BXBX NOVEL Chapter 43 – Rampage
Chapter 43 – Rampage
“……”
Honestly, it’s baffling.
What on earth?
I was speechless in the face of endless questions.
‘There should be no information about the deal with the Emperor.’
Surely not asking about the source of the blank check?
But the Imperial Family hasn’t started using blank checks yet, have they?
‘Come to think of it, he did mention Rudine just now. Is it something related to the palace? Could it be the Emperor…’
No, that couldn’t be.
The Emperor wouldn’t go around exposing his own flaws to others, and besides, wasn’t it a contract bound by Geass?
‘If not that, then what?’
Apart from being involved with the Emperor, there is no longer any connection between me and the Imperial Family.
Ah, I don’t know.
Since there was no appropriate response, what could I do but stall?
One cannot spit on a smiling face, so I just smiled broadly to buy some time.
“I really don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
“No, you do.”
“I really have no idea.”
The Duke was staring at me intently.
It felt like he was dissecting every muscle of my face with his gaze.
A suffocating silence followed.
It was strangely harder to endure than usual.
Then.
“Kyle.”
The Duke spoke in a chilling voice.
“I’ve been looking into you lately.”
“You mean me?”
I asked with a puzzled look, and the Duke slowly nodded.
“You’ve been acting as if you’ve become someone else lately.”
“…”
“At first, I didn’t think much of it. But it seems you’re not the only one who has changed.”
I held my breath.
I just stared at him with a vacant look in my eyes.
“Isabel Yustia, who used to despise you so much, suddenly started clinging to you.”
“…”
“The Princess is the same. I heard that her tone and behavior changed completely since the day your attitude changed. She started showing a peculiar interest in you. As if you had become someone else.”
Yes, I have become someone else.
Isabel, Rudine, and me.
We have all returned to the past with our memories intact.
‘But there’s no information about the regression.’
Then what is he so sure of?
There must be some clue somewhere, and he’s calling me to probe into it.
The Duke’s eyes were not filled with suspicion but with unmistakable certainty.
I became curious.
What exactly is he trying to say?
I kept up my smiling facade.
“What do you want to say?”
The Duke remained silent for a moment.
He just looked at me with a subdued gaze, without asking any more questions or answering mine.
‘He’s persistent.’
The Duke said to me.
That Kyle has changed.
Because he doesn’t grovel to himself as usual.
Because he doesn’t act stupid.
Because he asserts his will decisively.
The evidence he presented for the changed Kyle is just one changed attitude.
Among countless things, only that one thing has changed.
“Even though you weren’t interested before.”
“…”
“What does it matter whether my attitude has changed or not? Just ignore me as you usually do. Don’t bother asking silly questions.”
The Duke’s face was calm, devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
He just kept staring at me with eyes full of conviction.
After a while, the Duke spoke calmly.
“A few days ago, a messenger from the Empress’ Palace came to the mansion.”
“The Empress’ Palace?”
“The messenger said that I should visit the palace as soon as possible, because the Empress had something important to discuss. I couldn’t refuse the imperial order.”
I remained silent and listened to the story.
“The Empress said, ‘The Princess, who was more intelligent than anyone else, started becoming obsessed with Kyle one day.'”
“…”
“At the same time, she proposed to me. She suggested that I meet with the Princess and have a conversation.”
What? Meeting and conversing with Rudine?
“So, I met her. With the Princess, who clings to you so much.”
A meeting between the Duke and the Princess.
I almost sighed at the unexpected revelation.
I managed to straighten my twisted face and maintained my expression.
The suffocating silence resumed.
As I licked my parched lips with my tongue…
‘..Should I ask?’
My patience was starting to wear thin.
I didn’t hesitate for long.
“What did you talk about?”
The Duke didn’t answer.
He just leaned back comfortably in his chair, seemingly enjoying the silence.
Tap—!
He lifted the teacup he held in his hand to take a sip.
His manner of observing etiquette felt strangely eerie.
After a moment, the Duke’s dry voice filled the air.
“She was indeed as sharp as I had heard.”
“…”
“At the same time, she was astute. Not a single word was wasted, and she never relinquished control of the conversation.”
Thud—!
The Duke set down the teacup he held in his hand on the desk.
“She knew everything.”
“Everything?”
“Yes, everything about Winfred. And everything about your birth, Kyle.”
Everything about Winfred.
And everything about Kyle’s birth.
Such unfamiliar information flooded my mind.
The strings of my rationality seemed about to snap and expand instantly.
Gulp.
I swallowed deeply.
The Duke continued in a calm voice.
“Kyle, you also knew that you weren’t my child.”
Just now.
What on earth did he say?
As the voice of despair echoed through, my mind blanked out for a moment.
“Pretending not to know won’t help.”
“…”
“The Princess, who was unable to see your situation, revealed herself that she had already conveyed all the facts to you, Kyle.”
What on earth?
I’ve never heard such a story before.
Above all.
‘Kyle… he’s not the Duke’s child…?’
What kind of thunderbolt is this?
Kyle was supposed to be Winfred’s illegitimate child, wasn’t he?
Surely, in the game’s settings…
‘…Was there such content?’
The detailed birth of Kyle Winfred.
Even a single line… Was it written in the official settings…?
‘There wasn’t a single one.’
