His Breeding Obsession

Mirania could not see into Grecan’s heart.

 

She could see his eyes flicker with weakness, but she knew now that he was not as fragile as he seemed.

 

He had simply taken over a dozen lives in a fit of rage. 

 

Mirania noted the causality of the act.

 

‘Grecan’s power now could have reduced a far greater number of lives to dust.’

 

The current Grecan was capable of killing more than half the life on the continent simply because he was angry.

 

‘He’s too dangerous.’ 

 

There was nothing worse than a man with a sword-wielding it without restraint.

 

The darkest of all things lies before me.

 

He’s turned the world upside down.

 

He mangled the body of his childhood companion, Laverianz, and banished Malandor from the world.

 

That should have been the end of it.

 

But then he killed another man for no reason.

 

Just because she slipped out of the palace without a word, because he couldn’t catch her, and because he was angry.

 “… Mirania, please. Don’t look at me like that.” 

She gazed at him pleadingly, feeling an intense sense of responsibility as the one who had raised the dangerous being before her.

 

It was why she seemed unable to lift her face whenever she found evidence of what Grecan had done.

 

Softly, she asked,

“Did you kill him?” “…What do you mean?” “Did you kill the guard who stood watch on the day I left the palace, and the child who tended to me?” 

Grecan’s face went white.

 

Mirania asked coldly,

“Did you kill them?” 

Grecan paused. The word loomed large in his mind.

 “That’s…” 

Annoyance. Hesitating, Grecan blurted out an excuse.

 “It was for failing to carry out an order. I didn’t just kill them…” “What orders were they?” “…” “I’m only going to ask you once. What was the order?” 

After another hesitation, Grecan spoke cautiously.

 “An order to take care of Mirania.” 

Mirania closed her eyes tightly.

 

‘What a terrible headache.’

 “You realize that doesn’t make sense. Your command and their lives do not carry the same weight.” “They do, because my command carries more weight.” “Are you serious?” “Mirania, why are you so angry?” 

Mirania walked toward the entrance. Her silent steps stopped exactly at the border of the entrance.

 

With a subtle glance, she looked down at the kneeling Grecan.

 

He reached out for her, but she dodged it. Grecan’s face twisted.

 “I’m just saying that life is precious.” “…My servants kill animals every day for the food on the table.” 

Grecan blinked.

 “It’s a law of nature.” “I told you that life is precious.” 

Mirania added,

“I’m saying that the lives you kill for the sake of your own anger are worth more.” 

Grecan no longer held onto the tail of her words. But he didn’t quite understand what she meant.

 “But… they are all useless distractions.” 

Mirania saw a flash of sincerity in his eyes as he said it.

 “Even if they were, they’d be nothing more than a hindrance to Mirania and me.” “…” “If they see the slightest crack in me, they’ll try to harm Mirania again and take you away from me.” “…” “They’re like that, I hate them.” 

As the words continued, Mirania’s heart broke.

 

The lives of others do not carry much weight with this child.

 

She lamented. Her heart, which had been wavering all along, was now resolute.

 

There was silence. Grecan asked in an uneasy tone, unsure of what to do.

 “What are you thinking?” 

Mirania didn’t answer right away.

 

After enough time had passed for the hot tea to cool, a muffled voice broke through.

 “I wonder if killing you might be the last mission I have left.” 

Mirania confessed what had been on her mind.

 

Grecan’s eyes widened slightly, but then he smiled.

 

Mirania raised an eyebrow at the unexpected reaction.

 “You can do that.” “…” “Only Mirania can do that. Take my life whenever you want.” 

Mirania corrected herself. It wasn’t just other people’s lives that mattered to Grecan, not even his own.

 “I failed to protect you that day, Mirania, and I’m just as useless.” 

Grecan whispered coldly,

“So take it if you will, for this life, this wasted life, is not worth a shred of it for Mirania.” 

Mirania’s cold eyes clouded over.

 

‘I tried not to think about it, so worthless and irrational, but I can’t help it.’

 

Was it because of me that this child became this way?

 

Did my death make him like this?

 

All of this was an entirely arbitrary act that had nothing to do with his intentions.

