Chapter 10

Desian opened his mouth and asked, "Let me ask you one question."

Tuloji and the manservant, who treated him like a statue, looked at him. Those eyes were utterly empty and contained nothing.

"I don't remember... saying I allowed you too."

Tuloji's face froze. Did he put something wrong in the drug he concocted? Was there something wrong with it? What was wrong?

The expression on his face relaxed. It was the same with the manservant who didn't know Desian would dare to speak. He closed his eyes with his face full of embarrassment that he cannot hide.

"Why do you think the presence of mana is gone?"

The manservant just shut his mouth. He was a naive person, a man who profoundly believed in superstition. Having truly believed in the 'curse' made him obsessed with the bracelet.

Until now, Desian's body had been deformed continuously and full of discomfort, without the Duke knowing, because of Tuloji's continuous infusion of drugs and black magic in him. Although his emotions weren't completely changed, the black magic grew and entangled like a vine.

"Although there's no need for that question." After he said those words, the bracelet that was hanging on his wrist, like a tattoo, broke into pieces.

*pong!*

Soon after, a loud explosion can be heard in the basement, and the blue flames were pouring out.

*Shooaa!*

Desian was indifferent to the bizarre state the manservant was in the current moment.

Tuloji clapped his hands three times.

*pak pak pak*

There was a loud clapping sound resounding in the underground room. "That's perfect. This was the future I wanted."

Desian laughed cynically, "You don't know the near future."

"Did you say near future?"

Tuloji's face hardened a little, his face seemingly unable to understand the situation.

The drug was injected straight into his Mana core. He had cast all sorts of magic on him to let him lose his free will and brainwashed him to obey him only.

The last medicine was hard to get; everything was almost done! It was only the last one.

It was supposed to be over soon.

Tuloji hurriedly fumbled in his pocket until he touched the last bottle of elixir. All he had to do was to inject him with this. The hand in his pocket trembled.

"You can't kill me!"

Desian looked at him with a relaxed attitude. No, rather than relaxed...

"I am the God who made you this way. You aren't supposed to kill me...."

Desian just stared at him, he made no contact nor cast any spell. All color quickly disappeared from Tuloji's face, and he started tumbling on his words. Soon after, blood began to flow out of Tuloji's mouth continuously.

It was disgusting.

Just before he ran out of blood from his body, he got to his knees with a distraught face.

*Tutuk, tuk*

Something fell out of his jacket, and it was the last medicine that he was supposed to give to Desian.

Desian broke the bottle with an expressionless look.

*Chirang*

A puddle of white liquid flowed under his feet. It was the drug that was supposed to plague him forever.

He looked at the dead body that laid flat on the ground.

"Did I kill God?"

He didn't feel anything much after killing them. Maybe, just like what they said, he's a monster. There was a subtle feeling that his world that was once shrouded with fog was getting clearer.

The only person standing in that place was Desian. He was looking at the people he killed with a serene face.

He should go back to Citrina, he thought.

The original plot has changed.

In the book, Desian took the elixir and had all of his emotions wiped out, and Tuloji was killed because he intended to run away.

But now.

Desian was not given the medicine. The original plot was changed because of his will. There was a crack on the hourglass of fate.

***

After Desian left, Citrina left the garden. She thought of the curiosity that flashed by his face.

"What was it?"

Whatever that was, the spark of hope was lit, and she had no choice but to wait.

Citrina slowly began to read a book about spirits. Ten minutes, thirty minutes, and an hour passed until the time of sunset, and cold air touched her arms.

She saw Aron running towards her with red eyes. The boy, who does not usually come out of his room, was shaking. Her body straightened as she watched those black eyes in tears.

"Aron."

"Citrina."

He pointed at his bracelet, to be exact, the one that bound him. It was the same kind of bracelet as that of Desian's. The bracelet was vibrating strangely, and Aron's hand was trembling when he showed his wrist to her.

"Look at this."

His face was turning blue.

"I think he's in danger."

She looked at the bracelet around Aron's wrist and hurriedly stood up. A bandage dropped from Aron's pocket, a late warning of something sinister.

"Danger..."

'Is it the time Tuloji gave Desian the elixir?'

The villain's story was unkind. She knew how Tuloji harassed Desian, but she doesn't know if Desian has ultimately gotten his emotions erased.

"My brother is in the basement."

"I understand."

At first, she had no chance to accompany him. He told her to wait in the garden, and since she didn't want to die either, she also wanted to remain here.

But the eyes of innocent Aron held infinite trust in her. She had seen this kind of eyes in the past.

... From his former puppy she used to take care of, Sprong.

"I'm going alone. I just came here to tell you to avoid him, just in case you don't know."

Aron's voice was trembling, seemingly prepared to die.

If Desian's mana exploded, the entire outer residence could be in danger, but Citrina thought it was unlikely when she recalled the moment she saw Desian.

And... if Desian really went rampage, everyone in the outer residence will die. Therefore, it's better to go figure out the situation.

"Please show the way. I don't know where to go."

"Citrina, it would be dangerous."

"It will be okay."

"...If it gets dangerous, I'll protect you."

"Okay."

Aron nodded vigorously with tears in his eyes. He's like a dog wagging his tail.

"Go."

They started to walk in the corridor. For the first time, she was on her way to see Desian.

They didn't see one servant in the passing. The residence's corridor to the stair leading to the basement was eerily quiet. As they walked down the endless stairs, they could finally see a room that was leaking out smoke.

The place where Desian stayed was so small, and one might think it was a prison. The air was gloomy and murky.

In this kind of situation, angels can become demons. Although she doesn't like Desian all that much, she can't help grinding her teeth at the duke.

"Shall we go in?"

"...Yes."

Citrina and Aron walked in a little farther.

'That, what's that?'

Upon closer look, it was more severe than she thought. Unlike from the perspective of reading the book, the scene was gruesome. There was a bit of smoke in the messy room.

'The butler and the mage, Tuloji, must have died if my memories are correct.'

After a while of silence, she saw Desian leaning on a wall. At the sight of his silhouette, she was a little relieved.

'Calm down, Citrina. They were going to die anyway; they were the ones who experimented on Desian. You just need to change a little bit of the future.'

She got a little bit of her strength after taking deep breaths. Fortunately, it wasn't unusual for her to see deaths.

Citrina walked in the room with a cold face. Aron took the lead with trembling eyes.

"Brother." He almost cried inside. Perhaps he was convinced that Desian was dead.

The body that was on the floor was probably the butler's body. It was no longer a corpse, it just looked like a piece of meat, and one was a strange bloodless corpse.

Disgust rose in her heart for a moment. There was no remorse; they were all mean men.

"Aron."

Desian seemingly has no intention of disposing of the bodies. He raised his hand slightly, and the smoke dissipated. Desian looked insensitive upon the sight of all the mess.

"Why?"

To Citrina's expectations, Decian was staring at the bizarre state of the corpses. Strangely, he came to his senses.

Instead of being nauseous, Citrina just blinked. After a while, Desian looked up.

"Citrina."

In this odd situation, she wondered if she was lucky or not that he remembered her name.

"Yes, Desian," she replied.

While listening to her, Desian took a moment to take in what had happened.

He remembered...

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