Ruler Vol 3 Epilogue
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Author: Anit666
Editor: Weasalopes
【3rd person’s POV】
It was a story of when Sam was 8 years old. Sam was the second child in his house, but alas his mother had died while giving birth to him. 2 years later after the death of his first wife, Sam’s father, who was the CEO of some company, remarried. Since Sam never knew his real mother, the step-mother was his mom from now on.
The new wife, the step-mother of Sam, was rather strict with the children. Sam’s older brother who was older than him by 5 years was a prodigy. Grade-school, middle-school and even in high-school, his brother was the highest ranker in them all. He even ranked in the top-ten in national examinations. Their step-mother always praised him for it.
Sam, on the other hand, was pretty much average. He had passed out with average grades in grade-school, and he was doing the same in middle-school. He often got scolded by his step-mother due to it.
But on one fine occasion, Sam scored higher. Perhaps because he wanted his mom to be happy and feel proud of him, he somehow scored the highest on end-term exams. In fact, his overall score was even higher than his brother. The moment he got his report card, he straightaway ran home and entered his mom’s room.
“Look look mom! I finally scored the highest in my grade! I even scored higher than brother!”
His mom at first didn’t believe him. But when she looked at his report card, she found that Sam was indeed speaking the truth. She was ecstatic.
“Waaah! Sam indeed scored the highest! I told you, didn’t I? That if you study hard enough then you can score higher than your brother! I gotta show this to my friends quick! Maybe I should have this framed?”
His mom then hugged him tightly and caressed his hair.
“You did good, Sam. Keep this up and keep scoring higher than your brother.”
【Chloe’s POV】
“What do you think happened then?”
Jack stopped abruptly and asked me, the amused grin never leaving his face.
“Of course, he worked harder and harder from then on, right? What else would a child do?”
What else would you expect from an 8 year old?
Ah, but Sam was cute back then fufu. Working his hardest to be praised by his mother. Yes, that sounds like something he’d do.
“Heh. Wrong.”
Eh?
【3rd person’s POV】
But the Sam that had been hugged forcefully wriggled away from his mom’s hug. His mom giggled, thinking that Sam was embarrassed. However-
“I see, so it’s as I expected, huh?”
That calm, cold voice that came out from Sam’s mouth was something his mom hadn’t expected.
“Eh?”
She stupidly groaned, but Sam simply walked towards the window. With his back facing her, he declared.
“All you care about is my performance- no, that won’t be right. All that you care about is that I perform better than my brother, right?”
“Eh? W-what are saying, Sam? Of course I care about you-”
“Good grief, I hadn’t expected you to so bad at lying, Mrs. Tanya Hayden.”
His mom, Tanya’s entire body stiffened the moment she heard Sam say her full name. For the first time in her life, that child had called her something other than ‘mom’.
“It was hard, wasn’t it? Always living in the shadow of the woman who gave birth to me. Always being compared to that woman, and always being proven……… hehe.” He snickered derisively and turned around. “Inferior to that woman.”
“Wha?!”
Tanya almost stood up from her spot, but her entire body had frozen stiff. The beautiful smile that had appeared on Sam’s face was just that demonic after all.
Without paying any mind to her clearly frantic state, Sam continued.
“The turning point was when even my father didn’t pay any attention to you. You understood that you only existed to take care of his kids. And that’s why you found solace in my existence. I was probably 3 or 4 years old when you understood your situation. And so, you decided that you’d raise me into a man who was better than my brother, another man who was raised by our real mother. Because that was the only thing that could validate your existence. “
“S-stop…”
Tanya murmured, almost in desperation and denial. But Sam didn’t stop.
“Because that was the only way you could rid yourself of your inferiority complex.”
“Stop!”
She murmured again, a bit louder this time. But Sam still didn’t stop.
“Because that was the only way you could prove that you were better than my real mother.”
“I SAID STOP!”
Tanya suddenly stood up and threw the cup she was holding right at Sam. The cup hit him straight in the head.
“Aaahh!”
Only when Sam screamed in pain did she realise what she had done.
She had bashed the head of his son- no, of Sam with a cup. She looked at her hand, then at Sam’s bleeding forehead, and then at the pieces of the cup lying at the floor.
“N-no…!”
She stepped back, afraid, and unsure of what to do. Sam, on the other hand, pressed his forehead with his handkerchief to stop the bleeding. His features had contorted in great pain, but not a drop of tear fell from his eyes.
With eyes as cold as ice, Sam stared at Tanya and declared.
“This is the deepness of your love for me?” He showed her his blood-stained handkerchief. “This?”
Tanya stared in horror at the him, and lapsed into silence, perhaps trying to deny what had just happened. For a while, she didn’t move, but eventually.
“U, uuuuuuuuhhh….”
She started crying. Like a helpless child, she overflowed with tears and screwed up her face. Unable to handle herself anymore, she fell to her knees, her teardrops staining the carpet she was so proud of.
