CHAPTER 68 - BECOMING A MONSTERJulian slowly opened his eyes.
The spilled sunlight drowned the room with a luxurious golden shimmer. The first thing Julian noticed was the soft sound of a pen scratching on paper, and his body aching all over. When he turned to his left, he was surprised to see his brother, Heinrich, sitting on the side of the bed on a chair.
The young man was writing something in a notebook, looking very serious, and for some reason, made Julian think of their father.
It was then that Heinrich's eyes rose and met his.
"You're awake, Brother," he said in a warm, deep voice… for some reason. He looked like he was in such a relief that Julian woke up.
Why?
His brother's hand reached to his forehead, and Julian almost wanted to brush it off in embarrassment, but he couldn't move his aching body. So he couldn't help but freeze when he felt the warm touch of his brother's palm on his forehead.
"No fever," Heinrich muttered under his breath and heaved a sigh of relief.
Julian looked confused, really.
All his life–no. He never imagined his brother would act like this to him.
"Does your body hurt?" asked Heinrich, as if guessing Julian's complaint.
Julian didn't answer, and Heinrich didn't speak anymore either. The young man stood up and soon returned with the servants and a physician.
He could see all the people moving around him who were lying on the bed. They seemed to know what they had to do and move effectively to help him sit up, clean his body, examine him, and so on.
But even more strange than that was Heinrich, who was staring at him with his arms crossed over his chest, with a worried look.
Again, why?
Ah.
Julian remembered.
He had caught Lycanthropy.
Instantly, his face turned pale. The young man's breathing became ragged, and his eyes slowly became teary.
He had become a monster. The monsters he considered prey animals, the monsters he killed mercilessly, again and again.
Just as his whole body was shaking violently, and tears began to roll down his terrified face, he suddenly realized that his brother had hugged him tightly.
All of his fear and horror suddenly turned into a sense of extreme confusion. Then anger.
"Go away!" with all his strength that felt weak and his body ached when he move, Julian pushed away his brother's body. "Leave me alone!"
"Julian!"
Heinrich snapped at his brother.
The siblings stared at each other in silence. Julian's eyes widened in astonishment to see his brother, who was crying. Tears flowed from his eyes, staring at him firmly.
"Do not be afraid."
Heinrich's deep and soft voice somehow calmed Julian.
"I will protect you. I won't let you get hurt," Heinrich said.
A second later, as if smashed to pieces, Julian burst into tears. Like a child, the young man gripped his older brother's body tightly, hugged him and embraced him. He was scared, he was angry, and he was sorry. He didn't know how to process his feelings.
"It's your brother's fault. It's okay, don't be afraid. I will take care of everything, I promise," Heinrich's reassuring whispers only made Julian sadder. "I will protect you. I am your big brother, I will arrange everything," he whispered, continuing his words.
Julian's loud and pitiful cry only made everyone who heard it uncomfortable.
In the end, he was just a young man who chose the wrong path.
***
Heinrich closed the door to his brother's room after making sure his brother was fast asleep again. It was then that he saw a woman with an upright posture wearing a maid uniform, carrying a pile of white sheets in her hands, walking away from the room, as if she had just passed through the room.
But Heinrich could see that the woman was familiar. He stepped gently following the maid from behind and smiled broadly because the longer it went on, the more certain he became of the maid's true identity.
Hmm, that woman's habit of thirst for information still carried over to her next life, it seemed. In the past, she also created Artificial Spirits for the purpose of spying on her enemies…
Heinrich saw the woman turning down the hall, and he quickly ran after her.
As expected, the woman continued walking without looking back so as not to be suspicious, but Heinrich quickly caught up to her and stopped right in front of her.
Sure enough, it was the woman he met yesterday. Harriet Goldlane.
"Good morning, Madam," Heinrich said cheerfully.
A startled Harriet widened her eyes and then furrowed her brows. She still couldn't say anything or react. During this time, she had always been able to escape easily and was never detected by the envoys from the West Continent when she disguised herself as a maid and tried to eavesdrop or investigate.
It was all because–
"So that's why you dress so flashy? That's so that when you dress simply, no one will think that it's you?" guessed Heinrich.
He felt proud to see behind Cindy's plan!
Harriet clicked her tongue. What exactly happened to Heinrich that this young man could see through all her tricks overnight?
"Answer me honestly, Madam. What are you looking for?" Heinrich asked.
Harriet looked coldly at Heinrich and sighed.
"I heard that Mages from the West Continent have a special tool called Artificial Spirit that can be used for eavesdropping and spying activities," said Harriet.
"Oh, are you accusing us of such a thing?" Heinrich asked in an interested tone.
"I'm not accusing. If I were you, I'd use it," explained Harriet.
Heinrich smiled admiringly. Of course, Cindy would know just based on that fact.
The young man chuckled and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, a white dove appeared from the window into the garden from the hallway and landed on his hand. Now that he recalled his previous life, he could control an Artificial Spirit freely with his knowledge from decades ago.
Harriet looked at him with admiring eyes. The dove looked completely like a real bird, not like the Artificial Spirit in the books in the form of an artificial bird made of metal and wood mechanisms that looked very unlike the real animal.
"This is the newest model. Beautiful, right?" asked Heinrich proudly.
Harriet blinked confusedly at Heinrich, who showed her his trump card.
Heinrich smiled gently at Harriet's suspicious eyes. The Cindy he knew was standing right in front of him in exactly the same manner as she used to be. His face started to turn red from how happy he was.
"Now you have to be a little more careful when you see a dove near you," said Heinrich with a wide, charming smile.
Heinrich swung his arm, letting the white dove fly away from there.
"I would like to ask you to take it home when you leave from here," said Harriet curtly.
Heinrich chuckled and bowed deeply sincerely.
"Very well, Madam," he said politely.
Harriet turned to walk away, leaving Heinrich, who raised a sweet blush on his face. The young man clasped his fist in the air, pleased to be able to have another conversation with his female idol.
"Hehehe," he chuckled in a stupid voice, then, walked briskly away from there.