Chapter 9: You’re Really Jay!

I hurriedly put the tray down on the floor and curled up in front of the door.

“Ugh…!”

I tried to endure it, but a groan escaped my mouth in the end. A dull impact was felt in my heart.

The sensation that seemed to constrict my entire body soon disappeared, but perhaps as a replacement, the vibration of the building became even faster.

Clang—!

The sound of windows shattering all at once was heard. Reflexively, I covered my head with my hands.

Soon after, the lights hanging from the ceiling shattered and fell. Sharp bursting sounds followed. The King’s Brother’s screams, too, did not cease.

How long had passed? I became aware that my breathing sounded loud and rough. It was that quiet all around. It was like the silence after a typhoon had passed.

I slowly raised my head. The previously dark hallway had become bright. It was because the blinds had been flung away along with the shattered glass windows.

The sight of sunlight pouring into the hallway, which had become a mess as if clawed by a typhoon, was almost magnificent.

From various places on the floor, even more brilliant radiance was reflected as it caught the light.

“What a waste…”

A lamenting sound flowed out naturally.

The things scattering a brilliant prism spectrum upon catching the sunlight were the broken pieces of diamonds that had been installed inside the lights.

While estimating the scale of property loss in my head, I laughed weakly.

“It’s pretty.”

Discarding calculations like how much it would cost, it was simply a beautiful sight.

Halos of light seemed to be dancing.

In my childhood, I loved going to play at my parents’ shop. I used to look forward to school ending quickly.

That place, filled with beautiful lights that could not be grasped by hand, was as beautiful as a dream. It was a time when I simply admired without calculating the quality of gems, their prices, or the setting conditions.

How long was my gaze stolen by this scattered light? At some point, the light subsided.

I became bewildered like someone forcibly woken from a dream. The light entering through the window faded. It was because the sky had darkened with ominous clouds.

I returned to reality. What was revealed as the light scattered by diamonds disappeared was a landscape like ruins.

I slowly checked my body. Both my hands and legs were clean without any injuries. It was amazing that there wasn’t even a scratch from the glass. Not even dust was on me. The floor I was standing on was also spotlessly clean.

I looked around again.

I opened my mouth without realizing it, but couldn’t say anything. I didn’t know how to describe the sight that belatedly came into view. Centered around the door I was leaning on, the floor within a certain radius was exceedingly clean.

Amidst the chaotic landscape of glass shards, wood fragments from the blinds, and diamond pieces. Like an isolated island.

If I hadn’t roughly put down the tray in my panic, there would have been nothing wrong with the food either.

The glass cup held the coffee perfectly fine.

Though the coffee, which had been clearly divided into two layers, was all mixed up and turned a muddy brown.

The shock was enough to shatter even diamonds, yet the thin glass cup that would break even in boiling water remained intact.

I even had the thought that perhaps an invisible barrier had been erected. I didn’t just think it; I put it into action.

As I waved my arms around, naturally, nothing was caught in my hands. Just as I was feeling awkward about my ridiculous appearance.

Heh…

I turned back at the sound grazing my ears. It was a sound coming from beyond the firmly closed door. It sounded like a laugh. It also sounded like suppressing pain. Either way, it was clearly a sound let out weakly.

Knock knock.

I tried knocking on the door again. Silence answered instead. Still, I couldn’t leave this place.

The narrow radius without even dust was vivid in my eyes.

“Are you alright?”

“…I’m fine.”

It was the first answer returned in two weeks. It was a voice so small and weak it seemed it would extinguish, but the intention was clear. It meant go back.

I hesitated. I listened carefully to see if any other sound would come from beyond the door. Reminding myself that it was absolutely no coincidence that not even the wind could touch me.

Haaaaa.

When I heard the sound made by the King’s Brother again, I abandoned my hesitation.

Such meddling.

I grumbled inwardly that my identity was indeed Korean, but the hand grabbing the doorknob didn’t stop.

“Excuse my rudeness…”

I couldn’t say empty words like ‘I’m sorry.’

The light entering through the crack of the open door showed the messy room without filter. The furniture that looked so solid was full of scratches. Some parts were dented as if hit by a fist, and there were countless sharp marks as if scratched by a knife. Even the thick and heavy curtains were torn to shreds, but the window leading to the balcony was clean without cracks.

Just like the flawless door. The King’s Brother was sprawled in the middle of that bizarre room. With his naked body fully exposed, on the torn carpet. Broken gems were scattered around him. Even if all the lights had broken, it was an excessive amount.

They looked like remnants of magic. Probably the magic that had been confining him.

“You’re fearless, Jay.”

The King’s Brother said in a completely hoarse voice.

“Do you also want to conceive my child?”

At that moment, his eyes were the same color as when I first saw him at the pub.

I hadn’t seen it wrong. The King’s Brother’s eyes were not blue like usual, but dark red like Pigeon Blood rubies.

“I cannot conceive, Duke.”

