My Childhood Friends Are Trying To Kill Me

Lelia bit her lips hard. She thought that if she let her guard down a bit, she would get double the punishment. 

‘That’s so mean, you sucker!’

As if like yesterday, she felt that she got tricked again. In the original story, he pretended to be so nice and kind in front of the heroine.

‘Was it all fake?’

Lelia glared at Romeo hatefully. 

I also have a scar that is no different.

[T/N: I think by ‘scar’ she means the pain Oscar and Lelia are going through is somewhat similar(?)]

Lelia stomped her feet to show him that she was offended. She was thinking of going to the library, but felt like she had to take a walk. She headed to the garden with a huff, and at a point, she turned her head to find Romeo, who was still following her. 

Lelia looked at him and shouted fearlessly. 

“Hey, what now?”

“Oh wow, you are showing your true colors now.” Romeo seemed surprised and said as if it was fun. 

“I don’t think I need to be polite to a guy like you.”

“Oh, it’s thrilling!” Saying so, Romeo came closer to Lelia with a look of no thrill. 

Lelia sat on a bench, which was on her right and Romeo sat next to her. Lelia slapped his arm when he was about to touch Lelia’s arm. Romeo didn’t care about it, even though it might have hurt his feelings. 

“Tell me more.”

“About what?”

“About people who have nightmares with their eyes open. Tell me more about them.”

Ah…

He is a child after all. 

Lelia snorted inwardly. 

Romeo’s eyes were shaking while waiting for Lelia to answer. 

“People’s spirits are very fragile. Their minds are weak.”

She pointed her index finger at the top of her head. 

“What’s inside here is very soft, fragile and persistent. So if a person sees a bit of a shocking scene, it keeps remembering the same scene again and again. The next time they get weak or tired, they keep thinking of those memories.”

“So?”

“Okay. So, what if it repeats? It gets really hard. The shocking scene keeps coming to mind. They even have an illusion, something that can be seen with eyes. Real.”

“…”

“Even more so, they can hear it with their ears. Weak people suffer throughout their lives and die. In some cases, they take their own lives.”

Romeo’s face twisted at what Lelia said right now. 

He spoke slowly, “Suicide is… a terrible sin.”

It was one of the most important doctrines of the Kreutz religion. 

The temple strictly prohibited taking one’s own life and considered it a terrible sin to commit, that would not be forgiven no matter how many times one returns. 

It is a treacherous act of dedicating one’s soul to the devil. 

That is what everyone on this continent thought. And Lelia didn’t deny it. 

“That’s right. But there are people who are like that. Horrible scenes, fearful voices, people whom they keep seeing and hearing them…”

“That’s the devil…”

“It’s not the devil. It’s just the pain they are suffering. If one is suffering from something like this, they can’t think properly and they prefer to die in order to finish this.”

“…Have you ever gone through something like this?”

“No? I am very healthy. I have never seen anything so shocking.”

I was so hungry at one point that I saw something to eat as a fantasy. It was dirt and snow, but…

“Anyways, it’s not the devil. Actually, I don’t know if there is a real devil…”

“…You will be treated like a heretic if you tell this to your seniors or elders.”

“Ah…”

Yeah. Well, I’m supposed to stay calm here. 

What is the Crown Prince of Auralia is rumoured to be heretical? The Emperor might strangle her to death.

Lelia glared at Romeo after contemplating for a moment. It seemed like Romeo got a little agitated by what Lelia said. He looked excited, sad and scared.

Lelia pretended to be strong and clenched her fists. 

“You’ll die if you tell anyone.”

“…Are you threatening me now? This low?”

“Yes, I will kill you. Do you understand?”

Romeo looked a little scared. Lelia felt encouraged by the look on his face.

‘Yeah, you are a 10 year old kid.’

Lelia patted her chest with an arrogant look on her face. 

“From now, you will call me nu… no, call me brother.”

Romeo’s face twisted at these words. 

“…What? I don’t like that! Why me? I’m the one who’s found out your weakness.”

“Then call me Captain.”

Romeo frowned. He looked like he didn’t know why he had to do so. But in the end, he nodded. He seemed to have judged that calling her ‘captain’ was much better than calling her ‘brother’.

“Then… tell me more about it from now on. I won’t tell anyone.”

