CAR 35

Dennis suddenly felt a chill starting from the soles of his feet.

The students of Volle were mostly those who had been thoroughly excluded from central high society and the duties of their families. Also, their interests were focused within the school, so he had been conceited in thinking they would naturally have no particular information about Dennis. It was only then that he realized how foolish he had been.

It was possible that from the moment Dennis was appointed here, the entire student body, including Vittorio, had been watching his every move.

And would the quick-witted Quachi really not have known that? The thought that spying was just an excuse, that perhaps he had carelessly thrown the firewood named Dennis into a pit of fire, enveloped his entire body.

With the intention of cutting Dennis off from the very beginning… meaning, with no expectations for Dennis whatsoever.

“To think you’d wrap that kind of rotten rope around your waist…”

“…”

“You looked pretty cute with it wrapped around your waist, Dennis.”

“…I’m thinking, so shut up.”

“Thinking about what?”

“…”

“Are you indulging in the pathetic bewilderment that I and Volle truly did not know your backer was Marquis Quachi?”

Vittorio, who had been studying Dennis’s expression, slowly rose from his seat. With one hand on his hip, Vittorio gestured with his chin to the space between his legs. Dennis, glaring at him warily, gripped the back of a chair.

“Quachi is dead.”

For a moment, the strength left the hand gripping the chair back. Dennis let out a hollow laugh.

“I killed Quachi.”

“…”

“Me.”

Vittorio bent his knees slightly and gave Dennis a bow. Just like when he would show courtesy to the audience that had waited after violating Dennis on stage, his movements, as always, were flawless.

“Bullshit…”

Before Dennis could finish his words, Vittorio threw something at him. Dennis barely managed to catch what he had pulled from his back pocket.

What gleamed dimly in the darkness was the amethyst ring that Quachi wore on his middle finger. There were traces of blood inside the ring.

“I kept the severed finger in my room.”

“…”

“Interested?”

Quachi’s ring rolled onto the floor. Dennis habitually looked up at the high ceiling. The dark interior momentarily turned a bright yellow.

Although he had infiltrated the school to escape from Quachi, he had never once considered the option of ‘becoming free by killing him’. Because Quachi had made Dennis that way.

Because even though he had beaten Dennis’s father to death, beat the son as well, and locked him in a closet or starved him, in the end, he would embrace Dennis and speak of a disgusting ‘paternal love’. Because he had declared to everyone that Dennis Kahler was Quachi’s possession, as he had given Dennis a new identity, a place to stay, food and drink, and things to do.

And Vittorio was saying that he had killed that Quachi. When on earth… Vittorio, who heard Dennis’s murmur, answered at once.

“The day before the regular performance.”

“…”

“And I took you as my spoils of war.”

In front of everyone… Vittorio, who had muttered so, picked up the ring that had fallen at Dennis’s feet. He was sneering, as if Dennis, groaning with his hand on his forehead, was ridiculous.

He picked up the slender-for-a-man’s finger and slid the ring onto Dennis’s ring finger. The cold metal was transmitted clearly along the joint. Dennis felt a faint dizziness. Vittorio, who kissed the spot where the fingernail had been hideously torn off, seemed somewhat excited.

“Now, do whatever you want, Kahler.”

“…”

“Try to persuade me to become your new backer.”

That was him telling Dennis to become his dog. Dennis, lost in shock and emptiness, took no action. He merely glared at Vittorio as if he would kill him.

I don’t understand your actions right now, Vittorio opened his mouth.

It was Vittorio who had pulled him out of the cabinet, and who had cleaned up the ringleader and backer instead of the underling who had dared to try and harm him.

Vittorio was clearly Dennis’s benefactor. But Dennis was still wary of him. Even though offering to be his backer was the greatest favor of Vittorio’s life…

As Vittorio approached Dennis, he finally lifted the chair and held it like a shield between Vittorio and himself, grinding his teeth.

“Get lost.”

“…”

“Don’t come closer!”

Vittorio shrugged his shoulders as if to prove his innocence. However, as if that leisurely appearance provoked Dennis further, he finally threw the chair at Vittorio’s shoulder and panted heavily. Vittorio, who tilted his head back to avoid the chair, picked up the axe that was wandering on the floor.

“Kahler, it seems your head can’t comprehend this…”

“It’s enough.”

“Is that so?”

“Even if I entrust my situation to you…”

Dennis, picking up another chair, continued in a cool tone.

“I’ll just end up getting raped.”

It was when Vittorio was rolling his innocent eyes, looking for a rebuttal. Dennis glared at the ring on his ring finger as if he was sick of it, then snatched it off in one go. He raised his arm with the intention of throwing it on the floor, but he couldn’t bring himself to fling it away and seemed to be catching his breath. Vittorio, who was watching this, abruptly held out the axe to Dennis.

“Is that a bad thing?”

“…What?”

“I asked if it feels that disgusting for me to take you.”

“It makes me want to vomit.”

Forgetting the pain in his fingernails, Dennis clenched his fist and muttered as he glared at him. Unlike Dennis’s eyes, which were bloodshot as if they would burst at any moment, Vittorio still looked calm.

That made Dennis even more furious. Now Dennis wanted to provoke Vittorio’s anger, just once would be fine.

