It was "Vroric Valethoric", the younger heir, the one he had always been compared to…
Although all the people compared him and beat him for it, he never had any hate towards his younger brother he loved him.
It would be his foolishness to hate his brother, for he knew his brother was a good person.
The only people he did not like were the ones who tormented him: his mother, his father, and his aunt.
His mother always avoided him, his father constantly punished and scolded him, and his aunt would beat him mercilessly sometimes alongside his father.
And after watching the scene from the window, he saw familiar faces.
They didn't deserve this. Most people didn't deserve this.
They were all innocent demons good people who had done nothing to deserve such cruelty.
Shifting his gaze to the knight who was dragging his brother, he saw that his brother was tied up to a stick.
The knight pulled out a flask and poured a strange liquid all over his brother's body, then ignited him.
The screams of his brother filled the entire mansion.
It was unbearable.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH"
The knight watched with a wide smile and said:
"We have won the war. We have diminished one of the powerful noble families of the demons."
He was overwhelmed with various emotions.
He felt uncontrollable rage, covered with horror, and helplessness at the flood of feelings pouring into him.
The boy, covered in chains, had eyes filled with mixed emotions.
Although he was glad that the humans had killed his parents and aunt whom he disliked for their cruelty
He still resented the humans.
He didn't like them, for they discriminated against the demons.
He had heard that humans liked to keep demons and other races, even their own kind, as slaves.
He didn't like them.
He was filled with anger, but that anger was diminished by the horror of the sight before him.
While he was watching, the door beside him began to bang.
"Bang. Bang. Bang."
It was a constant sound.
The boy crawled to the corner of the cramped room and curled himself into a ball, covering his body with his arms and legs.
He knew he was next.
But he didn't want to accept it.
He didn't want to die.
Even though he had lived a life that meant nothing, fear gripped him, knowing the end was near.
A small part of him was glad the torment would be gone, that he would no longer suffer.
Yet still he didn't want to die.
"I don't want to die.I don't want to die.I don't want to die.I don't want to die."
He buried his head and covered himself as much as possible.
The sound of —CLANG—CLANG—CLANG—filled the air as armored boots marched closer.
One voice rang out sharply:
"Commander, there is a boy here!"
The commander took off his helmet and set it on the ground before approaching the boy, who was trembling with fear and curled into a ball.
In a calm, low tone, he said:"Calm down. I am not going to hurt you."
But the boy didn't move. He stayed in the same position, refusing to show his body.
The knight looked around.
Blood covered the ground, and he could see the signs of the child's life and the torment he had endured.
The color of the blood, along with his appearance, told him the truth this was a human child.
He moved closer and gently tried to pull the boy's hands away, but the child resisted, clinging to his curled position.
Then the knight commander stepped forward and poured a strange green-colored liquid onto the boy, saying:
"We are not going to hurt you. You are safe."
After that, the boy felt relief and satisfaction all over his body.
Slowly, he began to relax.
He recalled the words the human had said earlier.
Thinking back, the boy froze.
They didn't see him as a demon, but as a fellow human—that must be why they had kept him alive.
Slowly, cautiously, he began to relax. He let them see his face.
He knew that if he wanted to survive, he needed to act like a human.
He slowly released himself from his curled-up position and looked at the humans who surrounded him.
At first, he saw several humans in knight uniforms with helmets, and in the middle—the one closest to him was a knight without a helmet.
He was a blond man, tall, with many scars across his face.
The knights, after seeing the boy before them, were disgusted by the cruelty the demons had imposed on him.
The boy in front of them was covered in chains, with cuffs around his neck, hands, and legs, preventing him from leaving the room.
They could see the red and blue bruises all over his body, and half his face was covered in dried blood.
The only sound was the faint —drip… drip…— of blood pooling on the stone.
The blood was the boy's own, and he trembled upon seeing the humans before him.
Their eyes showed both surprise and disgust at the cruelty demons had inflicted upon him.
The commander, helmetless, stepped closer.
He spoke gently:"You are safe."
The boy told himself he had to endure this scene if he wanted to live.
The helmetless knight knelt in front of him and asked:"What is your name, little one?"
The boy's lips trembled before he answered:"Ezzor."