Chapter 33
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Johann's Death
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“Open the door! You filthy bugs! Open this door right now! Please, I’m begging you…… Mom, it’s dark! I’m scared…… Please open the door. These weird people keep chasing me! Bugs…… Get away! Get off my body! Aaaah!”
Screams echoed endlessly from the room where Johann was confined.
It was withdrawal symptoms striking because Hayden had strictly banned all alcohol and drugs on his orders.
“Damn it! Listening to that lunatic scream all day is driving me insane!”
“Tell me about it. Screw this, I’m quitting soon, seriously……!”
The soldiers standing guard with grim faces in front of the firmly locked door felt their sanity slipping away from Johann’s outbursts that rang out all day long.
Sometimes, the door that seemed like it would never open did creak open.
It was precisely when Johann went quiet.
At those times, he was always sprawled out like a corpse, having exhausted himself into unconsciousness.
Then the soldiers would cautiously open the door, leave food, and quickly slip out.
But Johann had never properly eaten even once. Whenever they entered, the room was always filled with scattered food scraps and vomit.
One day, taking advantage of Johann’s unconscious state, a skilled priest invited by Hayden personally examined him.
“How is it? Is there any way?”
Hayden asked with hopeful anticipation, but the priest who finished the examination shook his head with a heavy expression.
“His organs and blood vessels are damaged beyond repair. The muscle degradation is severe too…… Until we open his skull, we can’t know for sure, but in my opinion, the harmful toxins from the drugs have penetrated all the way to his bone marrow and brain. It’s far beyond my abilities…… I’m sorry, my lord.”
“No……!”
Priests weren’t miracle workers who could heal with holy power or divine spells.
They were simply ordinary religious folk—essentially doctors skilled in herbs and medicine more than most.
So even they had no recourse when faced with patients beyond their expertise.
“No, no……”
Thud……
“Dear……! Are you alright?”
Annette, who had been listening anxiously with her husband, collapsed to the floor as her legs gave out.
Hayden carefully supported his wife and helped her up, but her eyes had long since gone vacant, drained of light.
“It’s my fault. Even if I sent him to the villa, if I’d taken proper care of him…… I did this to him. I……”
“Why is it your fault? I’m the one who ordered him confined to the villa. It’s not your fault, dear. Please don’t blame yourself. I beg you……”
Hayden pulled his wife into a tight embrace, patting her back, and Annette sobbed in his arms until she was utterly spent.
“Madam……!”
In the end, Hayden hoisted the exhausted, fainted Annette onto his back and left Johann’s room with heavy, listless steps.
That night.
“He’s definitely out cold, right?”
“He was thrashing longer than usual today. A guy who hasn’t eaten or even drunk water properly—how’s he supposed to hold out? Right?”
“True, then why bother bringing food at all? He can’t eat anyway, so it’s just wasting it……”
“Don’t even think like that. We just do what we’re told. If we secretly dump it and get caught? The family head and his wife are desperate to fix this trash heap of a kid however they can—they won’t let us off. We’d be dead men.”
“Yeah……”
The soldiers chatted among themselves while briefly checking on Johann, but the collapsed boy showed no sign of stirring.
Judging him fully unconscious, they cautiously opened the door with a tray of bread, milk, and medicine.
‘Please just stay still. Please……’
They silently prayed as they set the tray down in front of the fallen Johann—
Snap!
“Gaaah!”
“W-what?!”
Johann suddenly lunged, grabbing the wrist of the soldier setting down the tray.
The tray naturally tipped over, and the other soldier jumped back in shock.
It wasn’t unreasonable—they thought he was completely out.
“Heh heh heh!”
Drool spilling from his mouth, eyes half-rolled back, Johann shoved the soldier away.
‘What strength……!’
Despite his emaciated frame, the push sent the soldier tumbling to the floor.
Johann unhesitatingly reached for the man’s waist.
The soldier’s eyes bulged in terror.
Johann’s hand was heading straight for the sword sheathed at his waist.
“Ralph!”
“Don’t move rashly! If the young master gets hurt, it’s not just us—our families are done for too!”
“B-but……!”
The other soldier drew his sword and aimed at Johann, but Ralph desperately held his comrade back amid the crisis.
In the meantime, Ralph tried to fend him off, but Johann’s strength was beyond that of a normal human.
‘Ugh! This monstrous power—is it from the drugs too……!’
“Close the door, quick!”
“R-right!”
As Ralph’s comrade, Asan, rushed to shut the door at his command—
“Heh heh heh, heh heh!”
Crack!
“Argh!”
Johann let out a bizarre laugh, snapping Ralph’s wrist with brute force, then yanked the sword from his waist and bolted toward the door.
“N-no! Stay back!”
Asan threatened Johann with his sword.
But it was futile.
Johann, having lost all rational judgment, charged straight at the blade without slowing.
“Gasp……!”
It was obvious—Johann’s throat would impale itself on Asan’s sword.
Asan panicked and swung his blade aside.
Sure enough, Johann shoved Asan aside effortlessly with his inhuman strength.
“Guh!”
Crash!
“Where’s the young master?”
