Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 461

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Kale Heniatus stared at the Dragon Hybrid’s trembling form with an emotionless gaze.

‘There’s no reason to.’

He had no reason to empathize with the Dragon Hybrid’s emotions. What life existed without its own story? Kale Heniatus had not forgotten the Dragon Hybrid’s frenzied rage as it targeted Raon, who had lost consciousness during his first growth phase.

Forgetting.
That word had been used only a handful of times in Kim Rok-soo’s life. Yet it was a familiar word to the Dragon Hybrid.
The trembling lips parted.

“My memories are not intact.”

The Dragon Hybrid recalled his earliest memory.
It was a pitch-black cave. Of course, since he did not possess ordinary human eyes, his gaze had grown accustomed to the darkness.

“My first memory was of a pitch-black cave.”

The Dragon Hybrid clasped his trembling hands together.
In darkness so complete that even his own form was invisible.

“Back then, I was in pain.”

It was not the same excruciating agony as now, but the pain persisted relentlessly.

“Because I was becoming a chimera.”

A dragon had merged into a human body. The Dragon Hybrid’s form was being reconstructed anew.

“It was the process of becoming a monster—neither human nor dragon.”

I could not fathom how much pain it had been. In that agony, I waited only for the man in the white mask who visited me most frequently.
Only when that man came with a torch could I meet the light. And only then could I feel warmth.

“Back then, the White Star would come to me, simply stare in silence, and leave. Now that I think about it, he came to observe—to check if the creature he had created was developing properly.”

The Dragon Hybrid had not known the identity of the man in the white mask at that time.
In truth, consumed by pain, I had no time to wonder who that man was or who I myself was. I was so young then. A child could barely endure the suffering alone.

“Then one day, an incredibly intense pain found me,”

It was the final stage.
The last step before he became a complete chimera.

“And within that agony, I recalled a memory.”

The Dragon Hybrid’s lips trembled slightly before he continued.

“That memory was not of myself as a Dragon Hybrid, but as a human.”

Not my earliest memory as a Dragon Hybrid.
It was a memory from when I was still human.

“It was just a single memory.”

A memory of one particular incident.

“…I happened to encounter the White Star roughly nine hundred years ago. It’s estimated he was living his second or third life at that time.”

Kale Heniatus, who had been listening quietly, raised his eyebrows slightly.

‘If the Dragon Hybrid speaks truly, it would be during the life after his existence as the Last Dragon Lord, or the one after that.’

Given the timeline, a Dragon Hybrid who had lived nine hundred years would need roughly that span to encounter the White Star, who had been reincarnating for a thousand years.
Kale Heniatus clasped his hands together, watching the Dragon Hybrid. With his trembling hands still interlaced, the Dragon Hybrid continued his tale.

“Back then, the White Star came to visit the village where I—where the human version of me—lived. He gave the village children plenty of food and played with them quite generously.”

The Dragon Hybrid’s eyes grew hollow.

“But looking back now, he was searching for a child with a body capable of becoming a monster like me. An experimental subject that wouldn’t die even with dragon’s power infused into it.”

The Dragon Hybrid bit his lip.

“And the village where I lived as a human was desperately poor. It was a slum outside the castle walls. At that time, he not only gave me plenty of food but also told me many fascinating stories.”

The more he recounted these memories, the more his heart ached.

“And then.”

The trembling at the corners of the Dragon Hybrid’s mouth ceased.
A flat, emotionless voice flowed from his lips.

“And then, my real parents sold me to the White Star.”

After receiving the money with both hands from the White Star, who was still handing over gold coins, I recalled the faces of my parents pushing me toward the White Star.

The final stage before becoming a complete chimera.
Amid that violent agony, the only memory fragment that surfaced was that event.

How desperate must I have been.
How desperate, that only that moment remained in my memory?
Childhood friends? A brother’s face?
None of it came back to me. Only that single incident was my first memory from when I was still human.

“I remember it so, so clearly.”

