Slap—! Slap—! Slap—!
Without even waiting for the noble knights to pass their judgment, my parents tossed my black-haired big sister to the side before they started hitting me as a means of silencing me.
It wasn't the first time they teamed up to hit me. At one point, they even played snakes and ladders with me as the dice just to entertain an adventurer.
My body was already broken at this time, so I was numb to the pain they inflicted on me, despite my face bleeding from being hit with a leather belt.
Everyone in the Malvado family had sky-blue eyes, while my mother had brown eyes, but mine had turned bloodshot a long time ago from how I detested them.
I might have felt like I was nailed to the wall with various needles sticking into my body, but my face remained indifferent as I waited for the only people allowed to pass judgment on the nobles by the Ten Commandments of Ablauf to take action.
"Pascal Malvado! I order you to stop all your actions immediately! You are showing the nobles an unholy sight with your behavior!"
My father tried to ignore the female noble knight, but the girl with blond hair in a bob cut wasn't playing around; she twisted his arm before banging his face on the table.
Bam—!
"Daddy!!" My elder sister cried out as she rushed over to check his condition, ignoring my bloodied body.
'I knew she never liked me from the beginning.' She was the reason my parents were always bitter with me. 'I will make sure to end her life first.'
The last of the noble knights present, who had tattoos all over his face, chuckled beneath his mask and addressed us:
"The young Malvado has raised a very interesting point. Honestly, I think the game should commence. The Malvado family is one of the founding noble families, so having one person remain alive from their bloodline is something we could do to honor them."
Many nobles voiced their complaints, but the leading noble knight among the three raised a point that made them all turn silent:
"The remaining Malvado will be sold off as a slave to one of the noble families present here. That family will decide the Malvado's fate."
Slaves were regarded as wealth among the nobles, even though the military greatly disapproved of it, so many of them showed greasy smiles.
Seeing this, the man in the black mask continued, "Although the majority of you seem to agree with the child's reasoning, it is only normal for us to vote. Those agreeing with the child, raise your hands; those disagreeing, keep your hands on the ground."
In an instant, almost every hand was raised, including mine, which made my parents' expressions turn even paler.
"You crazy kid! Why are you siding with them?!" Mother shouted, making her ugly face resemble a hyena.
Father added, "I should have never wasted my time raising you into a fine man! No! You should have never been born in the first place!"
'That's right. Then maybe you would have died a more peaceful death.'
While my parents were still in a daze, I stood up and took the pocket knife from the pockets of the leader of the noble knights.
"Why are you looking at me like that?!" My sister shouted, stepping back a few inches. "I hope that knife is for you to kill yourself!"
If my parents weren't self-centered people, they would have protected poor old Tasha, but instead, they started running away from me as if I were someone from a horror movie.
At that very moment, fear began to reflect on the black-haired girl's face in the form of tears. She had now realized I wasn't fooling around.
All the gathered nobles spaced out, giving us room to have our last sibling talk together.
I had nothing to say to Tasha; all I had for her were years of hatred she needed to repay twofold.
Thanks to resembling our mother, Tasha had a stout build, which made her quickly exhausted despite having done nothing.
She pleaded, "You know that I love you, right? I have saved you countless times from Dad's beatings. If you should kill anyone, then kill Dad."
'If you loved me, then you should have told him to stop, instead of secretly posting videos of my beatings on the internet.'
I didn't voice my feelings as usual but said instead,
"There is always some madness in love, but there is also always some reason in madness. However, your love was biased, so your madness carries no reason."
Thuck—!
Before she could reply, I stabbed her left bicep, and her hot blood rushed over my face, giving me chills.
However, something within my heart stirred at the sound of Tasha screaming in agony.
"Ahhhh! Hein, you are hurting me! Please stop it! I beg of you!"
I wanted her to stop screaming, but I also craved to taste her blood with my own lips.
She would never dig a hole to bury herself here, so the only way I could ensure she died painfully was to consume her.
Thack... Thack... Thack...
I stabbed the same hand again, blood gushing onto the shrubs on the ground, her screams echoing throughout the forest, scaring away the birds.
"Ahhh! Please stop! You are hurting me!"
I tackled her to the ground, and my teeth found their way to tearing into the flesh of her left bicep.
The only vampires in Ablauf are those with the ability to control blood, but at that moment, I felt like I was the one and only true vampire.
The taste of her flesh was bland, and her blood was slightly bitter. Even so, I kept chewing and swallowing Tasha until her screaming stopped, marking the end of her life.
My face was red from all the blood, and thanks to being born with spiky canines, I resembled a devil. However, I didn't clean myself; I immediately started dissecting my dead sister with the knife I had.
In that moment, I felt both a sense of freedom and a weight lifting off my shoulders. The years of torment and resentment poured out with each slice I made. I was no longer the victim, but the one in control, even if in the most grotesque way possible.
The forest around us stood silent, as if it too was in shock at what had just transpired. I was lost in my own world, consumed by the act that had become both my revenge and my salvation.
As the last remnants of my sister faded away, I found myself staring at the empty space where she had once stood. The hatred that had fueled my actions began to morph into a strange sense of emptiness.
What would happen next? Would the nobles still see me as the monster, or have I become something else entirely? I was unsure, but one thing was clear: I had crossed a line, and there was no going back.
The sun began to set, casting shadows over the clearing where our tragic tale had unfolded. The weight of my actions settled heavily on my chest, but there was a flicker of liberation in knowing that I had taken control of my own fate, however dark it may have been.
I stood up, wiping the blood from my face, and looked around at the nobles who had witnessed my transformation. Their expressions were a mix of horror and intrigue, and in that moment, I understood that I was no longer just Hein Malvado; I had become a symbol of defiance against the cruelty that had plagued my life.
The world around me may have been filled with darkness, but I had embraced it, and I was ready to face whatever came next.