I Proposed Because You Were Terminally Ill - Chapter 60

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 60

“What happens if dragon blood doesn’t flow through me?”

“You would need to go down below.”

“You call that an answer…!”

Fabron’s malicious eyes flashed with murderous intent.

Even though he glared as if ready to tear him apart immediately, the butler still wore that vacant expression.

‘As expected…’

To brainwash creatures capable of complex thought like humans required massive amounts of magical energy to be injected.

But the frail human body couldn’t withstand that level of magical energy.

‘They said they destroy the mind with drugs first.’

They slowly poison humans whose selves have been erased, leaving only empty shells, with just enough magical energy to keep them alive.

Then they educate them to obey only the dragonkin’s commands, turning them into ‘dolls.’

Seeing living proof that dolls truly existed moving before his eyes, a strange thrill stirred deep in his chest.

Fabron’s dream was to fill his manor with such puppets.

A quiet and beautiful kingdom with no noise whatsoever, no insolent subordinates who dared talk back to their master.

Fabron sometimes found the very fact that beings with self-awareness, whether servants or anyone else, walked through his manor disgusting.

So how quiet and perfect that thing was.

“You… you’re a doll?”

“…”

“I never thought they would actually exist, but I quite like it.”

“Please hurry, Count.”

The butler was still only spouting his programmed words.

The fact that he didn’t ask what he meant confirmed he was definitely a doll.

‘Just how many people have they turned into dolls to use?’

It was indeed a perfect method to completely prevent betrayal at its source.

“Interesting.”

If that thing was a doll, its combat ability would be pathetic.

Except for a few combat types, he’d heard that dolls underwent meticulous design to prevent them from rebelling against their masters.

Even Fabron, who had no confidence in physical strength, felt his confidence rising.

“What happens to those without dragon blood flowing through them…”

“…”

“Right, I should find out for myself.”

He reached out and grabbed the butler by the collar.

“…!”

The butler’s empty eyes shook greatly for the first time.

He seemed to be malfunctioning due to an action outside his expected parameters.

Without hesitation, Fabron hurled the butler toward the barrier, toward the underground chamber stairs.

The barrier flashed and emitted a bright red light.

“Aaaah!”

Along with the butler’s tearing scream, the smell of burning flesh filled the air.

Thud, thud, thud.

The sound of the butler tumbling down echoed dully.

“Tsk.”

Fabron clicked his tongue and leisurely descended the stairs.

The butler, who had crashed to the floor with his back broken, was writhing like a crushed insect.

His bloodshot eyes with burst blood vessels throughout his body and his skin mottled from the heat were hideous.

“He’ll die soon anyway.”

Fabron kicked the butler, who was on the verge of death, as if he were in the way.

The Viscount might be displeased, but it was a small price for cornering and testing him.

‘…It’s chilly.’

As soon as he entered deep underground, his sweat cooled to the point of giving him chills.

He habitually pulled out his handkerchief to wipe his forehead, but nothing came off.

Outside was humid and sticky like summer, but this place felt like the season had changed.

It wasn’t simple cold, but a damp chill that ached to the bone.

“You’ve come.”

Only after descending the narrow stairs without a single light for a while did an open space appear.

A massive fireplace was blazing, but the bone-cutting cold remained.

“Viscount Soro.”

In the center of the underground chamber, three people stood surrounding a red ritual circle drawn on the floor.

It was Viscount Soro and his wife, and their daughter Drury.

“Come closer.”

Countess Soro gestured to Fabron, who had hesitated at the entrance.

Though her tone was refined, he wasn’t unaware of the contempt subtly embedded in her voice.

To them, who prided themselves on pure bloodlines, Fabron would be nothing more than a lowly human wretch who couldn’t even qualify as mixed blood.

“Has His Highness the Prince returned to the capital?”

He rubbed his hands together and deliberately acted friendly, but only cold silence returned.

His face was hardening with embarrassment when it happened.

“Hurry up. We don’t have time.”

At Viscount Soro’s urging, Fabron ground his teeth inwardly and moved his feet.

When Drury stepped aside, an antique coffin placed in the center of the ritual circle came into view.

‘What’s with the coffin?’

At the same time, a bundle that had been tightly bound beside the Viscount squirmed.

