Obsession... What's That? I Just Wish Someone Would Help Me Escape - Chapter 96
Upon receiving his powers, Johann returned to the imperial palace and acted as usual.
The first thing he did was ask the servant he encountered for a meal.
“Bring me food, please.”
“It’s not dinner time yet. Wait until six o’clock.”
Johann’s green eyes drifted to the grandfather clock.
Seeing that six o’clock wasn’t far off, he nodded and returned to his room.
“I’d like to change into new clothes. These got dirty.”
“I’ll bring them after your bath, once you’ve finished eating.”
The maid replied with little interest, but Johann nodded without complaint.
However, even well past six o’clock, no meal came.
Johann asked again.
“Please bring me my meal.”
Soon enough, the maid finally came back with a tray, clearly annoyed.
Johann picked up a piece of bread and, with a blank expression, remarked.
“The bread’s moldy. Bring it back.”
Still a silent observer, I wrinkled my nose at the sight of the vivid mold.
How could they go this far, especially with food? This was worse than the hellhole prison in Gavakse.
No way Korean viewers in another dimension would tolerate this.
The maid snorted, setting her hands on her hips as she looked down at Johann.
“You have the nerve to be demanding, given that you don’t even belong here.”
“Bring it again.”
His voice, carefully measured and forceful, sent a chill through the room.
The maid flinched, taken aback by the boy’s piercing gaze, and reluctantly stepped back.
“Imagine! Your mother’s dead, and yet you still have the nerve to eat regularly. How long must I serve a lowly bastard like you?”
As she turned to leave with a mocking sneer, Johann looked around at the other servants.
“Is that how you all feel?”
The servants smirked silently, suppressing laughter. Only one maid shook her head, scolding the other maid.
“Young Master, I’ll bring you some warm soup and white bread. Karen, for heaven’s sake, stop this. Don’t you fear the gods?”
“A bastard who could be kicked out any day doesn’t deserve such a title. I’m done catering to that lowlife. From now on, serve him as ‘Young Master’ all by yourself.”
The maid called Karen, along with the other servants, began to leave.
“Hey.”
At Johann’s call, the servants frowned and turned back.
Johann’s eyes narrowed with an icy stare.
“You treated my mother this way too, didn’t you?”
Boom―!
Suddenly, a surge of fire roared through the room, reducing the servants to ash in an instant, leaving no trace.
There wasn’t even a scorch mark left in the room. Only the people had been burned away.
“Young Master…?”
The sole maid who had shown him kindness collapsed to the floor, trembling, her head dusted with a thin layer of white ash.
“It seems kindness and consideration are useless in life.”
It was as if he were recalling his mother, who had always smiled gently and thanked the servants despite everything.
Johann slowly turned his head to look at her.
“I already know, so tell me who helped kill my mother.”
Stepping forward through the ashes, Johann grinned wickedly.
“Or else you’ll end up just like them.”
Even as a child, he was a powerful being with an overwhelming presence.
The terrified maid shuddered, finally speaking up.
“I don’t know much, but… I believe there was someone who gave the order.”
If even the servants were aware, then Lady Catriel’s life must have meant little to the Emperor.
He must have turned a blind eye because someone more important had orchestrated it.
The maid whispered a few names of other servants before crawling out of the room. Left alone in the empty space, Johann looked up into the air.
“Should I kill them all?”
Johann covered his face with one arm, his shoulders beginning to shake.
I approached him slowly, hearing the quiet sound of stifled sobs.
“For a refined seven-year-old and aspiring rough-and-tumble man, you’re crying?”
This child, who hadn’t shed a tear witnessing his mother’s death.
Tears trailed down his pale cheeks, visible beneath his arm.
He was at an age where he should be crying freely, but why couldn’t he let himself?
I tried to understand the weight of the boy’s sadness.
“…Why am I the only one left?”
Murmuring in a heartbroken voice, Johann wiped his damp face roughly.
Yes, even if he was a powerful being, he was still just a child.
I know what it feels like to be left behind, too.
Memories of my past life surfaced, when I feared I’d be discarded, labeled as a useless child, clawing at my own mind to force myself into my father’s standards.
It was like drifting through the universe alone, feeling as if the world had cast me off.
“Little Johann, I don’t know how to comfort others. I’m a flawed adult.”
I spoke openly, knowing he couldn’t hear me.
‘Instead of wallowing in sadness and despair, work harder. Others are rising up even now.’
The cold, unfeeling lessons I’d been taught in life remained with me, even after dying and being reborn. I was still damaged.
And yet, strangely, I kept thinking of Prisoner Number 48.
“Did you know? Sometimes, just holding someone’s hand or giving a hug can be a huge comfort.”
A warm touch, an act of kindness without conditions, a gentle tone.
Could I really have been comforted by that? From a sunbeam of a person I’d just met?
Fine… let’s just say I learned something about getting along with others.
I patted the back of the boy, who was swallowing down his sorrow.
It felt a bit awkward, something I’d never done before, but somehow it seemed like the right thing to do.
I pulled the child, wrapped in dark energy, into an embrace.
The man who’d grown to be too large to fit into anyone’s arms was once this small.
“They say everything passes, but it’s not those memories that pass us by — we’re the ones who move past them.”
The painful memories remain, lingering right where they were, always there if you turn to look. Just like mine, which stayed with me even after being reborn.
Maybe these scars are simply crooked parts of my own heart.
And that’s why, from time to time, we all need someone to hold us steady.
Someone to help us face forward and keep walking.
“Johann, let’s go back now. You won’t be alone there.”
Finally recognizing me, young Johann’s eyes widened in surprise.
[Karma met 48%, entering neutral state]
[Second ability unlocked]
