From the moment I was born… No, even before I was born, death had always been by my side.

  In my mother's womb, after I was brought into this world, I wavered between life and death.

  On the verge of being cremated, I struggled, I fought, I clawed desperately…

  And at last, I obtained life.

  But even then… death never left my side.

  Come to think of it, the doctors had predicted that I would not live past the age of twenty.

  I was powerless, hollow.

  All I could do was suffer as I waited for death.

  Despair clouded my vision, and I began to lash out at the servants around me.

  It was during that time that a certain doctor stepped forward to treat me.

  I can still vaguely remember his face.

  He was a kind-looking, benevolent man.

  His treatment differed from that of other doctors—he used his own methods, his own medicine.

  Even so, my condition did not improve.

  Whenever I awoke, I felt relief that I was still alive.

  Whenever I fell asleep, I feared that I might never wake again.

  Day after day, I spent my time lying in bed, gazing at the garden, receiving treatment, eating meals…

  And I spent nearly all the remaining hours asleep.

  The doctor was determined to cure me.

  He always smiled reassuringly, as if to ease my anxiety.

  I would later recall the dark circles under his eyes…

  But at the time, I never noticed them.

  At that time… I had grown so hopeless that I had come to resent everything.

  Everything my eyes saw filled me with hatred.

  The maids who cared for me, the mother who gave birth to me, the father who made me.

  The birds soaring in the sky, the fish swimming in the garden pond, the insects crawling on the ground…

  The clothes on my body, the futon, the pillars, the floor, the ceiling— everything.

  "Let us hope this one works…"

  And of course…

  The doctor standing before me, smiling faintly…

  I despised him.

  I loathed him beyond words.

  How dare he speak as if this were someone else's problem?

  "Will I… be cured?"

  A rasping breath came from my throat.

  It was painful. My entire body ached, and felt unbearably heavy.

  Death slithered beside me, creeping across my body.

  "I will save you, no matter what. Here, this next medicine—"

  That doctor…

  So sincere in his conviction…

  So carelessly turning his back to me…

  "——!"

  I slammed the blade in my hand down with all my might.

  It must have been instant death.

  The moment I struck him, the doctor collapsed as if his strings had been cut. After a single convulsion, he never moved again.

  Slowly, a pool of blood spread across the floor, filling the air with its thick, iron scent.

  I had despised him—the doctor who spouted grand promises yet achieved nothing.

  The suffering of my own body as it edged closer to death had been unbearable, and the helplessness of being unable to stop it tormented me.

  —No, let's not dress it up with excuses.

  The truth is simple—I couldn't stand the fact that while I suffered, there was someone right in front of me who wasn't.

  That was all there was to it.

  How petty, how disgraceful—murdering a doctor who had devoted himself wholeheartedly to my treatment.

  And yet, at that time, I felt… as if I had been freed from something.

  Nothing had changed. I was still teetering on the edge of death.

  But I think… I might have been smiling.

  The thing that gushed from my mouth with a gurgle—perhaps it wasn't just blood this time.

  <+>

  Some time passed after that.

  And before I even realized it, my body had begun to change.

  The frail, withered frame of an old man—my own feeble body—was now packed with powerful muscles, taut and strong as if they might burst from my skin.

  When I stood up, effortlessly, as though it were the most natural thing in the world, I was utterly astonished.

  So was everyone around me.

  The elderly maid who had cared for me collapsed in shock, unable to stand.

  The sensation of standing on my own two feet, of walking—it was overwhelming.

  Taking deep breaths, exhaling without the usual rasping sounds or pain—it felt nothing short of miraculous.

  Moving, stretching, touching my own body without feeling pain—it was as if the fog that had always clouded my life had finally lifted.

  By then, the world around me had already been swallowed by night.

  Guided only by the dim light of the lanterns, I stepped into the garden for the first time.

  Pressing my feet into my long-neglected straw sandals, I ran across the gravel, listening to the crunching sound beneath me.

  I gazed down at the fish gliding lazily through the pond.

  For the first time since my birth, I felt no shadow of death looming over me.

  For the first time, I felt truly alive.

  Looking up, I saw a sky filled with stars—something I had never fully been able to glimpse from my room in the mansion.

