Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 85

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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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The masked man, Vicross, wielded his whip with a sharp crack. The leather sang through the air before lashing across Benion’s body.

“Aaahhhhh!”

My body felt leaden, yet the pain remained undiminished. The whip continued to rain down upon me. The noble’s casual attire I wore beneath my robe tore away, exposing bare flesh that bloomed with crimson welts.
The whip’s sharp metal edge split my skin, and embedded within those wounds were fragments of glass that had broken free from the whip itself.

It was the same as when Raon received his first lashing the moment he was born.

“Ugh, ughh, u-!”

I tried to scream, but language would not form in my mouth. I thrashed against my restraints, yet my movements were sluggish and weak.
Like a dragon whose mana had been suppressed, my body could not exert its full strength—only trembling helplessly, curling inward again and again. Yet like Raon, I glared at the Black Dragon upon the dining table, my eyes burning with absolute refusal to submit.
But like Raon, Benion stared at the Black Dragon on the Dining Table. His eyes held a look of absolute refusal to surrender.

Crack! Crack!

The whip tore across my cheek.

“Ahhhhh, ughhhh!”

My body convulsed as blood began to soak my form. Yet Vicross showed no reaction, maintaining an unwavering rhythm with each stroke.
He lashed at wounds already open, and when blood sprayed into the air, he did not hesitate for even a moment.

“Mm.”

Kale turned his gaze toward the soft sound beside him. The kitten On and Hong crouched within the range of the invisibility device, their bodies trembling.
Hong seemed to struggle, repeatedly lowering his eyes to the ground before looking back at Benion.

Within the invisibility device, Raon had already layered soundproofing magic beforehand, so even if sounds escaped, Benion would not hear them. But it seemed such concerns were unnecessary.

“Ughh, u-, u-, ah, ah!”

Benion’s cheeks split open as blood poured forth, his cries and inarticulate screams tearing from his throat. With each utterance, Vicross’s whip descended upon him with ever greater savagery.

Don’t speak.
Stay still.
Kill the light in your eyes.

As if issuing commands, the whip fell relentlessly, striking down whenever Benion showed even the slightest reaction.

“…I have to watch. I must watch.”

The silver cat On spoke those words while lowering her head. I understood her heart well. On and Hong found this sight unbearable to witness.
The basement, Benion’s limbs, and the shackles around his neck—all were being freshly painted with blood. It wasn’t the cruelty or pity of the scene that made it painful to look upon.
It was because I understood what Raon had endured, and I felt that this was merely the beginning.

I stroked the heads of On and Hong.

“Don’t force yourself to watch.”

With those words, I turned my head away.

The Black Dragon sat alone at the dining table.
Raon was eating. He devoured his favorite steak, his cheeks bulging as he continuously shoved food into his mouth.

“Aaaahhh!”

Listening to Benion’s screams, Raon ate and ate.
Raon had longed for this moment, dreamed of it countless times.

So he couldn’t miss a single instant of this feast, this meal. Delicacies unimaginable half a year ago, a body without pain, a will unfettered—to savor it all, the dragon crammed food into his mouth.

“Ugh.”

Raon choked momentarily as too much food filled his mouth, but he didn’t stop. I watched his face as he continued eating.

Raon was crying.
But he never stopped.

“Nngh, hgh.”

Even as he choked, he stifled his groans and continued eating, his eyes fixed on Benion being struck by the whip. On and Hong couldn’t bear to watch him like this.

Kale took in the entire scene before him.

“Ugh… hngh… ah…”

Benion’s body convulsed violently. Vicross continued to lash him across the most painful points of his frame. Benion could no longer even look at the Black Dragon perched atop the dining table.
With a vacant expression, his entire body drenched in blood, he was slipping away into unconsciousness.

Crack!

With a sharp sound, the whip struck Benion’s head with full force, and he finally lost consciousness.

Raon stuffed another piece of steak into his mouth. Though his eyes remained open, he could not see Benion. Instead, he saw his own past self. The image kept appearing, and he could not stop it.
That was when it happened.

“You’re choking.”

Pat, pat. I felt a rough yet surprisingly gentle hand patting my back. It was a familiar touch. The dragon turned his head.

“Tsk, you’ve got it all over your mouth.”

A calm voice, seemingly indifferent as always, reached my ears. I could see the sleeve wiping my mouth. And then I saw Kale’s face.

Raon slowly turned his head.
Benion lay unconscious on the ground. Seeing the sight, the dragon spoke bluntly.

“I’ll keep watching.”
“Yes. Let’s watch together.”

At those words, Raon buried his face in the tablecloth. Kale patted the curled-up dragon’s back while looking at Vicross. When their eyes met, Vicross could see Kale’s frown.

“What’s wrong?”
“Why are you using a potion now?”

Kale gestured with his chin toward the potion in Vicross’s hand, looking at him. At that gaze, Vicross responded flatly.

“What about treatment?”
“Use it when he looks like he’s about to die.”

Even unconscious, Benion’s limbs convulsed with involuntary spasms, his body wracked with pain. Covered entirely in blood, his skin appeared to be nothing but a crimson mask.
Vicross examined Benion once more at Kale’s words, then nodded in acknowledgment.

“He won’t die from this. An excellent and appropriately measured directive.”

He set the potion back in its place.

Kale sighed at the sight and scooped up the curled form of Raon into his arms. His frown deepened.

He was heavy.
Extraordinarily heavy.

In just a few months, his size remained unchanged, yet his weight had increased noticeably. Kale’s arms trembled slightly, but he hoisted the dragon regardless. I couldn’t simply leave him behind, could I?

