The Blackened Second Male Lead's Wife

He did think that Lucian was the devil’s child, but it was only speculation. 

Seeing this ridiculous ability with his own eyes, he was terrified.

So he avoided the child as much as he could for the next few days.

He would quickly leave the house after leaving the soup.

However, as time went by, the fear dissipated. 

Lucian was so harmless. 

Except that he can self-heal, he was no different from a normal child. 

That’s when John’s malicious pranks began. 

At first, he’d hit the boy’s cheek.

The pleasure he felt when he hit the small child. 

The stress that accumulated inside him was relieved. 

As expected, there were no traces of what he had done on the child’s cheeks the next day. 

John laughed crually. 

After that, the level of violence got worse and worse. 

Hitting, kicking, pinching, stomping… 

It was painful for Lucian; however, it was the most enjoyable moment of the day for John. 

‘What should I do today…’

John thought hard as he looked at Lucian, who hurriedly ate the soup. 

Pour hot water on him? Draw on his skin with a nail?

Everything that came to his mind was cruel. 

Believe it or not, John’s violent tendency never went to this extent.

However, his actions have become increasingly brutal as he harassed Lucian for months. 

It was because of Lucian’s reaction. 

“Normally, people are in pain, people scream, right? But he’s not responding.” 

John said, looking at Lucian lying on the floor. 

Lucian, whose whole body was covered with blood from John’s relentless kicks, was shaking and moaning. 

That was his only reaction to the abuse.

He never screamed or cried and asked John to stop. 

That fueled John’s sadism. 

“Is it because you’re a devil?” 

John muttered as if he wasn’t satisfied.

Then he turned his head to the side and asked. 

“What do you think, Susan?” 

“……”

Susan looked at John with a pale face. 

She didn’t know what to say.

However, what she knew was that John was out of his mind.

Susan said in a small, trembling voice. 

“…I…I don’t know.”

John smirked at Susan’s words. 

As if he didn’t intend on hearing her answer from the start.

John just needed someone to see what he was doing. It was a role perfect for Susan, who was timid, tight-lipped, and followed John’s words well. 

–

After that day, John would often bring Susan to the small house. 

Susan hated going there, but after seeing John’s violent behavior, she was too scared to refuse. 

All she could do was tremble and watch John mistreat Lucian. 

It was that kind of day. 

John lashed at Lucian’s small back with a whip he brought without his father knowing. 

John was sitting cross-legged like an arrogant king looking at Lucian. 

Again today, Lucian did not scream. He looked pitiful.

Now John was not satisfied with simply hurting Lucian. 

He wanted to see that little child crying as he was getting beat.

‘How can I make him cry?’

John’s gaze focused on the doll Lucian was holding.

The doll was in terrible condition.

One eyeball was dangling as it was barely hanging on, The doll was stained black, and a bunch of cotton was sticking out.

Most people would’ve thrown it away.

Nevertheless, Lucian cherished it a lot. 

Like it was his precious treasure. 

Even now, when his small back is covered with blood, he still doesn’t let go of the doll. 

‘I don’t think anyone would come here to give that to him, so the woman that gave birth to him must’ve left it behind.’

John took a guess of the doll’s origin, but he was right. 

The doll was the only object left by Lucian’s biological mother. 

It was the only thing that stood by Lucian’s side.

But for John, the doll wasn’t important. 

‘The bastard doesn’t even desire other things, he just really likes that doll.’

The corners of John’s mouth went up. 

He smiled eerily.

John approached Lucian. Lucian reacted quickly to John’s movement. 

Lucian’s small body trembled. Lucian couldn’t even avoid John.

Like a small wild animal that freezes up when faced with someone overwhelmingly larger and stronger than them. 

As John reached out, Lucian closed his eyes tightly. 

However, John neither hit Lucian’s head nor slapped him on the cheek. 

He took away Lucian’s precious doll. 

“Ah…” 

Lucian’s big eyes shook. 

John, holding the doll in his hand, furrowed his eyebrows. 

“Ugh. It smells rotten. You held onto this trash quite well.” 

“P-please give it to me. Give it to me.” 

Lucian was always alone, so he didn’t know how to speak properly. 

Lucian swug his arm at John as he continued to speak with poor pronunciation. 

John giggled as he looked down at him. 

‘He’ll give me a reaction if I mess with this.’