Even then, I knew I was being sold. Yet I feigned ignorance and reached out to grasp my father’s and mother’s sleeves.
But all that ended up in my hands was the cold, rigid grip of the White Star.

Holding the White Star’s hand, I left the village and entered the forest path. The Dragon Hybrid glanced back at the village entrance one last time, then resigned myself and asked the White Star a question.

‘Are you my father?’

Are you to be my father from now on?
I had once heard that children sold like this would eventually be sold elsewhere, live as slaves, or die. So I asked, hoping for anything but that fate.

‘Who knows.’

Despite having purchased me with money, the White Star still spoke in a gentle voice. Yet only the voice was gentle.

‘Think of it however you wish.’

And with that, I escaped the swamp of memory and, now a complete monster, gazed at the White Star smiling before me and thought.

‘…Father.’

The author is my father.
No, rather, he should have been my father. Since he told me to think as I wished, the Dragon Hybrid decided to regard the White Star as his ‘new father’.

‘But in the end, I could never truly see him as a father. I could never be acknowledged as his son.’

Because I could never become a true dragon.
A half-baked dragon, limited to the second stage of growth. A chimera—a monster, in other words.

“When the final stage ended and the pain vanished, I realized I had become a Dragon Hybrid. A chimera. That’s when the White Star spoke to me.”

Before Kale Heniatus’s eyes, the tremor in the voice had faded, but now his eyes wavered once more.
The owner of those eyes recited in a hoarse voice—the very words the White Star had spoken back then.

“I have implanted the heart of a Red Dragon into your chest.”

The moment those words struck Kale Heniatus’s ears, he closed his eyes. Even so, the Dragon Hybrid continued.

“He also said, ‘Your heart carries the blood of the Last Dragon Lord. So you will surely become a great dragon. Become a dragon and inherit my legacy. With you, both things will be possible.'”

Kale Heniatus swallowed a sigh inwardly.

The heart of a Red Dragon.
And the blood of the Last Dragon Lord.

With just these two pieces, the answer became clear.
All doubts dissolved.

‘That bastard—he carried Raon’s brother’s blood.’

A headache crashed down upon Kale Heniatus. His skull throbbed.
The White Star must have slain Raon’s brother dragon that hatched from the Red Egg and used its heart as the material to create the Dragon Hybrid.

“After that, I consumed several more dragon hearts.”
“…Sigh.”

Kale Heniatus finally exhaled a long breath and dragged both hands across his face.
There was no fitting way to voice his suffocating frustration to the Dragon Hybrid.

‘This bastard didn’t even kill Raon’s brother.’

In the end, there was only one thing Kale could say.

“That White Star bastard deserves to die a gruesome death.”

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t simply kill that creature cleanly. I had to make him suffer in the most excruciating way possible. My face twisted with rage, and I gestured to the Dragon Hybrid.

“Tell me more.”

It was an invitation to speak further if he had anything else to say.

“I…”

The Dragon Hybrid continued.

“After my first growth, I could only leave the cave when the White Star commanded it. The reason the White Star kept me with him was because I could recognize dragons that had the potential to become Dragon Lords or would grow strong.”

For that reason, the White Star carried the Dragon Hybrid with him, either killing strong dragons directly or ordering the Dragon Hybrid to do so.
Then Kale raised his hand, cutting off the Dragon Hybrid’s words.

“Not that.”
“…What?”
“I don’t want to hear about your life. Tell me what you know about the Red Egg.”

Ah.
Only then did the Dragon Hybrid realize why Kale Heniatus was conversing with him so calmly. Indeed, the reason he was being treated so gently despite having tried to kill him, his companions, and others was because of the Young Dragon.
The Dragon Hybrid felt a pang of envy toward that Young Dragon, but now he opened his mouth with a slightly different resolve than before.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Thinking of the Young Dragon, my heart pounded fiercely once more, trembling within my chest.