Kale felt his shoulder growing damp as he glanced at On and Hong. The two circled anxiously around him and the dragon in his arms. My arms were beginning to go numb, so I quickly opened my mouth.

“Let’s rest for now.”

No one objected to his words. Only Vicross asked a question.

“What shall we do when he awakens?”
“What do you mean, what?”

Raon answered in place of Kale’s trailing words.

“We continue.”
“That’s what he said.”
“Understood.”

Kale tapped the basement entrance door. With a soft thud, it swung open. Choi Han stood there, his expression a turbulent mixture of fury and melancholy. Kale issued instructions to Choi Han, who alternated his gaze between him and Raon.

“There’s fresh wine in there. Bring it out. And glasses.”

Kale decided he needed a drink tonight. As I made my way from the basement toward the Mansion above, I asked Raon a question.

“Have you grown again? You’re heavier than last time.”
“Weak human, it’s because you lack arm strength.”
“I have no counterargument to that.”

Having eaten heartily since early dawn, Raon lifted his head. Through the mansion windows, the landscape came into view. The mist was clearing, and morning was breaking.

“Well, bigger is better. You’ve grown well.”

At those words, I buried my face in Kale’s shoulder. His arm trembled slightly, but I pretended not to notice. And Kale graciously accepted my willful affection.
I was four years old now. It was more than acceptable.

* * *

Three days later, late at night. Raon flew up from the dining table and descended before Benion Sten.

“Haa, haa.”

Benion Sten was breathing heavily. Over the past few days, his face had become a wreck, and the once dignified and precious nobleman now wept and pleaded.

At first, he had glared with the hope that someone would come to rescue him, but watching Raon eat at every meal without awareness of time’s passage had worn down his body and spirit.

“Benion Sten.”

With my face pressed to the ground, I gazed down at Benion Sten, who couldn’t even look at me. I remembered not only Benion Sten, but all those who had tormented me. Their punishment would soon be carried out through Kale’s plan. And the Marquis as well. Though he had never directly tormented me, he was the root cause of everything, and tragedy would soon befall him.
Beyond Benion, Raon remembered those who had tormented him. Their punishment would soon be carried out through Kale’s plan. And the Marquis as well. Even though he had never directly tormented him, he too—the root cause of everything—would soon meet his tragedy.

I’m thinking of letting you live.

This weak, pathetic, hateful Benion Sten who now trembled and couldn’t even see me. He didn’t deserve even the designation of human.
Now, the weak, pathetic, and hateful Benion who couldn’t even see himself and was trembling. He didn’t even deserve to be called human.

Raon recalled the words that Benion had spoken to him.

“As expected, when something irritating happens, seeing this Dragon bastard’s blood really whets my appetite.”

A calm and infinitely serene voice reached Benion’s ear.

“So whenever I lose my appetite, I’ll come looking for you.”

At my words, Benion Sten’s body trembled. His body was engulfed once more in a crimson-black mist. Benion Sten shook with terror. Watching the crimson-black mist fill his vision, he struggled not to lose consciousness.
As Raon spoke those words, Benion’s body trembled. The dark red mist enveloped his body once more. Benion shook with fear. Watching the dark red mist filling his vision, he tried not to lose consciousness.

“You’ve lost consciousness.”

Yet in the end, he lost consciousness. Vicross checked on the unconscious Benion Sten and then looked toward me. I couldn’t help but feel a subtle admiration as I observed Vicross.

Three days. In those three days, Vicross had instilled fear and terror into that arrogant Benion Sten. His entire body bore the marks of injury, and at times, Vicross had driven him to the brink of losing his sanity—a level of psychological torment that made Kaige’s mental interrogation unnecessary.

There was no need to call upon Kaige the Priest.

Of course, Vicross’s methods had been quite brutal, and there were many moments when I found it difficult to watch. But since I had promised to bear witness, I had to see it through.
Choi Han approached. He stood beside me and looked down at Benion Sten.
Choi Han approached. He stood beside Kale and looked down at Benion.

“It felt like I was waiting for three days straight to see if the Marquis Household would come to my rescue or not. It didn’t work out.”

The only reason Benion could hold onto his sanity was his expectation that the Marquis Household would come looking for him. Even if he wasn’t the official heir, the heir had disappeared. This was something the Sten Marquis House had to address for the sake of their standing.

“No.”
No.

Choi Han shook his head at Kale Heniatus’s question.

“I see.”
“In any case, he probably harbored some hope when he thought he would be spared.”
“Anyway, he must have at least held onto some hope that he would be spared.”

Choi Han looked down at Benion with an enigmatic gaze.

The Marquis Household was searching for him as eagerly as Benion Sten wished.

The territory’s people had been thrown into shock by this revelation. They had always believed the Sten Marquis House to be the most noble of all nobles, despite their authoritarian nature.
The fiefdom’s people fell into great shock at that fact. This was because even though the Sten Marquis House was authoritarian, they had thought them to be the most noble of all.

Of course, it was the eldest son, Taylor Sten, who was spearheading this operation—he held all the relevant evidence in his hands.
Of course, the one leading this matter was the eldest son, Taylor Sten, who held the relevant evidence in his hands.

Kale Heniatus gave instructions to Vicross and Choi Han.

Get ready.

Vicross put on a new pair of white gloves. A potion was held in his hand. Benion Sten would be caught in the secret hideout he had prepared in the Backstreet, looking pristine.

It was time to experience the despair that came after survival.

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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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