Vittorio Bonaparte was just a handsome, empty doll. His pupils, which showed no particular change except for the moment he violated Dennis like a beast, were grotesque.

Once he realized that he was someone his anger, his sense of injustice, and his confusion could not reach at all, even arguing with him felt unnecessary.

“What about when you were with Quachi?”

“What are you talking about.”

“I’m asking if it was sickening then too, when Quachi taught you a man’s body.”

For a moment, it was as if Dennis had gone blind. He felt like all the blood in his body had rushed to his eyes. His conversation with him was futile.

He swore he had never done such a thing with Quachi. To him, Quachi was a lifeline, a teacher, and, deceptively, a father.

And an enemy.

Dennis was genuinely disgusted by Vittorio, who was now urging him to serve him, since he had killed that Quachi for him. A white, thick arm was suddenly extended from Vittorio toward Dennis, who was screaming in a fit of rage. Dennis did not refuse it and bit down on it without hesitation.

Even watching Dennis chew on his arm as if to tear it off, Vittorio did not even frown once. Instead, his face was cold and composed, as if hoping his anger would be relieved this way.

Dennis sincerely prayed that his canines would sever his tendons, but all he could manage was a rat-like bite mark. Vittorio, who even in this situation was looking down with satisfaction at his own forearm, glistening with the bite mark and saliva from Dennis, smiled faintly.

“Then let’s do this.”

Vittorio held out the axe to him. It was the same weapon that had smashed the cabinet. When Dennis was reluctant to take it, the axe handle poked Dennis’s chest a couple of times without hurting him. While glaring at Vittorio 불안하게, he had no choice but to take it.

“Strike my neck with this.”

Then you will be free, Sir. Even Vittorio’s polite addition was nothing more than a mockery to Dennis.

Vittorio, who had bestowed a ‘favor’ upon Dennis, spread his arms wide. His generous chest was laid bare before him, as if to accept his execution by Dennis.

Dennis, gripping the short axe handle with both hands, swallowed. The classroom, which had become quiet in an instant as Vittorio shut his mouth, felt unfamiliar.

Dennis recalled the moment Vittorio’s axe had struck Laurent’s neck. His pulse raced with a faint sense of nausea. He felt that the time he had spent circling Vittorio’s periphery to harm him, sacrificing only innocent people, had been truly foolish.

If he killed Vittorio, Dennis’s mission would also be over. Now Dennis could return to the estate with his head held high!

His palms quickly became soaked. Vittorio was still expressionless, and there were only the two of them in this space. Unlike the cunning Yan, he would not use any particular tricks. It was when Dennis straightened his back and raised the axe.

Is this really the end?

Dennis’s shoulders stiffened in an instant. It was because Eric had suddenly appeared from inside the cabinet. He, who was nothing more than a ghost or a hallucination, was making groaning sounds while rubbing his joints. Eric whistled upon seeing Dennis with the axe raised. Dennis, feeling a headache from the thin sound, briefly frowned.

Vittorio, noticing that Dennis’s gaze had strangely gone past him, slowly lowered his arms. He turned his head to follow his gaze, but there was nothing there. Dennis was breaking out in a cold sweat.

Stupid Dennis Kahler!

Eric, raising his middle finger, burst into laughter. Every time Eric laughed, the headache intensified. Dennis, gripping the axe handle, put his other hand to his temple.

“Shut up…! I told you to shut up!”

Eric was standing behind Vittorio. Dennis went straight there and swung the axe wildly. Eric, with both hands stuck in his pockets as he dodged the weapon, looked relaxed. The axe pierced Eric’s chest, but it left not a single blow on him. Because Eric had no physical form.

If you kill the prince of Volle… now who will commend you for the achievement? Vittorio killed Quachi, after all. You’ll wander the entire country as a vagrant for the rest of your life. No aristocrat would try to help the only son of the swindler Kahler, the one who was Quachi’s dog!

Covering his ears was useless. Eric’s voice was exploding not from the outside, but from within. His vision was blurred from bending over and pouring sweat. It was only then that Vittorio’s two feet came into view.

He was barefoot. It was the first time he had seen the top of Vittorio’s feet this close. His feet were twice as rough and twisted as those of other dancers. The two feet planted on the ground did not move an inch. He could clearly picture Vittorio’s eyes looking down impassively at the back of his head. Dennis slowly straightened his bent back.

Vittorio’s brow, unexpectedly, was crumpled beyond measure. His large hand gently caressed Dennis’s forehead. Dennis nearly closed his eyes. When he put strength into his eyes, Vittorio also withdrew his hand without any lingering attachment. But his face looked somewhat uneasy. It was not his usual brusque face.

“You…”

“Do you think…”

“…”

“That I can’t kill you?”

With those words, Dennis once again raised the axe. The sound of it cutting through the air was quite threatening. The axe blade was quite dull, so to completely slice through Vittorio’s neck, he would have to make several gashes. His wrist trembled violently.

It was the moment the blade was about to pierce Vittorio’s neat nape. Dennis could no longer exert any strength. It was because the axe blade had been caught in mid-air. Vittorio’s palm gripped the blade as if to envelop it.

Lukewarm blood flowed down the axe handle. Dennis’s two hands were also quickly soaked.

“With a swing like that, you couldn’t even slice a pound of meat.”