035 HERE COMES LILLRUNE THE CHALLENGER
"But those are the rules," Lillann protested. "Lillrune didn't show up, so he loses."
Suddenly, a voice rang out, silencing the murmurs.
"I agree with the crowd," Lilleo declared, to everyone's shock. "You can't declare me the winner without watching me beat that scum of an idiot. I have his donkey prepared for him."
Lillann the General who presided the family battle raised an eyebrow. "But Lillrune isn't here."
"Oh, he's here," Lilleo replied with a smirk.
He clapped his hands.
At that moment, the doors burst open, and Kasshyek entered, flanked by a squadron of his best soldiers. They brought in an animal, a donkey, to the surprise of the family.
"Why did you bring the dirty animal here?" the family asked.
"Ah, this is the promised wager for this stupid duel", Lilleo said.
"What is the donkey for?"
"It's for the retard Lillrune and his bastard father to ride together, hahaha", Lilleo taunted and laughed although his humor found no audience.
"How dare you barge in like that, Kasshyek!" Lillwo shouted, enraged, directing at Kasshyek instead.
"We're only following orders," Kasshyek said calmly. "You asked to bring young master Lillrune, and here he is."
The soldiers parted, making way for a stretcher to be carried in. The figure on the stretcher was swathed in bandages, barely recognizable.
The crowd gasped. "Who is that?"
Lilleo stepped forward, yanking the bandages from the patient's head. Laughter escaped his lips as Lillrune's face was revealed—swollen, broken, his mouth hanging open with drool spilling out like an idiot. His eyes rolled back, groaning in agony.
"Here we have Lillrune!" Lilleo announced with glee. "Now, let the family duel begin!"
------
[In the basement cells of Bagnio la Pleasure]
"Where am I? Why did you bring me here?" Lillrune demanded, his voice seething with anger as he glared at his captors.
A shadow shifted in the dim light, and someone familiar stepped forward.
"You," Lillrune spat, his fury boiling over. "You bastard! Release me immediately!" His words were cut short as a whip lashed across his face, leaving a burning welt in its wake.
The torturer didn't hesitate. Another strike followed, cruel and deliberate, carving fresh scars across Lillrune's neck and face.
"Arrrggghhh!" Lillrune screamed, his voice cracking with pain. He forced himself to focus, his gaze burning with defiance. "Lilleo, I won't let this go!"
Leo stood over him, his expression cold and unyielding. "You?" he sneered. "You'll be dead by tomorrow. It doesn't matter to me whether you let it go or not. Take your grudge to your tomb."
A tense silence hung in the air until Kasshyek, standing nearby, hesitated. "Erm… should we really be torturing him? He's still a young master of the Gullee family."
Leo's gaze flicked toward him, sharp and unrelenting. "Torture or not, it makes no difference. He'll be dead by tomorrow."
Kasshyek's eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you serious? You're really going to kill him?"
Leo turned, his voice low but commanding. "If he doesn't die tomorrow, you and your guards will be in far deeper trouble than you can imagine."
The weight of his words settled heavily on Kasshyek and the soldiers. None of them had anticipated this when they'd agreed to help Leo capture Lillrune from the family mansion.
"Is this your plan?" Kasshyek asked, horrified. "To kill Lillrune?"
Leo's expression didn't waver. "Not just him. His father, Lillwo, too. Both of them need to die."
Kasshyek stammered, trying to find a way to reason with him. "But the old master—he won't allow it!"
Leo's voice hardened. "Of course he won't. If he did, the family wouldn't have sunk into this wretched state, and I wouldn't have suffered so much under their schemes and plots."
Kasshyek was speechless.
He had unwittingly become a complicit part of Leo's vengeance, and there was no way to back out now. He could only press forward and hope for survival.
"You… you wouldn't dare kill me," Lillrune croaked, his voice weak but defiant.
Leo crouched down, his face close to Lillrune's. "Not just yet. You'll live long enough for our fight tomorrow."
Before Lillrune could respond, a burst of magical stones slammed into Leo's ankles, breaking them with a sickening crack. Lillrune cried out, his screams echoing in the chamber.
Kasshyek and the soldiers turned their faces away, unable to stomach the brutality before them. The boy they once considered a useless, spineless heir was now a monster—a devil in human form.
"Why did you break his leg?" Kasshyek asked Leo, his voice trembling.
Leo gritted his teeth, the fury in his eyes unrelenting. "This is for the 'accident' when I was eight," he said coldly.
-----
[many years ago in the Gullee family mansion]
Lilleo, an eight-year-old boy, wandered alone in the family garden, as he often did. The other children avoided him—he was the heir to the family, and his status made him unapproachable.
A sudden rustling sound broke the silence.
"Swish!"
A kite, caught in the wind, became entangled in the high branches of a tree. Moments later, several children appeared, running toward the tree. They were Lilleo's cousins, with Lillrune at the forefront.
"Cousin Lilleo, get the kite for us," Lillrune said, his tone deceptively polite.
Lilleo glanced at the kite. His curiosity was piqued; he had never flown with a kite before. No one had ever given him one. He thought of asking for a turn, but the words caught in his throat. His father was always away on business, and the maids who looked after him never played with him.
"I… I can't get it. It's too high," Lilleo replied hesitantly.
"We'll help you, then we can play together," Lillrune said, a grin tugging at his lips—one that didn't quite reach his eyes. He turned to the servants. "Bring a chair."
Obediently, the servants fetched a tall chair and placed it beneath the tree.
"Climb up the chair, Cousin," Lillrune urged. "You can get the kite from the chair."