Trash of the Count's Family (Web Novel)

However, Cale opened his eyes again and looked toward the Dragon half-blood.

The Dragon half-blood who was sitting on the couch with his head and body bowing down as far as possible was shaking.

That shaking was visible even though his body was covered by a large robe.

It was at that moment.

“What are you sorry for?”

Lord Sheritt opened her eyes and asked the Dragon half-blood in a cold voice.

The Dragon half-blood raised his shaking body upright. He still could not make eye contact with Sheritt.

He barely managed to speak.

“…I got the heart.”

“Why is that your fault?”

Flinch.

The Dragon half-blood’s body flinched and his eyes headed toward Lord Sheritt.

The face that had been filled with mischievousness before was observing the Dragon half-blood with a cold gaze.

The Dragon half-blood could feel a fire developing inside Lord Sheritt’s eyes. He felt like he could also see the sorrow that was roaring like a large wave.

“…That-”

The Dragon half-blood opened his mouth to speak again but Lord Sheritt cut him off.

“It is not your fault that my child’s heart was placed inside your body. It is not your fault that you became a chimera with my child’s heart either.”

She wanted to rip the White Star into shreds and felt both anger and sorrow as she looked at the Dragon half-blood. However, what was not true, was not true.

“You did not end up like that because you wanted it.”

The Dragon half-blood didn't know what to say.

As the Lord mentioned, he did not want to become a chimera. If, really if, he could ever go back to the past, he would want to avoid the moment he became a chimera.

It was terribly painful and extremely lonely.

The only thing he got for enduring that pain and loneliness was becoming a monster that did not fit in anywhere.

He recalled Lord Sheritt's statement again.

‘It is not your fault that you became a chimera with my child’s heart either.’

The Dragon half-blood opened and closed his mouth a few times.

He wanted to say something, but didn’t know how to express the emotions he was feeling inside.

He heard Lord Sheritt’s cold voice at that moment.

“However, you do have a lot of things to be sorry for.”

The Dragon half-blood closed his mouth tightly.

That was the case.

He had a lot of things to be sorry for; he had a lot of sins.

“All of the terrible things you have done. In addition-”

Lord Sheritt’s eyes moved elsewhere. The Dragon half-blood's gaze followed as well and he could see clear dark blue eyes looking at him.

Raon Miru.

The black Dragon was quietly observing the Dragon half-blood while inside Cale’s arms.

The Dragon half-blood felt as if he was suffocating once he looked into those eyes.

He had tried to kill him.

He had wanted to kill this black Dragon.

He wanted to kill him because Raon was a real Dragon that a chimera like him could never become.

Because he was a Dragon who was protected and loved by others around him.

That was why he had tried to kill him.

The Dragon half-blood’s fingertips started to shake again.

He recalled one of the days when he had been washing dishes at the Eastern continent's inn. The two Kittens, On and Hong, and this child had approached him.

‘You’re very good at washing dishes! Hey Dragon half-blood, do you like this inn?’

‘I think he likes it! I can tell! Right, noona?’

‘You’re not supposed to ask things like that. You’re supposed to pretend like you don't know.’

He couldn't believe the children that were chatting like this next to him.

Had they forgotten what he had done? They were chatting so much around him that he couldn't help but have such thoughts. He knew that they were acting like that because they knew the condition of his body and felt sorry for him.

The Dragon half-blood suddenly regretted that moment.

He should have chatted with them at least a little bit when they tried to talk to him.

He should have responded every so often to spend time with them.

He kept… He kept having regrets about the time that had passed. However, there was no way to turn back time or absolve his regret.

The Dragon half-blood lowered his head toward Raon who was looking at him.

“…I'm sorry.”

‘Really, I'm sorry.’

Honestly speaking, ‘sorry,’ was not strong enough to express his emotions.

Guilt for having tried to kill someone was not the end of his emotions.

‘Who did I try to kill?’

The Dragon half-blood gave up all desire to live after realizing what he had almost done with his own hands.

The black egg.

The only thing that had spent time with him inside that dark cave. And the thing that made the Dragon half-blood go against the White Star's orders for the first time and trick him.

‘…I tried to get rid of that black egg.’

He felt an emotion that could not be expressed with guilt nor regret after realizing that fact.

The black egg.

What did that thing mean to him?