John’s face brightened as he finally came up with a method to provoke Lucian.

John picked up the doll and shook it.

“Is this trash that precious?” 

Lucian couldn’t even answer properly and desperately reached out. 

However, there was a huge difference in the physique of 14-year-old John and 7-year-old Lucian. 

No matter how much Lucian reached out, the doll never came close enough.

John burst into laughter since it was funny to him. At the same time, John’s sadism soared. 

He wanted to torment Lucian even more.

John spotted a glass shard. 

It was the glass shard he had used to cut Lucian’s hand the other day. The glass shard had dried up red blood on it.

John grabbed the glass shard with his free hand.

John said, looking at Lucian struggling under him. 

“Is this your doll? Who gave you this? You don’t deserve this doll!”

The glass shard in John’s hand headed for the doll. 

“……!” 

Lucian’s red eyes grew bigger. 

The glass shard dug into the doll’s belly. 

He repeatedly stabbed the doll, ripping the doll apart.

The old doll made of cloth was too weak. 

The cotton inside became dust and disappeared, and the fabric was torn apart and fell to the floor. 

“S…Stop it..”

Lucian couldn’t even shout and made a painful sound. Tears formed in his big eyes. 

John burst into laughter at the sight.

“HAHHAHAHAHA!”

The devil child looked like the human in this situation.

The doll completely lost its original form. Now all that was left in John’s hand was an old piece of cloth. 

Lucian would’ve been a little thankful if he had given it back at that point, but John was cruel until the end. 

He tore the face of the worn-out doll with both hands. 

John’s face, behind the split pieces of the doll, looked like a devil’s face. 

And… 

Lucian’s face, looking at him, was too. 

“……!” 

John’s eyes widened.

His face looked completely different.

The red eyes, which had tears in them, twitched frighteningly. 

As if he was not a human. 

But John couldn’t continue examining Lucian’s face.

Because Lucian, who ran at a tremendous speed, took away the glass shard that John was holding and pierced John’s heart with it.

Susan screamed and ran to the chief’s house. When he heard that John was attacked by Lucian, the chief hurried to the small house. 

But by the time he arrived, John was dead,

Evenmore, his body was thoroughly ripped to shreds.

The chief couldn’t even scream at his son’s tragic end and lost his rationality. 

In that moment, the chief forgot the doctrine that innocent lives should never be harmed. 

He immediately tried to kill Lucian, but it was not easy. 

Because Lucian, whose eyes were glowing, was unbelievably powerful for a seven-year-old.

Eventually, dozens of villagers who followed joined forces to intimidate Lucian. The chief put a silver necklace on the child’s thin neck. 

The necklace was a treasure that had been handed down from generation to generation, for it was to be used when the devil appeared.

Fortunately, the necklace worked. 

Only then did Lucian fall asleep. 

The villagers were set on killing Lucian this time. He must be destroyed before the devil’s power grows stronger.

The chief agreed with them. 

He was the one who wanted to cut off the neck of the little devil most. 

But… he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

According to the Bible, if you kill the devil with human hands, you will be put under a terrible curse.

Didn’t they let this horrifying thing live in the first place because of that?

If he does something wrong, this whole village could be in danger.

In the end, the chief decided to leave Lucian alone as they had done previously.

However, unlike before, Lucian was carefully chained down. 

When Lucian opened his eyes, he was in a cellar with no light. 

A silver necklace was fastened around his neck, and he was chained up.

No one came to see Lucian anymore. 

All Lucian could do in the dark room was to lick the rain water dripping in or eat the corpses of rotten animals. 

Three years have passed like that. 

* * * 

Susan trembled and said. 

“S-so that child d-did not do such a thing for no reason. O-of course, that child was a devil, but John treated him too harshly.” 

I stared blankly at Susan, who was rambling. 

My heart pounded. 

My whole body got cold. 

My fingertips were cold. 

I felt an anger that I had never felt before. 

I asked with difficulty.

“Why are you only telling me this now? If you had told someone earlier… If you had… at least Lucian might not have been trapped in that terrible place!” 

At least the villagers would not have regarded Lucian as the devil who killed people for no reason. 

Susan closed her eyes and responded to my angry scolding. 

“I couldn’t say anything back then. The village was so tumultuous that,,,, if I had said this then, he said that terrible things would happen to me if I were to stand up for the devil.” 

“…who?” 

“The village chief.” 

“……”