  Countless, innumerable stars twinkled above, shining with breathtaking beauty.

  Guuuuu…

  Then, suddenly, a strange sound echoed from my stomach.

  Confused, I quickly realized what it meant.

  A wave of hunger crashed over me—my body was crying out for food.

  I lowered my gaze from the sky and quickened my pace back toward the mansion.

  My body felt incredible. Surely now, I could eat more than the thin porridge I had been given before.

  Perhaps I could finally enjoy the lavish meals my mother and father dined upon.

  I would have the servants prepare something at once.

  With that thought, I turned my eyes to the maid who had been watching me.

  There, before me, sat a delectable hunk of meat.

  I swallowed hard. My mouth flooded with saliva, my lips trembling with hunger.

  Perhaps even a bit of drool had escaped the corner of my mouth.

  How thoughtful. Had they anticipated my condition and prepared it in advance?

  I would have to praise them later...

  With that thought, I reached out and sank my teeth into the meat without hesitation.

  Chomp. Rip. Tear.

  "Kyaaaaaaa!"

  Squish. Chew. Slurp.

  "P-please… s-stop… d-don't eat…"

  Munch. Gnaw. Chomp.

  "H-help… ah… gurgle—"

  "Ahh~ delicious… What a divine taste…"

  <+>

  "What… what are you doing?!"

  I had never felt better.

  My body was stronger than ever, my hunger was sated, and I was basking in a level of joy I had never experienced before.

  Leisurely, I turned to face the voices behind me.

  There stood my father and mother.

  With a bright smile, I beamed at them.

  "Look, Father! Mother! My illness is cured!

  I am fine now! I will never burden you again!

  Ah, ah, what shall I do tomorrow? I wish to resume my studies! I want to play! I want to see the world!"

  "…What… What are you doing…? What are you… eating…?"

  Mother's voice quivered as she spoke.

  What… am I eating?

  I glanced down at my hands.

  There, grasped between my fingers, was the remains of the meal I had just been devouring.

  "This? It was absolutely delicious! Mother, would you like some?"

  "Hiii—!"

  Splat

  If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  I took a step closer, only for Mother to stagger backward, her face drained of color.

  Why?

  Why would she recoil from such a splendid feast?

  Disappointed, yet already full, I carelessly tossed the remaining piece aside.

  Thud

  Roll… roll… roll…

  "Hiiiii!"

  It tumbled across the floor, coming to rest near Mother's feet.

  She let out another terrified whimper and scrambled back further.

  Ah, I hadn't meant for that to happen.

  Apologies, Mother. I didn't expect it to roll that way.

  But still—

  I was smiling.

  I truly believed that the days I had longed for were finally within my grasp.

  That I could finally live alongside my father and mother.

  I knew they had always considered me a disappointment—their only son, weak and frail.

  And yet, they had sought out doctor after doctor for me.

  They had done everything in their power to keep me alive.

  And now, at last, here I stood, the result of all their efforts.

  So naturally—

  I would do anything to repay that debt.

  "Father! Mother! It's all right now!"

  I spread my arms wide.

  I never doubted, even for a moment—

  That they would embrace me.

  Yet, suddenly, a flash of red caught the edge of my vision.

  What is that? I shifted my gaze, only to find my own hand, dyed a deep, vivid red.

  When did this happen…? Even as I wondered, I thought I could just wipe it off later and turned my attention back to Father and Mother.

  "……Huh?"

  Before me stood several men, each gripping a curved blade, while my father and mother stood pale-faced, their expressions twisted with sorrow, pain, and despair as they stared at me.

  "…We cannot allow one who has become a creature of darkness to live."

  Father's words turned my mind blank.

  I didn't understand what he was saying—none of it made any sense.

  Not allowed to live…?

  What? Why? What does he mean…?

  Father glared at me, while Mother trembled, covering her mouth with her hand.

  The men before me raised their weapons, stepping closer, and neither of my parents made any move to stop them.

  The words repeated over and over in my mind: We cannot allow you to live.

  "Why…?"

  I didn't know the reason.

  I didn't understand why this was happening.

  I had believed, without a doubt, that I was about to embrace happiness—so why was this happening?

