Becoming the Terminally-Ill Villain Who Torments His Disciples - Chapter 45.1
“I don’t know if this is right…”
Muttering to himself, Cielo pulled the blanket up over his head. His lips felt strangely swollen.
Last night, Ryan hadn’t let him go.
He’d said he would make up for all the waiting, kissing him relentlessly. But he seemed to have no intention of crossing the line—his hands never wandered lower.
“Haah…”
His thoughts were noisy.
“If you want me, have me. If Oscar still lingers in your thoughts, have him too.”
Though he’d brushed it off at the time, Ryan’s words had been sincere.
The idea was absurd, but not something to reject outright.
This world was built for polygamy—multiple partners were possible. Though typically, if the primary spouse objected, secondary partners weren’t brought in…
“…I should stop thinking about this.”
Normally, keeping busy would clear his mind, but Ryan and Oscar had outright forbidden him from working.
“Work? You coughed up blood and passed out, and now you’re talking about working?”
“Just try stepping into the infirmary. I’ll tie you to the bed.”
“…Ryan would probably just scold me, but Oscar might actually do it…”
Given his temper, that seemed likely.
Fine. I’ll just stay put.
Resigned, Cielo curled up under the blanket.
But he didn’t last long.
After fidgeting for a while, he suddenly sat up, tied back his hair, and slipped out of Ryan’s room.
Resting could wait—he needed to address the unease gnawing at him.
“…They won’t scold me for this, right?”
If he said he wasn’t working, just reading to pass the time, maybe they’d let it slide.
Lost in thought, he made his way to the library.
Ever since he’d sensed the original story beginning, strange things had been piling up.
Bleeding dark red blood but feeling no pain. Dreaming of the twins, hearing their voices through monsters.
Even monsters that should never have appeared in the imperial palace were lurking around.
Nothing made sense anymore.
“What’s happening…?”
According to Ryan, they still hadn’t found the cause of his collapse.
He’d wondered if his heart condition had worsened, but no—if anything, it had grown stronger after sharing Oscar’s rut cycle.
Thump, Thump.
His footsteps echoed as he swallowed dryly.
Every time he let his thoughts wander, an inexplicable dread seized him. It felt like an ending fit for a “villain” was being prepared without his knowledge.
“…No.”
Don’t think like that.
Ryan hadn’t stopped trying to save him. Even now, he spent his free time researching, developing new medicines.
If the person fighting for his cure hadn’t given up, it would be disrespectful to collapse first.
‘I may not be able to return his feelings fully…’
But at the very least, he couldn’t abandon the belief that recovery was possible.
“Yeah, it’ll be fine.”
Murmuring to himself, Cielo stepped into the library.
The imperial library held countless books on monsters—their origins, why they were named as such, and the beings that ruled over them.
“Demons…”
Cielo picked up a thick volume and began reading.
“Monsters are calamities born from the coalescence of malevolent energy…”
Their exact origins were unknown, but they had existed since ancient times.
Yet they hadn’t always been a dire threat. Humans had possessed enough strength to fend off the mindless creatures.
“Monsters do not form packs.”
Cielo tilted his head.
Every monster he’d encountered so far had traveled in groups of at least three, sometimes up to seven.
“The empire regularly culls monsters. If left unchecked, their numbers grow, leading to the emergence of fissures. From these fissures, beings far more powerful than monsters are said to appear…”
More powerful beings?
What could those be?
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