Please get me out of this BL novel...I'm straight! novel Chapter 401

Chapter 401: ’Torture Like No Other.’ Pt. 1

Trigger Warning: This Chapter contains intense psychological trauma, physical violence, and emotionally disturbing content. Reader discretion is strongly advised.

"Father, why can’t I—?"

Before Florian could finish, his father, Asher, shoved him through the doorway with a force that made the small boy stumble forward. The heavy door creaked behind him, casting shadows into the dim, cold room.

"Don’t make me say it again, Florian," Asher snapped, his voice sharp as a blade. "You cannot play with your sisters. They’re important—especially your older sister. Stop bothering her."

Florian’s lower lip trembled as he turned back toward his father, confusion and hurt mixing behind his glassy eyes. "But—"

His voice cracked. His seven-year-old heart couldn’t understand.

Asher’s face darkened, lips curling with cold disdain. "As a male, your only role is to listen. If you can’t even do that..." He took a step forward, looming over Florian like a shadow. "Then what’s your use?"

Use...?Florian’s small chest tightened, his tears threatening to spill as he slowly stepped backward into the dark confines of the room. His hands clenched into tiny fists at his sides.

’Why does it feel like I did something wrong... just for existing?’

"Understood... Father..." he mumbled, bowing his head so low his bangs hid his eyes. The weight of shame pressed against his tiny shoulders, too heavy for someone so young.

"Good," Asher said without a hint of warmth. He turned to leave, his cape brushing against the floor with every step. "And don’t you dare get me in trouble with Her Majesty again by whining to her that I kept you in this room. God forbid—she already has to run a kingdom. She doesn’t have time to play mother to her less significant child."

Less significant...

"I-I understand, Father," Florian whispered, his voice barely audible over the sound of his breaking heart.

The door clicked shut.

Silence followed.

Florian stood frozen, staring at the thick wooden door as though willing it to open again—hoping maybe, just maybe, his father would come back and say he didn’t mean it.

That he was important. That he mattered.

But nothing came.

Only the suffocating quiet of his room—the same dark, windowless room they always sent him to when he was "in the way."

A small sniffle escaped him as he sank down to the floor. The cold stone bit into his knees.

"Why—"

"AGH!"

Florian screamed as he was yanked out of the vision—one kind of agony replaced with another.

His eyes shot open, blinking back the tears clouding his vision. His chest was heaving, heart racing, but then—

"Ah—!"

He gasped again, this time from the searing pain in his thigh. He looked down, horrified, as he saw the blade embedded in his flesh. Blood trickled down, hot and slow.

The leader had stabbed him. Not deep enough to cripple, but enough to hurt.

Enough to punish.

’What... what the hell was that?’

Florian could barely breathe. His body trembled, and his skin was soaked in sweat and tears. But it wasn’t just the pain from the dagger.

It was the memory.

He remembered it vividly—the cold voice of a man, a father, pushing a child away like garbage. A child begging to be loved.

’That was Florian’s childhood memory.’

"What... was that?"

"Another spell," the leader said casually, as if he were talking about the weather. "One of the newer ones going around. Magic abilities are all over the black market these days. As long as you’ve got the affinity—and the mana stones—you can learn anything."

He knelt beside the bed, gripping the bloodied dagger like it was an old friend.

"This one’s special. It pulls out your most traumatic memories. The stuff that breaks your mind. That grinds you down."

He grinned, teeth bared like a wolf.

"The perfect torture method, don’t you think?"

Florian didn’t answer. He couldn’t.

His throat felt raw from screaming, and his entire body still ached from the memory—that memory—ripping itself into his soul.

It was the same kind of magic the masked man had once used on him.

’The original Florian’s memories... the first life...’

The leader tilted his head. "You know what makes it even better?"

He didn’t wait for an answer. His grin widened.

"The only way to pull you out of it..." He lifted the bloodstained blade. "Is physical pain."

Florian’s eyes widened in horror.

’Physical...pain?’

The man behind him stepped forward again, hand already glowing.

Florian thrashed, panic overtaking him.

"No! No, please! Don’t—stop, STOP—!"

"Father, what do we do? Mother and Sister aren’t here. The Concordian king, he—"

Asher raised a hand, silencing him immediately.

"Is that even a question?" his father said coldly. "You have to do it."

Florian blinked, stunned. ’What...?’

"What?" he asked, even though he already understood. He knew what his father meant—but part of him still prayed he was wrong.

"Don’t ’what’ me, boy." Asher’s voice sharpened like steel. "Do you expect me to offer up your sisters? They are important. They are women. You have to do it."

’He’s really saying it. He’s offering me up like a sacrifice.’

"Father, you cannot be serious," Florian whispered, voice shaking. "I—I don’t want my sisters to go, but I also don’t want to—"

CRACK.

Pain bloomed across his cheek like fire.

His breath caught in his throat as his head jerked from the force. His father had slapped him. Hard.

Florian staggered a step back, the sting lancing deep into his skin. Tears welled up instantly, but he bit his lip, trying not to cry.

"How dare you," Asher hissed, shaking out the hand he’d just used to strike him. "Do you realize how selfish you sound right now? Thinking of yourself over the good of the kingdom?"

His voice rose, rage boiling to the surface.

"Have you heard what happened to the other kingdoms that refused the Concordian king’s demands? The ones that didn’t offer someone for his harem? Destroyed, Florian. Flattened. Burned."

Florian’s fists clenched at his sides. "But... but Mother wouldn’t—"

"—WELL, SHE ISN’T HERE!"

The words exploded like thunder in the room.

Florian flinched, his entire body tensing as Asher stormed toward him, grabbed him by the collar, and yanked him close.

"If she were here, you know she’d wage war. You know what she’s like. And what would that do, huh? What would that solve? Our people would suffer! Our lands would be ruined! All because you couldn’t swallow your pride and serve the kingdom for once in your useless life!"

Florian stared into his father’s furious face, tears falling freely now.

He wanted to scream back.

’Am I really the selfish one? Or are you—my own father—the one who would rather lose me than protect me?’

He wanted to shout.

’Why is it so easy for you to send me away? Why is it always me?’

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify