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“Choose.”

The day his city collapsed. The weather had been excellent.

“You’re the only templar that survived.”

A gust of wind blew through the city that was now a shell of what it used to be. The crimes his father committed had been exposed to the world. Whether it be his mother, his father or the templars that looked after him, none of them had taught him what a [Companion] really was. After everyone who had been kind to him got swept away by the fire, all he could do was blink slowly as he stood alone in the ruins.

He recalled how there had been strange rumours surrounding their city. About how they had captured all the women who had the potential to become a Templar of Beasts and other templars to experiment on them. However, thanks to the dignity the Develo name still held as a Ducal Family, the rumours remained just rumours.

However, the matter escalated when one of the captured women escaped from the Templars of Beasts during a scuffle. The woman had been a Templar of Chaos and her kidnapping had angered the Templars of Chaos who had been remaining in hiding.

The Templars of Chaos, the templars who refused to follow the Lord of the Gods infiltrated the City of Beasts and burned their city down. Everything was scorched and all that remained was a skeleton of the former city. Only the young beast who had been trapped in the basement survived. Even his overwhelming abilities were nothing in front of a fire that burned everything. Moreover, it was said that the rest of the Templars of Beasts had died whilst evacuating the rest of the believers in the city.

“The Templars of Chaos are looking for you.”

“… What for?’

“Your father’s sins have cut too deep and now there are those with grudges.”

Since this was his first time coming across it, the young beast had trouble accepting death. He felt too detached from the situation. Hernan, the boy who couldn’t turn human. The young beast finally looked up at the boy who approached him.

“They’ll get rid of you too.”

“Why?”

“Because the news that I’ve been looking for you has spread. I am the successor to the Lord of the Gods. With a successor who has found his companion on my side, I will become several times more powerful.”

Hernan stared off into the distant sky.

Something was simmering underneath his skin. Something intense and wild was bubbling within him. Like lava flowing quietly underneath the crust about to burst through the ground and erupt. Ah, this was something he would never get to see again. Only then did the young beast feel the immense loss of his ruined city.

“I won’t let you die. I’ll give you anything you want.”

The clouds of dust parted into two as the winds weaved through the young beast and the boy.

Flutter.

The boy’s tunic was fluttering like a flag of war. Though he might have been wearing simple clothes, he couldn’t hide his overwhelming presence as he smiled quietly. His hair was as black as the night. The same night the young beast watched from the basement. The young beast broke the silence.

“I… want to take revenge. I want to search for the ones who killed my mother and everyone living in the blessed land.”

At his reply, the boy smiled. A strong gust of wind messed up his hair. They were nice. The eyes that revealed themselves underneath the thick carpet of hair that was as dark as the night sky shone brightly.

“I swear I will.”

Golden orbs of light rose from the boy’s feet. The light filled the space between the two as it approached the young beast before returning to the boy. All that remained was a circle of light that looked like it was on the verge of exploding underneath their feet. Their hair fluttered tremendously.

“Make me your [Master].”

The young beast nodded slowly.

“You will be my knight, my guardian who will be more loyal to me than anyone else. You will become the duke.”

The boy continued. Strangely, his beautiful eyes held madness beyond his years as he plastered an ecstatic grin on his face.

“In return, you will give up on your [Companion].”

The young beast widened his eyes. He recalled the eyes he had once seen when he was younger. His [Companion] had been barely able to open her eyes but there was once she could and they were as purple as amethyst.

“Call her Ashley. Ashley Rosé.”

She was the princess. Someone who was meant to be the noblest lady in the Empire. Someone had remarked that she was going to become the Flower of the Empire one day when they saw her face. But her mother. Her mother had told him that she was going to live happier than anyone else so she did not need to be associated with someone as dangerous as a Templar of Beasts. The young beast believed in her words as if they had been written in stone. He was brainwashed into thinking that it would be better for his [Companion] if he wasn’t on her side. And the young beast believed her words.

‘That person can be happy even without me.’

At that time, he didn’t know. What it meant for him to give up. He thought his feelings for her would gradually subside. He might have suppressed his emotions for her for the anger he felt for everyone who had been killed. In any case, he thought his own [Companion] was happy some place far away. He hadn’t known.

“I hate you to death.”

And the fact that he would regret that choice until he dies.

The one who reigned over him.

“The seat meant only for me. I will be the one to take over. I won’t be considerate anymore.”

His words had been as sweet as a devil’s whisper, and so sweet and exhilarating his ears could melt. The voice of his young master poured onto the lone survivor of a ruined city like welcomed rain. The black-haired boy who didn’t look human. After surviving the deaths of all his fellow templars, Hernan had been promised many things.

“Do your best for me. These are the terms of our contract.”

At the end of the contract and the sworn oath, the young beast asked him a question.

“What do you want?”

Then, the boy slowly locked eyes with the young beast. His black hair swayed and his white toga fluttered in the gusts of golden wind. The boy smiled though the smile didn’t suit a boy his age. For a moment, his gaze looked like that of an aged old man that had gone through too much. But even that gaze gradually eroded into a raging insanity.

The boy sounded as ecstatic and beautiful as god themself.

“This Empire’s fall.”

***

Hernan, who had given up on his [Companion], was used to suffering. Every time he fought against his impulses, a heat would start boiling underneath him.

“This is a drug made by the Wheel of Rome.”

The drug that young Castor gave him whenever he was distressed was strangely able to keep his instincts under control.

“This drug gives you powerful hallucinations and numbs your senses whenever you use it. In other words, it’s able to suppress your instincts. The duration of its effects depends on how long you can endure it but it probably won’t last very long. You will one day turn into a beast that will lose your body to your instincts and subsequently, your own ego.”

