They moved deeper between towering shelves and scattered papers—like the remnants of exhausted minds.
And there… in the farthest corner, sat Colton.
A pile of open books surrounded him like small walls, as if shielding him from the world. His eyes moved across the pages at an inhuman speed, devouring the text as though knowledge were something he could never have enough of.
He only lifted his head when they approached. A faint trace of surprise crossed his face—the place was rarely visited by anyone else.
Kayden pulled a chair and sat quietly. Henry followed with heavy steps, resting his head on the table, exhausted beyond mere physical fatigue. Kayden closed his eyes, holding his head with both hands, as if trying to keep shattered thoughts from breaking free.
Colton, in his usual calm, looked at them and asked, "What's happening?"
Kayden replied hoarsely, "Don't you know?"
His voice was low, as if afraid to summon what had already been said.
Colton closed his book calmly and placed it aside with deliberate slowness, then looked at them with dim, unreadable eyes. "This is normal… your minds aren't prepared for such conversations yet." He paused, then added quietly, with a trace of sarcasm, "Where's the mercy?"
Henry remained silent, but after a moment he slowly lifted his head. His gaze drifted toward Colton's hands, studying his long, steady fingers.
'How did he do it? Does Colton have the skill to extract eyes like that?'
"Colton…" Henry said softly, rubbing his eyes as if waking from a heavy dream. "Thank you for the gift… it was perfect, truly."
A faint smile appeared on Colton's lips. "Perhaps it wasn't perfect… but next time, I'll make sure it's more precise."
Henry nodded gratefully, then hesitated before asking, "But I have a question… how did you remove the eyes?"
He paused, as if the question itself frightened him. "I saw the body… it looked like he was born without eyes. A clean removal… complete. How is that possible? It's an incredible skill… I've seen a lot, but this is impossible. Are your hands… the hands of an angel?"
He let out a short, uneasy laugh at the end.
Colton shook his head lightly. "No… definitely not the hands of an angel. By the way, angels exist around immortals. It's rare to see them."
Henry leaned back slightly but pointed at Colton's hands with stubborn insistence. "Then… they're the hands of a skilled demon. If not an angel, then you're not normal."
A subtle smile flickered across Colton's face before he hid it behind his book, as if something inside him had almost surfaced—only to be suppressed again.
A heavy silence passed.
Then Henry suddenly spoke again, more serious this time, "How can I recognize demons?"
Colton looked up lazily and answered in a tired tone, as if explaining something obvious,
"You can't not in your current state. Not until a demon takes its true form. Only then will you understand what it is… but by then, it's usually too late. Unless you're very strong , you might survive, or notice it earlier."
Something tightened in Henry's chest, but he didn't back down. He looked straight into Colton's eyes. "Then how can I force a demon to reveal itself?"
"Have you met one?" Kayden asked, his voice heavy, almost sleepy but he was not unaware.
"I think so…" Henry muttered, unsure whether he was speaking to himself or to them.
Colton tilted his head slightly, genuine surprise appearing in his eyes. "Where?" He was certain he hadn't encountered another demon… he hadn't felt their presence at all.
Henry spoke slowly, his eyes tense, "Adam once told me… demons might be very close."
"And why do you think that?" Kayden asked, rubbing his eyes in clear exhaustion.
Henry stared at a vague point on the table "There's something… unnatural. I can't explain it. Just a feeling."
"Just a feeling?" Colton echoed, his tone skeptical, eyes narrowing as he weighed the words.
Kayden let out a slow breath, then spoke more seriously, "Henry's intuition has always been strong… but it doesn't compare to our older brother Roger's."
He turned his head toward Henry, holding his gaze with a clear, steady look before adding sincerely, "Speak honestly, Henry. Don't hide your thoughts. I know you're smart enough…"
Henry swallowed, taking a deep breath as if gathering his courage, then said in a low voice,
"It's just a theory… but at the tavern, I saw Colton walking with Mr. John. And then… Mr. John died immediately after. I saw it… but I ignored it."
He interlocked his fingers slowly, as if trying to release the tension through a simple motion, then continued in a steady voice, "Before that… I praised Colton's eyes a lot. He told me he'd bring me a pair… and sure enough, after John died, he brought me eyes on a silver platter."
He raised his head and stared at Colton, his gaze carrying a strange mix of suspicion and admiration. "I went and examined the body with Lady Fiona… the eyes were still there. But later, they were gone. No scratches, no traces, no bleeding… a clean removal. Precise… almost like divine surgery."
Colton remained silent, listening. A faint, mysterious smile began to form on his lips before he hid it again—as if it were an unspoken confession.
Kayden leaned forward, smiling with genuine amazement, a hint of pride in his voice, "Your way of thinking… is impressive."
Henry tried to smile back, but it came out stiff, barely forming, before he continued, "Kayden… you're the type who struggles to make friends, just like me. Our upbringing forced isolation on us. But you—especially you—you shut yourself away for an entire month. Then suddenly, a new friend appears? A friend who shines like the sun… full of life, eager to live, hungry for knowledge as if he doesn't even understand death. I'm not praising you, Colton…don't smile."
Colton, who had been smiling, paused and quickly lifted the book in front of his face again, almost unfairly hiding behind it.
Henry continued, "How did he appear out of nowhere? After cutting yourself off from everyone, you suddenly tell me you have a close friend? Don't try to act smart in front of me… I see everything around me and around you. You can't just show up now pretending you've changed and that you have a friend like him. There's something wrong… with your friend. And with your lie."
