Beast, Blue Blood - Chapter 56

Chapter 56

The helicopter landed following the signals of the ground crew standing on the landing pad. The door opened, and Ivan disembarked. Hisha, who followed Ivan, looked around.

“Here is…”

“This is the ISLE research lab.”

Ivan said as he walked ahead.

Hisha couldn’t understand why Eugene, who had been taken to the hospital morgue, was transferred to ISLE’s highly secure research lab. No, he could guess the reason, but he decided not to make premature judgments until he confirmed it.

As they went inside, Selena was standing in the hallway.

“Master.”

Selena said, his face showing relief upon seeing Hisha. Beside him stood a doctor from the ISLE medical foundation, whom Hisha had seen a few times and was familiar with.

Hisha asked, his face pale as if he had seen a ghost.

“Is Eugene really… alive?”

Selena nodded.

“She’s pregnant.”

Hisha couldn’t comprehend the words right away. It wasn’t that the words were difficult, but the situation itself was hard to understand.

“And the infection started in the uterus.”

Selena continued.

He could only ask in bewilderment.

“What do you mean?”

The doctor explained.

“The fetus infected the mother.”

Hisha didn’t know what to say.

“Is that… possible?”

The doctor nodded.

“Theoretically, yes. It’s a kind of defense mechanism. If the mother dies, the fetus will also die. Of course, this is the first time I’ve seen a fetus infecting the mother, especially one without self-awareness.”

Hisha struggled to accept the information and then murmured.

“She’s alive…”

That was all that mattered.

Hisha looked at the doctor and asked worriedly.

“Is she okay, considering she stopped breathing for so long? Is there any brain damage…”

The doctor shook his head.

“We can’t know anything right now. We don’t even know if the infection will be successful. All we can do is pray.”

Hisha was still relieved. Just having a chance was enough.

* * *

When Eugene regained consciousness, she slowly opened her eyes. A bright fluorescent light was shining from an unfamiliar ceiling.

Her mind was foggy, and she couldn’t think of anything. It felt like a lot had happened, but strangely, she felt languid and dazed, as if waking from a long sleep.

Hisha, looking at her with inexplicably intense eyes, was watching her.

“You’re awake?”

He asked in a gentle voice.

Eugene looked up at him with a dazed expression and, feeling as though she hadn’t spoken in a long time, opened her rough-feeling mouth.

“Is this heaven?”

Despite the unexpected question, Hisha smiled faintly.

“Yes.”

He cupped Eugene’s cheek and gazed into her eyes as he whispered.

“Wherever you are is heaven for me.”

He still couldn’t believe he had almost lost her.

Eugene then looked around with clearer eyes and realized she was lying in a hospital room. As the fog in her mind cleared, everything came back to her.

She quickly looked at Hisha and asked.

“What about my father?”

“He’s safe.”

Hearing this, Eugene felt relieved, but then she noticed a scratch near Hisha’s eye. She raised her hand and gently touched the area around the scratch.

“What have you been doing to get your face like this?”

The wound didn’t look severe, but she could imagine the state he must have been in when he thought she was dead.

Hisha covered Eugene’s hand on his cheek and whispered.

“It feels like I had a bad dream. A dream I never want to have again.”

Hisha seemed to have grown in some way. It wasn’t that his appearance had changed, but his atmosphere had. The once-always-bright sunlight seemed to have dimmed slightly like a twilight hue settling on the ridge.

Eugene asked.

“How am I still alive?”

Hisha tucked her hair behind her ear and whispered.

“Don’t worry about that right now.”

But Eugene couldn’t stop questioning.

“Did you infect me?”

She looked at her hand.

“I feel different. I don’t know what it is… but I don’t feel human.”

She felt both heavy and light simultaneously, a strange sensation. It was as if her body had turned into heavy metal, yet the strong muscle fibers supporting it made her feel refreshingly light. It was not a human feeling.

“As expected, you realize it quickly, Eugene.”

Hisha said, kissing her hand. Then he suddenly said.

“Tell me.”

Eugene looked at him, not understanding what he meant, and Hisha, almost pleading, whispered on the back of her hand.

“The words you didn’t say when you made that video.”

Eugene reached out, feeling his hand on her cheek, and looked into his eyes.

