Obsession... What's That? I Just Wish Someone Would Help Me Escape - Chapter 97
The soft warmth that wrapped around him and the refreshing scent lingered at young Johann’s nose.
Ebony-black hair swayed before his eyes.
“Mother…?”
It wasn’t his mother.
The woman holding the boy in her arms was a striking beauty with black eyes and black hair, exuding a cold aura.
Her eyes, long and flowing like a silverfish, curved gently.
“Can you finally see me now?”
Johann looked up at her with curious eyes. Was she a foreigner?
Her features were subtly different from the people he’d grown up around, and even her clothes were unfamiliar.
She wasn’t dressed in the typical noblewoman’s gown but wore a form-fitting black dress and a white tweed jacket over it.
“Who are you?”
“I’ve been by your side all along. Though I wasn’t much help.”
As she whispered calmly, seven-year-old Johann was reminded of the ghost rumored to appear in the abandoned tower in the north.
Was she a ghost?
She tightened her grip on Johann’s arms and added,
“You’ll grow up to become the rough and strong man you dreamed of being. In fact, you’ll be the strongest man in the Empire.”
What use was that dream now?
Johann kept his mouth shut and dropped his gaze. The woman continued,
“Your dream was to become a responsible, admirable man so you could protect your mother, right? But right now, you’re still just a child.”
What could a mere seven-year-old possibly do?
He had always blamed himself, believing he was the reason his mother died.
Little Johann buried his face into the woman’s chest.
“But Mother died because of me.”
Because I was born.
Johann bit his lip, swallowing the rest of his words.
The reason the Emperor brought his unloved mistress and her son into the palace was because Johann had the potential to be a Graced One.
Though the eldest, Crown Prince Sirius was strong, he had yet to awaken a power, and none of the other princes or princesses had awakened either.
What happened to his mother was the Empress’s doing—she wanted her gone before Johann could awaken and be acknowledged as a royal.
Johann had started to realize that, vaguely.
The woman pursed her lips and shook her head.
“No. To put it bluntly, it was because of your mother’s ambition. She brought you here because she wanted you to live as a royal. But she wasn’t cunning enough to bear the cost of that ambition. It was a kind of defeat.”
She poked Johann’s cheek and smiled faintly.
“That doesn’t mean your mother was bad. It’s natural for parents to have ambition. Parents don’t want their children to repeat their failures—or they want them to succeed just like they did.”
Johann recalled his mother working hard for wages before they entered the palace.
Saying ‘we’re happy even if we’re poor’ was just a nice-sounding lie.
A life where you don’t even know what it’s like to be full. Nothing more, nothing less.
Just as that time had its own kind of misfortune from lack, now too, he was just as unhappy.
“I wanted to grow up quickly… to change our life.”
At Johann’s sigh-like words, the woman, who had been cold as ice, smiled warmly for the first time.
“You’ll meet someone you want to protect again. You’ll find a new purpose.”
Johann looked up at her with a determined expression.
“Then when I grow up, I’ll marry you.”
“Isn’t that a little fast to be changing your life goals?”
The woman let out a sigh as she cupped Johann’s cheek.
Then, with a slightly hesitant look, she continued.
“This isn’t… me accepting a proposal, okay? It’s more like a necessary step to stabilize you.”
“What kind of step?”
“Close your eyes, kid.”
Johann tightly shut his eyes as instructed.
Then, a warm, soft pair of lips touched his own.
It felt like the kind of gentle kiss given to a child before sleep.
Through their touching lips, a purifying warmth flowed into every corner of his body, cooling the searing fire within.
The tangled mess of emotions began to settle, each returning to its place.
* * *
The chaos that made it impossible to tell whether it was past or present gradually faded.
Having escaped the tormenting memories, Johann was back in his adult form.
He pulled the woman tightly into his arms, desperate not to lose her.
It still wasn’t nearly enough to quench his maddening thirst.
“Who are you?”