“O-over there……!”
Ralph clutched his broken wrist and shouted at Asan.
Asan pointed a trembling finger at the open door.
But Johann was nowhere to be seen.
“Find Young Master Johann right now!”
“Young master! Young Master Johann!”
Word of Johann’s escape spread, and knights, soldiers, and servants alike frantically searched the estate for him.
In the end, Johann was found.
In a place he shouldn’t be, in a state he shouldn’t be……
“Kyaaah!”
“Y-young Master Johann! Please put down that sword!”
“Young Master Johann!”
“Shut up! All of you shut up, you bugs!”
Johann bared his teeth, menacing everyone around him.
The tip of his blade pointed at Hayden and Annette, who stared at him in horror.
He had come to none other than their bedroom.
“It hurts so much…… Mother…… Bugs are crawling all over me, biting me. Weird people keep babbling, it’s so loud my head’s gonna explode. Please do something for me…… Huh? Pretty sister? Wanna play with me, sis? I’ll buy you candy. I found a super pretty flower in the garden this morning. Wanna go see? Say something, you bastards!”
“Kyaaak!”
Johann raised his sword and charged at his parents like a madman.
Annette screamed and shut her eyes, while Hayden shielded his wife and glared at Johann.
At that moment—
Clang!
Blocking their path was Volfok, captain of the House Crimford knights, who intercepted Johann.
Volfok swung his sword, shattering Johann’s blade effortlessly, then pinned him completely underfoot.
“Let go! Let me go…… Dad! Save me! I’ll kill you! Eek! B-bugs…… Bugs……”
Johann struggled desperately beneath Volfok’s foot, but to no avail.
Volfok channeled his aura to immobilize him utterly, then turned to Hayden.
“What should we do with Young Master Johann?”
“……”
Hayden tilted his head toward the ceiling and closed his eyes.
As if gathering his thoughts……
Once resolved, his gaze hardened, and he issued the command.
“Prepare the poison immediately!”
“D-dear! You’re joking, right? Poison…… You’re not going to make Johann drink that, are you?”
“Let’s end it now. From the start, it was our failure that turned that child into this monster. We should have watched him closer instead of distancing ourselves and looking away. I’ll atone for this sin in death to Johann. So for now, let’s grant him peace. I beg you……”
Annette shook her head vehemently, denying reality.
“No, no! Please don’t! Johann…… Our Johann……”
Thud……
“Madam!”
“Fetch the priest, now!”
Annette, who had been sobbing and pleading with Hayden, fainted once more and collapsed; servants rushed to carry her to the bed.
Meanwhile, Johann was moved to the family’s execution grounds, where the prepared poison was brought out before a crowd of onlookers.
“I spare you the axe not out of mercy, but as this father’s final atonement and consideration—know that.”
“D-Dad, no! I was wrong. Please spare……”
“Make him drink.”
Gulp, gulp……
The executioners pried open the restrained Johann’s mouth and poured the poison down his throat.
Many watched the scene.
“Aaaah! My insides are burning…… Save me! I’m dying…… Please, let me live……”
Hayden clenched his fist in secret.
No one pitied Johann writhing in agony from the poison, or felt sorrow for him.
Instead, gazes held only satisfaction at his torment or impatience for his death.
Yet amid those stares, shadows quietly observed the crowd.
Blending seamlessly with the onlookers, they watched Johann’s execution.
At the end of their gaze were Alpha and Yegar, observing the rite just like them.
‘Johann isn’t Alpha? Strange. His speculation couldn’t be wrong……’
“Urk……!”
Johann finally vomited blood and convulsed to a halt.
Hayden nodded, and the approaching priest checked his pulse, confirmed his heart had stopped, and gravely shook his head at Hayden.
“……”
Hayden rose from his seat, silently…… and slowly descended.
“My lord……”
“Step aside. I’ll carry him myself.”
Draping a white cloth over his dead son’s body, Hayden lifted the corpse with his own hands, his eyes hollow with emptiness.
He carried Johann’s remains straight to the crematorium.
Placing the body in the coffin himself, sealing the lid, loading it into the furnace—Hayden handled every last rite for his son personally.
The crowd watched, many with reddened eyes.
No matter how wretched a son, who could fathom a father’s heart killing his own child with his hands and tending his end?
“The torch.”
Hayden lit the pyre with the handed torch; the oil-soaked dry wood roared into flames, devouring the coffin.
The blaze was so fierce that the searing heat and glowing red interior were impossible to peer into.
How much time passed? The fire died, leaving only ashes in the furnace.
Only then did Hayden, who hadn’t shed a tear until then, break into sobs as he swept his dead son’s ashes into a box.
Many couldn’t hold back tears, dabbing eyes with handkerchiefs or sleeves, sharing in Hayden’s grief.
But not everyone.
‘Johann is dead. We still don’t know Alpha’s identity, but he wasn’t Johann as speculated. This is an unforeseen variable in his plan……’
The shadows hidden in the crowd witnessed Johann’s death with their own eyes, noted Alpha silently mourning him, then vanished without a trace.
How the Regressed Young Master Lives