I Reincarnated as a Noble Bastard, So I'm Seducing All the Villainess
Chapter 37: The Secret in the Moonlight Blood

Chapter 37: The Secret in the Moonlight Blood

Company is great for killing time, but only when the company is good. I don’t like being around Leliana, in fact, I wish she’d never show up in my life again! If possible, I’d drift off to sleep enjoying the scent Moriah left behind when she jumped on me.

But of course, this damn woman had to stay, drinking tea with her pompous posture and reading a book. For all that’s holy, I wish my sister could come here and drag her mom out of that seat to go shopping or something, because I can’t stand being near her!

Ugh, being injured is the worst. If I were just sick, at least I could walk or move, but with broken bones, it’s more complicated. I’ll take this as a lesson to train in swordsmanship, magic, or anything that gives me more power, so I don’t go through this humiliation again.

Seriously, my mind is already a mess from so many things happening... I didn’t want to spend family time with Leliana, I prefer the Duke’s cold gaze and silence to anything else! She might be good at healing magic and all, but why not call someone else?

At least now I can talk without so much pain.

"Hey, don’t you have anything better to do?"

"I do, Darius, but your father ordered me to come and tend to your wounds. He cares a great deal about your life."

"Why? It makes no sense for you to care about me. Wait a minute, you never cared! Now that I’m an adult, I have value? Wow, how beautiful!"

"Have you forgotten the reason your father always protected you, stupid brat?"

"Yeah, yeah, he wants to marry me off to some beautiful noblewoman on the other side of the world so he can get a grandson and adopt him, then I can be discarded or live how I want. That’s why, right?"

When I looked at Leliana, a strange feeling immediately came over me. Instead of that odd look from before, what showed on her face was pity, as if she couldn’t believe my own words. Did I say something wrong and not realize it?

"Your father... didn’t tell you?"

"Tell me what? Tell me the exact reason for all this? Of course not, because it makes no sense for me to be dragged into this mess when Kristia can play a better role than me. You saw it, didn’t you? I take anyone I want or feel like... It was like that with Moriah."

"Hah. I expected a promiscuous relationship with the aristocracy, but I’m more impressed that your father kept quiet about the matter until now..."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Darius, it’s not because your father wants to establish political ties that he keeps you alive and takes care of you..."

She closed the book and placed the teacup on a nearby counter, then turned her face towards me. The seriousness behind those thick eyebrows made me tremble.

"Your father... no, your blood it’s cursed."

"Cursed? What story is that? No one told me about it!"

"Of course, he wouldn’t tell you. Since you would only be used to sire a child, you wouldn’t need to be aware of it, but with your life at risk right now, I believe it’s absolutely necessary for you to be aware of the reason the Duke goes to such lengths to force you to be here."

A shiver ran down my spine. I don’t remember these details in the novel, in fact, there’s never any mention of anyone in the Moonlight family being cursed... but if I remember correctly, after Darius dies, it’s revealed later in the story that the Moonlight house was absorbed by the crown after everyone died. There were no descendants.

I swallowed hard, Leliana had such a heavy aura that it left me breathless for a moment.

"Only the firstborn son is fertile, Darius. All those who come after cannot produce heirs. Do you understand now?"

This means that... Kristia can’t have a child? If that’s the case, what’s the point of her marrying someone? The situation with my mother made me the firstborn, yes, but there’s something not connecting here.

"But aren’t Father and the King brothers? How is it possible that the prince and princess exist, then?"

"Torvek and your uncle are twins. I don’t know the specifics of how this curse works, but it was probably due to that fact that two different families could emerge... In short, the fate of the Moonlight house rests in your hands, which I find ridiculous."

Leliana squeezed her eyelids shut and took a deep breath, trying to digest what she herself had just said. Even I would feel disgusted knowing such information, but it’s still hard to believe. The problem is this curse, and I need more details.

"Can you tell me more about this... condition of ours?"

"Yes, I will, since Torvek didn’t have the courage. In short, the firstborn can have as many children as he wants, but only the first of those children will be able to sire new ones. You can’t imagine how much it pains me to hide this from Kristia, I’m just grateful she’s not looking to get involved with any noble..."

"So that’s it", I whispered, more to myself than to her. "Only the first grandchild would be fertile. And the rest? Are they just spares?"

"They are a bunch of tragic stories, all with their lineage ending in a coffin full of flowers. They remain beautiful until the flowers die."

My throat went dry for a moment. What a shitty feeling, I tell you.

Having the fate of an entire lineage in your hands seems like a bad joke, especially when the thing I enjoy doing most is having sex.

"What caused this? Was it a witch who got angry because one of ours didn’t want anything to do with her? Did someone offend a god after taking one of his daughters? Because, seriously, if it’s hereditary, I don’t even want to know who the bastard was who started this nonsense."

She pursed her lips and turned her face to the window, as if searching for words would make her flee from me. I knew I wouldn’t like what was coming next.

"The curse began many generations ago, Darius. The legend your father told me speaks of a man who broke a promise. The first Moonlight supposedly swore his descendants to a creature of darkness, offering the fertility of the lineage and also his own soul in exchange for establishing the Moonlight family as the kingdom’s royalty, so any child born subsequently to the firstborn would be given in a ritual."

"And of course someone broke the pact, right?" I completed, laughing nervously. "Someone always breaks the pact."

"Exactly. He had a second child with a commoner and concealed the birth. When the spirit found out, it cursed his entire lineage. Since then, second children are born sterile. And worse: if they try to have children by force, with rituals or forbidden magic, they become corrupted creatures."

"Corrupted how?"

Leliana gave me a cold stare, the kind that freezes your blood.

"They go mad. Their bodies transform into vengeful, pale beings that feed on the blood of others. That’s why the Duke doesn’t tell you everything, he knows the risk isn’t just with you, but with any of your descendants."

I leaned back into the pillow, feeling the weight of the Moonlight name on my shoulders. Ironic.

"So that’s it? I’m good for making one fertile heir, and then I can just throw myself into a river?"

"If it were up to your father, yes. But don’t be mistaken, Darius, he lives in fear too. If a Moonlight capable of facing this being were ever born, disaster would surely befall the family."

"And how the hell do you kill an ancient creature like that?"

She smiled, for the first time in that conversation. A sad smile, like someone hearing an old song that once brought pain.

"I don’t know... I have no idea. But since this curse exists, there’s nothing I can do but live with it. I’m forced to accept it and watch my dear daughter suffer because of you."

I fell silent. The room suddenly darkened and... Hah, that hurt a little. I strongly hate Leliana, but I can’t blame her for hating me back.

I didn’t ask to be born, but even worse, I shouldn’t have been born, because then she’d be much happier, and this family would be much more united without my presence. It’s a really shitty feeling.

"Leliana... why are you telling me this?"

She stood up, smoothing her long skirt.

"Because you need to. You’re past adulthood and starting to get involved in things beyond your understanding, not to mention, I’ve been very impatient with Torvek’s reluctance to talk about it." Leliana opened her fan once more, wafting cold air onto her face, but only I knew how much that hardened, stony face wanted to crumble. "In any case, Darius... you are the last breath of the Moonlight house, and you won’t be able to run from that forever."

She walked to the door, stopping with her hand on the doorknob. "Oh, and about Moriah... be careful with her. The companions of the Moonlights always pay for the actions of their husbands."

And then, like the sound of a blade smoothly sliding through fresh flesh, Leliana disappeared down the corridor, leaving me alone with the uncomfortable pounding of my own heart and a cold shadow in the corner of the room staring at me as if it wanted to swallow me whole.