When Lelia stared at him, Romeo’s expression wrinkled a bit. He probably knew that she was waiting for him to call her ‘Captain’.

“Thank you, Captain…”

“Yeah, you are my subordinate.”

Romeo frowned as if he was offended, but he closed his mouth tightly. 

“I’m taking a walk, so follow me.”

Lelia said so, then got up from the bench and walked through the garden. Romeo followed after her. 

He’s a good listener. Until a while ago, his tone was fierce.

Lelia glanced at the calm Romeo and smiled inwardly. However, she looked at Romeo and felt sorry for him. 

In fact, Romeo’s biological mother had died when he was young. 

The cause of death was… suicide. 

The Roseberry Empire desperately hid the truth, but could not stop young Romeo from witnessing the scene. Her parents, Romeo’s maternal grandmother and grandfather, were largely responsible for her death. 

I can’t believe that parents can put their children in a critical situation. 

Romeo’s mother, who loved someone else, was forced to marry the emperor. However, even after becoming the empress, she could not get rid of affection and love for the man she loved. They made their daughter an empress, but her parents learned that the relationship between the emperor and his wife was estranged. 

They got furious and outraged because they found out about it through the maids. 

‘The reason why the Emperor and the Empress are not in a good relationship is because the Empress refuses the Emperor. That’s why.’

In fact, the Empress’ parents were disappointed and angry when they heard such stories from the maids. They started to find a solution, and unfortunately the solution they came up with was…

By threatening their daughter. 

They threatened their daughter with the life of the man she loved. 

‘Do the Empress’s duty, give birth to the Emperor’s child.’

She couldn’t overcome such threats and finally had Romeo. Fortunately, the emperor did not blame her and waited patiently for her to open up to him. Even though it was a political marriage, the emperor tried to treat her with sincerity and love her. He was a loving father to Romeo. 

But that’s where the misfortune began. 

The Empress’ parents, Romeo’s maternal grandmother and grandfather, continued to stab their daughter’s weakness. Whenever they wanted something, they threatened the man she loved by taking the life of their daughter. 

One day, a fight broke. 

The man, who found out that his life was the weakness of the woman he loved, killed himself. He couldn’t put up with knowing that as long as he was alive, the Empress would suffer her whole life. 

Ever since, Romeo’s mother suffered the loss of the man she loved dearly, and kept suffering. She began to hear and see the illusion of the man she loved, dying in front of her eyes. She even had hallucinations of the man asking for her life. 

Her condition got worse and worse, and she started having seizures and suffered from sleepwalking. It was in an instant that the rumours circulated that the Empress was possessed by the devil. 

After suffering so much, she chose her freedom as a way to kill herself, just like the man she loved passed away. 

She never imagined that little Romeo would witness that scene. 

She died after saying “I’m sorry”, when she found Romeo crying while bleeding to death. Romeo will also have a shock of this incident for the rest of his life. 

But with a slightly healthier mind than Oscar, I don’t think he’s hallucinating or hearing voices.

After Romeo’s mother’s death, the new Empress raised Romeo as her own son. Although she wasn’t Romeo’s biological mother, he grew up loved by a good stepmother and a loving father. 

But you gave up the throne because of your maternal grandmother, poor child.

After Romeo’s stepmother gave birth to a son, Romeo’s maternal grandparents began to tremble with anxiety. They were afraid that their grandson, the only hope left for them, wouldn’t be able to become an emperor. They even planned to kill the new Empress’ son, that’s why young Romeo gave up the throne. 

In fact, Romeo had heard stories of nobles secretly pointing at the imperial castle. 

They said, “It must be that the former Empress was possessed by the devil. His son, Prince Romeo, we would never know if he is possessed by the devil.”

Maybe that’s why he was afraid. He was afraid that he was going to get possessed by the devil.

Romeo begged his father to allow him to give up the throne under the pretext of his maternal grandparents, and the Emperor knew Romeo’s request had a deep meaning and accepted his son’s request. 

He sent Romeo’s maternal grandparents far away, and warned them to not to reach out to Romeo. 

He’s very strong hearted…

Anyway

Lelia wasn’t going to get involved. 

Somehow, he became a hero by defeating the Wild Dragon in the future. 

Well, he will be fine. This is just one chid.

Lelia thought something was wrong, but it was too late.