I Want To Die One Day Before You - Chapter 85
As soon as he saw Iruel, Rufus asked, prompted by a sudden thought.
“Where’s the witch Odr?”
He remembered being attacked by Prince Tarek, but what happened to her?
“She’s at home, breathing.”
Rufus exhaled a sigh of relief at the casual response.
As expected.
If the Demon King doesn’t die, the witch will never die. That’s an immutable law.
“Anyway! Why did you chase me away earlier! I made all that fuss because I had something important to say to you, Lieutenant! Even the likes of me can get hurt, you know!”
Iruel grabbed Rufus’s shoulder and shook it vigorously. He seemed somewhat aggrieved.
Rufus slapped Iruel’s hand away.
“Don’t touch me, you witch.”
“Ah, I tried to create a touching scene, and this is what I get…”
“Is it poison?”
Rufus abruptly interrupted Iruel’s words.
“What? What poison?”
“That doctor, she gave me poison, didn’t she?”
Rufus’s gaze was directed towards Doctor Fertina, who had left the tent. In Rufus’s hand was the medicine bottle that Doctor Fertina had handed him.
Iruel blinked.
“Poison? No, it’s not poison.”
“Then why did you desperately try to prevent me from taking this medicine? There must be a reason I shouldn’t take it.”
Rufus scowled.
“Ah, yes. Right. You shouldn’t drink that, Lieutenant. You’ll die if you do.”
“So, it is poison.”
“No, it’s not poison.”
“Then why would I die if I take it?”
“Ah, that’s because there’s a reason for it…”
Under Rufus’s persistent questioning, Iruel eventually sighed.
How should he explain this?
Iruel was now pondering how to convey the information he needed to share with Rufus. No matter how well he explained, he was certain to be throttled, strangled, or even executed. Of course, for his own safety, it would be better to keep his mouth shut. But he couldn’t just keep hiding it.
Finally, Iruel decided to speak up, risking his life.
“Uh, Lieutenant… Please don’t be shocked by what I’m about to say.”
“What is it.”
“You’re no longer human.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
Rufus scoffed.
Not human, what does that even mean?
Such an absurd statement. It’s not even funny.
Rufus Inferna is human. His grandmother, the Baroness Inferna, was human, and both his parents were human. Offspring born from the union of humans are human. So, if Rufus isn’t human, what is he?
“Right now, demon blood flows in your body.”
“Stop spouting nonsense.”
“Just hear me out! I heard it from my mother, but didn’t Prince Tarek thrust a sword into your chest?”
“It seems so.”
Rufus nodded and placed his hand over his chest.
The area with the long wound began to burn. It seems the injury hasn’t fully healed yet, just as Doctor Fertina said.
“Let’s think about this logically. Can a human being survive after being stabbed in the heart? Huh?”
“I’m alive, aren’t I?”
“Now I see that common sense is lacking in you, Lieutenant. Normally, humans die on the spot with a squeak when their heart is pierced. You get that?”
Iruel reached out his hand towards Rufus, who was leaning back on the bed.
“Your heart is already dead.”
Iruel’s hand, touching Rufus’s chest, began to tremble slightly.
“You were destined to die. But demons have two hearts. So… the Demon King gave one of his hearts to you.”
Iruel’s voice trailed off as he continued to speak intermittently.
“……”
Rufus looked at Iruel in silence. Seeing Iruel’s demeanor, much more subdued than usual, Rufus was at a loss for words.
Logically, Iruel’s words made no sense. Inside him, beneath these ribs, lay the heart of the Demon King?
No.
That’s nonsense.
Rufus waited for Iruel to take back his words. Or to laugh at him for believing such nonsense, or even to taunt him.
But no matter how long he waited, no matter how long he endured this chilling silence… it didn’t happen.
“Now, you’re like me.”
With a lowered voice, Iruel looked directly into Rufus’s eyes.
“Neither human nor demon.”
Born between a human, Viscount Eustice, and a demon witch, Odr.
“Belonging nowhere, fitting in nowhere, welcomed nowhere.”
His human father considered Iruel’s existence a disgrace to the family.
His demon mother pitied Iruel for not awakening as a witch.
“Now, you’ve become an obstacle like me.”
“……”
Rufus looked at the medicine prescribed by Doctor Fertina.
No.
Iruel’s words couldn’t be right.
If, by any chance, Iruel’s words were true… if Rufus had really become half-demon, then the reason he couldn’t take this medicine was clear.
It was a special medicine made for humans, imbued with holy magic. If Rufus, now mixed with demon blood, were to take it, it would surely have a negative effect.
“No.”
Rufus denied reality.
“Don’t lie. I am human. I have nothing to do with demons.”
“Well, um… I get that you really hate demons, but now you’re half demon.”
“No. I am human. A complete human being.”
Rufus opened the recovery potion as if breaking the cap. The moment he opened the potion, an unbearable stench stimulated Rufus’s sense of smell.
His hands trembled violently.
It can’t be.
