[The youngest of the Blue Clan is cursed.]
That was the rumor that spread in the North Sea.
The cursed child.
Everyone who had seen the child, who had just turned ten, said the same thing.
âThe way he looks at you, as if he knows everything, is chilling.
âI couldnât tell what he was thinking at all.
âThere must be a reason the Blue Wolf treats his own bloodline so lightly.
âIndeedâ¦
A child who had fallen out of his fatherâs sight.
That was the position of the youngest in that household.
Where had it all gone wrong?
The boy sometimes thought about it.
If something had truly gone astray, when had it happened?
Was it when he discovered his motherâs affair?
Or was it when he uncovered his brotherâs secret?
Or perhapsâ
Was it when he realized his fatherâs ambition?
Whatever it was, it didnât matter.
It no longer mattered to the boy.
â...â
He looked up at the sky with hollow eyes.
Snow was falling.
The boyâs cheek, red from the cold, had already been marked.
It was because his father had slapped him just moments earlier.
[Donât look at me with those disgusting eyes!]
That was the only reasonâjust for looking at him.
Swish.
The boy touched his cheek.
Despite the cold weather, his cheek still burned.
But unlike the heat on his cheek, the boyâs eyes were gradually cooling.
He heard things others couldnât hear.
That one thing was enough to twist his life.
When he spoke of his motherâs affair, it erupted into chaos because of his fatherâs rage.
When he discovered his eldest brotherâs secret,
His brother was cast off to a remote area, abandoned.
Having gone through such events twice, the boy finally shut his mouth about the voices he heard.
But his father, watching him, must have thoughtâ
Perhaps.
Perhaps this child might uncover his secrets as well.
Was that what he feared?
The boy became a thorn in his fatherâs side.
And that thorn ruined the boyâs life.
The cursed child.
The boy didnât deny the rumors.
How could he?
[That⦠yeah⦠thatâ¦.]
[Viâ¦.]
[Grr⦠rrkkkk.]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Even in his own eyes, it was a curse.
The boy covered his ears.
He tried to block it out, but the noise still rang loudly in his ears.
Crying.
Screaming.
Wailing.
A storm of wild and shredding emotions.
Even with his eyes closed and his ears covered, he couldnât stop the sounds.
Emotions made sounds.
The noise piled up and became unbearable.
For the boy, life had become hell.
Knowing the emotions others wanted to hide tore apart his family relationships.
His mother resented him.
His siblings feared him.
His father despised him.