Part 2Hollowed by Hatred

I turned my head stiffly.

Ethan stood not far away with a bright smile. While it had been five years since I last saw him, I could tell that my father and sister had sheltered him well.

As he approached me, his expression was full of concern. “I heard you were back, Michael, so I prepared your favorite wine. Unfortunately, I can't drink with you since I'm meeting the princess tonight.”

Wine…

I instinctively held my neck, my stomach roiling. I could not help but throw up.

In the five years at the camp, I had sustained hundreds of injuries and contracted a dozen diseases.

Someone at the camp somehow heard tell that strong liquor could cure those diseases, so whenever the rashes showed up on my body, they would pour the liquor all over my body.

“We risk our lives on the front line, and you say you want to take a break and recover?!”

“Don't act so pathetic! Even if you're injured, you're still our slave. As long as you still breathe, you have to serve us with your body!”

“Exactly! I've seen these rashes plenty of times! They won't kill you!”

They were only satisfied after lighting my wounds on fire, kicking over the empty liquor bottles and leaving my tent.

Now, whenever I smelled liquor, my old wounds would start bleeding uncontrollably.

Ethan sighed, turning to my father. “See, Father? It seems Michael is still mad at me. I get it! If I hadn't jumped off a cliff that day, he wouldn't have…”

Jumped off a cliff, he said.

I looked at him and suddenly remembered the mess from five years ago.

That day, the princess had to choose a fiancé. The queen picked me, the son of the Minister.

That night, Ethan came home crying that I had stolen his fiancée. He said that he could not bear to live without the princess, so he ran to a cliff.

I was terrified and reached out to stop him. However, he suddenly pushed me to the edge of the cliff and nearly sent us both plummeting to our deaths.

My father and sister made it in time to save us, but instead of scolding Ethan, they blamed me for nearly getting my younger brother killed.

No matter how I tried to explain, no one would believe me.

A few days later, our family was suddenly sentenced to death. That was when I was sent to the military camp.

“No way.” My sister’s voice brought me back to the present. She rubbed Ethan's head fondly. “Michael isn't mad at you. How could he be, when you care so much about him even after he tried to kill you five years ago?”

My father frowned and ordered a maid to bring me the wine. “Since Ethan prepared it for you, drink it.”

I stared at the bottle of wine, my hands shaking uncontrollably.

My sister rolled her eyes and stuffed the bottle into my hands. “Are you in withdrawal because you didn't get to drink for five years in the camp? Relax, you'll have as much wine as you want back home!”

Before she could continue, I suddenly puked all over the floor.

Immediately after that, I panicked and knelt, wiping away the stains with my clothes. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… Don't beat me… I promise I'll clean it well…”

My father and sister were both stunned. “Why do you keep saying we'll beat you? Just get up, the servants will clean it…”

Just then, Ethan suddenly pointed at the wounds on my hands, his voice trembling in shock. “Michael, do you have… syphilis? Those dots look just like it!

“I heard things were messy in the army. I didn't believe it at first, but now it looks like…”

I hurriedly rolled up my sleeves.

What? Did my symptoms start showing again? But the doctor said I was fine when she last checked me!

Just thinking I was infected again made my temples throb. I grabbed the bottle of liquor and stuffed it into my throat.

“I'm sorry, it's all my fault! I'll drink it all! My masters said that if I drink it and then splash it over my body, the disease will go away!”

The air froze. My father's and sister's pupils dilated, and they stared at me as though I were filthy.

I did not care. I downed the liquor violently.

This was fine. Anything was fine as long as I did not have to go back.

Ethan suddenly gave me a sly look and smiled at someone behind me. “There you are, Princess.”

Someone kicked the bottle out of my hand abruptly.

I looked up and met Princess Charlotte’s contemptuous gaze.

“You contracted a sexual disease? I sent you to the army for five years, and you couldn't keep it in your pants?!”