“Hiiik! P-please spare me!”

Looking closely, it was a bloodied man. The man looked at Fabron with tear-filled eyes and pleaded.

He was in a state where one arm had been torn off.

Fabron frowned. It was a hideous sight that offended his aesthetic sense.

“P-please… at least spare my life…!”

“Shut up! You’re noisy!”

Drury grabbed the man’s hair and lifted him up. It was monstrous strength that didn’t match her delicate appearance at all.

“Isn’t he also dragonkin?”

The man trembling in terror was a lower-class dragonkin who had been handling House of Soro’s secret errands.

However, no one answered his question.

“Let’s begin.”

At the Viscount’s words, figures wearing plaster masks brought a wooden box to overturn it on the ritual circle.

“Don’t touch it!”

Drury shrieked and rushed toward the box.

Drury, who snatched the box like a wild beast, checked inside and showed an ecstatic expression.

‘What on earth is in there to cause such a fuss?’

The question was quickly resolved. Miscellaneous items like fountain pens, handkerchiefs, and used ink bottles spilled out.

Just as Fabron’s tension was about to ease, he spotted the House of Sarkis crest on a small dagger mixed among them.

“Those things… aren’t they the Young Count’s belongings?”

Then, Drury buried her nose in the Young Count’s handkerchief and took a deep breath.

He knew she was obsessed with Cassian, but he didn’t know she collected even his trash.

It was a much more persistent and disgusting obsession than expected.

“What’s the reason you called me? What are you trying to do?”

“We will perform a summoning ritual.”

Count Fabron’s mouth fell open.

“What? Hasn’t it even been confirmed yet whether that person’s resurrection is possible or not?”

“…”

“Didn’t you say we still need to assess whether the Young Count can become a suitable vessel?”

“The Young Count’s interference with us is quite troublesome. Since we’ll have to kill him anyway if we’re discovered, it wouldn’t be bad to test his usefulness beforehand.”

Cassian should be growing weaker day by day from the curse, but true to his disgustingly blessed Sarkis bloodline, he was holding out quite well.

The Dragon Clan’s goal was to make his body a foundation for the Mad Dragon’s descent.

The seal that had suppressed the Mad Dragon’s curse had loosened, so they needed to start taking action soon.

However, it wasn’t time yet. If they attempted it now, the probability of failure would be much higher.

It was when Fabron was about to object.

“Besides, we still haven’t uncovered that woman’s backing. It seems it’ll be difficult going forward since the Young Count is desperately protecting her.”

When Damia Ponti’s story came up, Fabron closed his mouth.

“What was your reason for coveting that woman? You weren’t aware of something, were you?”

Count Fabron swallowed dryly.

“Viscount Ponti approached me first. I just took notice because his daughter was quite pretty.”

“Is that really all?”

“Of course.”

Actually, it wasn’t.

Like a half-breed with thin dragon blood mixed in, he was closer to a bat walking a tightrope between the Dragon Clan and humans.

He maintained close relations with Viscount Soro’s side, but strictly speaking, he wasn’t on their side.

Therefore, there was no need to reveal in detail why he had originally set his sights on Damia.

‘I must keep that woman’s secret to the end.’

It would be better not to participate in today’s descent ritual, which was tantamount to gambling.

However, Cassian was interfering with everything from Fabron’s illegal gambling den to various businesses under the pretext of maintaining public order.

If he died and the axis of power shifted to the Dragon Clan, it wouldn’t be good news for a bat like Fabron, but it would also be an opportunity to remove a thorn in his side.

It was worth considering.

“Reveal the real reason you summoned me. You didn’t call me just to let me watch.”

When Viscount Soro gestured with her chin, the masked subordinates threw open the heavy coffin lid.

“Urgh…!”

As soon as the coffin opened, a fishy heat filled the space.

Fabron’s knees buckled under the suffocating pressure.

Supporting himself on the floor and barely lifting his head, the interior of the coffin came into his view.

“Mad Dragon…!”

Inside the coffin was a massive eyeball. It was of a size that far exceeded human comprehension.

The vertically slit pupil was blood red.

The eyeball that had been still like a taxidermy specimen stared directly at Fabron as he approached.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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