Still, I couldn’t just abandon a young child and run away by myself, so I ran desperately, and then I heard a strange sound from behind.
“Urgh!”
“Ugh!”
Should I say it sounded like something colliding and bursting?
I was curious, but there was no time to look back.
I ran as if my heart would explode.
Just when my legs began to feel heavy as if weights were tied to my thighs and I slowed down, Ray started to run ahead of me.
My hand was still firmly held, so I ended up being half-dragged as I followed him.
That made it a bit less exhausting.
As we ran away like that, we finally met someone who could rescue us.
“Brother!”
We had encountered the people who had gone out hunting.
There was a risk that we might be mistaken for prey and hit by arrows, but the people chasing us were even more terrifying, so we had no choice.
As I was startled and embraced tightly as if to hide me in his arms, I was held by my eldest brother.
With the knights, my father and second brother drew their swords and rushed past me.
Only then did I feel a wave of relief, and as the tension melted away, my body lost strength.
Perhaps because I had used up all my energy while escaping, my eyes began to close.
Just as I was about to fall asleep in my eldest brother’s arms, I realized that one of my hands was still being held by Ray.
‘Is he still scared?’
Even I, with the mind of an adult, was afraid—how terrified must little Ray have been?
I smiled gently and looked at him.
“It’s okay.”
I said it to reassure him that we were safe now.
But Ray still didn’t let go of my hand.
Instead, he gripped it even more tightly.
It’s okay.
***
Seeing Seiana say those words and then close her eyes, Raymond felt a sinking sensation in his chest, like his heart dropped.
Could she be unwell? Was she hurt?
He had blocked all the attacks flying at them while they ran, but you never know.
What if someone behind them had cast a curse instead of a physical attack, and it deflected off Raymond and hit Seiana instead?
As that thought crossed his mind, Raymond’s mouth went dry.
What if that really happened?
Feeling the warmth coming from the hand he held, Raymond trembled.
It had been so long since he held someone else’s hand, and it was so warm that he didn’t want to ever let go again.
So he unconsciously gripped her hand harder.
He was afraid that if he let go, he might never get the chance to hold it again.
“Your Highness.”
At that moment, someone called out to him.
It was the man holding Seiana.
With a face suppressing emotions—perhaps fear or disgust—he cautiously opened his mouth.
“Would you please release my sister?”
His gaze was fixed on the hand Raymond was holding.
Had Raymond been of low status, the man’s expression suggested he would have swatted him away like an insect.
Compared to the treatment Raymond normally received, the man’s rude attitude was relatively polite, but Raymond still felt a sudden surge of anger.
This man was trying to take away the warmth he had just regained, which sparked hostility in Raymond.
Raymond’s golden eyes burned with fury.
He didn’t like the way the man was holding Seiana as if she were precious.
Just before a dark feeling welled up from his chest, the man’s next words eased Raymond’s anger.
“My sister has fallen asleep, perhaps out of exhaustion. We can’t let her rest properly here, so we should take her to our quarters.
But if Your Highness continues to hold her hand, I cannot take her with me.”
He realized that the man was trying to take Seiana away for her own well-being.
Raymond felt the urge to say, “I’ll take her myself,” rising in his throat, but he had to hold back.
Since he wasn’t fully grown and was about the same height, he would probably only end up dragging her awkwardly.
It made more sense for someone bigger to carry her.
Reluctantly, Raymond released the hand he didn’t want to let go of.
The warmth that had been in his palm quickly faded.
It felt like such a loss that Raymond clenched his fist, trying to hold on to the residual heat.
As the man carrying Seiana moved carefully, Raymond silently walked alongside him.
Seeing Raymond follow, the man flinched and looked uncomfortable, but didn’t try to push him away.
Raymond felt a strange freshness from the man’s composed behavior, and suddenly wondered how he knew who Raymond was.
“Do you know who I am?”
Sensing the unspoken question—how he recognized someone who never showed himself in public—the man fell silent for a moment, then answered cautiously.
“I have no knighthood, so please just call me Sincere. As for whether I know Your Highness… yes. I’ve never seen you in person, but I could tell right away.”
“The golden eyes of the imperial family… and the presence of a special ability.”
