Chapter 67: The Cursed Boy

Mayer Knox was black-haired from birth. Between the silvery-gray locks of the duke and the light brown waves of the duchess, it was an impossible hair color to give birth to. No one in the family tree had black hair either. The grand duke Knox and the people close to him were confused by the unprecedented situation.

“Isn’t it possible that the grand duchess was unfaithful?”

“She is not the kind of person to do such a thing!”

“Moreover, the young master perfectly resembles His Excellency. That is preposterous speculation.”

“Then that means his hair color has changed… There’s only one answer then. The young master must’ve been born with awakened mana.”

The grand duke, who had been listening to his vassals discuss, asked gravely, “Then you are saying that my heir is a mage?”

The vassal who had explained nodded heavily. “Yes. However… only fellspawn have black mana.”

“Fellspawn! Are you suggesting that the heir is a monster?”

“That is impossible! The fellspawn have disappeared since the sacred war.”

“This must be a curse of the demon lord.”

“Heresy!”

Noise filled the grand duke’s office as unease set in and spread like wildfire. After a long while, Grand Duke Knox made a decision. “We will confine the child and hold a period of observation. No one is to speak of this sinister matter.”

And thus, the newborn Mayer was confined to the castle spire. His mother, the grand duchess, grew to loathe Mayer for drawing doubt to her chastity. She felt chilled by the thought of having birthed a suspected monster. After sending her child to the spire, she never went to meet him. As a result, the majority of Nochtentoria’s residents believed that the grand duchess’ child was stillborn and that Mayer was an illegitimate child. A bastard would hardly be viewed well upon, even if he was of the grand duke’s blood. If it wasn’t for Mayer’s nanny Yonata, he would’ve been left to indifferent neglection. While everyone else shunned the child, Yonata raised him as if he were the child that she had lost.

Mayer Knox lived in confinement for nearly 10 years. If anything, he was fortunate that he was the sole child of the grand duke. Because of it, he could receive an heir’s education. Growing up in an enclosed space, Mayer absorbed all the knowledge given to him and produced superior results. Literature, politics, arithmetic…

But all his efforts were in vain. Grand Duke Knox suspected whether Mayer’s outstanding achievements derived from the sinister abilities of fellspawn and was unwilling to give him due credit. And that wasn’t all. Fearing that demonic energies would leak outside despite having locked Mayer in the castle spire, Grand Duke Knox donated a large sum to the church and built a huge monastery in his province. Then, he gathered priests and acolytes to fill his lands with the grace of Saint Marianne.

Yet that wasn’t enough. He made Mayer pray six hours a day without fail, believing it would purify the demonic power in him. When no one desired to get involved with the young heir, his nanny Yonata alone gave him great praise and caressed his hair, consoling him. “Everyone’s acting like that because they don’t know what a kind person you are, Young Master, but they’ll find out later for sure.”

Young Mayer nodded and replied, “I don’t care, so long as you’re by my side, Nan. When I become grand duke later, I’ll definitely repay this favor.”

“Favor? I’m the one who should be repaying you. You don’t know just how happy I am to spend time like this together, Young Master.”

But even those small, fleeting moments of peace disappeared when Mayer turned ten—Yonata died from an infectious disease. The vassals who knew the truth about Mayer whispered that her death was his fault.

“It’s all because she touched that accursed hair! Yonata must’ve been cursed as well!”

Yonata’s husband, Vince, climbed up the castle spire after his wife’s funeral. Even as she lay on her deathbed, Yonata worried for Mayer. “Look after him… Look after the young master, honey,” she had implored him and Vince wasn’t capable of refusing his wife’s last words. Thus, the butler reached the top of the castle spire only to find young Mayer sitting expressionlessly, cutting his hair without hesitation.

“What are you doing, Young master!” Vince cried out, rushing to stop the child. The boy’s hair already sported a jagged cut, his scalp grazed by the scissor blades and welling with blood. “Why?” Mayer asked in confusion.

“Why…? You are bleeding. You must not do something like this. You must cherish your….” Vince trailed off then, at a loss. He didn’t know how to calm Mayer down. The boy stared at the butler, who saw himself reflected in the boy’s golden eyes and felt as if he was being seen through.

Mayer asked again in an unmistakably clear voice. “Why? Even though Yonata died, cursed because of my hair?”