4.0 prologue

Richard Tarten had never experienced a single negative emotion.

Hatred, sadness, agony, envy, jealousy, resentment—it wasn’t that he didn’t understand these feelings. He knew what they were and in what situations people felt them. He simply had never felt them himself.

There was no reason to, nor any need for it.

Everything in his life was fulfilled. He had a loving family, friends who shared his mindset, the trust and affection of those around him, and an intelligence that left him wanting for nothing.

Thus, he had never felt distress, embarrassment, or any other negative emotion, regardless of the situation.

Until that day, when a boy who looked like a sculpture dropped his evaluation of him.

*

“It’s Christoph.”

Someone whispered.

Under the shade of a massive tree at the edge of the forest, boys who had been lounging haphazardly on rocks or tree stumps fell silent as if by appointment. Their gazes shifted toward the interior of the forest, where the slow, rhythmic clop-clop of hooves approached.

A boy with a small frame sat straight-backed atop a white horse, approaching along the path. The boy looked at them with a brief expression of annoyance but soon looked away indifferently.

It seemed he was riding back after taking a short break.

“I heard Christoph solved the code analysis faster than even the youngest uncle the other day.”

“Tch… except for that, there’s nothing worth looking at.”

Listening to the envious whispers, Richard smiled silently.

Nothing worth looking at except for that? Far from it. While being superior in every aspect, he was exceptionally Read on Read BL Novelsbrilliant in that particular field to a Read on Read BL Novelsdegree no one could match. The other boys had nothing they could do other than spit out such jealous words.

Christoph Tarten was undoubtedly a genius. He was a rare breed who achieved far greater results than others without even trying.

However, Richard had never felt jealousy in that regard. Although he had to put in more effort than Christoph, he was able to achieve results on par with him.

Therefore, while friends—and sometimes even adults—defined them as rivals and compared them at every turn, Richard didn’t pay it much mind.

He didn’t particularly like Christoph, but he didn’t hate him as much as others thought. He didn’t even feel the desire to be curious about the boy who always kept himself isolated.

For Richard, it was enough to be with the friends who gathered around him and to share mutual trust. They trusted and followed Richard, and Richard led them reliably. It was only natural.

“Christoph!”

One of the boys called out to Christoph. As he rode past them, Christoph glanced at them with an irritated look but did not stop his horse. Then, as if provoked, the voice shouted once more.

“Someone who always wanders alone can never inherit the Tarten name!”

Inheriting the Tarten name. That was the value they prized above all else.

Christoph frowned slightly. He seemed to have no desire to engage, but perhaps the blatant provocation grated on him, as he spat out in a voice laced with irritation:

“And you, who always wander in a pack, think you’ll inherit it?”

The boy who had spoken became as mute as a fish.

The boy, who hadn’t even been a candidate for succession in the first place, turned beet-red and glared at Christoph, but that was all.

Richard, who didn’t particularly like Christoph but didn’t want to side with a fool who didn’t know his place, simply watched from behind without intervening. Then, when the boy finally began to tear up, Richard stepped in with a generous smile, comforting him and saying it was alright, that he shouldn’t let it get to him.

It was then that Richard saw it.

Christoph, who had been watching them, was faintly frowning. His gaze was fixed on Richard. [unauthorized copy][stolen content]It was as if he were condemning him.

Christoph, who usually treated Richard as if he were invisible, just like everyone else, rarely showed any emotion toward him. Thus, rather than finding the gaze unpleasant, Richard found it curious.

At that moment, someone seemed to notice Christoph’s look. As if having found a flaw to pick at, they shouted in a disgruntled voice.

“Why do you hate Richard?”

To them, the act of hating someone was itself a cause for criticism. Moreover, Richard was a ‘wonderful child everyone should love,’ someone who was equally kind and protective toward everyone.

“Richard always helps us, and he isn’t arrogant like you.”

Another child chimed in.

