To You, Who Will Die Alone in Paradise Chapter 14

For a moment, sparks flew from Pierre’s eyes. A beat too late, Dandeleon realized his mistake. If he had just groveled as if dead like always, Pierre would have simply passed by, but perhaps due to his lack of stamina, he had less self-control than usual.

“…However, since you say so, hyung-nim, I will take my leave.”

Dandeleon quickly added and turned his body. It was a move born from the thought of escaping as quickly as possible, but that cunning attitude only provoked Pierre’s anger further.

“You…!”

Pierre grabbed Dandeleon’s shoulder with a jerk. In the brief moment he staggered, Pierre threw Dandeleon to the ground.

“Ugh!”

Lying on the ground, Dandeleon felt a sense of dismay. It seemed Pierre was in a very bad mood today. Normally, he would have keenly sensed that fact, but why was everything he did today turning out this way? While he was blaming himself, Pierre approached Dandeleon.

“You always disregard me like that.”

He said, grabbing Dandeleon’s chin with his hand and lifting it. His blue-gray eyes blazed with anger, shooting out hatred.

“God loves all his creations? Yes, if He had made them, that would be so.”

Pierre gave a sadistic smile.

“But you are the spawn of a demonic beast, are you not?”

He knew the intention behind saying such things right in front of the chapel. But it wasn’t the first time he had heard it, and his heart had long since been worn down and hardened beyond being hurt. So Dandeleon looked into Pierre’s face and had a completely different thought from the content of the words he was spouting.

‘…He really does look like him.’

Pierre was a spitting image of the king in his youth. A figure that lived and breathed only in Dandeleon’s oldest memories. 10, 20 years younger, back when he was still a prince, Charles Benoit.

“They say your mother was found collapsed on the beach, right? Ordinary people don’t even go near the sea because they fear the demonic energy. But a woman found collapsed on the beach, drenched in seawater. If she wasn’t a demonic beast that crossed the sea, she must have been trying to catch the king’s eye and make her fortune!”

A man who was bold enough to unhesitatingly save a woman washed up by the sea, and just as kind. And a foolish man who fell in love with that woman without considering his own situation.

“Either way, you do not deserve God’s love!”

Pierre resembled him to an irritating degree. Today, it felt especially so.

“…Now that I hear it, it seems God would not love me.”

Was it because of that? Dandeleon didn’t avoid Pierre’s gaze or remain silent as he usually did. Instead, he looked straight into his eyes and smiled.

“Hah… are you finally starting to understand your place?”

Pierre was slightly flustered but shouted even more fiercely to hide it.

“So get out of here right now! How dare you bring that filthy body…!”

“But it’s fine.”

Dandeleon said with a smile.

“Because His Majesty cherishes and loves me the most among all his children, does he not?”

Even though he knew it was a lie, just to hurt Pierre.

Pierre’s eyes widened. Dandeleon read the pain in his gaze. It was the expression of a person who was genuinely hurt.

But that was only for a very brief moment. Like a lightning bolt striking the night sky, the glimpse of a fragile side, seen for a fleeting moment, vanished in an instant, and a familiar emotion covered it. Anger, and hatred.

Smack!

Dandeleon felt a terrible pain in his left cheek and fell to the floor.

‘Wow.’

His ears were ringing and his head was dizzy. For a moment, his vision went white. His cheek swelled up in an instant, and he tasted blood in his mouth.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Pierre grabbed Dandeleon by the scruff of his neck and lifted him up. Smack! This time it was the right cheek.

And then the left again, the right again, the right again…. Each time Pierre raised his hand and struck, Dandeleon swayed back and forth like a worn-out doll.

“You filthy bastard!”

He didn’t think he had been hit this much since the year he entered the palace. Dandeleon closed his eyes and blankly recalled the old days.

He used to kick back then, too. That’s why his ribs broke, and he was bedridden for a few months. But I think that hurt less. Maybe he could stop hitting my cheek and just kick me instead….

“Will you not let him go?!”

At that moment, Pierre’s successive movements came to a sudden halt. Dandeleon cautiously opened his eyes to see which bold servant had stopped the angry prince.

“M-Mr. High Elf?!”

Dandeleon stared at him blankly. He couldn’t believe that the person he had been searching for so desperately just a moment ago was standing right in front of him.

The surprise was brief, quickly replaced by a wave of shame. He had wanted to meet him so much just a little while ago, but now he wished the figure before him was just a hallucination brought on by being beaten so badly. He wouldn’t have wanted him to see him like this, not even if he died.

“…Your commotion in front of the chapel is excessive.”

But the deep, low voice that echoed in his ears was definitely Kellewen’s.

“I-I’m sorry!”