“Among my subordinates, there’s one called Redica. You should know him. He was a mid-level or higher operative of Dark that you first encountered.”

The Dragon Hybrid began telling Kale everything about the Red Egg.
From the order he had secretly given Redica to abandon it, to the story of how Redica had thrown it into the cave, and even to how its whereabouts became unknown after Redica’s death.

“Ha!”

After hearing the entire account, a sigh mixed with laughter escaped Kale’s lips. With an exasperated expression, he spoke to the Dragon Hybrid.

“You left him with Redica?”
“Yes.”

I observed the Dragon Hybrid nodding with a strangely subdued demeanor and contemplated the matter.

‘…How could it have come to this?’

Only now could I begin to fathom how Raon Mir had been transferred from the Eastern Continent to the Western Continent and sold to the Sten Marquis House.
My face twisted subtly. My emotions were peculiar at this moment. I regarded the Dragon Hybrid with a displeased expression and opened my mouth.

“You told Redica to abandon him in a cave in some pristine forest with good air on the Western Continent?”
“…Yes.”
“And set up an illusion spell at the cave entrance?”
“…Yes.”
“And then occasionally asked if he was doing well? Asked if he was still in that cave?”
“…Yes. I had to confirm he was abandoned properly.”

Sigh.
I stared at the Dragon Hybrid with an expression of utter exasperation.

‘That’s not abandonment—that’s hiding him to protect him.’

Good grief.
My headache intensified. Was this Dragon Hybrid truly so oblivious? If he despised dragons, yet acted this way toward the Black Egg, I could finally understand the hidden depths of his heart.

‘Ugh, my head.’

I pressed my forehead with one hand and spoke.

“You’re intelligent enough. By now, you must realize Redica lied to you, yes?”
“…I do.”

The Dragon Hybrid bit his lip.
Redica had been dead for roughly two years. And he had said the egg still hadn’t hatched. Yet the Black Dragon was six years old, was he not?

‘I, the great Raon Mir! I am six years old!’

If those words were true, then ultimately he had been deceived by Redica. In that moment, my calm voice reached the Dragon Hybrid’s ears.

“Redica sold one egg to the Sten Marquis House. It was a black egg. And soon the Dragon hatched, and for four years in the Underground Cavern, it grew while shackled by the limbs, whipped, and starved.”

The word ‘breeding’ suddenly flashed through the Dragon Hybrid’s mind. He too had to grow up almost as if being bred by the White Star.
Kale Heniatus continued speaking.

“And it never learned anything a Dragon should learn. There was a mana-binding collar around its neck. It never even properly used magic.”

The Dragon Hybrid opened and closed his mouth repeatedly before finally speaking and asking.

“…Your Dragon, you mean?”

Really, that pure and innocent Dragon that seemed so loved and cherished lived such a life?
It grew up confined and restrained like that?
Watching the Dragon Hybrid’s wavering eyes, Kale Heniatus shook his head.

“My Dragon? What do you mean my Dragon? Is he an object? He’s Raon Mir, Raon Mir.”

Kale Heniatus sighed briefly before speaking as if tossing the words aside.

“The younger sibling of that red Dragon embedded in your heart—Raon Mir.”

The Dragon Hybrid lowered his head deeply.

“Ugh, how frustrating.”

Kale Heniatus’s expression twisted even more at the sight of that withdrawn and shriveled demeanor.

What should I do about this?
Should I tell Raon?
More than that.

Should I tell Sherit?

Tap. Tap. Tap.
The fingers tapping against the armrest stopped moving. Soon Kale Heniatus’s voice reached the ears of the Dragon Hybrid, whose head remained bowed.

“Would you like to meet the red Dragon’s mother? Raon’s mother.”
“…What?”

I could see the Dragon Hybrid’s vacant face, blank as a broken clock. He jerked his head up in panic, staring back at me in confusion—a look so utterly vacant it bordered on pathetic.

‘What a troublesome fate I’ve inherited.’

I pressed my temples firmly and opened my mouth.

