Episode 124
“Yerine.”
I opened my eyes in surprise at the voice calling me.
When I opened my eyes, I saw Iker with his head in front of me and smiling.
Gradually, I arrived at the Academy and remembered what happened.
‘I wish it had been a nightmare.’
I looked at those golden eyes and thought.
“Why are you so surprised? You’ve seen me quite often.”
Iker grinned and stroked my cheek.
I turned my head instinctively.
Because I didn’t like the touch that seemed to think of me as a tool, not a person.
“Well, get used to it and you’ll be comfortable.”
Iker turned around, kicking his tongue.
Only then did I see the scenery in the room.
It looked like a dungeon.
The room made up of cold stone floors and stone walls gave a similar impression to the room Yerine lived in when she was persecuted by the Postade family.
Except for the fact that the room is much bigger, the ceiling is higher, and there is a huge monster.
‘That’s it.’
The monster that was flipping behind Iker was huge enough to cover one wall of the huge room.
It was no bigger than the monster I’ve seen so far.
‘The amount of mana absorbed must be enormous.’
Thinking inwardly, I turned my eyes away from the monster.
The room was stark, but the chair I was sitting on was quite luxurious.
It was made of good wood and had a velvet cushion.
The important thing was that my arms and legs were tied to the chair.
“This is where you’re going to live.”
Iker’s voice echoed through the room.
Suddenly, the blood all over my body felt cold.
“What?”
“You will live here from now on.”
Iker walked slowly towards me away from the monster and said.
“Do you like it?”
“………worst.”
“Really? But you can’t help it.”
He pulled my chin with one hand.
I struggled not to be dragged, but it was useless.
“You’d better not use magic.”
For more,
It was a gentle way of speaking to soothe the child, but there was a warning in it.
“I think it’s okay to kill him in front of you.”
His attitude of saying “kill” without hesitation seemed to be disgusting.
A man named Iker Tigris did.
He had no qualms about removing someone he didn’t like.
“If you don’t like it, try to look good to me.”
I gritted my teeth.
It was clear that he was trying to play with me completely.
“Why don’t you kill me instead? Why are you keeping me alive?”
Each word contained anger.
Iker smiled sarcastically as if such a reaction was funny.
“It’s a waste to kill you.”
After saying so, he flicked his finger.
As the cheerful sound rang out, the monster slowly came forward, procrastinating.
His mouth, which looks more greedy than other monsters, and countless arms and legs that shake without power created a dreary atmosphere.
“You can kill me and take away my mana.”
I murmured, looking at the monster with sharp eyes.
“Well, I thought about it. But I changed my mind.”
While he was talking, the monster came closer and closer.
The cold air of the monster began to shake.
In front of the gloomy atmosphere of the monster, the gold chain seemed to lose its light.
“I thought it would be more profitable to keep you alive and pull your mana for the rest of your life.”
The rest of my life.
Tied up here like a puppet.
Lost those who love me.
It might be a more painful life than death.
“And I really wanted to have you.”
His gold eyes flashed in the dark.
The eyes resembled the eyes of a snake just before putting its teeth into the prey that had bloomed with cautions.
“I was wondering who Yerine Spade was, and how helpless Cassius was so fond of her.”
He smiled and swept my hair with his hands.
It was different from the touch of a living person and touching the hair of a loved one.
It was a touch of tying the doll’s hair.
The hair of a doll that cannot move.
“Well, I found myself interested in you, apart from mana. I can understand why Cassius does that.”
Before I knew it, the monster was just around the corner.
The cold air from the monster’s mouth tickled my cheek.
Human beings will instinctively backtrack as soon as they feel the chill.
It was not something that could come from living creatures.
“Oh, don’t be afraid. It’s nothing.”
Iker grabbed my wrist and whispered.
The chain dug into my flesh, and I bit my lips to endure the pain.
“You’ll see each other more often.”
This jerk is going to use that monster to absorb mana from me regularly.
Probably it was meant to be until I died.
“Once stored in this monster, the mana flows into my body, but it doesn’t give me much pressure.”
“I know.”
“I’m going to increase my mana to infinity this way. It’s possible for you.”
“What do you want to get so far?”
I snapped at him who still held my wrist.
“What’s the point of a coup d’état and doing such a thing when you’re already set to be an emperor?”
“Do you want to know? I’m glad you’re finally interested in me.”
Only then did Iker let go of his wrist.
“Our Tigris was the first one to bring magic into the Empire. Without Tigris, people wouldn’t have received magical benefits.”
The yellow golden eyes hardened cold.
“But people have long forgotten the grace of Tigris. The common people use magic and the nobles interfere in the politics of the palace.”
It was clearly referring to 7 Imperial Families.
And it was also a word that was conscious of me, the Householder of 7 Imperial Families.
“There are so many arrogant people who say that they are as good at magic as the royal family.”
His low-cut voice contained a fit of long-lasting anger like lava bubbling in the volcano.
“The predecessor Emperor was foolish enough to tolerate it and pass it on. Even though I’ve suggested it several times.”
“It couldn’t have been accepted.”
The predecessor Emperor was a man who valued harmony rather than power.
That’s why he relatively did not interfere with 7 Imperial Families affairs compared to other Emperors.
“It was hard to see that old man keep leaving the country like this. I’ll have to wait at least a few decades to be the Emperor.”
“So you killed your father in a coup?”
“Yes.”
“I have nothing to say. Seeing as you’re bragging about it.”
Iker squinted and looked at me.
“It’s creeping up. There’s a limit for me to let you go.”
“I don’t need it, like that.”
Iker’s eyes quickly cooled down.
Then he turned to the monster and pointed at me with the tip of his chin.
“Argh!”
The monster’s mouth came up to me and bit my shoulder.
“It’s your first time, so I did it softly.”
Iker, who’s face colour hasn’t changed at all, murmured low.
Several mouths then bit me, and I was caught in the arms and legs of the monster while I couldn’t move.
“You said you didn’t need it, did you?”
Iker asked with a cool look.
“You’ll think differently from now on.”
Blood flowed from the wounds that the monsters put their teeth in.
I felt suffocated by the cold air they exhaled.
The hand that gradually stretched toward the left eye was creepy.
“If you’re cute, I’ll get you out of here soon, and if you don’t want to, then I won’t.”
Saying so, he held out his arms and rolled up his sleeves.
The monster with his arms stretched out grabbed his arms and bit him.
“Congratulations. Now your mana will flow into my body.”
Iker rolled up his mouth and smiled joyfully.
“So to speak, we become one.”
The monster slowly moved and expanded.
The view became darker and darker.
Iker’s smiling face was also invisible.
“See you soon, Yerine.”
Finally, the monster completely covered me with a blurry voice, and all that was in front of me was the darkness.