Chapter 46
The black eyes and black hair were like Ludwig’s. However, Raijin’s skin, untouched by light, was paler than fair, as if proving his status as a patient.
Raijin was nine years younger than him and a terminal patient who couldn’t maintain daily life without life-sustaining medicines. The exact diagnosis was unknown; they could only speculate it was caused by a rare congenital condition that had damaged his body. If ordered to stop taking those expensive medicines immediately, he would likely suffer in agony before dying not long after.
“Oh, you came to dine with me?”
Raijin couldn’t hide his joy at the simple suggestion of dining together, averting his eyes in happiness.
Without pressing about the book, he led Raijin to sit across from him on the sofa in the room. Though there was a table, its chairs were relatively rigid and tall—if Raijin stumbled and fell, he could get hurt.
Soon, a servant entered and prepared the meal on the table. The meal was simple, with few dishes. This was true for both of them. The only difference was that before Raijin sat a soft stew where chunks were barely visible. Ludwig knew his brother mainly ate such foods due to poor digestion.
Duke Izatrix only remembered fragmentary facts about his brother. He’d apparently promised to let him go outside last summer, but even that memory eluded him.
Setting aside whether that promise had been genuine…
“Next time, shall I come to your office? I can walk that far.”
“No.”
A few days ago, Raijin had collapsed after wandering down to the first floor of the mansion on his own.
“Unless absolutely necessary, don’t come out… If you need anything, call someone. It’s more troublesome when you collapse.”
Despite being so thin, somehow there had been so much blood that his clothes and the floor were soaked. According to the physician’s examination, no additional illness had occurred—his existing condition had simply worsened from excessive movement. Thus, there was nothing they could do.
He ate the bread and soup before him while recalling when Raijin had collapsed.
That scene had stirred his emotions to an unsettling degree.
After that, as if deeply shocked, vague memories began surfacing in his blank mind. Along with agonizing headaches came the sensation of old photographs being pulled up from deep underwater.
Images like Raijin lying collapsed somewhere unknown, bleeding enough to soak the floor, or himself embracing his brother—such things. Perhaps these were signals of his memories trying to return.
But all this emotional upheaval was unwelcome to him.
Raijin El Izatrix, his young and sickly brother…
Was someone he needed to kill.
Ludwig El Izatrix, the Duke, had an unknown problem—he possessed no Dragon’s Power. This power, which manifested even weakly in all collateral bloodlines, signified imperial descent.
Though the duchy was now treated as semi-independent, it was previously a grand duchy belonging to the Empire. Since the previous Duke was the Emperor’s brother, everyone across the continent knew that both Ludwig and his illegitimate brother Raijin were of imperial blood.
The Dragon’s Power, which typically awakened by one’s early twenties, meant two things by its absence.
Either he wasn’t truly of imperial blood, or he was the first imperial descendant to fail inheriting the bloodline’s power.
Either way would cast doubt on his legitimacy.
Thus, this had been his chosen solution in the past. To steal legitimacy from one who possessed it. Though he couldn’t remember, his past self had apparently planned to steal the sealed Dragon’s Power from Raijin’s heart to repair his own legitimacy. This truth remained in both his hazy memories and documents.
The only reason his brother still lived was that the method for complete extraction remained incomplete. Raijin couldn’t die yet. He needed to stay alive until his heart could be taken.
The Duke watched Raijin weakly nibbling at his stew before moving to sit beside him. Suppressing an inexplicable discomfort, he picked up the bowl and brought a spoon to his brother’s lips.
“You don’t have to… No, thank you, Brother.”
Raijin started to refuse but, reading the atmosphere, quietly opened his mouth. His eyes held a glimmer of happiness at this simple kindness. He showed no sign of suspecting what his brother intended to do to him.
He probably didn’t know he would die by his own brother’s hands.
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