Chapter 94

Kinaine jumped to his feet. His face had turned as white as if he had seen a ghost.

"How did you know... who I am?"

Even if Asad had remembered the past, it should have been impossible to recognize who he was from his current appearance. This body belonged to Hasan.

Yet Asad had instantly seen through to his true identity.

At Kinaine's question, Asad blinked. Though he remained expressionless as if unused to expressing emotions through facial muscles, Kinaine could sense his bewilderment.

"Why wouldn't I know? Your Highness is Your Highness."

All emotion instantly vanished from Kinaine's face upon hearing the answer. Not because he truly felt nothing, but rather because too many emotions surged at once, triggering his now-habitual defense mechanism.

Did he know? How desperately he had wanted to hear those words?

'I am not Hasan!'

Only by preparing for death had he been able to utter that one truth.

How he had longed for someone to recognize the truth amidst all the misunderstandings and hostility surrounding him. But it had never happened. No one had known he was the real Kinaine.

Until this moment.

If he had been that prince from long ago, when nothing bad had happened and he could be honest with his emotions, he would have burst into tears right there. He might have beaten his chest, unable to contain his sorrow and resentment.

But the current Kinaine only froze like a statue, holding his breath. Quietly suppressing the emotions that raged like a storm within him.

Finally, a flat voice emerged from his dry lips as if nothing had happened.

"You didn't know before."

In the past, Asad hadn't recognized Kinaine when his body was switched with Hasan's and had attacked him. That day when he couldn't reveal the truth and had no choice but to hurt his lover remained vividly etched in Kinaine's mind.

"Before?"

"Don't you remember? When you..."

He had meant to say 'when you attacked me under Hasan's orders,' but the moment he thought those words, pain shot through his heart. It was the black magic's restriction that he hadn't felt recently.

Before the black magic could attack him, Kinaine corrected his words.

"When you attacked me under 'the second prince's' orders."

"Don't know about that."

So he hadn't recovered all his memories after all?

Kinaine felt an emotion he couldn't tell was relief or disappointment.

Well, Asad clearly wasn't in a normal state right now.

If Asad had remembered everything, then... he couldn't predict how he would react. Too many misunderstandings had piled up, and in comparison, the time remaining was ridiculously short.

"But I can smell Your Highness's scent. I can tell even without seeing."

"Wait, you can't see?"

Kinaine hurriedly checked Asad's condition, without even having time to ask about the 'Your Highness's scent' comment. Looking closely, something was definitely wrong. His eyes, which he had thought were particularly black, had no focus. It was as if they were covered with a black membrane.

"It's natural to be incomplete when forcing a form change."

"Are you alright? Will it come back?"

"Should it?"

"...What?"

"Whether I can see or not, I'm going to destroy everything anyway."

The last words sounded like a beast's growl. As if the magical beast within Asad had answered.

Kinaine stepped back with a chill.

"Ugh, it hurts."

However, when Asad suddenly clutched his head and groaned, Kinaine forgot even the momentary fear he had felt.

Asad's emotionless face contorted with pain, and cold sweat beaded on his skin. Soon, black blood flowed from his nose.

"Asad!"

Seeing this, Kinaine started forward in shock.

But Asad was faster.

In the blink of an eye, he stood before Kinaine. His right hand, covered in black scales, gripped Kinaine's throat.

"Ah, I remember. What I wanted to do when I met Your Highness again."

Eyes like black holes without a trace of light looked down at Kinaine quietly. The hand gripping Kinaine's throat gradually tightened. Like a snake constricting its prey's windpipe.

"Ugh."

When Kinaine groaned, Asad's eyes darkened further.

"Does it hurt? But Your Highness was wrong."

Kinaine saw Asad's shadow growing darker and writhing as if alive. No, it wasn't a shadow. It was demonic energy flowing from Asad. It was swelling in response to Asad's emotions.

"Your Highness, why did you abandon me?"

