rubbed my arms in fear and approached the door. It was necessary to check the cause of the sound.

I pushed the door slightly with an uneasy feeling.

The hinge made a creak.

After seeing the hallway, I was surprised.

‘Blood!?’

There was a little bit of blood in the hallway.

Maybe someone passed this place while bleeding.

It was scary, but I thought that there might be an injured person, so I followed the blood trail. At first, I didn’t know, but the blood was leading up to Rupert’s room.

Realizing that fact, I made two hypotheses.

First, Rupert killed someone.

Second, Rupert himself was injured.

‘Wasn’t it a big deal either way?’

With that thought, I approached Rupert’s room and slightly pushed on the door to open it a little. If it was the first situation, it was necessary to go to call for a guard right away.

“Ugh…”

Then, I heard a painful groan from inside.

Just beyond the open door, Rupert was seen lying on his bed.

I exclaimed in confusion.

“Marquis!? Are you all right?”

My second hypothesis was right. Rupert was bleeding on his bed.

The white bedsheets gradually turned red.

Are you dead? I carefully pushed the door open and called out his name.

“…Rupert?”

Of course, since the day I talked to him, our relationship has progressed for the worse but regardless of that, I still wasn’t heartless enough to leave him and walk away in this current situation.

Rupert glanced at me.

“…Noel? Is it you?”

He then raised his hand and made an exorcising motion as if I was something annoying.

“Don’t be noisy like last time for absolutely no reason and go away.”

Look at what he is saying in this condition!

“Even in this situation, you are still pretty good at making insults!”

I approached him quickly while spitting out words that were filled with sarcasm.

Rupert frowned and outstretched his hand.

“Go away.”

I replied unintentionally.

“An injured person should keep his mouth shut.”

Perhaps I was harsher than he expected, Rupert widened his eyes a little.

I didn’t have the time to worry about my husband’s reaction.

First, I had to have a good look at his wounds.

There was a long cut on his shoulder…was his back also injured? How did it happen? Was it caused by a fingernail? Or was it from a sword?

“I have to call the doctor.”

Right at the moment I tried to pull on the string to call for an attendant, Rupert reached for my hand.

“It’s all right, you don’t need to call for a doctor.”

This man!

I was a little angry because of his uncooperative attitude.

“So you’re just going to die like this? from excessive bleeding?”

Rupert replied distraughtly.

“It’s better if you just leave it as it is.”

Looking at his lack of common sense, I let out a sarcastic reply.

“That would be great for me.”

Rupert tapped on my shoulder and muttered.

“You’re really annoying… go back.”

I couldn’t return to room pretending like I didn’t see someone bleeding.

“Go back.”

” I don’t want to.”

Huh, I don’t know anymore. My husband always behaves exactly as he pleases so I intend on doing the same as well.

I decided to treat Rupert myself.