The Queen Who Deserves To Be Tainted - Chapter 44.1

“Happy birthday, Ejnar. I made a gift for you with my own hands.”

Ejnar narrowed his brows as he looked at his cousin, Anders, who had just turned twenty-one.

The fact that he’d made a gift for him should have been a touching display of effort. However, given that Anders still acted like an immature prankster despite being an adult, Ejnar couldn’t help but feel a sense of wariness.

Considering the composed and calm nature of his uncle and aunt, he found it truly mysterious where Anders had inherited his playful nature from.

If he were to list all the mischievous, borderline absurd things Anders had done, it would be endless. From spreading sticky jam over his study materials because he was bored of studying, to hiding frogs in blankets, to suddenly blindfolding him and forcing him to eat weird-tasting food… The list went on.

Having closed the book he was reading, Ejnar, as a bookworm, decided to ask first.

“What’s the gift?”

“Well, curious, huh? Well, here it is! Here it is, here it is, here it is!”

“…Please, just stop it, Anders.”

“Here it is!”

He looked so excited. Whenever Anders was about to play a prank, he always acted like this, with so much excitement.

Ejnar frowned and watched as one of Anders’ servants approached and handed him the item. It was a massive, plain whipped cream cake with no decorations on top.

“Tada! I made the cake myself!”

“…You made it?”

“Yes! And I made it with your needs in mind. No sweet fruits and the cream is top-quality. You’ll definitely like it!”

Surprisingly, it seemed like a perfectly normal gift, which made Ejnar even more suspicious. Could he have hidden something like cockroach-shaped jelly inside the cake? Or perhaps, when he cut it, would something like blood mousse spill out?

Or…

Just as he leaned in to observe the cake, trying to figure out Anders’ intentions, someone suddenly shoved his head down. As a result, Ejnar’s face was completely buried in the cake.

“Ugh!“

“Haha! Ejnar, how does it taste?”

“…You crazy bast*rd…”

With whipped cream and cake crumbs stuck to his face, Ejnar could hear his cousin’s raucous laughter.

Finally, he exploded. Even though he quickly lifted his head, Anders had already sprinted away. With his competitive spirit flaring up, Ejnar wiped his face roughly with his sleeve and shouted,

“You just wait until I catch you!”

At that moment, everything went dark. For a few seconds, Ejnar furrowed his brows before opening his eyes. The surroundings were quiet and dark.

In the stillness, he realized that he had been dreaming and froze in silence. Looking back, that was an exhausting memory. Back then, he had desperately wished that Anders would grow up. Yet, Anders remained just as childish and carefree, forever stuck in his memories.

“D*mn it…”

Ejnar bit his lip tightly, his hand covering his eyes.

Every time Anders appeared in his dreams, mischievous and playful as ever, he couldn’t help but imagine his last moments, and it caused him deep anguish. What did his carefree cousin look like when facing death? Did he remain calm until the end, or did he show fear, unexpectedly?

Either way, such thoughts strangled him, leaving him breathless.

He had refused to listen to any testimonies from those who had been part of that terrible battle. He didn’t want to complete his imagination.

Drawing his cousin’s final moments in his mind, no matter how it turned out, felt too cruel to even consider.

He didn’t want to engrave how Anders had died in his mind. Even now, the fear that Anders might appear in his dreams haunted him. He had always struggled with deep sleep, but it was clear it would become even more difficult.

Ejnar splashed his face with cold water and briefly lay down. But before long, he got up from the bed. After such a dream, falling back to sleep peacefully was impossible.

He didn’t even want to.