All intellectual property belongs to Cybird. I fan translate for fun. I am not fluent in Japanese, so translations are not 100% accurate. Please expect grammatical errors. Creative liberties are taken. Re-blogs are appreciated, but please do not post my translation elsewhere, claim them as your own, or use them without my permission. Thank you for your support!
SNAP!
The taut string snapped with a scream-like sound, sending a burning pain through my cheek.
William: Haaah…..haaah….
I traced my finger along the cheek where the broken string had grazed me, crimson blood was weeping out.
At that moment, I made up my mind.
My resolve to live as a villain.
[Transitions To An Earlier Period of the Story]
William: What do you want to tell me?
It was my thirteenth birthday.
Ethan, the head butler of the Rex family, widened his eyes slightly at my question.
Ethan: Notice, did you?
William: Yes. You want me to know something.
William: Especially in the last few months, you seemed to be looking for the right timing to tell me.
Ethan: ….No one can hide their desires from you, Master William.
William: Is that a jab at me for urging that maid who wanted to elope the other day?
Ethan: No. It's a jab about how we invited a geopolitics professor to study, but somehow he turned into an adventurer.
William: That couldn't be helped. That's what he wanted.
Ethan: Honestly…….
Since childhood, I've been able to understand the hidden desires of others with remarkable clarity.
"I need money," "I like that man," "I want to know about the unexplored world"…
(When you expose their desires, everyone initially offers excuses and rationalisations.)
Social standing, consideration for loved ones, a moral compass to be good—these held them back.
That's not a bad thing. Not taking risks is a wise way to live.
Freedom is touted as a virtue, but a bottomless terror awaits.
(Whether happiness or unhappiness awaits…..)
(Because you can't blame anyone for the consequences of choices you make of your own free will.)
But occasionally, someone would appear who made a decision that defied common sense and acted accordingly.
As a result, some become poor and are abandoned by their families. But….
(Who can deny a way of life that they themselves don't call unhappiness?)
William: The moment you decide to be free from constraints and act as your own master, that's when you shine the brightest.
William: I want to see as many of those radiances as possible.
Ethan: Yes. I am aware of that….But that’s precisely why…
Ethan: The truth I'm about to show you will surely cause you pain.
William: ….Still, you strongly desire me to know.
William: Tell me, Ethan. The truth.
In the dimly lit library, where only the head butler is allowed to enter, Ethan handed me a bundle of old letters and ledgers.
William: What’s this….?
Ethan: This is evidence of wrongdoing that I have uncovered as the head butler of the Rex family. Specifically, evidence of wrongdoing by your father, Lord Edward.
(Wrongdoing….)
The letters and ledgers were encrypted, but Ethan had already devised a way to decrypt them.
(Political usage of diacetylmorphine….creating a secret manufacturing facility?)
(Records of the trafficking of the bodies of orphans who died from poisoning after exposure to the deadly drug... These are victims who were drugged.)
(Bribery, money laundering... Perverse verdicts. And so on….)
These records were overflowing with malice that made one sick to their stomach the more they deciphered them.
Ethan: These are merely crumbs of the wrongdoings of the organisation run by members of the House of Lords,
The Golden Butterfly.
Ethan: Your father is a pipeline within that organisation, allowing these barbaric acts to spread.
William: I always thought….my father was a philanthropist.
Ethan: His charity work was merely a cover for these activities.
Ethan looked into my eyes with concern.
Ethan: Are you all right….?
William: What do you mean?
Ethan: It's bound to be somewhat shocking to be told that your father is truly a bad person.
Ethan: That's why I was hesitating whether to tell you.
William: Thank you, I’m fine.
Although I was shaken, I forced a smile.
Ethan: You don't have to force a smile.
Ethan cares about me more than anyone else. He always sees right through me.
Even so, I couldn't allow myself to rely on him.
(If I ask for too much, I'll probably... use this power to take away his freedom and make him suffer again.)
I can make people move as I please just by giving orders.
To me, using this innate power was the ultimate evil.
William: First, let's verify the facts. The Golden Butterfly, the drugs, and the illegal facility. I need to see its existence with my own eyes.
After the investigation, it was six months later that I was able to infiltrate the facility.
[Transitions to the Almshouse]
Boy with Bloodshot Eyes: Let go! Gimme some too!!
Boy Rolling on the Ground: Ugh, haah…it hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts….
Facility Staff: Shut up and die already! This is the grave where your bones will rot anyway!
What we witnessed after secretly slipping out of the annex and sneaking into the almshouse was a pungent stench of decay, and a gruesome scene of exploitation.
(How is this…allowed?)
(They haven’t done anything wrong.)
They were simply have-nots.
And for that alone, their freedom was taken away. They were whipped, enslaved to drugs….and then discarded like mere refuse.
All so that those who were haves, could pursue greater wealth and power.
(This…)
(My father…)
Before I could feel anger, I felt nauseous with disgust.
William: Ethan, I'm sorry. I'm stepping outside for a bit…..
Ethan: I can’t leave you alone. I’ll—
William: It's okay. I'll be right back.
I stepped out into the deserted corridor, and that's when it happened.
(...I can hear music...)
It was a bright hum, like a ray of light shining into the darkness where evil reigns.
Drawn by the voice, so out of place in a place like the bottom of hell, I followed it.
And there, a scrawny boy was huddled, hugging his knees and singing, his arms bearing the raw scars of whip lashes.
William: Whose song is that?
Boy: Mine. I have more sounds in my head...But I only have one mouth, so I can't express them.
His eyes were vacant, but the heat of desire he couldn't hide seeped into his subdued voice.
I want to express all the sounds in my head, he means.
William: What’s your name?
Colin: Colin.
William: Do you like music, Colin?
Colin: I don't know. It's just...melodies overflow in my head, and I can't help but sing.
My words sometimes betray my heart that cherishes freedom, and in turn, rob’s someone of their freedom.
That's why, instead of being careful with my words, I loved music, which I could pour out without taking away anyone's freedom.
William: Colin...won't you leave here?
Colin: Leave here…?
William: There's an instrument that can play all the sounds in your head.
It wasn't a sense of duty to set him free, nor a sense of justice to save him from evil...
(I want to hear it. The music he plays freely.)
It was a childish, trivial selfishness.
[Transitions to the Music Room - Annex]
At first, Colin hesitated before the piano.
But after a few days, he sat down at the piano stool as if he had made up his mind—and from then on, he continued to play music like a gushing spring.
Colin: Wow! Is this sheet music? Is this the song I played the other day?!
William: That’s right. These notes correspond to piano notes, so anyone can play the same song.
Colin: So, even songs that require four arms to play can be played by two people?!
William: Yes... I think it's possible to play them by ear.
Colin: Then... then!
William: Hmm?
Colin: If I make sheet music, will you help me play it...?!
The empty days he'd seen in that hellish place were gone.
Colin's eyes were sparkling brightly.
William: …Of course, I’d be delighted.
When he sat at the piano, he was definitely his own master.
I was proud that I had brought him to this place.
[Transitions to the Corridor]
William: Ethan.
Ethan: Yes, Master William?
William: Thank you, for revealing the truth to me.
William: I've made up my mind.
(If the life of someone who shines so beautifully is turned into a hideous death...)
William: I will stop the evil deeds of the Golden Butterfly.
(Though I don't know how yet.)
But that’s what my heart is calling for, what I believe is the right thing for me to do.
[Past Records Master List] {Episode II]
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