Becoming the Terminally-Ill Villain Who Torments His Disciples - Chapter 16.1
“…Oscar?”
It was the moment when Cielo, surprised by Oscar’s sudden change in behavior, reached out his hand.
“AAAAAHHH!”
Oscar screamed and collapsed into a seizure, curling his body up in a corner. Tears streamed down his face as he kept repeating “I’m sorry” and “I was wrong.”
“Still effective, even after all this time,” Ailee said with a soft smile as she set the whistle she had been holding down on the table.
“What…?”
“They say children around this age enter adolescence, right? We figured it would be hard for you to handle, so we brought a gift. Since he just had his coming-of-age ceremony, consider this a present.”
“…”
“The whistle is connected to Oscar’s brain. When you blow it, the memories from the most painful time of his life will resurface. It’s not much, but it’s been incredibly useful for discipline.”
The whistle.
Cielo knew exactly what that was.
It was something the real “Cielo” had used in the novel to control Oscar—an object that dominated all of Oscar’s choices.
“So, you’re saying you would disobey your master’s orders and go off to meet someone else? Still haven’t come to your senses…”
In the novel, every time Oscar heard the sound of that whistle, he would clutch his head and burst into tears.
Repeatedly apologizing, his mind and heart steeped in pain, despair, and hopelessness—eventually, he gave up on the idea of ever being happy.
Someone later destroyed the whistle, but until then, Oscar had suffered endlessly. And the people who had handed that whistle to “Cielo” were none other than Oscar’s own parents.
Cielo ground his teeth. He felt sick to his stomach.
“…And you call yourselves parents.”
Seeing the icy fury in Cielo’s eyes, the couple gulped.
“H-ha ha. I guess Lord Esteban doesn’t like this kind of thing. Oh dear, I apologize. Y-you said before that you didn’t like disobedient children, so… I suppose we went too far?”
Their forced, smiling faces were repulsive. A part of him wanted to bring them unbearable pain so they would regret everything they had done.
But they were Oscar’s parents.
Blood ties were disgustingly persistent and cruel. Even if one tried to save a child from an abusive home, using excessive force to harm or hurt the parents would only end up wounding the child further.
It was pathetic, but that was the way human emotions worked.
“To think parents would brainwash their own child just because they needed money and labor…”
“Brainwashing? With all due respect, even for someone like Lord Esteban, that’s a bit harsh. We’ve raised Oscar with so much love.”
As Ailee said this, she strode toward Oscar.
“Right, Oscar? Go on, stand up and tell Lord Esteban how happy and harmonious our family was.”
“S-Sorry, I’m sorry…”
“I told you to stand up!”
Still trapped in the memories triggered by the whistle, Oscar trembled. The sight of him, looking as though he could break down any moment, made Cielo’s heart ache.
Just as Cielo reached out again, Ailee snapped in irritation.
“Why can’t you understand a simple command! You’re making Lord Esteban misunderstand because of how you’re acting!”
“…Stop.”
“Look at that. Even Lord Esteban is tired of hearing you whimper. Aren’t you going to get up right now? Get up. I said get up!”
Before Cielo could stop her, Ailee grabbed Oscar’s arm with a rough hand and began pulling him.
As Cielo rushed forward to stop her, Ailee raised her hand and struck.
Smack!
The loud slap rang out, but it wasn’t Oscar’s cheek that turned — it was Cielo’s face, as he stepped between them and took the blow himself.
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