Chapter 61
Franz shook his head and gently removed her slender hand from his arm. Meeting Brunhilde’s puzzled gaze, he smiled faintly and calmly, almost out of place against his battered face.
“You wanted to change Carl’s fate, didn’t you? This is your last chance.”
“…Franz.”
“If I hold them off here, you’ll be able to get farther away.”
There was something strangely painful about the way his words disregarded his own life so easily. Her eyes stung.
Brunhilde shook her head stubbornly and reached for his arm again. But he avoided her touch.
“There’s no time. Go.”
“No, come with me, you—”
“Foolish princess. Do you really think your son would leave the castle unguarded? Leaving behind a mother who could run at any moment?”
“……!”
At that instant, it was as if lightning struck her mind, like a revelation granted by the heavens.
Her eyes widened.
Everything that had felt slightly off—things she had dismissed because they worked in her favor—began to whirl through her thoughts like leaves caught in a storm.
Come to think of it… why hadn’t Carl killed Franz immediately? He’d had the chance to let him die without lifting a finger. Then why leave so openly?
Why leave without even placing a guard—twice?
Why had he, reluctant as he was, still brought her to the prison?
Why were the keys to the shackles bundled together with the cell key?
And most of all—
‘Why had Carl, who desired her so desperately… endured his own desire for several days?’
Her face went rigid with horror. Grinding her teeth, she glanced between Franz and the prison entrance before grabbing his wrist and trying to pull him out.
But by the time she realized it was a trap, it was already too late.
Step. Step.
Footsteps echoed from the distance. Low, ominous, like a funeral bell tolling underground. Before long, a familiar figure slowly came into view, like prey frozen before a serpent.
“So… you tried to run again.”
“…Carlos.”
Their son—who had once again led his mother straight into a snare—smiled faintly.
“And this time, you even freed the brother who’s been violating you for fifteen years. Have you grown attached to him? Is that it?”
The way the boy said attached was glacially cold. No… calling him a boy no longer fit. Carlos had come of age just two days ago.
Now fully grown, he approached them like a hunter closing in on prey, the blade of the Brandt head gleaming in his hand.
“Give up now, Mother. You can’t escape me.”
“…You should be the one to give up, my child. I won’t let the Brandt curse devour you.”
It was Carlos who broke their locked gaze first. As if deciding further words were a waste of time, he turned his head and in the next instant, he moved without warning.
His sword shot forward with explosive speed, piercing toward Franz’s throat.
“Franz!”
Brunhilde’s scream came too late. A thin line of blood welled from Franz’s neck. The blade stopped just as it grazed his skin.
“…I suppose I should start by killing my brother.”
“M-my child…”
“It must be because he’s still alive that you keep clinging to false hope. Forgetting the misery of being forced, and mistaking his shallow kindness for something meaningful.”
“Please… please don’t…”
Tears flooded Brunhilde’s eyes. She could only beg, unable even to reach out and stop him.
Carlos glanced at her briefly, then asked in a flat voice,
“And why should I?”
“Franz is… your only—”
“The only person I have is you, Mother. My beloved Brunhilde. The desire God himself placed within me.”
“……”
Slowly and deliberately, Carlos moved his hand. The blade began to press deeper, slicing further into Franz’s throat. Her whole body trembled.
“Please, stop…!”
“I told you. Blood ties mean nothing to me. No one but you, Brunhilde.”
“Then—what must I do? What do I have to do for you to spare your brother?”
Ah, at last.
A fierce, trembling delight flickered in Carlos’s eyes before settling into something calmer. Tilting his head, he smiled.
“You already know, don’t you? What I want from you.”
“…I…”
“You can take your time deciding. I can simply kill him and then take you as well.”
“Ah…”
A broken sound escaped her lips.
Her hands and mouth trembled uncontrollably. She bit her tongue again and again, forcing herself to steady her breath.
After countless moments of hesitation, she finally spoke. Each word passed like a punishment.
“…If I do as you want… will you spare him?”
“Hm?”
Carlos pretended not to hear. Drowning in despair, she forced the words out again.
“If I accept… your desire for me… will that be enough?”
“Ah… Mother.”
At last, the pleasure he had been holding back spilled freely from Carlos’s lips.
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