Christoph did not answer. It wasn’t because he had nothing to say. He looked as though he simply didn’t want to mix words with them.

Christoph turned to leave.

Then.

“Why do you hate me?”

Suddenly, impulsively.

Richard spoke.

He was surprised by his own words.

He had never asked such a question of another person. If someone seemed to dislike him, he simply ignored it; if they seemed to like him, he smiled back.

As Richard questioned him, feeling internally bewildered by his own impulse, Christoph slowly turned around. Richard thought he might be ignored again, but Christoph, slowly knitting his brows, spoke coldly.

“You always stand above others Read on Read BL Novelsas [stolen content]a matter of course, ‘bestowing’ your Read on Read BL Novelshelp upon them. I hate the way you smile so kindly while doing it.”

Having said only that, Christoph turned away, as if he would not look back this time. The rhythmic clop-clop of the hooves grew distant.

And Richard.

He, who had led his friends and gathered their trust as if it were the natural order of things, realized that Christoph had seen right through him. He had seen a side of Richard that Richard himself hadn’t even recognized.

In that moment, Richard learned for the first time what a negative emotion felt like.

Shame and self-loathing; anger toward the person who made him realize it; jealousy toward someone who was ahead of him in thought and insight from the start, regardless of effort; resentment for exposing a truth he hadn’t wanted to know; and the bewilderment and confusion caused by these unfamiliar feelings.

He tasted for the first time that unpleasant sensation—a black sprout growing hideously in his heart, revealing sharp thorns.

It was by no means a trivial matter.

The shame of having his ugly unauthorized copyself—which no one, not even himself, [Read on Read BL Novels]had noticed—exposed grew into anger, hatred, and resentment.

“Even though he’s the one looking down on people.”

“Christoph is always like that. He’s got a nasty, twisted personality.”

At the sound of the children grumbling, Richard, who had been standing there as if frozen, finally returned to reality.

“I didn’t mean to… I guess I became arrogant without realizing it. I’m sorry if I ever made you feel uncomfortable.”

While apologizing to his friends with a truly sorry, troubled smile, Richard knew.

He knew that if he spoke this way, they would jump to his defense, denying it and saying that Christoph had just spoken out of turn and that Richard wasn’t that kind of person. And that he would appear to be an even more virtuous person.

The things he had done without a second thought until a few minutes ago, he was now consciously performing.

Once the seed of emotion had sprouted, no matter how much he tried to prune it, it could not be [visit our site]uprooted and continued to sprout tenaciously. From then on, Richard kept a close eye on Christoph. Before that, he hadn’t cared that much; Christoph had simply been one visit our siteof the stolen contentpeople he competed with. But after that, other rivals ceased to matter to Richard.

He watched only Christoph. All while easily trapping those dark, unpleasant emotions beneath the surface of his heart.

However, Christoph always saw through those hideous emotions, and gradually, Richard realized that it was useless to try and hide them in front of him.

Richard always looked at Christoph. Always. Even in his dreams.

At some point, he began to think only of how he could place Christoph most thoroughly beneath him, without the interference or criticism of anyone else. More than anything, he craved it.

By that time, the two were in a ‘bad relationship’ that was noticeable even to those around them. And it was around then.

Richard’s younger brother, who had been frail since birth, died, and Christoph committed a terrible act at the brother’s grave.

Richard smiled then.

Separate from the infinite sadness and agony over stolen contenthis [Read on Read BL Novels]brother’s death, he rejoiced because of what Christoph had done.

Now, he could openly hate Christoph. Even if he clashed with his own hideously distorted and twisted inner self, no one would be able to blame him now.

How much had he loved his brother? He was a brother Richard had cherished and loved beyond measure. Christoph had thrown filth upon such a brother’s death.

Now, no matter what Richard did to Christoph—no matter what he did to him after enduring for a long time and reaching an absolute position of power—no one would criticize him.

As far as Christoph was concerned, Richard had been granted an indulgence.

Even from his own consciousness, from his own heart.