“Why…? Why are you doing this to me? Why are you saying these cruel things? All I- all I ever wanted was a happy family. But your father and brother never looked at me with those eyes. To them I was always a stranger, a replacement. That’s why I wanted you to be someone better than them, but- but, even you……… uuuuuuuh.”
【Chloe’s POV】
“So, what do you think?”
Jack stopped the story once again, and with amusement and ridicule apparent on his face, he once again asked me.
“What do you mean, what do I think……? This is a completely impossible story no matter how you look at it. We are talking about an 8 years old child, specifically Sam. There’s no way he could do something so………. twisted. Not to mention that I know Tanya, and she has a really wonderful relationship with Sam.”
“Oya? So, you have already met Sam’s mother, huh? Did you manage to make a good impression on her?”
“Yeah, I did- Wait a minute! Don’t change the subject!”
Just what the heck is he making me say, this bastard!
“Anyway, I wasn’t talking about that.” He waved his finger. “What I’m asking is, what if you assume that this story was true? Then what kind of person would that little Sam be?”
What if I assume it to be true? Then…..
That kid, without a doubt would be the……..
“Devil.”
“I see.” His smile widened. “So, even you think that the kid would have to be a Monster.”
“Well, more or less, yes……”
Like, before that, what kind of pointless conversations are we even having?
“Heh.” But Jack scoffed to himself, and then muttered. “So I guess she was the only one who gave the correct answer, huh……….”
And then looked outside the window, making an expression that should have been impossible for him.
With a sorrowful smile and nostalgic eyes, he seemed to be looking at some faraway place.
“Anyway. Let’s continue the story.”
But he quickly recovered.
“Eeeh there’s more?”
【3rd person’s POV】
“Why…? Why are you doing this to me? Why are you saying these cruel things? All I- all I ever wanted was a happy family. But your father and brother never looked at me with those eyes. To them I was always a stranger, a replacement. That’s why I wanted you to be someone better than them, but- but, even you……… uuuuuuuh.”
In return, Sam, still pressing his forehead with his hand, walked towards Tanya until he was in front of her. She was still crying, and looked fearfully at the little Satan standing in front of him.
“You know,” His cheeks slackened into a slight smile, “mom. That’s where you are wrong. To me, you are my only mother.”
“Eh?”
Tanya’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Do you know what brother said about you?”
Realising that this was a question aimed at her, she shook her head.
“He said that just as they didn’t see you as a family, you never saw them as one as well.”
“Hueh?”
She groaned in bewilderment.
“The moment you became aware that they didn’t really think of you as a family, you lost all hope. So, you stopped seeing them as a family as well. You stopped trying to make a place in their hearts. You were just fixated on getting that place which my former mother held, and that’s why they rejected you.”
Finally understanding what Sam meant, and after overcoming the initial shock, she finally managed to ask.
“T-Then…… what should I do?”
“It’s simple. Try to create a new place for yourself. It’s useless to compare yourself with someone who’s already dead, so even if they think you’re not as good as her, it wouldn’t really matter. You just have to keep trying. It would take some time, yes, but I’m sure that a day would come when they’ll look at you as warmly as they looked at my former mother. No, they’ll look at you even more warmly. And even if they don’t…..”
“I-if they don’t…….?”
She asked fearfully.
“Then you still have me, your son, Samuel Hayden.”
Sam smiled brightly and made a guts pose. Tanya looked in amazement at her son.
“Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch….! It hurts!”
Sam suddenly groaned in pain and crouched down. They both then remembered about Sam’s injury.
“I’ll get some bandages, so stay here!”
Tanya frantically wiped her tears and grabbed the med-kit from the drawer. She first disinfected the wound, upon which Sam groaned.
“Ouch!”
“Just bear with it…….”
Tanya chided him gently and continued. After properly disinfecting it, she dressed up his wound and then gently smacked the place where the wound was.
“Ouch!”
Sam groaned.
“There, all done.”
“Thanks.”
“Now then, Sam.” Now, this time, it was Tanya’s turn to become demonic. “What was all that about?”
She asked in a cold voice, causing Sam to crawl back in fear.
“Y-you know…. It was…. uh…….. yeah! I just wanted to help you, you know? I-I couldn’t bear to see you so saddened!”
“Ahn?”
“Hiiii! I’m sorry!”
Sam shrieked in horror and closed his eyes when he saw his mom raise her hand. However, the slap he was fearing never came. Instead.
His mom hugged him. She tightly hugged and buried his face into her bosom, gently caressing his hair. With tears falling from her eyes, she spoke.
“I’m sorry Sam! I hit you with that mug even though you were just trying to help me. Mom will never hit you again, so please, just forgive her for this time.”
Sam, in return, wriggled to get his head out her bosom. And this time, he wiped her tears, caressed her head and spoke in a really gentle tone.
