Beside you Forevermore (BL-Complete)

Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Carl Helensworth, the last remaining descendant of the once-illustrious Helensworth family, stood emotionlessly as he watched the fidgeting man standing in front of him. He aimlessly looked in a downwards direction as he avoided eye contact with the person talking to him. He listened to the end his counterpart's passionate speech and shook his head helplessly.

"Why? Please, give me a reason. I've asked you out five hundred and ninety-six times, and you've rejected me five hundred and ninety-six times, but you've never told me why you don't want to go out with me. Please, I need to know. What is it about me that you hate so much?" a deep brown-haired man cried at Carl exasperatedly.

The man gripped Carl's arms with a brutish amount of force with pleading eyes. His eyes were filled with heart break and love that he had pronounced for Carl every day for the last one and a half years. Carl could almost see the tears pooling in his eyes from the daily heartbreak he received.

Carl sighed. Although his outer appearance remained cool and collected, despite have been confessed to five hundred and ninety-six times, Carl still felt butterflies swarming around his stomach. He could feel his face heat up which he promptly covered with a hand as if to wipe off the sweat on his face. His heart went out for both his pursuer and himself.

"Evan, we're both knights that protect the kingdom's peace, but your family is from a prestigious line that aims to be married into royalty. You, yourself are going to be the knight that the entire kingdom respects and adores because of your strategic contributions to the upcoming wars. Your family wants you to marry, so that you can bear an heir to continue your family line. I hear they're already trying to set you up with Princess Reiner, and we both know that you can't oppose your family's wishes. I cannot produce an heir for you, Evan. Find a woman that you can love," Carl spoke.

The words that Carl said pierced his own heart as he thought about his own inadequacies. He'd loved this man for as long he'd known him, but every time, he couldn't bring himself to accept the confession. He gently rejected all his pursuers because only a cruel fate awaited those that loved him.

Evan scrambled to find a suitable answer, "I'll tell father I don't need an heir. The Rockenshire family is already strong enough as is. We don't need another direct descendant when I have my nieces and nephews. Please, let me love you."

A knot developed in Carl's stomach.

He wanted to say yes so badly, but, "It doesn't matter what you say. We can never be together."

Even, who watched Carl's expression intently gazed into his eyes, "If that's so, why do you make such an expression?"

Carl's eyes were brimming with tears that threatened to drip down. He could feel his body tremble from the sheer effort of saying no to the man he loved. He shook his head and walked away without giving Evan an answer.

Evan, who'd experienced this scenario almost every day, sadly turned to watch Carl walk away. He could feel the lingering warmth of Carl's hand on his own as he brought it to his face.

Carl walked home to a small wooden house. Once upon a time, his ancestors had lived in mansion grander than the mind could imagine, but after their downfall, even the tiny wooden shack became difficult to upkeep. He opened the door to collapse onto a stool. Relief washed over him after removing the breast plate he used for practice. The chainmail armour was pulled off next with consisting clinking sounds to portray the liberation that Carl felt when removing the two solid pieces of heavy metal from his body. Only after the armour was he able to slide off his white shirt to reveal bandages wrapped carefully around his chest and abdomen. The bandages fell away when Carl pulled the pin that held them in place. The falling material gradually revealed an intricate black symbol that sprawled across his back.

He was the descendant of the Helensworth family. Once illustrious, the family fell to its downfall when they were chosen to have their child sacrificed in order to seal the beast. The child was expected to die, but by miracle, survived. The child was returned to the Helensworth family under strict supervision. The child could not spend a single moment alone with his parents in fear that the beast sealed within him would break free of its chains. Unfortunately, the public also learned of the sealed child and aptly named him the demonic child after the demon that lay dormant within him. The child was sent to school after the royal family conceded to the Helensworth family's pleas. The child returned from school each day bruised and battered from people who'd learnt of his fate as the demonic child. The child was completely alone. The Helensworth family was no longer able to do any business for the public feared the demonic child that dwelled within its depths. With a starving family being reduced to poverty by the very people that he had sacrificed his grandchild for, the head of the Helensworth family evacuated his family to an area in the slums of the Old South where he and his children raised all of his grandchildren together. The evacuation of the Helensworth family caused an outbreak of panic within the nation as they rushed to find the family that possessed the demonic child. The Helensworth family were marked as traitors for bringing the child away when they were caught five years later. The entire family was annihilated except for the demonic child who had been hidden away. The first demonic child grew and married a simple commoner woman who gave birth to the second generation demonic child. Shortly after the child's birth, the first demonic child passed away. The first left behind a bright daughter, the second generation demonic child, who grew without trouble and covered the mark with clothing and powder. Her secret was never found until she gave birth to a son with the same mark. Shortly after her son's birth, she too passed away. The son grew up with his father protecting him under his wing. The father ordered his son to never reveal the mark. When the son grew older, he showed his wife who gave birth to a son of her own with the same mark. Shortly afterwards, the third generation demonic child died. The symbolic mark became associated with a curse. When the seal of the beast moved to a new host, the previous host would die, so no demonic child had ever lived beyond the age of thirty five. Likewise, the demonic child of each generation was capable of having only one child. That one child will inherit the seal and die when he or she finally had an heir.

Carl Helensworth was the ninth generation demonic child. After his mother, the eight demonic child, died, he learnt about the mark from his father who passed away from sickness ten years later. Although the story of the demonic child had never been passed down as avidly as the legend of the black beast, there were still people who knew of the intricate mark that symbolised the beast. Those that knew of the mark did not know that the mark was always passed down to the decedent of the previous demonic child. With each move onto a new host, the seal on the black beast became weaker and weaker to its current brittle state today. Carl couldn't protect himself from the beast forever, but he could make sure there was minimal human interference. To prevent people from identifying him, Carl was known as Carl Borough to the public; only the symbol on his back would ever reveal his ancestry. To protect himself, Carl had never revealed his back to anyone. No one at the knight training academy had ever seen him change into or remove an article clothing no matter the weather. Many times, his fellow apprentices had laughed at his seemingly low self-esteem and urged him to undress in the change rooms, but to no avail.

The cursed black mark that stained his back was the cause of not only all Carl's pain, but also all his heartbreak. He wondered what he'd done in his last life to end up with such a fate.

Carl removed the rest of his clothing. Once removed, he turned to the mirror. The intricate, scrawling symbol spread across his shoulder blades and creeped down his right side down to his waist.

Carl touched the mark, "It extended again."

Never in the Helensworth history had the seal ever grown in size. It remained a constant size and colour from one shoulder to the other and extending no further than mid back and made up of spirals and geometric shapes. That was what was written in the Helenswoth family records.

He had only one explanation for the growing mark, the seal was about to break. As further proof, the originally coal black seal was starting to fade into a deep bloody red. Had Carl been a zealously loyal knight of the kingdom, he would have reported himself to the royal family, but the entire Helensworth family line had been murdered ten generations ago. Unfortunately, each demonic child could only have one heir meaning the Helensworth family would only ever have one descendant. If he died, the Helensworth family would be no more.

Taking his mind off the terrifying future, Carl ignored the searing pain which emitted from the mark, and bathed, robed and slept.