# Chapter 36
“You know there aren’t many premises where the word ‘forced’ would apply.”
Ion couldn’t refute Tis’s words.
“From what I’ve heard, I understand that person is extremely pure and kind to a serious degree. But there’s a difference between those qualities and actually causing an incident that could result in casualties.”
“There were no casualties.”
“But there almost were.”
It was an undeniable fact that Grand Duke Verdit himself had nearly been the victim. With so many witnesses, this part couldn’t be glossed over as if Ion had merely almost been assassinated.
Even today, rumors were circulating throughout the marketplace about a bomb installed in the palace annex where the ball was held, which had collapsed half of the building. If Ion had suffered even a small injury rather than just inhaling a lot of dust, exaggerated stories would have spread like wildfire.
“Being naive and kind enough to be manipulated cannot be a criminal’s excuse for their crimes.”
“There must have been reasons why he had no choice.”
“That’s what all criminals say…”
Tis, who had been speaking, swallowed the rest of his words after looking at Ion’s face. Instead, he changed the subject.
“So what do you want to do?”
“…”
Tis’s once cold eyes now held an interested gleam.
“Of course you’d want to know who’s behind him, but what else do you want?”
“…”
Ion clenched his fists on his knees and made a resolute expression.
“Whoever is behind this, allow me to have Levi for myself.”
Tis narrowed his eyes as he rested his chin on his hand.
“Then what can you do for me?”
“You already know.”
With an utterly cold face, Ion revealed his greatest card.
“As you’ve always wanted, I’ll create an immortal army for you.”
That was the most valuable card that Tis had desired from Ion since their first meeting when Ion was young.
❖ ❖ ❖
Drip— Drip—
The sound of water droplets continued without stopping.
‘When did I fall asleep?’
As he approached a state of starvation, he kept losing consciousness. The body tries to protect itself by cutting off the exhausted mind and using calories for the brain. But when the reserves the body has been preserving gradually disappear and hit rock bottom, only instinct remains to dominate the entire body.
Kill.
I don’t want to kill.
Two contradictory thoughts kept colliding in his mind.
Kill everyone and use them as nourishment.
Minimal nourishment is enough. Stop killing.
He didn’t understand. If he had to kill humans for nourishment anyway, why should he restrain himself? For what reason?
“Levi.”
A familiar voice was heard.
“I like Levi. I like you so much.”
“So if Levi dies, I’ll definitely cry.”
A child’s voice. It was a voice that even he, who could barely distinguish emotions, could definitively say he “liked.”
“Did you not hear what I just said? I like you.”
You… like me?
“How could I not cry when someone I like has died?”
Because you like me… you cry…?
In his chaotic mind, what remained was the ticklish sound of someone “liking” him.
“I like Levi…”
“Levi.”
The voice in his head and the sound reaching his ears mixed together.
He slowly lifted his heavy eyelids. Though they were incredibly heavy and stiff, he forced his eyes open.
Beyond his vision, tinted red from the blood flowing into his eyes, a familiar face appeared.
Kalvern with his blood-red hair was looking at him with a bright smile.
“Hungry?”
In a state where his consciousness was about to snap, he nodded slowly. Each time he moved, his body swayed and the chains connecting his limbs made an unpleasant clanking sound.
He knew that the hunger he felt was distinctly different from what others experienced. He didn’t know or empathize with the hunger people felt in their stomachs or the thirst in their throats, but he thought this state of desperately wanting “nourishment” wasn’t much different from theirs.
Kalvern looked satisfied as he observed Levi, who seemed on the verge of death. He casually patted Levi’s head, who was continuously bleeding from various parts of his body.
“I really like Levi.”
“I like Levi. I like you so much.”
Levi’s body flinched.
The voices overlapped again.
Levi managed to lift his head with difficulty and met Kalvern’s gaze.
“I… like… you… too…”
Levi, who mistook Kalvern for the sweet-voiced child in his hazy memories, once again made an affectionate confession to him.
Like a doll that had to speak those words even while knowing that the emotion was scattered somewhere other than toward Kalvern.
Kalvern gestured to the men around him after seeing Levi finally lose consciousness again. They entered the iron cage holding Levi and removed all the chains binding him.
“What about his wounds?”
“Leave them. No matter how bad his condition is, he’ll heal in a day.”
“But soon…”
One man trailed off anxiously. After thinking for a moment, Kalvern spoke with an annoyed expression.
“Then just wipe off the blood. The smell might disturb him.”
“Yes, sir.”
The men brought old rags that were closer to mops and roughly wiped Levi’s blood-covered body. Despite the many severe wounds that would hurt even if handled carefully, they scrubbed vigorously, regardless of the painful groans Levi made in his sleep. This caused wounds that had begun to heal to reopen, making blood flow profusely, much to the men’s irritation.
Kalvern, who was watching this, instructed impatiently when the blood wouldn’t stop despite their wiping:
“It’s too much trouble, just dunk him in cold water…!”
“Is this how you normally maintain him?”
Startled by the sudden voice, Kalvern and the other men jumped to their feet.
The person who had opened the inn’s basement door was a man with deep black hair and a cold impression. Behind him were two men who appeared to be his bodyguards, and even at a glance, they looked extraordinary.
The black-haired man asked again, as if Levi were merely an “object”:
“He looks in terribly bad condition. Is this a maintenance issue?”
Kalvern quickly bowed his head under the man’s chilling gaze.
“This fellow’s self-healing ability is too good, so we have to do this much to bring him to a state of starvation. Otherwise, he tries to endure somehow, and it takes time…”
“You’re speaking out of turn.”
One of the men standing as a guard glared at Kalvern with contempt.
“He knows more about him than anyone.”
Kalvern apologized while breaking into a cold sweat.
“I’m sorry. I overstepped my bounds.”
Though Kalvern had always been arrogant and relaxed in front of his subordinates and Levi, he couldn’t maintain his haughtiness before this man. In his presence, one wrong word could cost him his head or arm, so he had to be extremely careful.
The man standing before the iron cage silently looked down at Levi lying on the floor. Levi’s rough breathing and half-open, unfocused eyes were shaking in confusion.
Levi’s right arm twitched as he entered a state of starvation. But with his entire body severely injured, even moving his limbs was difficult, so he was barely managing to take wheezing breaths.
The man watching Levi reached his hand out to Kalvern. Immediately recognizing the signal, Kalvern took out a necklace he was wearing and respectfully handed it over.
It was a piece of a black bead with a hole drilled through it, connected to a string so it could be worn around the neck. The man clutched the black bead fragment in his palm and reached his hand into the iron cage.
It happened in an instant.
As soon as the man’s hand entered Levi’s field of vision, a black hand strongly grasped it. A red light flowed from Levi’s black hand. The subtle red light seemed to flow toward the man as if desiring his vitality.
Everyone present knew about Levi’s ability—that his black hand consumed human vitality as nourishment.
But no one was afraid, despite the black hand having grabbed the high-ranking man. By then, the red energy flowing from Levi’s hand had already dissipated.
The man casually asked, while still offering his hand to Levi as one would give a toy to a child:
“Have you found the Former Empress’s records?”