Pierre quickly let go of Dandeleon and bowed his head before Kellewen. Dandeleon, who had been held up only by the force of the grip, collapsed and rolled on the ground. The dirt and stones pressed against his cheek, but he felt nothing.

“This person dared to spout nonsense, not knowing his place….”

‘I wish I would just faint.’

Dandeleon, who had never prayed to a god, was confident he could pray with all his heart right now.

Please let me disappear from this place. If that’s beyond your ability, Lord Lehwa, let’s settle for fainting. Even if I end up burying my head in a bush like a stupid turkey, as long as I don’t see the high elf, anything is fine….

With a feeling of his body floating, Dandeleon’s thoughts stopped.

“Mr. High Elf?!”

Pierre shouted. When he came to his senses, Dandeleon was in Kellewen’s arms. As his view rose, he could clearly see Pierre’s face staring at him. He was deathly pale, like someone who had seen a ghost, and it was quite a sight.

“I will take care of the prince.”

Kellewen said. Then he turned and started walking somewhere.

A feeling of rebellion briefly rose within Dandeleon, then disappeared again. He thought a little about how Pierre would feel when Kellewen said that, and what kind of excuses he would have to make the next time they met, but then he stopped.

Dandeleon was hurt and exhausted. So he stopped thinking.

For a while, there was no conversation between them. Dandeleon lay in his arms with his eyes closed as if dead. Occasionally, another sound mixed in with the sound of Kellewen’s footsteps. Mostly, they were exclamations upon seeing Kellewen, but there were also voices of astonishment upon discovering Dandeleon.

“…What do we do, we have to tell His Majesty….”

The passing wind carried such words. Dandeleon let out a groan and opened his eyes.

It seemed he had to stop escaping reality here.

“…Put me down.”

Dandeleon said.

Kellewen continued to walk as if he hadn’t heard. Thinking his voice had been too soft, Dandeleon said again.

“Put me down. I’m going back to my room.”

“It’s just a little further to where I am staying. You can treat your wounds there.”

“What did you say?”

“I have a medicine that works well on wounds.”

Dandeleon let out a hollow laugh. He was supposed to go to the high elf’s residence, being carried like this? Rumors would spread throughout the entire palace. Dandeleon pushed against Kellewen’s chest, prepared to fall.

“I said let go of me!”

But Kellewen didn’t even stagger, let alone let him go. Dandeleon punched Kellewen’s chest a few times and then stopped. He didn’t budge at all, and it was so hard it felt more like hitting a stone than a person.

“Did you just hit me with all your strength?”

Kellewen said with a small laugh.

“…Do you know how annoying your way of speaking is?”

“This is the first time I’m hearing that.”

“I’m sure it is.”

Kellewen continued to walk without stopping even in the midst of this. When he came to his senses, Dandeleon found himself passing through the entrance of Ardenberg, where Kellewen was staying.

Ardenberg was the most beautiful of the few detached palaces in the Benoit Royal Palace. Its vast garden, with five large and small ponds, had flowers in full bloom all year round, and each floor was decorated in a different color so that one would not get bored even after a long stay.

Usually, it was used as the king’s villa, and it was rare for it to even be opened to esteemed guests. Giving Ardenberg to Kellewen was the highest form of courtesy the Benoit royal family could offer to the high elf and the Elven Forest.

‘So I’ve come to Ardenberg.’

Dandeleon thought, held in Kellewen’s arms. He had come to find Kellewen in the morning, but he had been turned away at the door and couldn’t take a single step inside. Recalling that, Dandeleon wondered what expression the servant he had met earlier would have. He lifted his head and looked around.

But in the wide hall, there was not even a shadow of a person, let alone a servant. Dandeleon was bewildered.

Come to think of it, it seemed Kellewen had opened the door himself just now. But that was something he couldn’t understand at all. There was no way the king, who had given him Ardenberg, would be stingy with servants, and Dandeleon had even spoken with a servant at the gate here a few hours ago.

I clearly heard that bastard badmouthing me with another guy, so where did all those people go…?

“Please wait here for a moment. I will bring the medicine.”

While Dandeleon was confused, Kellewen arrived at the room. He placed Dandeleon on a spacious sofa and headed to the next room. Through the arched doorway, Kellewen’s personal belongings could be glimpsed.

‘Wait a minute, so is this the high elf’s room?’

Dandeleon observed his surroundings with a feeling that was half curiosity and half bewilderment.

It was a large and beautiful space. With the living room where Dandeleon was lying at the center, arch-shaped entrances were open on both sides, and rooms continued beyond them. The carpet covering the marble floor had a clear leaf pattern symbolizing Yggdrasil, and the pillars and ceiling were carved with grapes and vines.

Overall, it seemed to have brought in the image of a forest, full of fresh and vibrant imagery.