I came back to the past.
The mark of the contract with the great demon was erased.
The curse accumulated by black magic evaporated.
The scars that remained all over my body disappeared.
When I spread my hands, I saw a neat hand without any blemishes.
"Did I really come back?"
I doubted it, but I couldn't believe it.
A bright light burst out of the sword that the hero had lifted up, and as soon as I lost consciousness and opened my eyes, it was here.
I couldn't guess how far back I had come.
When I looked in the mirror, I saw a boy who still looked young.
Before becoming a monster who went mad with the curse of 'immortality' from human experiments.
After ten years, I was taken by the Demon King, became a general of the Demon King's army, made a contract with the great demon, and became the enemy of humanity, the immortal Argal.
There was no such thing here.
The noble prince who had not yet lost his dignity was here.
"But."
The imprint of immortality remained.
This curse, which existed without a process due to regression.
This curse, which accompanies endless madness, seemed to have washed away the part of 'madness' cleanly, and only immortality remained.
Then it can't be called a curse anymore.
I felt a little bit of freshness in my head that had been cleaned for a long time.
I could feel it by looking at the mouth and eyes that appeared in the mirror.
Always, the corners of my mouth that didn't rise up.
Knock-
Someone knocked on the door.
In the meantime, my head was rummaging through the past that I didn't remember well.
The noble family I belonged to was quite solid.
A territory that had everything in its own way, a mansion that had rusted over time but did not lose its elegance, a competent butler, a faithful maid, and a high-level knight order for a rural territory.
And the only one who could knock on my door in the morning was my exclusive maid.
"Come in. Sir."
"Karon."
I didn't remember much about her.
It was strange that I remembered well the maid who served only one person professionally.
There was only one thing I remembered.
'That, only…'
'Why… did you…'
The mansion burning brightly under the moonlight came to mind.
I remembered killing her while slaughtering everyone hiding there.
I pierced my chest with my hand and smashed the heart inside.
And then muttered to spit out one word.
"I'm sorry."
"What?"
"No, nothing."
As the madness that tormented me for so long washed away cleanly, I began to fall deeply into the past that I didn't care much about.
It's meaningless in the past anyway.
I shrugged it off and looked at Karon.
She bowed her head slightly and avoided my gaze as she delivered some information to me.
"Lord has called you. First of all, I'll prepare your clothes."
"Do it."
"And sir…"
"What is it?"
"Nothing."
Karon bowed her head and walked away backwards.
I snorted and looked out the window.
It wasn't a scene where the world was burning and turning into ashes.
It was a lush forest and grassland, and a man swinging his sword in the middle of a training ground.
My brother Ardel.
A girl who opened a pretty basket next to him and watched him while eating snacks.
My sister Ariel.
Then I closed my eyes.
I didn't know why.
Why did I see myself killing them?
"I don't know."
I turned my head.
I had been suffering from madness for too long.
I was not used to being without it.
"I brought water and clothes for you, sir."
I washed my face with water brought by Karon and changed my clothes.
There was nothing complicated about it, so it didn't take long.
I changed my clothes and followed Karon to the lord's room.
The memories of the past slowly came back to me.
Things I had forgotten because I didn't care about them came to mind.
An old butler with a mustache who had devoted his life to the family and was a nobleman himself. He greeted me with respect when I passed by him.
Some knights walking around inside the mansion. They bowed their heads politely when they saw me.
A maid who brought a chair to clean a window that was hard to reach and stood on tiptoe.
I stopped her from trying to greet me and moved on.
Their expressions were peaceful and full of loyalty.
One question came to mind.
Why did I kill my family, erase my family name, and burn this peaceful mansion?
The question didn't last long.
"Are you here? Argal."
"Father."
His expression was strict, but his eyes were full of affection.
I looked at the lord of this house and my father and remembered when I killed him.
'Argal, Argal Britten! You committed a crime and ran away, and is this your purpose for coming back?'
'I waited for you to come. I was determined to be with you even if I had to bear the stigma of treason for trying to kill the royal family. But is this the price for that?'
'What is the reason? Did you hate our family, our clan so much?'
I answered like this.
I didn't hate you.
It was a loving and comfortable family.
There was no special reason.
I had to offer the most precious thing to me to make a contract with the great demon.
I closed my eyes.
Something seemed to be stuck in my eyes, but only dry eyeballs were caught.
I remembered.
The reason I killed my family was because of the contract with the great demon.
The great demon wanted me to offer the most precious thing to me, and I thought 'family' was precious, so I slaughtered them.
That's all.
When I came to my senses, my father looked at me with a worried face.
"Are you okay? If you have any pain, tell me."
"No. I'm fine. What did you call me for?"
"Ahem, if you're fine, let's continue. I have a place to send you."
My father unfolded a letter.
