How to Escape from the Yandere’s Crazy Obsession - Chapter 103
As Leta’s in-laws continued to favor their grandson, conflicts between them and Leta, who increasingly distanced herself from her son, became more frequent.
At first, they criticized her for giving birth to a dull, emotionless fool, and later, they blamed her for failing as a mother despite having birthed such an intelligent child. Leta was constantly caught in the middle, criticized from all sides.
However, even they gradually began to notice Vallon’s odd behavior. What they once praised as maturity became disturbingly eerie at times.
Vallon did not know how to smile. While his in-laws initially insisted that someone destined to become Duke Kattravanshouldn’t smile too easily, by the time Vallon was over 15 and still showing no signs of emotion, they began to realize something was wrong.
Despite the reports of strange behavior from the nursemaids, servants, and housekeepers, they had been quick to dismiss the concerns, attributing Vallon’s behavior to his youth and inexperience. But now, they couldn’t deny that something was off.
“Could he be a r*tard?”
“My God! The Duke of Kattravan, r*tarded?”
Their conclusion, in the end, was that Vallon had some kind of mental disorder. Although he was quick to learn and physically capable, his inability to show emotions led them to suspect that he might have autism.
So, they quietly began looking for another heir. The Kattravan family, a noble lineage spanning over a century, couldn’t afford such a flaw in their legacy.
Eventually, they brought in a child from a distant branch of the family to be trained alongside Vallon as an alternative heir.
And what happened to that child? Well, he didn’t survive for even a year. Whether he was killed or died by accident, no one could say for sure, but he died all the same.
It was officially ruled as a riding accident. During a riding lesson, the boy fell from his horse and broke his neck. He died with his eyes wide open, unable to close them in death, a tragic and bitter end.
What Leta couldn’t forget was Vallon’s expression as he looked at the boy’s body, smiling ever so slightly as he gazed at the broken-necked child.
That day, Leta saw Vallon smile for the first time. It was a truly chilling sight.
“The horse went wild, as if stung by a bee, and the boy fell and broke his neck.”
Even as he recounted the boy’s gruesome death, there was no sorrow or shock in Vallon’s demeanor. He spoke as if relaying something he had heard from someone else, completely unaffected.
Everyone who witnessed it was horrified.
Leta realized now was the time to bring up Vallon’s strange abilities with Bertó. When she told him about the unusual powers Vallon possessed, she expected him to dismiss it as nonsense, like he had done in the past. But instead, Bertó became lost in thought, his expression growing serious.
After a long pause, Bertó revealed something that Leta had never heard before.
He recalled an incident that had happened shortly before Vallon’s birth, when the Duke had been traveling by carriage and had accidentally run over an old man.
***
Screech, thud.
The carriage, which had been speeding along, suddenly stopped after colliding with something. The impact was so strong that everyone inside was shaken.
“What happened?”
When Bertó got out of the carriage, he saw an old man lying in front of the wheels. His head had been crushed under the carriage, and his face was unrecognizable. The man’s long, white hair, which reached down to his waist, was soaked in blood. The sight was so gruesome that Bertó almost vomited.
“Ugh!”
The old man had lost a lot of blood, and the wounds were so severe that Bertó assumed he was already dead.
“What should we do, Duke?”
“What do you mean? Get rid of it.”
There was no time to waste, and the Duke was in a hurry. There didn’t seem to be any witnesses, and judging by the old man’s appearance, it was unlikely he had any family. Better to be dead than to live like that anyway.
Following Bertó’s orders, the coachman and a servant worked together to move the body and throw it over the nearby cliff.
“Wait… help me…”
“Hold on.”
Bertó stopped the men.
The old man, who was apparently still alive, spoke in a faint voice. Though Bertó initially intended to ignore him, there was something so desperate about the man’s plea that Bertó felt compelled to come closer.
“Listen to me…”
“Tch, what a pitiful old man.”
Even on the verge of death, the old man begged to be heard. Bertó, forgetting that his carriage had struck the man, decided to grant him this last act of kindness.
But as soon as Bertó leaned in, the old man bit down on his ear with surprising strength and screamed.
“Give me your son! Give him to me!! I need a young body! I can’t die like this after all the power I’ve gained! Give me your son!!”
“Ahh! You crazy old man!!”
In a panic, Bertó threw the old man off the cliff. The bite had been so strong that a piece of Bertó’s ear had been torn off.
How could a dying old man possess such strength?
“Duke! Are you alright?”
“Ugh, that crazy old man!”
Bertó clutched his bleeding ear, shouting in pain. The coachman, who had been silent until then, finally spoke up.
“That old man was infamous in this village. Up until a few years ago, he was a young and talented mage, but after dabbling in black magic, he suddenly aged rapidly. They say he broke some kind of taboo.”
“What? Then why did he ask for my son, who doesn’t even exist?”
The old man had clearly demanded Bertó’s son.
“I don’t know, but seeing him die so pitifully, it seems even powerful black magic can’t save a body that’s grown too old.”
The coachman didn’t know anything more. After the incident, when Bertó returned home, Leta had announced that she was pregnant.