 

Even if we are confident in the reasons for our actions, we don’t have to feel responsible. In fact, it would be irrational to think so.

 

Nevertheless, Mirania could not blame Grecan alone.

 

If she had to take responsibility, she wouldn’t do it alone.

 

‘You’ll be the worst pain in my life, you.’

 

If she had to take responsibility.

 

Mirania placed her hand on the nape of Grecan’s neck.

 

Her magic might be weak, but taking the life of an unresisting opponent wasn’t that difficult.

 

‘If I hesitate in the hope that things will be different, that there is another way, that there is an alternative, and then die suddenly, there will be no one to stop him.’

 

Mirania’s complexion darkened.

 

‘No one would stop Grecan.’

 

My heart ached. So much so that I could actually feel the pain.

 

Grecan stood there as if he would accept whatever she did. As if he knew what she was thinking.

 

Mirania stared down at him for a long moment.

 

Suddenly, Grecan spoke,

“Before you choke me, can I ask you a favor?” “What is it?” 

Mirania relaxed her stiff back and lowered her eyes to a somewhat loose posture.

 

The sight of Grecan sticking his neck out, saying,

‘You can kill me’,

made her feel like a mess, even if she tried to remain calm.

 “Just give me a little time.” “So you don’t want to die after all.” “No, I’m just trying to figure something out.” 

Grecan rubbed his hand over his chest and muttered,

“I don’t know if it’s okay to die, if there’s a problem.” “What problem are you talking about?” 

He didn’t answer, just smirked.

 “And one more thing, I’ll die if you listen to this.” “What else.” “Be my bride.” 

Mirania stiffened, her brows pressed together.

 “You’re saying the same thing as Leverianz, and it’s annoying… Take it back.” “…” 

Grecan, frowning suddenly, spoke again.

“Be my wife.” 

Dropping to his knees, this time with no time to dodge, Grecan snatched hold of her hand and pressed his lips firmly against the back of her white palm.

 “I want you to marry me.” “…” “I will give you my life.” 

Mirania stared at Grecan with an inscrutable gaze.

 

Here was Grecan, looking at her so desperately.

 

But he had killed hundreds, thousands, with his unrestrained blade.

 

The enemy of her past life, the one she had raised with her hands.

 

A weakling who has been driven mad for a hundred years by her own death.

 

Suddenly, she realized she saw a glimpse of an inscrutable concept in his unkempt form.

 

‘I see. All of those who love have been this crazy.’

 

The inscrutable concept of love, sometimes self-destructive, sometimes incredibly sacrificial.

 

The feeling that some people see the world in dark colors, some see it in red, and some see it in glorious pastels.

 

That iridescent emotion she couldn’t understand.

 

The love that Grecan expressed. The love she longed to know, and was tired of knowing, that this child she had raised held.

 

A child who had clutched thousands of lives in his bloody hands.

 

Mirania’s lips slowly opened, and her hollow voice fell like the blade of a guillotine.

 “I cannot.” “Mirania?” 

The sentence was pronounced against panicked tears.

 “…Disappear from my sight at once.”  Thud! Swoosh— 

A battered beer jug rolled in front of my feet.

 

Liquor bottles are everywhere. Some of them were broken. The pieces were sharp enough to cut the soles of my feet if I stepped on them.

 

‘I can’t walk barefoot,’

I thought.

 

Not only beer bottles were discarded haphazardly.

 

It was littered with torn clothes, leftover cans of soups, half-burnt wads of newspapers, cheap cigarette packets, and everything else.

 

Abandoned neighborhood.

 

Streets that hadn’t been touched by human hands for decades.

 

A city whose former glory was only a shattered remnant.

 Clink, clunk, clank— 

A piece of glass on her foot makes her groan in pain.

 

Mirania walked on, step by step.

 

Looking around as if she were out for a walk. The most prominent thing she saw was a mansion with missing bricks.

 

The red tiles had fallen away, revealing the ugly interior of what must have once been an ornate mansion.

 

The tall tower houses, once the homes of arrogant families who didn’t want to share the same view as the commoners, were crumbling chimneys that made it difficult to keep the fires burning in the dead of winter.