Chapter 11: Aberrant Demon? (2/4)

Chapter 11: A Demon? (2/4)

Diss nodded, glancing toward the study door, signaling that the conversation was over and he could leave.

Karen turned around,

His warm smile dissolving, replaced by an expression of sheer gravity.

As Karen reached the study door, Diss’s voice drifted over from behind him once more:

"By the way."

Karen turned back immediately, a smile instantly returning to his face as he asked, "Grandfather, is there something else?"

"The hospital sent word that he has regained consciousness. I have church duties tomorrow, so please go and visit Mr. Hoffen on my behalf."

"Of course, Grandfather. Thank heavens, God bless him, Mr. Hoffen is finally out of danger."

"Mhm. Get some rest early."

"You too, Grandfather."

...

Karen returned to the bedroom, where Lunt, already washed up, was lying on his spring bed preparing to sleep. Seeing Karen come back, he immediately sat up to remind him:

"Brother, Mother told me to remind you to eat your night snack."

"Alright, I know."

Karen noticed three hundred lubis pressed beneath the glass of milk.

Closing his eyes,

And opening them again,

Karen pulled open a drawer, drew out another thousand lubis, and walked over to Lunt with the thirteen hundred in hand.

"Brother... I can't take your money."

"Hold out your hand."

"Brother..."

"Hold it out!"

Lunt extended his hand;

Karen placed the thirteen hundred lubis into Lunt's palm, then leaned down, bringing his face close to Lunt's, delivering each word deliberately:

"No disobedience."

Lunt pursed his lips and finally nodded.

Karen straightened up, suddenly realizing it was rather unfair to project the emotional agitation he had absorbed from Diss onto Lunt;

Thus, he reached out to gently pat Lunt's head,

Reassuring him:

"Your brother can make money, he doesn't mind giving you allowance. Don't let your mother know, and of course, don't squander it."

"Yes, Lunt understands, Lunt will listen to brother."

"Go to sleep."

"Goodnight, brother."

"Goodnight."

Karen sat back down at the desk beneath the glow of the desk lamp.

He pulled the crumpled ball of paper from his pocket again, intending to smooth it out, but after opening it halfway, he balled it up once more.

He raised the glass of milk and drank it down in a single gulp;

Right after, he dropped the paper ball into the glass, picked up a spoon, and mashed the paper into pulp inside the glass.

Having done all this,

Karen propped his forehead with his hand, his grandfather’s recent words surfacing in his mind:

"I do not feel at ease letting you travel far... unless I die."

Then you,

Just when exactly will you...

"Sigh."

Faced with a certain helplessness, Karen picked up the bread on the desk and took a large bite.

Such a curse, after all, remained impossible to utter.

Though Diss had once wished to kill him—and well, likely still did—he hadn't actually killed him yet. Before that happened, Karen was eating his food, drinking his milk, using his things, and staying under his roof, making it truly embarrassing to harbor any resentment.

What else could be done,

Karen spread his hands wide,

"May Grandfather live to be a hundred."

If Diss refused to let him leave, then he could only pray for Diss’s longevity.

Because the underlying meaning of Diss’s words could bear an entirely different interpretation;

Just as Ron had said he would spend his last lubi before he died;

What if one day Diss suddenly felt unwell and sensed his days were numbered? Before he departed...

Karen licked his lips,

Mocking himself:

"He would probably take me along with him."

...

The study.

The black cat, Pu'er, paced across the desk with measured strides.

"Constantly talking about making money for the family, never speaking three sentences without mentioning relatives—how heartwarming, how moving. Diss, have you been bewitched by him?

He simply wishes to lean on the so-called status of family, relying on this so-called familial affection to constrain you. He says all this just to survive!

What,

Diss,

Do you actually believe what he says is true?

Or perhaps,

Are you just deceiving yourself?"

Diss sat there, silent.

Pu'er continued to prowl back and forth across the desk with an elegant feline gait:

Look, look, is this still our Great Inquisitor, Lord Diss?

Our Lord Diss, it seems, has truly grown old, beginning to cherish familial bonds while forgetting his own duties.

Diss,

have you forgotten how you killed your son and your daughter-in-law back then?

Why is it now,

when facing a grandson,

that you cannot bring yourself to strike?

And you,

you have more than just this one grandson!

Diss’s gaze, at long last, fell upon Purr.

Under this stare, Purr shifted a few feline steps backward.

At that moment,

Diss spoke:

"Order... Cage."

Lines of black script radiated from Diss’s body, enveloping the area around the desk in an instant, achieving a sudden, total isolation.

"Diss, what are you doing? Don't be reckless, I am waking you up, I am warning you, I am helping you!"

Diss’s hand,

fell directly upon Purr’s back,

and pressed,

downward.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!"

Purr let out a series of wretched shrieks.

Then,

the screams turned into a cat's yowl: "Meow!!!!!!!!!"

Looking at Purr, who was enduring agony beneath his palm,

Diss remained entirely expressionless,

only asking faintly:

"Are you teaching me how to do my job?"

...

There was no business at home today, and Mina, Lunt, and Chris had all gone to school.