Asad was no longer expressionless. He was writhing with feelings of betrayal. A fierce anger that seemed ready to explode at any moment could be felt.

"I followed all your orders. I went where you told me to go, killed all the magical beasts you told me to kill. I begged you not to abandon me, saying I would do anything you commanded."

As he continued speaking, Asad's manner of speech became increasingly perfect. He was now speaking in a tone close to Helio, who had been his lover.

Could his own words just now have triggered more of Asad's memories?

But these weren't the memories he wanted him to recall.

"You said you liked me."

Kinaine instinctively realized. The man before his eyes was no longer Asad.

He was Helio. A man filled with despair from his lover's betrayal.

"Then why did you abandon me?"

Kinaine squeezed his eyes shut. His chest burned with pain. Because those words let him imagine what Helio had gone through.

Perhaps Helio had sensed something strange about Hasan who had stolen Kinaine's body.

Hasan, not wanting his identity discovered, must have driven Helio away. Knowing the Hasan he knew, he wouldn't have just driven him away but tried to eliminate him.

But as long as he was pretending to be Kinaine, Hasan couldn't easily eliminate Helio. 'Kinaine' wasn't someone who would drive away his lover and guard knight without reason, so it must have aroused suspicion.

So he must have sent Helio to his death with an excuse. For instance, with orders like subjugating dangerous magical beasts.

But when Helio returned alive, he must have grown increasingly anxious. Not knowing when his true identity might be discovered.

So he killed Helio. While wearing Kinaine's appearance.

His closed eyelids gradually grew wet. This time, he thought it fortunate that Asad couldn't see. Kinaine painfully moved his lips.

"Why didn't you run away."

"..."

"Why did you just let it happen? You could have fought back."

Kinaine knew. Even with Hasan's schemes, with Helio's skills, he could have found a way to escape.

There was no knight who could defeat Helio at the time. Even Hasan was no match for him.

If Helio had fallen to Hasan's sword, there could be only one reason.

Helio had never resisted in the first place.

That fact pained Kinaine.

"You should have killed him. You could have killed someone like that even if ten of them came at you."

"...Yes, so now I'll repay you."

Kinaine could detect others' negative emotions. So even with his eyes closed, he could tell. How full of anger and hatred this man was now.

'Ah, now I understand.'

In the nasty demonic energy that made his whole body sting, Kinaine realized.

The reason for Asad's demonization wasn't hatred toward humans.

'It's not humans, but hatred toward me.'

He himself had made this beautiful, sacred dragon like this.

Kinaine finally understood why Asad had erased memories related to Helio. For Asad to become a dragon rather than a magical beast, 'Helio' had to be an existence that must disappear. That being who held memories related to him was filth that turned beautiful silver scales black.

"It's understandable if you resent me. You..."

"Cough!"

At that moment, with poor timing, a short cough burst out.

Ah, sorry. Kinaine tried to apologize out of habit but couldn't finish his words. His throat burned as if on fire.

At the same time, the strength left the hand that had seemed about to snap Kinaine's neck any moment. At this, Kinaine opened his eyes in confusion. But his vision was blurry as if covered by an opaque membrane.

What's this? When he rubbed his eyes with hands that wouldn't move properly, his focus briefly returned. Seeing the man's appearance that came into view, Kinaine's expression turned bewildered for a moment. Red droplets of blood were dotting the man's face.

"Sorry."

Kinaine finally succeeded in apologizing. His voice was terribly hoarse.

"I..."

He tried to reach out to wipe the filth from his face but failed. His arm wouldn't move.

"Ah."

With a short groan, Kinaine vomited blood.

Dark red blood.

...He had said his chest felt like it was burning, but it seems it wasn't just from sorrow. He had inhaled too much demonic energy.

Even with his vision growing increasingly unclear, Kinaine naturally looked up at the man with concern.

Had he properly told him not to worry?

It was a ridiculous thought. As if he would worry about him.