Hakushaku to Yousei - Volume 26 - Chapter Pr

Chapter 0 ♦ ​Prologue

Underneath a tall window, a faint red flower bloomed. This was a type of flower that was very commonly seen, and as long as a house had even a small courtyard, then this kind of flower could be found. That being said, what flower is this?
Indeed, I recall that it is a type of poisonous flower.
Like she was surrounded by these flowers, a girl lay down on the ground. She might have been thrown from the window, and it seemed that the iron fence which was covered with piled up flowers ran straight through the girl’s chest.
Rain fell from the sky.
The rain washed away the girl’s blood, dying the ground red.
The faint scarlet colour of the petals, was it because it absorbed the watery blood in the earth?
Standing by the window, Edgar looked down at the flowers and the girl. No, this wasn’t him looking at the scene. Another person’s memories concealed within him suddenly flashed, then as if he experienced it personally, the images continuously rushed out. 
These were the “Prince’s” memories.
The one gazing at the flowers and the girl was the Prince as well. Then, the Prince revealed a delighted smile. Smiling while leaving the window side, this teenager emitting the presence of a demon sat down on the wide bed.
As if he had calculated the timing, another new girl lowered her gaze in fear and entered the room. It might have been because she understood that she absolutely couldn’t disappoint “His Majesty”, so she curtsied and tried to smile. 
When he told her to “come to the side,” she oddly made a flattered expression.
She probably thought that the monster before her eyes feeling satisfied was the only means of self-preservation.
However, what was able to satisfy the Prince wasn’t a woman’s smile nor her diligence, but only her appearance of suffering and twisted pain; the girl still didn’t know this.
The first Prince, with his immature slender and delicate body of a teenager, embraced the body of the girl, whose age wasn’t far from his, and spoke softly to her.
Tomorrow, you will dress up with flowers as well.
Not understanding the meaning in these words, the girl continued to try smiling with a gentle laughter. 
Or how about you jump into the garden?
Edgar knew everything that happened afterwards. It’s enough, he mumbled.
Let go......
However, the Prince’s memories that made him watch the scene didn’t disappear, and apart from Edgar silently waiting for the memories to end, there was no other alternative.
Even if the scene from the memories disappeared before his eyes, the anger of the entangled Prince reverberated in his mind.
The surrounding people have all asked him to have a child. A child? For this reason, I have no choice but to keep these women’s lives, how completely stupid.
The Prince felt deeply moody about everything around him. At first, incapable people were not worth mentioning, and as far as capable people, it was determined by whether or not they obeyed him.
Incompetent fellows and disobedient fellows, with regards to the Prince, were nothing more than playthings in the palm of his hand.
Whether it was Lydia or himself, could Edgar guard against this monster’s hands?
Now, Lydia had already become a prisoner. Under these circumstances, Edgar was able to suppress the Prince to some extent. Compared to Teran, the Prince was a person who would extend his claws towards Lydia even more; he had already begun to realize this.
The air was filled with the faint fragrance of flowers, was it that light red flower?
Attracted by the fragrance, Edgar approached the window side. Looking downwards, the woman that fell down into the flowerbed......

A head full of caramel-coloured hair was tangled in the flowers.
This is only a dream, Edgar desperately told himself.
Suddenly opening his eyes, he looked towards the window curtains which were penetrated with the morning light, and after confirming that the shape of the window was different from the one he saw in the dream, he sighed in relief.
In this room, there was a balcony behind the window. There were no flowers below the balcony. It’s unnecessary to go and confirm this; just as Edgar told himself this, a trembling voice came from somewhere in the room.
Edgar, who sat up on the bed, gazed at a slightly darker area of the room.
There was something crouching in the shadow of the sofa. Edgar stood up and walked over.
In result, the one whose body went stiff and shook like a leaf was a woman he had never seen before. She realized that Edgar was standing beside her, and the woman widened her eyes in horror.
“......I beg of you...... release me......”
The thin mosquito-like voice repeated this again and again. The woman, who begged incessantly, had marks of her hair being burnt, and the burns on her back and shoulders were festering. Her underclothes were split open like it had been flogged with a whip, blood continuously seeping out.
Who did this? This couldn’t be asked out loud. Since this was when he was asleep, it might have been the Prince’s actions. Although with regards to this woman, regardless of whether it was the Prince or Edgar, he was the same person.
This matter wasn’t impossible. Because Edgar was unable to fall asleep last night, he drank a lot of wine as a result. Although he obtained the Prince’s power, and finally managed to barely suppress the Prince’s memories, at the same time, he suddenly transformed into the organization’s cruel leader, and may no longer be his original self.
“......You may leave.”
Merely saying this, Edgar turned his back soon afterwards.
He heard the sounds of the woman crawling up unsteadily and leaving. Edgar couldn’t help but think that it was truly fortunate it wasn’t Lydia.
Last night, Edgar’s mind was filled with Lydia.
At the time, she said she was pregnant, but it was merely a lie that was fabricated last minute. Even though that was the case, Lydia’s words still made Edgar realize that even now, the two of them were still husband and wife in the flesh.
The one who faced Lydia and denied their marriage was Edgar himself. Of course, this wasn’t his true intentions, but he could only say so at the time. But these words undoubtedly hurt Lydia deeply, and assuming that she lost hope in him is only natural.
If he could retract the words he said out loud and regain Lydia’s trust, he will definitely try his utmost to fight after everything is over. On the other hand, Edgar had already prepared his mind for the possibility that Lydia might not open up her heart to him again, but in reality, seeing Edgar walk towards Teran, Lydia revealed an increasingly worried expression.
It truly seemed to be a dreadful appearance, seeing Lydia like this, Edgar was almost unable to keep calm.
However at that time, if he exposed even a slight trace of kind-heartedness towards Teran, Lydia would definitely be murdered on the spot. At the thought of this, he could only risk his own life while racking his brains on how to give help in secret.
Such a powerless man.
But even if that was the case, Lydia was still willing to view Edgar as her own husband. Because if she had already denied this marriage from the bottom of her heart, then it would have been impossible to frankly declare her pregnancy at the time. Since she felt that conceiving Edgar’s child was a completely shameless thing, she might have had this kind of staunch attitude.
As he recalled this, Edgar almost wanted to slap himself in the face. He undoubtedly made Lydia face this cruelty, but instead, he was saved by her strength. Afterwards, he didn’t even give her a sentence that could make her feel at ease.
He had no choice but to imitate the Prince’s each and every move, and whether it was his words or his attitude, he could only give Lydia confusion and sorrow. What is he doing to protect Lydia?
After that, Edgar had always been fighting the desire to rush to Lydia’s side.
This feeling grew stronger because the two of them were so close under the same roof.
Even if he saw Lydia as he was now, he wouldn’t be able to express his love towards her. Even under these circumstances, he could only touch her by using violence.  He had clearly understood this in his heart, thus he had to try his best to endure it no matter what, but when it came to this morning, an unfamiliar woman appeared in his room, and looked to have a tragic appearance. He had no impression of this at all, which made the unease in his heart become violent.
Was he already unable to suppress the Prince’s personality? Or was his own personality gradually being eroded by the magic? If this continued on, it wouldn’t be known when he might hurt Lydia unconsciously.
This was the only thing he absolutely cannot allow to happen.
This was merely his own wish, but this wish, with regards to the current Edgar, was perhaps the only evidence that could prove he hadn’t lost his sense of self.