Guiding the Male Lead out of His Trauma - Chapter 24.1
And… again.
The moment I made contact with him, my vision blacked out once more.
‘What in the world is this phenomenon?’
I didn’t expect an answer to simply drop into my lap, but I thought there might be some information to help me understand, so I kept thinking quietly. Unfortunately, it was pointless.
‘Am I going to see something again this time?’
From the circumstances, the scene I saw earlier seemed to be something from Acteon’s past. If so, is it going to be a similar case this time?
Meanwhile, my eyes gradually adjusted to the dim darkness.
Once my blurry vision got used to it, before I could figure out the situation, something started dropping at my feet with a splatter.
Not just a few drops. Raindrops kept pouring down, soaking the damp earth.
The feeling of grief was so heavy it was like a torrential downpour.
It was a night so dark you couldn’t even make out the storm clouds, and the rain fell like needles, scoring the skin.
‘It’s not cold.’
No, more precisely… the one getting rained on wasn’t me.
Of course, right? It’s not like I’ve really gone back to the past.
A small child’s hands, smaller and younger than mine, stood dazed in the rain.
There was no way I could shield him in my arms, but for some reason, I stepped forward to stand next to the young Acteon.
I wasn’t sure about the details, but maybe this phenomenon was happening because my mind was too closely synchronized with his.
‘Something similar happened during his first awakening, too. While guiding him, emotions that weren’t mine poured in.’
It’s only speculation, so I’ll figure out the details after I finish guiding.
I looked down at him, wondering what he was going to show me this time.
He was waiting for someone.
Who would leave such a young child alone in the middle of the street on a night like this?
But the words of criticism I was about to say caught in my throat as I saw the disheveled woman running from a distance.
“Teo! Why are you outside?”
She looked as if she’d just crawled out of a pool of blood.
Even the dark color of her uniform couldn’t hide the stains. It looked like they’d already set and would never come out.
Bearing the scars of war, she seized her son’s small shoulders, aghast.
“What’s going on? Don’t tell me you were waiting because you heard I’d be coming home today?”
Young Acteon said nothing. He simply grabbed the woman’s hand with a worn-out expression far too old for his age.
“Why? Where are we going? What’s wrong?”
“You have to hide. Quickly.”
Without understanding why, she let herself be pulled along by her son.
As if trying to get to safety, the two of them hurried into an alley, and I followed after them.
Unfortunately, before I or she could hide in the shadows of some nameless building, we had to stop.
Someone was already waiting there for the two of them.
“What a clever kid. Quick on the uptake.”
The woman’s already pale face turned even more ashen.
It was only natural. I recognized him, too.
Not only that, until just a little while ago, I’d lived under the same roof thanks to this person’s generosity.
“His Highness has given his permission. There will be no more orders for you.”
“…What?”
“A deal was made. I asked that you, property of the military, be formally handed over into my possession. There was some friction, but in the end, His Highness decided it was necessary to send you to Brondearn, regardless of the woman from my household.”
The woman’s lips turned blue as she trembled, as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
No words came out of her mouth in the end.
But the one who reacted in her place was Acteon.
Acteon, like a young beast, lunged at the man.
“Teo!”
He was kicked away by the man and started coughing.
‘Why am I being shown this?’
Why?
Why is Acteon seeing this?
The answer came not long after.
The woman’s scream of rage gradually faded.
The next time I opened my eyes, I was in a pitch-dark room where not a single ray of light entered.
Even in that space filled with the smell of dust and mold, Acteon was there.
He was collapsed from exhaustion, ragged, heavy breaths spilling out of him.
It was obvious that somewhere in the darkness, the door was locked.
Could it be that time itself shortened according to Acteon’s memories? When enough time had passed that a sliver of light finally began to creep in, the door opened.
Bathed in that light, Acteon looked a little older than before.
He mechanically followed the attendant who opened the door.
Walking beside him again, I was sure—this was the mansion I’d become all too familiar with.
The Brondearn manor.
Acteon walked for quite a while down a long corridor.
“……”
He finally stopped in front of a room secured with a heavy lock.
It was a bare, empty room with barely any furniture.
A woman, sprawled on a long sofa like a marionette with its strings cut, lifted her head.
Even when she saw Acteon, she didn’t react at all, simply burying her head back into the sofa.
Her wrist, marred with cuts, burns, and festering wounds from compulsively trying to remove her control-stone bracelet, was truly horrific to see.
Acteon didn’t do anything special by her side.
He just stayed with her for a moment, and then, as if visiting hours had ended, was led away by the attendant.
As he came out, two children with young faces passed by. The twins, who looked just like each other, glanced at Acteon and then wandered off, bickering.
Except for the rare times when his mother spoke to him, no one else talked to him.
Even after Acteon’s mother died, as he grew taller, his hands grew bigger, and his young face matured, this continued.
Acteon only changed a little when someone new appeared in the mansion.
One day, a boy with dark hair similar to Acteon’s mother entered the household as a member. He seemed to be in a similar situation as well.
“He’s my Guide.”
The girl, proudly introducing him, glared at Acteon as she spoke. It was Claire, Cassiel’s twin.
“He’s my Guide, so don’t talk to him carelessly. Of course, that’s if you haven’t forgotten how to talk.”
Acteon obediently followed that curt warning.
Rather than ‘obediently’, it would be more accurate to say he simply had no interest.
He did nothing, but the one who first approached him was actually Claire’s Guide.
Even so, I couldn’t feel relieved.
Even as I watched Acteon slowly begin to open his heart, after living like a ghost, unable to rely on even his broken family…
“……”
I already knew how this would end in disaster.
The same scene played out again.
The woman raised the gun to her head.
The sound of the shot rang out.
As the two lifeless bodies collapsed in the distance, and as the wavering light seemed to flicker out before my eyes, I realized what Acteon was afraid of.
In his world, it was always the Guide who was sacrificed.
It was always a monster who took them.
And Acteon Brondearn himself was counted among those monsters.
He was afraid that he…
…would become a monster.
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