WARDV 41

CHAPTER 41

Of course, humans adapt quickly, so the men would soon be able to make out vague silhouettes again.

But could they be more skilled than someone who had lived in darkness their entire life?

Idris sensed the confused men hesitate briefly, then simultaneously rush toward the window.

They were after the curtain.

Not missing the opportunity, Idris slipped through the chaos and sprinted toward the door.

‘If I can escape now…!’

But just as he flung the door open, the curtain was pulled back, and a faint light spilled into the house. And then—

Thud—!

A cold blade flew through the air and lodged itself in his back.

It was a pain unlike anything he had ever known. Idris collapsed, breathless.

Silence followed.

“Tch. The kid’s smarter than he looks. If we let him live, Her Majesty the Empress would have one more thing to worry about.”

Just as the leader bent down to pull out the dagger from Idris’s back and finish the job—

The boy, who they had assumed was unconscious from the pain, staggered to his feet.

The man recoiled in fear.

“W-What… is this…?”

Idris’s eyes were still closed as if he were unconscious, but a dangerous aura of blue mana rippled violently around him.

Sensing the threat instinctively, the men rushed to kill him.

That was the moment—

Idris’s eyes opened.

BOOM—!

An explosive burst of magic surged out, engulfing the men.

Their screams echoed alongside the metallic scent of blood that vibrated through the air… then everything grew faint.

And then—darkness.

“…We’re terribly late, Your Highness. Please forgive our incompetence.”

Idris felt himself being lifted by someone else, and as his consciousness faded, consumed by the runaway mana, he realized—

That was his final memory of the slums.

Back in the present, Idris stared at the notebook on the table.

Countless butterflies, drawn in various shapes, filled its pages.

“Did you know? A caterpillar completely melts itself inside a cocoon just to gain wings. Isn’t that incredible?”

Looking at the butterflies in the notebook, then at the sleeping Leticia, Idris reached toward her—but pulled his hand back just before touching.

Instead, he lowered it and gently traced one of the butterflies in the notebook. His fingertips trembled ever so slightly.

As his hand paused over the image, a soft, bitter laugh escaped between his lips—half-laugh, half-sob.

“…I searched for so long, Aria.”

Leticia’s sleeping face overlapped with Aria’s from his memories. The moment their eyes met in childhood, the “curse” had taken hold—and once again, it shook him.

His heart.
And his entire life.