“At this time, the youngest male in the imperial family is the youngest prince, isn’t he?”
Raymond was silently impressed at how the man deduced his identity from just a few natural clues.
“What in the world is going on here!”
Someone rushed over in a panic at the commotion, and their face froze when they saw Raymond with Sincere.
An expression like they had seen something unspeakable—disgust spreading across their face.
Seeing that familiar look, Raymond couldn’t help but laugh.
When he first met Seiana, who treated him like he was nothing out of the ordinary, it had felt unreal.
But now, seeing such a familiar sight reminded him that this was reality—like a splash of cold water.
Perhaps startled by Raymond’s laughter, the man screamed in fear.
“Th-that thing! Someone deal with it immediately…!”
“Watch your mouth, Viscount Sachsen. That is His Highness the Prince.”
“Y-Your Highness? That thing…? Ugh…!”
The man’s disgust turned into vomit.
He collapsed as if his legs had given out and vomited what was in his stomach.
Though vomiting was a bit excessive, Viscount Sachsen’s reaction was typical of how people usually responded to seeing Raymond.
Which showed just how restrained Sincere was in suppressing his instinctive disgust toward Raymond.
Viscount Sachsen looked very ill, but no one asked if he was okay.
Everyone simply passed by, pretending they saw nothing.
Even though Raymond wasn’t approaching him, when he moved, the man scrambled backward on his butt.
“Monster.”
He seemed to regret saying it immediately, but Raymond heard it clearly.
Sincere must have heard it too, because he glanced at Raymond’s face.
But Raymond, accustomed to such situations, passed by with an indifferent expression.
He had been through too much to be hurt by words like that anymore.
***
Three years ago, Raymond’s world collapsed.
One day, he suddenly became a person with special powers.
Like all others with abilities, Raymond never wanted the power.
But there was no way to reverse it.
People who didn’t understand powers envied them, thinking they were like magic granted by luck, without effort.
But those who knew the truth called it this: “A curse passed down through bloodlines and names.”
If swordsmanship was about honing one’s inherent strength and skill, and magic was about reading the flow of the world to create miracles, then abilities were ambiguous and incomprehensible powers.
And people feared what they could not understand.
To people, supernatural abilities were such a thing.
Instead of gaining power beyond human perception, the superhumans received fear from others.
An unease felt even when the other person did nothing.
An unbearable disgust.
Fear in the presence of a predator.
Except for other superhumans, everyone felt those emotions whenever they saw one.
Even parents feared their own children born from their own wombs.
The very arms that once warmly embraced him as a child now convulsed, eager to push him away.
At first, he felt sad, hurt, and angry, but as time passed, he grew resigned.
Because the only way to release that curse was through death, he simply kept living because he couldn’t die.
However, sometimes the emptiness in his heart was unbearable.
Because of the memories of once being loved.
‘Would it have been better not to know these feelings at all?’
Raymund thought.
If he had been born with power and never received affection from the beginning, maybe things would be a bit better than now.
At least if he hadn’t known, he wouldn’t have felt the lack.
‘It hurts…’
Raymund trembled as he felt the violent force of the supernatural power raging within him.
He had heard that when inheriting a power, one’s body hurts until it gets used to it, but in a bad way, he was special.
Unlike other superhumans who adjusted within a month or two of inheritance, even after three years, he still hadn’t adapted to his power.
His case was unprecedented, so even other superhumans couldn’t help him.
In the end, Raymund had no choice but to endure it himself.
The luxurious, comfortable room that had everything was convenient to live in, but there was no one to take care of him when he was in pain.
Because hatred toward superhumans couldn’t be overcome with orders or money.
Could someone who hates bugs raise a human-sized insect?
If they didn’t scream and run away at the sight, that alone would be fortunate.
In the end, Raymund had no choice but to grow up half-abandoned.
With no one to care for him, only so-called guards nearby, who were actually watchers ready to step in only when something went wrong.
But that day was a little strange.
His guards weren’t really there to protect him.
In reality, they existed to monitor Raymund, who possessed great power, so they never approached beyond a certain distance.
But on that day, they came within just a few steps of him.
Not just one or two — all of them.