"Count Karis is calling you. There was a marriage proposal before, and it seems that he plans to meet you in person this time. How about it? Will you go?"
I couldn't answer at the mention of Count Karis.
Because after meeting him and his daughter and facing their faces… I was kidnapped on my way back.
There I received the curse of immortality and suffered from endless madness.
It's too, too coincidental timing.
Just as soon as I regress, I hear this story.
But I didn't intend to avoid it.
After a moment, and after a very long deliberation, I answered.
"I'll go."
My father nodded his head with satisfaction.
It would be helpful in many ways to become close with another lord through marriage.
But he didn't know.
With this decision, his beloved son became a monster, burned his family name, and burned his mansion.
My conversation with my father ended.
When I came out of the lord's room, I saw a glimpse of a head sticking out.
Black hair tied in two braids.
Two cheeks puffed up cutely.
My sister Ariel.
"What are you doing there?"
"Oh, brother? Did you see me?"
"Of course I saw you."
I walked slowly, and Ariel naturally followed me.
"What did father say?"
"You could have come in and listened with me."
"But father is scary."
"Scary…"
What would he see there that would be scary?
I was genuinely curious, but I didn't bother to ask.
Ariel followed behind me and kept nagging.
"So what? What's going on?"
"I have something to do at Count Karis's place."
"What? You're going there? Why?"
I was annoyed and told her everything from beginning to end.
"I have a marriage proposal. I'm going to meet his daughter and decide whether to marry her or not."
"Wha, marriage proposal?!"
"Why are you so surprised? You'll also meet someone and get engaged when you get older."
It was a common thing in noble society.
An alliance made by blood and blood would be the strength of the nobility.
Sometimes the offspring from there would become the heir who would merge the two territories and become a more powerful lord.
That rarely happened though.
And as far as I remember…
There were several things that made the engagement canceled.
The engagement wasn't that important anyway.
The incident where I was kidnapped and branded with immortality was the most important.
Ariel's face turned bright red.
"I, I won't do it! I won't do any engagement!"
"Do as you please."
"Bu, brother, you should stop your sister from going out like that! Don't just leave it alone!"
What am I supposed to do?
I ignored my sister's nonsense and turned my head, and right in front of me was my brother who was soaked in sweat.
Ardel.
His death in the past was impressive, so I remembered it from my memory.
'I will kill you, Argal, with the honor of the Britten family.'
'The sin of killing father! The sin of killing Ariel! The sin of burning the mansion and disgracing the Britten family! And… the sin of killing mother… I will make you repent for this sin.'
He fought with me until the end.
He was a level-headed swordsman, so I died several times in the battle with him.
It was obvious that I would have lost sooner if I didn't have the curse of immortality.
He joined the Golden Knight Order of the Kingdom's capital and hurried back to his territory after receiving an urgent report that his family was burned. He saw the ashes of the burned mansion.
He shed tears of blood and raised his sword even with his two arms broken. His figure appeared like a mirage.
"I heard from father, Argal."
"Did you?"
"I always say this, but speak comfortably, Argal. Why do we have to use honorifics with each other when we are the only family? We should get along well."
"Right big brother!"
I nodded obediently.
I don't know what stubbornness it was, but in the past I respected Ardel and called him brother with honorifics.
I don't need to do that now.
"I see."
"What are you up to? Anyway, I heard you have a marriage proposal, but you don't have to feel pressured. If you don't like it, just refuse it. Even if father says no, I'll stop him."
"Thanks for that."
The marriage proposal was going to be broken anyway, but there was no reason to say no to helping.
"Are you leaving now? Father is meticulous, so he said he had prepared a carriage as soon as he received the letter. You can go right away if you want, or you can postpone it for a day or two. Do whatever you want."
"I'll leave now."
"Huh? Brother, are you leaving right away?"
Ariel lifted up a basket.
The basket was full of snacks she liked.
"Let's eat some snacks together and go brother!"
"Ariel, you always eat snacks and that's a problem. You have to eat properly to grow up and not gain weight. How can you become a fine lady like that?"
"I hate nagging!"
"Put it down and stop it. Argal, how about having a meal before you go?"
"I'm going to leave now."
I had no appetite.
It was better than the curse of immortality that tormented me with madness, but there were side effects.
I didn't die anyway, so sleepiness and hunger were greatly reduced.
I eat and sleep to not die, but why do I have to do that if I don't die?
But still, if I don't eat or sleep for a while, my body will change weirdly, so I have to keep it moderate.
"It's a way to arrive quickly and save Count Karis's face. I understand your intention."
Ardel shrugged as if he didn't care about anything and walked down the hallway.
Of course, he confiscated Ariel's basket full of snacks in one hand.
Ariel, who had her snacks snatched away in an instant, hurriedly followed him.
Only then did I realize that there was no one around me.
A feeling of being filled and then emptied out.
This emptiness was too familiar.
the end