# Chapter 32
Chapter 32
After leaving the boy's room, Bunny resumed exploring the imperial palace.
'The palace has a hundred rooms.'
No matter how many doors Bunny opened, new ones kept appearing.
Of course, only a few were open or able to be opened.
Anyway, while Bunny was diligently exploring, she turned a corner.
"Hey, did you hear?
They say the crown prince might pass away soon..."
Bunny's steps stopped immediately at the sudden voice.
'Crown prince...?'
The future human leader from the storybooks.
'The boy with the shiny, pretty hair from before.'
Bunny leaned her back against the wall and waited for the maids to pass by.
After all, she was gathering secret information, so it would be troublesome if she were caught.
"Yeah, even the doctors have given up.
Not even the great Duke Eudia can do anything.
The curse can’t be purified.
And he's only nine years old."
"Exactly.
The emperor must be devastated.
He’s the only heir.
And the empress can’t have more children either..."
"Hey!
Be careful what you say!
You're in the imperial palace, after all."
Bunny peeked her head around the corner but quickly pulled it back.
"We were just..."
"If you want to keep working here, you’d better watch your mouth!"
At the harsh reprimand, Bunny lightly tapped the floor with her toes.
*Tap tap.*
Quietly listening, Bunny then spun around and retraced her steps.
* * *
'Not here, not here either...'
Bunny started re-opening slightly ajar doors or lighter-looking doors she had passed before, poking her head inside each one.
"Found it!"
Like before, a heavy-looking door was slightly open.
Bunny peeked her head in and quickly scanned the room.
No one was inside.
Squeezing through the gap in the door, Bunny dashed to the large bed, stood on tiptoe, and tried to climb up.
The bed was too tall and big, so despite her efforts, she couldn’t get on.
Having no choice, Bunny dragged over a nearby chair, placing it in front of the bed.
She clambered onto the chair, and then jumped onto the bed.
It sank beneath her weight, embracing her softly.
"...The future leader has a good bed."
Bunny frowned as she thought about her own bed, which wasn’t nearly as soft.
"...Haah, ugh..."
Looking down at the boy drenched in cold sweat and breathing heavily, Bunny placed her small hand on his forehead.
It was burning hot.
If the future human leader dies, the current leader will be sad.
'...It's sad when a mom and dad and baby are separated.'
Bunny thought.
'It was sad when Bunny said goodbye to her mom and dad.'
Surely, everyone would be sad if this boy died.
Sadness is unpleasant.
Bunny shook her head and looked around again.
'If I'm caught, I'm done for.'
She had to leave without getting caught.
"...Haa, ugh, gasp..."
"You'll be okay now."
*Pat pat.*
Bunny gently patted the boy’s cheek as if to comfort him.
『Come here.』
A clear voice in the demon tongue escaped from Bunny’s lips.
Bunny’s round pupils turned into vertical slits, and her deep pink eyes reddened and sparkled with intense color.
Small horns sprouted from the top of Bunny’s head.
The core of a demon.
The owner of demons.
The essence of the demon world.
At the command of the future master, the black energy gnawing at the boy's body seeped out of his mouth, nose, and ears and into Bunny’s horns.
*Srrrk.*
Bunny pressed down on the sharp horns on both sides of her head with her palms.
"It won't do.
Go back in."
Not yet.
I have to stay human.
That way, I can become an adult, meet Luriel again, and become the great demon king.
As Bunny pressed her little palms on the horns, they slowly disappeared.
"Done!"
Bunny giggled as she looked down.
The boy on the bed looked much better than before.
He wasn’t gasping for breath, and he wasn’t sweating anymore.
'Bunny feels weak...'
Somehow, it felt like her body was as heavy as being buried under a thick blanket.
Everything was spinning.
“Ugh.
I need to go back...”
With her spinning vision, Bunny tried to step off the chair and get down, but her body wobbled.
*Plop.*
As if her legs had lost all strength, Bunny’s bottom hit the bed, and she sat down with a thud.
Bunny shook her head from side to side.
Everything was spinning.
She tried hard to stand up again but couldn’t gather her senses with the world swirling in front of her.
“This is bad...”
Bunny’s body slumped forward as she collapsed.
She reached up and felt for her horns once more before closing her eyes.
‘The bed is soft...’
The softness doesn't want me to leave, so I can't go anywhere.
With her face flushed red and her breathing rough, Bunny stopped thinking.
She couldn’t think anymore.
*...*
Not long after Bunny fell asleep, the boy with golden hair slowly opened his eyes.
"...Who is this kid?"
The boy’s red eyes blinked slowly.
In fact, he had been conscious ever since the child entered the room and dragged the chair.
He was just curious about what she was trying to do after climbing onto the bed.
He didn’t know exactly what had happened since he kept his eyes closed, but when this small child's hand touched his forehead, the pain that had tormented his entire body slowly began to fade.
And now... there was no pain at all.
The strange discomfort that had always burned inside him was gone, and the sensation of something gnawing at his insides had disappeared.
'My body feels light.'
The boy thought, widening his eyes.
Years ago, when news spread that the Demon King had died, a demon who had hidden in the royal palace left a curse on him before taking their own life.
From that day, his life became hell.
The boy’s body was continuously eaten away by dark energy.
He couldn’t sleep, and even if he did, he was trapped in endless nightmares.
Was being awake any better?
No.
When he was conscious, his body was in constant pain, and when he slept, his mind was tormented.
How many times had he prayed to the gods?
He received holy water blessings at the temple, and people from Duke Eudia’s family came several times to suppress the dark energy, but that was all.
Each day, he waited for death.
A death sentence.
That’s what everyone said.
No one would know.
The feeling of dark energy, that demon, crawling inside him day and night, relentlessly tearing him apart.
Today was another one of those days.
It had become more common for him to lose consciousness than to stay awake.
He knew.
He knew everyone looked at him with pity, expecting him to die.
On the outside, he smiled and pretended to be okay, but inside, he was already rotting.
And yet...
'A child who appeared suddenly...'
The kid who came in earlier must have been this one.
“Ugh... gasp, gasp...”
“You’re okay now.”
The moment that small voice spoke, he really did feel better.
Like magic.
This child had solved what no one else could.
『Come here.』
The boy, Roel, narrowed his eyes as he recalled the strange, mature voice of the child.
Roel had heard such words only once before.
『I curse you.
I curse you for killing our great god, our noble king, our life, our only guide!
You’ve shattered our moon, so your sun must shatter too...
Repay with death, atone with death, and suffer eternal regret in agony.』
It was the day his nanny, who had raised him since he was little, suddenly changed and spoke those words in that language.
He still didn’t understand what it meant, but the child's words earlier were very similar.
'She's burning up.'
Roel placed his hand on Bunny’s forehead as she lay collapsed in sleep, then quickly pulled the bell cord.
"Who are you, little one?"
Roel held Bunny in his arms and whispered softly in her ear.