A sense of similarity that they were both thrown away?

Sympathy that he got to live but the egg had to be destroyed?

Or-

‘…He was the only one.’

That unhatched black egg was the only thing that had spent time with him for his 900 years of life.

He could not turn back time to undo what he had tried to do.

The Dragon half-blood understood the weight of those words.

‘I'm done now.’

The Dragon half-blood had waited for Lord Sheritt and Raon Miru… The day he would see these two Dragons to tell them his story.

That was why he, who had no desire to live, forced some desire inside him to prevent his body from crumbling down.

And now, he was able to get rid of that last thing keeping him alive.

It was at that moment.

He could hear Raon's voice.

“Hey, Dragon half-blood.”

The Dragon half-blood raised his head to look at Raon. 6 years old. The punk who was about that age was looking at him with very pure and clear eyes.

He was relieved that he could be this way even though he grew up tortured and chained. He was relieved that he grew up like this.

Raon hesitated for a moment before turning his gaze and looking at Cale.

“…You said he could not live much longer.”

Cale wanted to sigh at the things Raon was saying while looking at him with those clear dark blue eyes.

Cale could understand what was on Raon’s mind as he could not look at the Dragon half-blood and looked up at him instead. Human.

Raon then cautiously asked in his mind with magic.

Cale who was listening to Raon who sounded both chaotic and anxious looked toward the Dragon half-blood.

The Dragon half-blood was looking at Raon with shaking eyes and Cale looked at him as he opened his mouth to speak.

However, there was someone who started to speak first.

“Your body is completely destroyed.”

It was Lord Sheritt.

She observed the Dragon half-blood with a cold gaze.

“Now that I take a closer look, it looks like all of the Dragon’s powers have left your body.”

As Sheritt mentioned, there were barely any Dragon powers left inside the Dragon half-blood’s body.

It was because Cale’s white crown had sucked up all of his Dragon's powers, his blood.

He still faintly had his light attribute Dragon power, but there really was nothing left now as he had used that remaining power to attack Arm's second secret base not too long ago.

“And…”

Lord Sheritt-nim was not done just yet.

“Your original human body cannot keep up because you lost your Dragon power. The imbalance caused by being a chimera is causing your death. There’s also a power inside you that is the opposite attribute of your light attribute that should be causing you a significant amount of pain.”

That was what Choi Han had left in there during their battle at the Gorge of Death. This dark power known as despair was endlessly clashing with the Dragon half-blood's light attribute in order to cause him pain.

The Dragon half-blood was listening to Sheritt’s blunt observation with an empty mind.

However, Cale could feel Raon holding onto his clothes even tighter.

‘…Haaaaa.’

Cale was looking at Raon who was looking at the Dragon half-blood with a significantly complicated gaze. Cale started to get a headache.

It was at that moment.

“…In your current condition, you’re going to die an extremely painful death.”

The Dragon half-blood responded to Lord Sheritt’s comment.

“It is not enough to pay for my sins.”

‘Aigoo.’

Cale was at a loss for words after hearing the Dragon half-blood's response.

Lord Sheritt quietly observed the Dragon half-blood who gave such a response.

‘This is an extremely complicated situation.’

Cale found this situation quite complicated.

The Dragon half-blood had a lot of sins. However, in some ways, he had traces of Lord Sheritt's child and Raon's sibling. On the other hand, he was also proof of their family member’s death.

He had also tried to kill Raon, but they had now learned that he was actually also the person who had saved Raon.

The Dragon half-blood caused quite the complication for Lord Sheritt and Raon the more he thought about it.

‘…Do they want to kill him? Or do they want to save him?’

Cale looked at Raon and Sheritt to try to figure out what they were thinking.

He could not tell what Sheritt was thinking. However, based on how Raon acted in the Eastern continent, it seemed as if he had almost forgotten about how the Dragon half-blood had tried to kill him and felt sorry for the Dragon half-blood instead.

That was why Raon had approached him to play with On and Hong.

“For now, I need some time to think.”

Sheritt started to speak.

“I also need time to talk to Raon.”

She looked toward the person who had lived on with her child's heart.

“I also need time to chat with you.”

The Dragon half-blood's eyes opened wide as he looked toward Sheritt. He had never expected Sheritt to say she wanted to talk to him.

“There are a lot of things to still discuss.”

