Reborn into Beast Tamer Clan with Monsters-Only Affinity-Chapter 48: Why

The Duke stared at Cyruz for a long moment. Then he closed his eyes and let out a slow, tired sigh.

"...I don’t hate Axelius," he said quietly, shaking his head. "I was distant because of..."

He paused, as if the words themselves were hard to say.

"...because every time I looked at him, I remembered the regret."

His voice grew softer, more human.

"Your mother, Eloween... she was furious when she found out I had a relationship with another woman And I don’t blame her. We had agreed—after Andrius and Seraphina’s mother—that there would be no more. That she would be the last. We promised. But I broke that promise."

His eyes lowered.

"When Axelius came into this world, I had already betrayed her trust. And though I did not hate the boy... I feared what my acceptance of him would cost this house. What it would cost your mother... and all of you."

The Duke looked to each of his children.

Meanwhile, behind the door—just out of sight from the heavy talk inside the Duke’s office—a faint voice whispered, filled with sadness..

"Aww, I almost cried," Owen said.

Axelius, leaning against the hallway wall with half-lidded eyes, rolled them in annoyance. "What the heck is wrong with this family? So dramatic."

His legs wobbled slightly as he began walking away, one hand bracing against the wall. His voice was dry, weak, and filled with irritation.

Owen’s voice echoed again inside his head, more curious this time. "But deep down... what do you feel, Axelius?"

Still hobbling slowly back toward his room, Axelius clicked his tongue and replied, "First thing when I wake up, I have to hear that? And Cyruz—ugh, that guy acts more like a girl than Seraphina."

Owen laughed, bouncing softly around in his slime form. But soon his tone shifted to something more serious. "You can’t really blame him, though. From his view, it was you who made his mother suffer. But... Duchess Eloween never treated you badly. She was just... distant."

That made Axelius pause mid-step. His brow twitched, irritation flaring again.

"Why do you even care, huh?" he muttered, his voice sharp. "It’s not like they’re my family. Don’t forget—I’m still a Watanabe. No one can replace my parents."

There was a short silence. Then Owen mumbled something under his breath, almost too quiet to hear.

"...It’s not like they spent much time with us anyway. They died when we were five."

Axelius stopped walking.

Then, without warning, he turned around and threw Owen—now a small bouncing slime—onto the floor.

"Now you remember?!" Axelius shouted, his voice cracking. "Can’t you just shut up?!"

Owen bounced twice and landed still, stunned. "H-Hey, hey! I’m sorry, okay? What’s with you suddenly acting like this?" His round body wobbled nervously. "Our parents’ death... it never seemed like a big deal to you before."

Axelius didn’t answer.

He just stood there, gripping the edge of the wall tightly. His shoulders trembled slightly.

Owen’s eyes widened. "Wait... you’re—"

"You’re crying?!"

Axelius cursed under his breath, trying to wipe his face with the sleeve of his robe. But no matter how much he wiped, the tears kept falling. His breathing turned shaky. "Damn it... why... why won’t it stop?"

Owen bounced. His small body settled on Axelius’s shoulder, and he spoke softly—no longer teasing, no longer playful.

"...Let him cry, Hiroshi. Just let him cry."

Axelius collapsed slowly onto the cold hallway floor, his knees drawn to his chest. His arms wrapped around his legs as he buried his face between them. He sobbed loudly, shoulders trembling as tears streamed down his face without stopping. No matter how hard he wiped them away, they just kept falling, making everything worse.

"Why the hell is this life so damn dramatic?!" he cried out, voice hoarse and cracking. "It’s not like the Duke said anything worth crying about!"

"What is there even to cry for, huh?! Axelius knew he was just a burden—some extra piece thrown into their perfect noble family! A crack in their stupid glass!"

He sobbed again, louder, as if his chest might split open.

"He knew he wasn’t welcome. I knew I wasn’t one of them. I knew it—so why?! Why does it hurt like this?! Is this how crying fet like?!"

The words were rough, but the tears flowing from his eyes weren’t his own—Axelius blinked, feeling that foreign tightness in his throat, that heaviness in his chest.

"This damn body... it’s not even mine and it’s—!"

He clenched his teeth, glaring at nothing, confused, overwhelmed, furious with emotions he didn’t want to claim.

That’s when Owen whispered that he didn’t thought Axelius heard, "I never thought I’d live to see the day—Hiroshi the Psycho Hunter, crying like a lost little lamb."

Hiroshi’s head jerked up, eyes wide with rage. Without hesitation, he grabbed Owen and threw him down the hallway.

"You little fucker! Are you enjoying this?! Is this funny to you?!"

The slime bounced violently off the stone floor, leaving a faint splat as he tumbled back with a grunt. "Hey! Stop throwing me around! Just because I don’t feel pain—!"

"I don’t care!" Hiroshi snapped, panting. "You’re supposed to help me! Instead you sit there, running your mouth like a damn clown!"

Owen bounced upright again, wobbling slightly, this time more serious. "I’m not trying to mock you, idiot."

He gave a small bounce toward Hiroshi.

"I just thought... maybe this wasn’t something you needed help with. Maybe it was something you needed to feel."

Hiroshi scoffed, wiping at his eyes again, frustrated by how useless it was.

"Tch... Feel? I’m not even the real Axelius. These aren’t even my feelings."

Owen tilted slightly. "But Hiroshi, Back in our past life the first and last cry was when they tell you what happened to Auntie. since then you never cried again even after losing someone important..."

Silence. He lowered his head again, knees drawn close to his chest. He didn’t answer. But this time, he didn’t stop the tears either.

He let them fall.

Loud sobs echoed through the corridor. With each breath, he cried harder, no longer trying to hide it. His chest shook. His fingers dug into his sleeves.

"I didn’t ask for this," he whispered. "I didn’t ask to be in this family. I didn’t ask to carry their crap. Why me? Why this body?"

Owen bounced softly over and settled beside him.

"Let it out, Hiroshi. Let him cry if that’s what he needs," the slime said gently. "Maybe... you’re not so different after all, Maybe you need this too."

The boy curled in tighter, face buried in his knees, his voice raw as he cried louder than before, like a dam finally breaking after holding back a flood. Owen quietly extended a slimy tendril, patting his head.