“Don’t worry about that, mom. I’m sure I scared you by the way I talked, the expressions I made and the things I said. I probably hurt you as well. So, I should be the one asking you to forgive me and not hate me.”
“Y-you idiot!”
She burst into tears again, yet this time, her tears were born from happiness.
Though later, his father found out that Sam had been hurt. Although Sam managed to protect his mom by saying that he hit the table while playing, they still got scolded in the end.
But from that day onwards, Tanya accepted Sam as her real son and vowed to make him a good man. Though she was sceptical whether she could make Sam even better.
【Chloe’s POV】
“And so ends the story. What do you think now?”
Jack asked the same question again.
What do I think…………………
“I………………… don’t know anymore. Anyway, just what was with that story? There’s no way it was true. An 8 years old child cannot act like that!”
This convoluted way of doing things definitely belongs to a shitty adult! And that adult is not Sam!
“Whether the story was true or not is something we’ll leave for another day. What I want to ask is: do you still think that little Sam was a monster?”
Eh?
“Of course not! That Sam was an angel! He-”
“Why not?”
“Hmm?”
“Why isn’t he a Monster anymore?”
“B-because he did all that for his mother as he couldn’t bear to see her sad!”
“But the things he did remained the same, didn’t they? Just because his intentions changed, he became an angel from a monster? Why?”
“I-…..I don’t know! And you! Stop poking fun at me and just get to the point!”
“Kukukuku.” He snickered. “I see, so you fell into his trap as well.”
“Haah?”
“You see, this story was told to us by Sam, and he had trapped me just like I did you. Do you know the answer that he gave to me that time?”
“Of course I don’t.”
“Do you want to know?”
He asked playfully.
He pisses me off so much!
“I do.”
“Fufu. Alright then. He said that we changed our answers based on the intentions of that little Sam. And that is actually the right way to do it, if you want to arrive at a subjective answer.”
“Subjective?”
“Yes. We turned him into a Devil and Angel based on what we thought was good and evil. But when we look for an objective answer, we’ll find that our answers are invalid because objectively speaking, good and evil do not exist.”
“Good and evil do not exist? How is that-”
“I’m just telling you the answer that he gave. If you have any dissatisfactions, then talk to him.”
“Gununununu….”
He still pisses me off.
“So anyway, as I was saying, Sam said that both the answers ‘monster and angel’ were wrong. What is the correct objective answer then? He said that the little Sam in this case was a………… human.”
“Huh?”
Human? What…….
“Ingenious, isn’t it? People tend to idolise humanity as something pure, signified by compassion, benevolence, love et cetera. But Sam denied them. He said humanity is actually a species which has gone through bottomless evolution of malice. But during that evolution, they never lost the positive traits. That’s why, ‘A human is someone who has the ability to sin, regardless of whether his or her intentions are good or evil.’ So, someone who commits the gravest of sins for his selfish desires is a human, and someone who partakes in the foulest of sins to protect someone else is also a human. This is why that little Sam was a human.”
A human is someone who can sin, regardless of his intentions. So someone who sins for his own desires is also a human.
No! That is wrong! It’s like saying that those terrorists that commit heinous crimes, those murderers that ruthlessly kill, those rapists that destroy lives are all human! But they are not! They are all monsters who have departed from the right path and commit evil! They cannot possibly be human!
They cannot…..!
Yet no matter how much I try to deny it, I can’t find any explanation that says it is wrong.
“And that brings us to our current topic: Sam. You said that you wanted him back, didn’t you?”
I silently nodded.
“Then I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you. You will have to regain him by yourself.”
“W-What?!”
“Yes. Although I know what turned him into what he is today, I had no hand in it. In fact, I- no, we desperately tried to stop it, but to no avail. But if you want to bring him back, then you’ll have to walk the same path as him. You’ll have to go through everything that he went through, and still maintain your resolve to bring him back. Only then would you have a chance of making him listen.”
Walk the same path as him?
Can I do it? Would I be able to do it? Would I be able to do something at which even Sam failed?
No.
“So, will you do it?”
It’s true that I cannot do it.
“What do I have to do?”
But I will do it! I will walk that path for him! No matter what I have to do, no matter what I have to sacrifice, no matter what sin I have to commit, I will do it.
I will bring that kind, loving Samuel Hayden back.
The Sam who, although he always teased me and poked fun at me, still looked out for me.
The Sam who, despite always having a resting-bitch face, made a variety of expressions with me.
The Sam who, while always making nihilistic claims like life is meaningless, still walked on the vehicle side of the road in order to protect me.
The Sam who, although he was always tactless, still managed to say the things I wanted to hear the most.
And the Sam who, despite being a lazy ass piece of shit, managed to teach me how to live my life.
I will bring back the Sam that I love, without fail!
No matter what I have to do.
For love.
For love.
Slaughter them all, for love.
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