“I love you.”

Unlike when she made the video, Eugene didn’t hesitate.

Their gazes intertwined, and their lips met.

Eugene hadn’t known she would die when she made the video. It was meant to be insurance for an unforeseen situation. But knowing that Hisha would watch the video meant she was already dead, and she was afraid saying “I love you” in the video would become a spell binding him to her for life. Though she wanted to use a stronger spell to keep him by her side, she couldn’t.

“I love you, Hisha.”

Eugene poured out all the emotions she had kept inside.

“Since the moment you jumped in front of me.”

Hisha pulled her into a deep embrace. The suppressed breaths he let out near her ear sounded as if he was about to cry. Eugene closed her eyes and hugged him back.

They held each other for a long time. Eventually, Eugene asked.

“What happened with the hospital attack?”

Hisha shook his head.

“We couldn’t find the main culprit.”

Selena had come and informed him earlier.

“It seems they were hired, Lancenum.”

Hisha sighed.

“The attack was carried out by a mercenary company called ‘Lancenum,’ but they said they were just following orders. It doesn’t seem like they wanted to kill you just because the virus wasn’t there.”

To think they chose such an extreme method as blowing up an entire hospital just to kill one person, it seemed like they were furious that there was no virus from the start.

“But we haven’t found out who hired Lancenum…”

“I know.”

Suddenly, Eugene interrupted Hisha.

“The main culprit.”

Hisha couldn’t hide his surprise.

“You know? How?”

He asked instinctively, then smiled when he saw Eugene’s determined face.

“Of course, you would know. Because it’s you, Eugene.”

* * *

The door opened, and light from the hallway spilled into the dark room. Heinrich lay weakly on the hospital bed, too exhausted to see who had entered.

A presence approached the bed.

Only then did Heinrich slowly turn his head to see the figure standing before him. The light behind them made it difficult to see their face. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t recognize someone he knew well.

The shadow spoke.

“I love you.”

Constantina’s eyes seemed to glow with a blue hue, perhaps a trick of the light, as she looked down at Heinrich.

“Lian Meilin never loved you.”

Heinrich just glared at her.

It was the same expression that used to strike fear into many, enhanced by his power. Constantina included.

But now, seeing Heinrich weakened by illness, even a child wouldn’t be afraid of him.

Constantina continued, unfazed.

“Meilin only thought you should naturally love her. But she knew you would never love her, so she found a loyal errand boy who would devote himself to her. That’s all her feelings amounted to.”

“Love. Love. Love.”

Heinrich spat out the words like curses.

“All these damn women. What’s so great about it? Don’t they have anything better to do?”

Constantina watched him calmly and then, with a composed demeanor, sat on the chair next to him.

Dressed in a deep green dress that symbolized new life and wearing a delicate pearl necklace, she looked elegant enough to be a First Lady of a country. Her proud eyes met Heinrich’s.

“Watch your words. I’m all you have left now. Your precious heir is gone.”

Heinrich closed his mouth, refusing to say more. Satisfied that she had silenced him, Constantina spoke.

“ISLE is going to engage in a hostile takeover of Knox Genomics. And gradually, we’ll sell off the stocks and land owned by your family.”

Then she chuckled.

“Fuger-Dulloch will seep into ISLE like water and disappear, even the name itself. There’s no one left to carry on the name of Fuger-Dulloch. In a few generations, no one will even remember the name inherited by the remaining stragglers.”

Constantina smiled broadly.

“So, how do you like the ending of this story?”

She then grasped Heinrich’s limp hand on the bed and squeezed it tightly.

“But I’ll stay by your side. Because I love you.”

Heinrich scoffed.

“Do as you please. It seems I don’t have much time left to witness it anyway.”

Regardless of his words, Constantina gently stroked his hand and whispered.

“I’ve been waiting, waiting until you had nothing left. You had so much that you didn’t know what was truly important. But now you’ll understand.”

Heinrich seemed too old and weak to even push away Constantina’s hand, looking as if he had aged several more years at that moment. He closed his eyes as if exhausted.

Just then, the sound of the automatic door opening was heard.

“I’m sorry, but that’s not going to happen.”

Eugene’s voice echoed in the room. Constantina flinched and turned to look.