Free Web NovelChapter 24: The Cursed One¹
A question crossed his mind:
Was I the cursed one, or was the world itself cursed?
As someone born a prince, despite all the problems between him and the emperor, he enjoyed a respectable life as a prince. Yet he was ungrateful, failing to appreciate his good fortune, and his arrogance was as high as the mountains, leading him to dare to make such a terrible decision as running away from home.
And if you were to ask how a spoilt prince, not yet ten, would end up far from his servants and guards?...
Well, bound in chains, he gazed with dead eyes and a sorrowful heart at the masked figures below as they vied to... buy him
1,000 gold pieces
1,100
2,000
5,000....
As a handsome child, it was clear that these perverts were very keen to buy him, but why wasn’t he terrified?
Suddenly, the city’s alarm bells rang out, and within seconds he was drowned out by the screech of a flock of red death birds circling above the city. Before anyone could even react, a red mist spread through the city, and people gradually began to go mad as the monsters descended for their supper
In less than five minutes, the auction house was reduced to rubble, and huge, beautiful red birds tore apart the masked customers, who had become tasty morsels for them
He remained standing in his place, shackles binding his hands and feet and a wide collar encircling his neck, watching the symphony of death and misery that gradually faded.
He did not even bother to hide, for both humans and monsters behaved as if he had never existed in the first place...
He raised his eyes to the gloomy sky and asked
Is this world cursed, or is he the cursed one?
A simple question... yet he found it impossible to answer
Years had passed since he ran away from home... and he had witnessed this familiar scene of death and destruction ever since, in every city he had entered... without exception...
.⚜️ __________________________⚜️.
"Young master, this is Caio."
I looked at the book in my hands with frustration for a moment, but then dropped it to the floor as I lay back on the sofa, slumped in front of the heater.
"Come in."
I gave the permission.
Caio entered and bowed respectfully to me, whilst I looked at him, my head hanging over the armrest of the sofa in exasperation.
Hmm. Actually, this is the first volume of *The Perfect Death*. Since the fourth volume hasn’t been published yet, and since I’m frustrated by that, I couldn’t find the enthusiasm to read another novel, so I decided to reread this one... but, it doesn’t mean I’m not angry. It’s already been over three years since I read the first volume because this bloody author only writes one book a year, so yes, I was keen to reread it since I’d forgotten most of the events at the start of the novel
And if you were to ask me why I don’t grab this bastard by the scruff of his neck and force him to write the whole novel for me and save me from this misery, well, as you can see, my dear... this damned author is the son of one of the powerful clans on the continent, so when I asked Duke to kidnap this son of that clan for me
as an outcast son, I was reprimanded and dismissed... I even used Evelyne to ask the Duke, and although he agreed, he even granted her permission to use one of the Shadow Knights from our family’s Dark Hall to carry out her orders
But the person my sister and I had carefully chose then sent never returned, so the wretched kidnapping operation failed... and even Evelyne exhausted her luck as the Duchy’s spoilt daughter.
So I looked thoughtfully at my servant for a moment, then decided to speak.
"Caio."
"Yes, young master."
"Do you know?" free𝑤ebnovel.com
"I’m afraid I don’t understand the question, young master."
"Yes... right... damn you."
"...."
"..."
For a moment there was silence, which Caio broke as he bowed to me once more with a sad face, perhaps having noticed the book on the floor.
"Please forgive me, young master, but I come on the orders of His Grace the Duke."
"What is it?"
"The Duke summons the young master to the southern gate of the castle, to meet your soldiers and knights."
Right... For some reason, it seems the Duke intends to get rid of all his children from the Duchy these days. He has sent Cassian and Seraphine to the capital, Lucien to the western border, whilst Evelyne and Julian are at the Academy.
Does it matter?... As an outcast son, I have no business with what is happening. Let us go and explore our mother’s legacy.
So I got up from the sofa and gave him his orders whilst I stretched out
"Run me a bath."
"The bath is already ready, young master."
"I see... Then prepare my military uniform."
"Yes, young master."
Since I’m going to lead an army, I ought to at least look the part of an army commander.
After all, I am the Duchy’s outcast, not the Duchy’s playboy.
After my bath, and with the help of the maids, I put on the white military uniform.
In the Empire, there are colour codes for the official uniforms of the Imperial Army. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
For example, in the north their uniform is white, in the west red, in the east gold, in the south brown, and in the capital black.
and naturally, as with anything to do with the army, you can consider the colour of the uniform to be a form of bigotry, pride, and their endless military nonsense.
I’m sure that if I wore red, those northern soldiers would look down on me, even though the western army is also under the command of Duke Askelund.
But if I wore something like black or gold, forget it; even if I were the Duke’s son, I wouldn’t be surprised if I were sent to the other world in my sleep, as the man who trampled on their dignity and betrayed the Duchy.
Why am I complaining so much?
I looked at my reflection in the mirror in frustration; it doesn’t suit me at all...
Forget it... It’s not as if I’m going to meet my bride.