She could see the Dragon half-blood's eyes that had opened wide lose strength and look down after hearing her cold voice.

Seeing that made her mind complicated as she felt both hatred and another emotion.

However, she calmed herself down and looked toward the last person in the room.

“Is it possible?”

She was asking Cale if all of this was possible.

The Dragon half-blood had caused a lot of sins, not just toward Raon, but also toward Cale’s group and the people of the Western and Eastern continents.

“It is possible, Sheritt-nim.”

Sheritt reached her hand out toward Raon after hearing Cale's short response. Raon slowly came out of Cale's arms and put his head on Sheritt’s chest.

Sheritt gently patted her child as she started to speak again.

“I must speak to Raon first.”

She was telling them to give them so privacy.

Cale got up without any hesitation. The two Dragons needed some time alone.

“Let’s go.”

The Dragon half-blood started to get up before staggering.

“Haaaa.”

Cale sighed and somewhat supported him.

‘What a troublesome bastard.’

The Dragon half-blood who saw his eyes lowered his gaze and started to speak.

“…Do not worry. I have no desire to live.”

He continued to speak in a quiet voice that only Cale could hear.

“I know you've already gone easy on me to let me live like this before dying.”

‘Aigoo.’

Cale shook his head from side to side. The Dragon half-blood heard Cale's quiet whisper at that moment.

It was a cold and judgmental voice.

“If you regret your past actions, shouldn't you do whatever you can to fix your mistakes?”

“…I know I cannot turn back time, but I want to do so if I can.”

Cale stopped supporting him once the Dragon half-blood stood up straight and pointed to the door.

The Dragon half-blood looked toward Sheritt and Raon for a moment before starting to walk toward the door.

Cale looked at the Dragon half-blood’s back before starting to walk toward the door as well.

‘There is a way to save the Dragon half-blood.’

It was not a way to completely save him, but a way for him to extend his life.

It was the jar he got from Wind Island.

The jar was full of life force and could heal or extend someone's life.

However, that jar had limited uses.

‘That’s for Eruhaben-nim.’

The owner of the jar was clear and Cale had no intention of changing the owner.

That did not change.

‘In that case.’

Click.

Cale closed the door once he exited the reception room.

He could see the two Dragons putting their heads together for a moment as he closed it.

Raon had asked the following questions in Cale’s mind when he had asked about when the Dragon half-blood was going to die.

‘Human, what is the Dragon half-blood going to do from here? Did the Dragon half-blood protect and take care of me? Human, was I…able to live and meet with you because of the Dragon half-blood?’

Lord Sheritt had cautiously asked a question in his mind before he closed the door. If Raon allows it, would that child be able to stay in this castle? No, I will imprison him here until he dies. I will make it so that he cannot return to the White Star nor harm the rest of you. Do you think it is possible?

Cale turned around and looked toward the Dragon half-blood who was waiting for him.

“Hey.”

“…What is it? I ask for your understanding if you are angry that I shocked Raon Miru.”

The Dragon half-blood avoided Cale’s gaze and rambled on.

“I've never had people around me so I am bad at conversations…I think that was why I was so bad at it this ti-”

“You.”

The Dragon half-blood looked toward Cale who cut him off and started to speak.

“You, what would you do if there was an opportunity for you to start over?”

The Dragon half-blood thought he had heard wrong.

“…What?”

He realized he was not dreaming after seeing Cale's cold gaze and hearing his cold voice.

“You're going to die. You cannot continue your life. However, if you had the opportunity to live a new life…”

The Dragon half-blood's heart started to beat wildly.

He had thrown away all desire to live.

He had accepted death and knew that being able to die was a small price to pay in comparison to all of his sins. He had also had another thought.

He did not want to continue this life.

But, ‘the opportunity to start over…’

Those words made his heart beat wildly.

“Of course, you will be confined to a certain space and be unable to see the world as you please. It’s not really living to be more accurate. However, you will have the opportunity to make up for your sins.”

The White Star had imprisoned the Dragon half-blood in a dark cave and did not allow him to see the world.

Furthermore, the White Star had treated him not like a living being, but like a machine he could control and order around.

Cale was talking about a similar situation.

However, the Dragon half-blood's heart was beating wildly.

“What do you want to do?”

Unlike the White Star, this was the second choice that Cale was giving the Dragon half-blood.