“First. How much longer do you think you’ll survive?”
“…That is.”

After I mentioned Lord Sherit, the Dragon Hybrid continued to hesitate, looking rather dim-witted.

“I, well, I’m not entirely sure.”

The Dragon Hybrid truly had no way of knowing how much longer he would last. The pain that consumed his entire body was severe enough that his death at any moment would have been unremarkable.

“…I can endure it.”

The Dragon Hybrid spoke while looking at me.
Though he himself hadn’t noticed, his gaze toward me was desperate and yearning.
I understood the Dragon Hybrid’s true feelings from that desperate expression and the small yet urgent tone of his voice.

He wanted to meet her.
He wanted to meet Lord Sherit.
After all, he’d only ever been abandoned by the one he considered his parent.

Of course, I had no desire to sympathize with him.
He had committed terrible deeds.
So I didn’t scheme to save him. Instead, I spoke.

“Live. Endure. Hold on for as long as you can. You cannot die now.”

With those words, I rose from my seat.

“Once you obtain the power of the earth, let’s arrange a three-way meeting—you, Raon, and Raon’s mother. Until then, keep your mouth shut. You understand, don’t you?”

The Dragon Hybrid understood perfectly well why I was telling him to stay silent.
It was because of the Young Dragon. He opened his mouth and answered in a firm voice.

“I understand. This is a critical moment for you all, and I have no desire to cause you harm.”
“Right. Don’t cause harm. I dislike you, after all? So stop inflicting damage. Does my tone sound cold enough to you?”

The Dragon Hybrid let out a soft laugh at Kale Heniatus’s words.

“No, it doesn’t sound cold at all.”

How could someone who says he dislikes you, yet tells you to endure, possibly sound cold?
If it had been the White Star, rather than having such a calm conversation, he would have deliberately killed Raon and Raon’s mother right before the Dragon Hybrid’s eyes, then slaughtered him with cruelty, calling it divine retribution.

The Dragon Hybrid opened his mouth to address Kale Heniatus.

“You’re… actually a good person, aren’t you?”

Kale’s face twisted immediately.
Good? Me?

“You’re spouting nonsense. Are you in your right mind? Is death upon you already? Good? That’s absurd. Do you think hearing such words would make me consider sparing your life?”

Kale laughed with an expression that said such thoughts were utterly out of the question. And he could see the Dragon Hybrid smiling faintly.

“…I have no intention of living longer. I only wish to endure a little more. Just a little longer.”

At the Dragon Hybrid’s words, Kale found himself at a loss. Yet the Dragon Hybrid continued to smile softly, regardless of what Kale thought. Strangely, laughter had come to him.

His heart grew peaceful.
At the same time, it grew painful.
Why now. No, why at this moment.
Countless thoughts flooded his mind. Past and present, future. Everything intertwined, tormenting his heart.
Even in that instant, Kale’s cold voice reached him.

“Stop smiling like that. For now, just follow us. Understood?”
“Yes.”

The Dragon Hybrid wanted that too.
To follow along.
Because that way, he could see.

Kale turned toward the door and spoke.

“We eat, then head to the mountain immediately. Get ready.”

* * *

“Oh my, you’re going to that mountain? No, no, that won’t do. I can’t guide you there!”

The Elderly Man waved his hands frantically in front of Kale Heniatus, trying to dissuade him.

“You’ll be bewitched if you go to that mountain, bewitched! Spirits will enchant you and you’ll plummet off the cliff to your death, death! Do you know how many skulls lie at the bottom of that cliff? Goodness, if you go to that mountain, something terrible will happen!”

The Elderly Man spoke frankly to the gaunt-looking Merchant.

“Someone as frail as Merchant Bob will be bewitched instantly and die, I’m telling you? I’m only saying this out of concern. But why does this person look so hollow and drained, like he hasn’t even had a bowl of soup?”

The expression of the Merchant Bob—no, Kale Heniatus—grew bitter.

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