I felt the urge to step back at the King’s Brother’s hostile reaction. He glared as if to pierce through me. I forcibly put strength into my trembling legs. I intuitively felt I shouldn’t run away or approach. I had to stand my ground here.

Vrrr. A sound like tinnitus rang, and the debris fallen on the floor floated up.

“I have no right of succession to the throne. The person who gave birth to me was a recessive Omega. Do you still covet my child?”

He clearly called my name, but the King’s Brother at this moment seemed to have forgotten that the person in front of him was me.

The floating debris started to move. Toward me.

“I am a Beta who cannot conceive, and I have no desire to conceive, Duke. I cannot smell your pheromones either.”

It was a moment where the focus seemed about to disappear completely from the King’s Brother’s eyes.

I spoke with all my sincerity.

“If I get hurt, you must treat me and give me consolation money.”

To say I put my sincerity into it, it must have certainly been a funny remark.

Still, I thought this was the only thing that could make the King’s Brother recognize that I am me.

And, it really worked. To the point where even I was surprised. The debris that looked like it would stab me any moment stayed suspended in the air.

The King’s Brother blinked slowly. Red and blue alternated every time he closed and opened his eyes.

Eventually, he got up from his spot. Staggering like a newborn foal learning to walk for the first time. He slowly approached me.

Approaching closely as if not to give me a chance to escape, he lowered his head and buried his nose in the nape of my neck.

The King’s Brother, from whom I could smell no body odor, persistently chased the scent coming from me.

“It really is Jay.”

As if that was his limit, the King’s Brother flopped down onto the floor. His wheezing breath sounded like someone recovering from a bout of fever.

Belatedly, the smell of blood wafted. It was blood flowing from wounds all over the King’s Brother’s body. Since he was alone here, he was the only one who could have inflicted the wounds.

“…Are you alright?”

I must have been quite tense too.

My throat stung the moment I made a sound.

“Hungry…”

A weak, drooping voice returned.

“Cold.”

The King’s Brother lay sprawled on the messy floor just like that.

He stared blankly at the dark ceiling. The blood flowing from his body started to stop.

“…Resting for a moment will do.”

A wrapper was put on the tone that whined like a child. Only then did I gain the courage to move.

“Please wait a moment.”

I cleared away the shards scattered on the floor that could cause injury. With my body’s strength, I couldn’t move the King’s Brother to the bed. The bed, always hidden by a thick canopy, was also a mess. I roughly gathered the torn duvet and spread it on the floor.

When I put my hand on his shoulder to move him, he suddenly burst into laughter. After a short laugh, he asked me in a drained voice.

“Aren’t you scared of me?”

What would be the right answer? I pondered, but in the end, what came out of my mouth was the honest truth.

“I was scared. Just a moment ago. …Actually, I am still scared now.”

The King’s Brother curved his eyes at my answer.

“You’re honest.”

The wounds on his body were disappearing. The traces of self-harm vanished cleanly before long. As if nothing had happened. Scab-like hardened bloodstains were the only evidence.

The King’s Brother got up by himself and laid his body down again on the duvet I had spread.

I got up and went out the door.

The sound of his sigh could be heard.

When I returned inside holding the tray I had left on the floor, he blinked his blue eyes.

“I didn’t think… you’d come back.”

The King’s Brother showed an extremely honest reaction himself. Looking down at his deep blue eyes, I slowly sat by his head.

“Lean on me.”

The King’s Brother looked into my eyes instead of answering. After a brief gaze, he moved his body and placed his head on my legs.

“I meant for you to sit leaning on my shoulder.”

“I don’t have that much energy yet.”

I lifted the coffee cup to the King’s Brother’s lips. Smelling the sweet scent, the King’s Brother furrowed his brow.

When I kept my hand still without moving, he reluctantly took a sip.

“…Sweet.”

As expected, it was an expression of disgust.

“Since I put in condensed milk, it will soothe your hunger.”

Making Cafe Bonbon wasn’t just because it looked good.

It wasn’t intended to tease the King’s Brother who hated sweet things either. It was because it was high in calories. Condensed milk in this era was used as a health food. Though I didn’t know I would be feeding it to him myself. The King’s Brother opened his mouth as if he had no choice.

It was a very slow pace, but he emptied the cup to the end.

“As you said, it certainly seems effective.”

The King’s Brother said with a much more relaxed face.

“Still, too sweet.”

Grumbling that he hates sweets, the King’s Brother’s eyelids moved slowly.

Swoosh. The ominous clouds finally started pouring rain. Even the remaining light faded. The sound of rain became increasingly intense. Since all the glass was broken, rainwater would rush into the already dirty hallway.

How much time and effort would it take to restore the main building?

Shouldn’t I tell the butler right now to block the windows first?

Realistic problems arose and faded away. The room became completely dark. I couldn’t see anything, but the King’s Brother’s calmed breathing and his body temperature touching my knees were vivid.

The King’s bloodline with no right of succession. The King’s half-brother. The Duke of Westell.

I didn’t know this boy’s name.

I became curious about his name.