Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 117 - A Missing Mother

But even that would be denied to him. The dagger clattered uselessly to the ground, its shining blade reflecting his despair in an almost mocking fashion. Henri fell to his knees, inhaling deeply and rapidly, his eyes widening as he stared at his face mirrored in the dagger's steel. He couldn't do it. He just couldn't do it.

Henri had chosen to die in this very room not because he didn't want to die in some unnamed alleyway where his corpse would soon become food for passing rats, but rather because he knew this was the only place that could give him the courage to end his own miserable life. After all, this was the place where the last remaining image of his family hung.

Henri's tears spilled from his eyes uncontrollably as he stared at the canvas hanging on the wall before him. A portrait commissioned in better days, it captured the bright and happy image of Henri sitting in a beautiful park with his parents. Even now, he could recall the warmth of the sun on his skin that day. He could hear the cheerful laughter of his mother's voice and feel the gentle touch of his father's embrace. He could taste the food they ate together as they sat together upon a grassy knoll.

The sole remaining shard of life in Henri's heart wanted this happy memory to be his last, but he couldn't even muster the courage to make that morbid dream a reality. He was powerless and useless, a child whose fate was cursed by the effects of a war that never should have touched him. The proud nobles and brave knights who fought on the front lines in desperate defense of the country now celebrated their accomplishments, but Henri saw no reason for celebration.

After all, what was the cause for celebration when they couldn't even shield a child from the aftereffects of the war? What was the cause for celebration when storied knights couldn't even allow a father to return home? Henri couldn't understand any of it. As far as he knew, those knights and soldiers hadn't protected anything.

"It's unfair, isn't it?"

Henri whirled around at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, his eyes widening as they searched the interior of the house. Though he usually left the house unlit, the shadows seemed to be darker and longer as if they were reaching out toward him like the claws of a hungry great beast, desperate for its next meal. His heartbeat accelerated, and his tears stopped. Unconsciously, he knelt and picked up the dagger, holding it out toward the shadows.

"Oh my."

The sea of darkness seemingly parted as a woman stepped forth, her movements filled with such unearthly grace that she appeared to be gliding across the wooden floorboards. The shadows of the house clung to her body, wrapping around her like an umbral dress that hugged her body perfectly. With long, elegant steps, she made her way toward Henri with a serene smile on her face.

"S-Stay back!" Henri stammered, holding the dagger with trembling hands as he thrust it toward the mysterious woman to no avail. He had no idea where she came from, but more than that, he felt an innate evil lurking within the woman's core. It was not something that he could logically understand, but rather a primal instinct that drove him to fear the woman and her very existence.

The woman stopped in front of Henri, the light that offered him a meager amount of protection slowly becoming devoured by the voracious shadows accompanying the woman. Paralyzed by sheer terror, Henri could do nothing as the woman reached out and ran her fingers across the length of his dagger's blade in an almost painfully slow fashion, dragging her flesh across its surface with just enough force to draw blood.

Henri stared in horror as he witnessed rivulets of pitch-black liquid stain the once-gleaming steel of his blade before dripping onto the floor below him. The woman knelt, placing the point of the dagger against the soft skin of her throat. Even with death seemingly a thrust away, the woman's smile never left her face.