Kayden studied his brother's face for a moment, then gave a small smile as he asked, his tone more curious than serious, "And what else?"
Henry leaned in slightly, whispering with unwavering confidence, as if every word had been calculated long ago, "There's something unnatural about Colton… and that's exactly what makes him interesting. You didn't get close to him for no reason. You were the one who taught me how to use people when we were kids… so I know you don't approach anyone without a purpose. And Colton… is special. Just look at him, and you'll understand. He's not even trying to hide it. I bet he's still smiling! So, Eden… don't pretend in front of me."
"…Eden," Kayden whispered the name instinctively. That name pierced through Kayden's memory like a faint thread of light in harsh darkness. For a brief moment, he remembered their childhood… their small games, the damp earth beneath their feet, the warmth of the sun, the simplicity of the world before it was devoured by cruelty.
Colton said nothing. He neither admitted nor denied anything. He simply closed his book slowly and placed it on the table with a quiet, deliberate motion.
Kayden straightened in his seat, looking at his brother, then at Colton, and finally spoke in a decisive tone, "That's right… let's go home first. After that… you'll see for yourself."
The brothers returned home, a heavy silence hanging over them.
Henry remained still in his seat the entire way, lost in an endless spiral of thoughts. His heart pounded irregularly, his breaths shallow, as if his chest were tightening more and more. His fingers trembled against his thighs, and he felt like he was about to explode from the inside.
Inside Kayden's room,
darkness consumed the space. Kayden slowly closed the curtains, then shut the door firmly, as though sealing this part of the world away from everything else.
Henry sat on the chair like a guilty man before a court, while Colton sat across from him, his eyes dim yet filled with a terrifying focus—like a judge awaiting a confession or an executioner preparing for the moment of judgment.
Henry felt that everything around him had become a test… and that the result might very well be his life.
He swallowed hard, then whispered, as if the words had forced their way out of his throat, "Imagine… if the devil decided to leave hell… and live among us… like we humans?"
Kayden laughed, but his laughter came out broken and hollow, offering no comfort. "I can imagine that… it's disturbing."
As for Colton, he didn't respond. He simply cast a single glance toward Kayden.
Kayden nodded briefly, decisively, and said in a low voice,
"Do whatever you want… use this as you wish. I know you revealed yourself on purpose."
Colton let out a slow breath, then stood up. Each step he took toward Henry echoed inside his skull, striking his nerves from within. He stopped in front of him, smiled a faint, cold smile, then raised his hand before his face and stared at it.
In an instant, the hand was no longer human.
The skin began to peel away as if it were rotten, falling off with wet, sickening sounds, and the smell of burnt flesh spread through the room. His bones screamed as they bent and stretched, his fingers elongating and twisting into unnatural shapes. Every joint cracked and reformed with horrifying snaps.
Henry gasped but his chest refused to respond. Air would not enter his lungs.
Cold sweat trickled down his forehead, his legs trembled as though his body were trying to flee from itself.
Then it wasn't just the hand anymore.
Colton's muscles burst beneath his skin, his ribs jutted outward for a moment before sealing back into a stronger, new cage. His black hair fell like a dark cascade over his shoulders. His smile widened… a smile that had no place on a human face.
He lifted his head, and when he opened his eyes, they were no longer human.
Four burning red embers ignited on his face, pulsing with a living, hellish glow.
In a fragmented voice, he spoke, "My lord… isn't this what you wanted?"
At that very moment, massive black wings erupted from his back, moving as if they had a will of their own, beating the air before folding around him like a living shield.
Henry didn't blink. He didn't move. His eyes widened to the point of tearing, every particle of his body screaming, yet his voice remained trapped inside.
It was as if he were watching an old nightmare come back to life… one he could never escape.
Kayden approached cautiously, deadly curiosity slipping into his expression. He reached out to touch one of Colton's wings. The latter didn't resist; he simply let him, and Kayden's fingers remained unharmed.
Kayden spoke softly, as if trying to seize the truth,
"That's true… but why didn't you reveal your mouth?"
Colton answered with strange calm, as if discussing the weather, "I'm not hungry right now."
Silence fell over the three of them—a heavy silence mixed with Henry's shaken gaze. His eyes moved from Colton's head down to his feet, as if trying to grasp a single thread that could make sense of what he was seeing… but to no avail.
Then he turned to his brother, his voice trembling as it escaped his lips, "What the hell is this?"
Kayden replied, toying with the truth, "In my last suicide… Colton was free, wandering without restraint. He was like a black cat slipping through the shadows, unseen and unaccounted for. He indulged in the desire Arbella once planted inside me—the desire for suicide—so he reached out his hand to me… but I didn't let him leave afterward. We made a contract. He belongs to me."
Colton smirked, his tone laced with sharp sarcasm,
"I was freed because of a failed ritual… that's how I ended up wandering."
Both of them were lying. And yet, strangely… they seemed to believe the lie together.
But the last remark struck Kayden like a slap.
Failure… twice. The failure that belonged to the "original Kayden."
Kayden murmured with burning curiosity, "I wonder… who performed that failed ritual?"
Colton smiled coldly.
"An annoying person, don't you think?"
As for Henry, he sank deeper into his thoughts, muttering in a faint voice barely audible,
"This can't be real… so demons really do walk among us?"