  "Please, die here."

  To be told to die… by my own parents.

  "You will not die alone. We will follow after you."

  How ridiculous.

  I… I want to live.

  "So… there's nothing to be afraid of, is there?"

  They were saying something.

  Maybe something like, Hurry up and die, you monster.

  How infuriating.

  Rage boiled within me, consuming the euphoria I had felt just moments before.

  This was the worst.

  The men around me inched closer, their blades gleaming in the dim light.

  Soon, those weapons would pierce me.

  I didn't want that.

  Even if Father and Mother wished for my death…

  "I don't want to die!"

  WHOOSH!

  SLASH!

  <+>

  When I came to, the entire area was a sea of blood.

  Before me lay what had once been my father, now reduced to a lump of flesh.

  My mother, her lower half blown apart, looked up at me, barely clinging to life.

  "How the tables have turned, Mother…"

  I muttered, a mix of triumph and a faint loneliness seeping into my voice.

  This was never what I had wanted.

  I looked around at the countless corpses strewn across the ground, the air thick with the sickening stench of blood and death.

  Mother was still alive—for now.

  But it wouldn't be long before she, too, succumbed.

  Wheeze… wheeze…

  Amidst the silence, her ragged breaths echoed through the blood-soaked space.

  Her dull eyes flicked toward me.

  She opened her mouth a few times, then, in a voice as thin and fragile as a whispering insect, she spoke.

  "I'm sorry... "

  That was all she murmured before Mother stopped moving.

  "………"

  I crushed her skull beneath my foot.

  Again and again, I stomped on the splattered brain matter.

  Did she think an apology would be enough?

  Now, after everything?

  Now, after trying to kill me?!

  By the time both Father and Mother were nothing more than unrecognizable remains, the exhilaration in my chest had finally begun to settle.

  I let out a deep breath and raised my head.

  Drip… drip…

  A few drops of something fell into the pool of blood at my feet.

  <+>

  "I'm sorry… Rui…"

  The boy whom I had once seen as a reflection of my past self—the one I turned into a demon—Rui.

  Now, just as I had once done… he, too, had sinned.

  When I came to check on him, what I found was a boy who had just taken the lives of his own parents, lost and overwhelmed.

  "Ah… Muzan-sama… Father and Mother… they were horrible… they… they tried to kill me…"

  Sitting on the edge of the veranda of his former home, Rui looked up at me with lifeless eyes.

  As I gazed down at him, memories of the past resurfaced—the moment I became a demon, the moment I killed my own parents.

  His mother's last words overlapped with those my mother had spoken to me in her final moments.

  "Parents are supposed to risk their lives for their children, right…? That's what a family is supposed to be, right…? I… I…"

  Too late.

  Far, far too late.

  I had finally reached the truth of that night.

  Why my father and mother had tried to kill me…

  By witnessing Rui in the same position I had once been in, I finally understood how they must have felt back then.

  But…

  Looking at Rui, on the verge of despair, crushed by the weight of his actions…

  I couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth.

  "…Yes, it was all because your parents failed to accept you."

  And so, I deceived myself.

  I spoke the words that, back then, I had desperately wished someone would say to me.

  "You are strong. Take pride in that strength and live."

  I placed a hand on his head, stroking it gently, offering what little warmth I could to comfort the pitiful boy.

  Because Rui… was just like me.

  A child who had been raised with love but could never fully trust in that love—

  A child who, in his doubt, took his parents' lives and was doomed to walk a cursed existence.

  And the cause of it all… was me.

  I had pitied his frail body and, in my misplaced compassion, had given him my blood, turning him into a demon.

  If that was the case—if I was the one who had dragged him into this cursed existence—

  Then at the very least, I had to be the one to affirm him.

  That was my responsibility.

  Rui stared up at me in shock, then slowly placed his hand over mine, still resting on his head.

  "…Yes…"

  "I accept you.

  You are no longer weak.

  Forget about your family—for now."

  As I watched the light return to Rui's eyes, I let out a quiet breath.

  One day, he would have to confront the weight of his actions.

  But for now… just for now…

  It was fine to run from that pain.

  And I… would allow it.

  Even as his tears fell, one after another, I pretended not to see them.