A chilling sensation struck my brain like lightning.
I simply took it for granted.
Nobody paid any attention to the stories and dialogues seen while playing the game.
Neither me.
Nor the players enjoying the game.
And…
Even the characters in the game.
“…”
My heart pounded throughout my body.
At the same time, a thick vein stood out in my temple.
I had forgotten.
In this world, there is not a single person who is normal.
“For what reason did you hide in the Imperial Palace, only to return to the Duke’s mansion again? I pondered over this for a long time.”
“…Ha.”
An empty laugh escaped my lips.
The world’s malice toward Kyle had not yet ended.
“Speak.”
A flash of blue anger shimmered in the Duke’s eyes.
“What do you want?”
Crazy bastard.
I wanted to tear that damn face apart right then and there.
****
Step by step.
Luna walked slowly along the dark corridor.
“…”
Her pace wasn’t fast, nor was it slow.
Luna’s face looked troubled as she took each step, lost in thought.
The reason for her turmoil.
It was because Kyle had finally returned to the mansion today.
“…Kyle.”
Kyle had asked for her help to obtain the Holy Blood.
And in return for her help, he had proposed to return to the mansion.
It was suspicious.
Suddenly seeking the Holy Blood, and Kyle’s sudden change of attitude.
But Luna couldn’t refuse.
No, she was rather pleased.
The fact that she, who had always been a hindrance to Kyle, could finally be of help.
Even if she was just being used, even if she was eventually discarded, it was okay.
Kyle was her brother.
Just the fact that she could help him and clear away some of her past sins was enough.
Yes, it was enough.
Enough… yes…
It was… enough…
“…”
…Was it really enough?
To be used all along, never seeing Kyle again?
“…I don’t want to.”
Then she would be no different from Isabel, who was ultimately abandoned.
She shouldn’t be like Isabel.
She couldn’t bear to be hated by Kyle, to be abandoned by him.
Luna wrapped her arms around herself.
Suddenly, a memory from a few days ago flashed through her mind.
— It is not me who is jealous, but you
— Do you think I wouldn’t know the dirty feelings you harbor for your brother?
Isabel Yustia.
She said her feelings towards Kyle were dirty.
Luna gritted her teeth.
It was just a nonsensical statement.
The emotions she felt for Kyle were anything but those dirty.
But…
“…”
She couldn’t bring herself to refute it.
The identity of the uncontrollable feelings boiling within her was not anger but a sense of guilt.
— You see Kyle as a man, don’t you?
No, that’s not it.
Kyle is clearly my younger brother.
Lovable… even if I were to put him in my eyes, it wouldn’t hurt…
Lovable… my brother…
“Damn it…”
When Luna came to her senses, she found herself standing in place.
She immediately turned on her heel.
In this state, if Luna were to meet Kyle now, she felt she wouldn’t be able to control the simmering dark emotions growing in her chest.
Then it happened.
“——”
A familiar voice faintly echoed.
Luna moved towards the direction where the sound came from as if she were entranced.
At last, she arrived at a certain door.
It was the entrance to the Duke’s study.
Luna approached the door slowly.
Then, she bent forward, placing her ear against it.
“…”
As she focused her senses, the voice became clearer.
A deep male voice, Kyle’s voice.
It was followed by the Duke’s voice.
What followed was truly outrageous.
‘Princess…’
The Duke’s visit to the Empress’ Palace by the imperial order.
And the relationship between the Princess and Kyle, as heard from the Empress.
Luna listened to the story with a grave expression.
There was nothing surprising about it since she already knew the content.
Then it happened.
— Kyle, you also knew that you weren’t my child.
A shiver ran down Luna’s spine.
What on earth was this?
Luna’s chin began to tremble.
The voices of Kyle and the Duke echoed sharply in her blank mind.
The Duke was more serious than ever.
And Kyle didn’t deny anything.
‘What is this…’
Kyle, not the Duke’s child?
Kyle, not my brother?
It’s absurd.
There’s no way.
Kyle and I aren’t family?
Kyle and I… we aren’t brother and sister…?
“Ugh…”
Her chest rose and fell with the rough sound of her irregular breathing.
The razor-sharp realization mercilessly tore Luna’s rationality to pieces.
If he’s not my brother.
Then what is Kyle to me?
‘No, Kyle is my brother.’
Luna desperately denied it.
As her emotions and reason struggled, cold sweat dripped down her face.
‘My… brother…’
Yes, nothing has changed.
Kyle is family.
He’s my younger brother who I will always protect.
But.
But…
If that statement is true…
‘If… he’s not my younger brother…’
Luna sank down into her seat.
Various vile fantasies sprouted and bore fruit in her mind.
‘There’s no way…’
Kyle.
My brother.
Suddenly, a voice echoed in her ears like a hallucination.
— Wake up from your delusions.
— Even after you died and came back, it’s still impossible.
— As you said, blood ties aren’t so easily severed, right?
‘…Ah.’
With the surging intense heat, her whole body grew hot.
Her face blushed red like a heated iron.
‘Kyle.’
The corners of Luna’s eyes curved like crescents.
Intense desire lurked darkly in her azure pupils.
‘My brother.’
My beloved younger brother.
Beloved…
…My Kyle.
[TL/N: Sweet home alabama~ (not that I mind 😏)]