Castor never let Hernan run wild but even he could never completely quell his instincts like a real [Companion] could. That was impossible even for Castor.

“That’s the fate of a Templar of Beasts who had given up on his [Companion]. I already knew that.”

A Templar of Beasts who fully turned could never become human again. The young beast was already prepared. However, perhaps his young master was feeling some sympathy for him as he smiled softly and offered a slightly different perspective on his situation.

“This is a kind of death, isn’t it? I want you to let you choose the way you die yourself. I hope you can become satisfied before you die.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“In the future, for only one time, I’ll do whatever you want to ask of me. You can wish for anything. In return, after making that wish, you will lose your freedom and will forever be my pawn.”

“… You mean I’ll just become an empty shell?”

“Correct,”

At that moment, Hernan just thought about how he could use that offer for his revenge in the future. He could use Castor’s help for anything. The young beast had already known that he wouldn’t be living for long. So, he didn’t mind such a proposition. Because he had never learned what it meant to live.

***

Even with moonlight streaming through the darkness, it was a dark night.

Under the sky filled with dim stars, the boy was in a dark room without a single lit lamp. He was sitting calmly on his bed as he stared at the open window.

Flutter.

Soon after, a white bird landed on the window perch. The bird acted like a human being as it stared at him from afar. The boy who had been staring at the bird slowly turned his eyes away before staring at the empty space next to the bird. Soon after, however, a pale hand revealed itself in the dark. He watched as the man climbed through the window to approach him. Then, he called for the man.

“Hernan.”

White threads of his hair fluttered in the wind.

“… I told you not to cross the wall on your own.”

Instead of replying, the man who leaned against the windowsill, Hernan just smiled at the boy. He rested his back against the wall before tilting his head. Because it was obvious to Hernan that whatever he answers would not be the response the boy was looking for.

He soon sat on the windowsill and extended one of his hands into the night air. Hernan then scratched the bird’s head gently with his index finger as the bird leaned in as if it had been waiting. Afterwards, Hernan turned his head to face the boy. Though the way he comfortably leaned against the windowsill looked gentlemanly, some part of him felt loose and drowsy.

“Did you take the drugs again?”

The boy nagged at him calmly. It was only for a moment, but the boy, Amor, noticed him flinch. As if he had unintentionally let out the truth, Hernan licked his lips. A templar’s eyesight was at least twice as good as a normal human’s so Amor could notice even the smallest tremors.

His body might be weak but his physical capabilities still surpassed that of an ordinary human.

“Do you not have any intentions of controlling yourself?”

He subtly poked around for Hernan’s condition. Amor stared into the air as if he was not that interested in finding out but he noticed Hernan smiling cooly at the corner of his eyes.

“There’s nothing to be helped.”

Hernan removed his hand from the bird before slowly bringing it to his face. He rested his chin on his hand before tilting his head and staring at Amor. He could see Amor sitting as still as a corpse and he could even clearly see the dust floating around the room.

“Castor managed to find a replacement for my [Companion] but it’s not perfect.”

For the Templar of Beasts, it was as bright as day. At first glance, Amor grimaced and his gaze lingered on Hernan for a while as if he was displeased with him.

“You’re abusing the drug. For how long are you going to live half-psychotic?”

Staring at Amor who was furrowing his eyebrows, Hernan was thinking about something else.

“Lucy! Lucy! Lucy!”

The 16-year-old boy had just lost someone he cherished. The pitiful sight of the prince who had been betrayed before losing a loved one aroused his sympathy. The prince who had been ruthlessly betrayed by the maid he loved almost died in her hands. After going through all that, Hernan thought he would give up. He worried if Amor was going to resort to killing himself but he went against his expectations.

“The drug from Rome might be helping you with your instincts but you’re too dependent on it.”

When he opened his eyes, he noticed a frown on Amor’s face. Amor, who was staring directly at him, didn’t look like a boy but something more ambiguous.

“I need the drug to carry out what my superior is ordering me to do.”

“You’re following the Crown Prince but why are you doing the Emperor’s dirty work?”

“Then why are you making poison for him instead of medicine, my prince? Wouldn’t the poison end up in the Emperor’s hands anyway?”

Shocked, Amor looked as if he just got punched. Amor turned his head away silently as Hernan continued to smile softly.

“… I don’t care how what I make is used.”

As he slowly looked away from the closing green eyes, Hernan thought about what a delicate face Amor had. Upon first glance, he might seem fragile and expressionless but he was in fact someone who was very expressive. Perhaps he was only able to notice that because of his incredible eyesight.

“You look tired.”

The boy just closed his eyes. Having no intentions of tormenting the boy any longer, Hernan backed off.

‘To call it torture would be unfair.’

Rather, he did care for the boy.

“Brother came earlier this afternoon. He brought up the 7th Prince. The position for the ‘Emperor’s Shadows’ is still vacant.”

“Yes, the successor to Rome is still young. And he seems to be rejecting his position as the ‘Emperor’s Shadows.’”

A moment of silence then followed before Amor broke it.

“Is that why you’re currently taking care of the Emperor’s mess?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“… I don’t care what happens now but it’s unpleasant to have to smell that incense everyday.”

Looking sorry, Hernan stretched his hand out.

“Sorry.”

Not long ago was he officially recognised by the Emperor as a templar. For appearances’ sake, to show the emperor’s trust in the young duke, Hernan would often get invited to luxurious and hedonistic banquets, also known as symposiums. The intent behind the women approaching the young and well-mannered duke was no different.

“Even though you say you politely refuse them, this…”

Amor’s eyes swept across Hernan’s face. He was emanating a strong floral scent as per usual His dishevelled clothes that only ended up more crumpled with every movement of his body left him with a strange feeling. When Amor pointed that out, all Hernan did was chuckle.