The Reason I Keep Avoiding My Childhood Friend - Chapter 21

“What are you even doing? You’re supposed to be managing the horses, but you’re so incompetent? Ren! REN!”

Kirsec shouted out to someone and a knight appeared not far away. Yes, he must have been escorted around since he was the Grand Duke’s son. Seeing the knight, Kirsec shouted out his order.

“You hurt my horse! Whip him for his sins!”

It wasn’t even directed at me, but my heart sank and I felt choked. I was starting to panic.

The caretaker never deliberately injured the horse. It was simply a kid’s tantrum, and I thought the knight would stop Kirsec. However, he only gave a short answer of agreement, as if he was already familiar with this kind of situation.

“Okay.”

Even after hearing such an answer, I desperately looked back at Kirsec, hoping his anger had subsided a little. But there was not a bit of guilt in his eyes. He was solely focused on appeasing his anger. For him, this was nothing out of the ordinary.

The moment I met the eyes of that young demon, a great shock went through me and I was swallowed by a terrible fear.

“Huh? What’s wrong with you?”

Kirsec shouted, his eyes going wide. But his voice felt far away and alien. The world had turned black. The revelation of the demon within him was too much for me, and I passed out.

***

When I opened my eyes later in my bed, I couldn’t recall what had happened. I was just lying there blankly, wondering how I ended up in bed when I heard Mrs. Seryl, who had come in to look after me, talking about how I had fainted. And then I remembered the whole incident.

“You suddenly collapsed! The priest says there’s nothing wrong with the body, but are you really all right?”

All I could do was nod my head in reply to her anxious question.

I know I didn’t collapse because I was sick. This happened due to mental shock. The miserable feelings of my past life rushed to my mind.

My unusually lethargic attitude deepened the worry in Mrs. Seryl’s face, but I was in no condition to console her.

Even if it wasn’t directed at me, Kirsec’s actions summoned up memories of my past life. It was a cruel act of rubbing salt over a healing wound. Everything was starting to get better, and I thought it would be okay now since it was in the past.

But I guess it wasn’t, since the moment I saw someone else in pain, my head started ringing. The memories of my past life were ingrained quite deep within me.

“The Duke’s son, the young master… is that the kind of person he is?”

Mrs. Seryl opened her mouth slightly at my helpless question, but then closed it again, looking frustrated. That small reaction was enough for me to guess what she couldn’t say.

Kirsec’s true personality was more dreadful than I expected. All I had encountered till now were his cute grousings, so I had unwittingly underestimated him.

Kirsec was a demon cub wearing the mask of a little angel. There was no hesitation in Kirsec’s face or actions when punishing the caretaker. He took his actions as granted, even when fully aware of the consequences.

How can such behavior be natural? Even the idea of it being so is alien to me. Even the escort knight followed Kirsec’s words without hesitation, meaning here was a place that flowed according to Kirsec’s will. He’s an opponent I can never deal with.

Okay, I already knew that Kiesec was a real jerk. So why am I feeling so empty now?

Mrs. Seryl gently patted my head as I released a deep sigh quite out of character for a naive seven-year-old. A sense of relief spread through me at the careful touch, and I closed my eyes.

What should I do now? No matter how hard I think about it, he’s a demon I can’t mess with. I decided to run away from Kirsec for the life of me. From the next day, I started desperately avoiding Kirsec. But Kirsica looked for me tenaciously, as if my behavior was annoying. I don’t know why that kid is so obsessed with me.

But now I didn’t want to be involved with him anymore. And that’s how the game of hide-and-seek for my survival began.