' Maybe I'm disabled…' Kayden thought as he looked at them.
"Don't worry. He suffered a serious injury recently. And that… is the only reason," Arthur said while observing his son with a scrutinizing gaze.
"What happened to him?" Adam suddenly asked, his tone more serious than usual.
Henry began explaining what had happened, and Adam listened attentively.
"Or maybe he never accepted his spiritual core in the first place… and was only fooling himself." Adam's words felt like knives piercing Kayden's chest.
Kayden felt the world wavering around him. His mind choked on painful shock.
Ayrton spoke again. "Kayden, we'll try again in a week. Maybe your mental state will improve. What happened could've left a deep scar… a serious trauma. Are you even eating properly?"
"I eat," Kayden replied quietly.
But Henry shook his head. "No, you don't. Ever since the incident, you barely eat. Everything disgusts you."
Kayden lowered his head before murmuring, "I forgot about that…"
Ayrton gently patted his shoulder. "Your body is under extreme stress. What happened wasn't simple. You lost a lot of blood, and your body was contaminated. Start deep meditation today… don't delay it."
"Can I try again?" Adam suddenly asked.
Ayrton didn't answer. Instead, he gestured for him to follow him to the side, where Arthur stood.
"Don't pressure him too much," Ayrton said while watching Adam.
But Arthur looked genuinely stunned. "This could truly affect his development…"
"Sir, don't say it like that. Kayden is incredibly intelligent… and strong. I've observed him for a long time. Maybe he just… still hasn't accepted it yet. Or perhaps his body is still in shock."
Ayrton defended him fiercely, to the point that even he felt something strange tightening in his chest.
He didn't know why he was doing it… but he felt obligated to.
Adam looked at Ayrton with an unreadable expression. "That's exactly what I expected from you. You used to be just like him. But look at yourself now."
Arthur turned toward Ayrton and calmly asked, "How did you deal with it?"
Ayrton placed a hand over his face and looked away. "That… I wasn't at this stage exactly, so I can't be certain."
Adam smiled before continuing in his place. "Everyone refused to help him… so we tried giving him a small shock."
Arthur raised an eyebrow. "But you… didn't even have power back then. I met you halfway through it."
Adam laughed softly, causing Kayden to raise his head in surprise. He had never heard him laugh before.
"But the shock helped you!" Adam continued proudly. "Don't deny it. And if my shock therapy doesn't work on your son today… maybe I should take him to a fraud psychic instead?"
Arthur remained silent for a moment before speaking. "Honestly, I don't know where the real danger lies anymore… Is it in being around you? Or in how easily he loses control?"
Adam laughed again, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Pick the lesser evil."
"They're both terrible," Arthur replied indifferently. "But you're worse. You're unstable… and yet, I trust you. The same way I trust Roger."
Adam muttered with fake delight, "I'll make sure to tell Roger that."
"Did you like the weapon?" Arthur asked.
"It's excellent… though I still want to test it on a larger scale," Adam replied casually.
"So you and Roger are still friends, I see."
Adam nodded. "We meet often… though he's become calmer."
"Good. He used to be a troublesome brat." Then Arthur turned toward Kayden and said, "Kayden, go to your room. Don't stress yourself. And if you do… remember that you've survived worse."
Kayden looked at his father…
He saw him smiling — something rare.
And he saw Adam laughing — something even stranger.
A terrible feeling crept over him.
Something awful was coming toward him. Something he wouldn't be able to escape from.
Kayden entered the room and sat down silently.
"Adam holds grudges… he might kill me. What the hell is wrong with me?"
He placed a hand over his head, trying to steady himself. Trying to understand.
"I'm Kayden Bryce… I'm Kayden Bryce… Am I Kayden?"
But his words vanished into emptiness. Just like his sense of self… swallowed by an inner silence he had no idea how to escape.
"Who am I… really?"
Kayden's expression fell into absolute emptiness. He could no longer distinguish truth from illusion.
His hair was disheveled from gripping it so tightly, and his eyes wandered aimlessly… as if his mind were lost in a forest without an exit.
"I'm Kayden Bryce… I'm twenty-two years old… I studied astronomy… and biology…"
But the words no longer gave him a sense of belonging.
They sounded like facts about someone he no longer recognized.
The door was pushed open quietly. Adam stepped inside and closed it behind him without a sound.
He looked at Kayden. There was no mockery in his eyes this time… only something far more dangerous. Calmness.
He walked forward until he stood directly in front of him and spoke simply.
"Kay… let's talk honestly. No games. Did you truly accept your core?"
Kayden swallowed hard and looked straight into Adam's eyes. "I accepted it."
Adam nodded calmly before pointing a finger at him.
"Your core… is flourishing. I can see it clearly. So what's the problem?"
Kayden lowered his gaze to the floor.
Adam asked again, his voice quieter this time.
"Tell me what happened. I won't tell anyone. Let's settle this between you and me."
Kayden lifted his shoulders helplessly. "I don't know… I truly don't."
Adam let out a faint laugh. Kayden glanced at him from the corner of his eye.
"The amazing thing… is that you don't lie every time. You're painfully honest."
Kayden sighed. "That's because you'd notice my lies immediately… and I don't want to explain myself to you."
Adam moved suddenly, stopping behind him. His voice dropped lower.
"Don't resist. If you resist, I'll hit you." He spoke as if giving advice rather than a threat.
"Aren't you going to take off your gloves?" Kayden suddenly asked.
Adam looked at his hands. As usual, he was wearing black gloves.
"It doesn't matter. My hands are deformed… it's not pleasant to show something broken."
Silence returned.
Kayden tried to prepare himself, but Adam… was nothing like Ayrton.
Ayrton's power had been calm, like a clear sky on a warm day.
Adam, however…was a hurricane.
His spiritual force erupted without warning, crashing into Kayden like a violent storm.
A sharp pain tore through his body. Something inside him felt as though it were being ripped out by force.
But he showed no pain.
For a brief moment, he opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by complete darkness.
As though he were inside Adam's mind… or perhaps inside his soul.
There… he saw a child, his hair stained with blood and mud, smiling with innocent carelessness
before being buried alive.
Then…the scene changed , He saw himself. Kayden. Trying to kill himself.
Holding a blade. Cutting into the veins of his wrist while Henry burst into the room screaming, collapsing in horror.
Kayden couldn't understand.
'Why was he seeing this? Why now?'
The images accelerated before him like flashes of lightning, as though someone was stitching his memories back together inside his mind.
He lifted his head toward Adam and saw him standing there, blood streaming from his right eye.
Kayden gasped in shock. His body stopped obeying him, and his eyes shut tightly on their own.
Then he was there again. The day Kayden died.
The day blood scattered everywhere alongside screams and despair.
And when Adam's hand finally moved away from him, an unbearable stillness settled over the room.
Adam stood before him once more.
"Kay…" he said calmly. "I showed you some of your memories from when I was observing you. They might explain your rejection… and to intensify the shock, I mixed in some of my own memories as well. Randomly."
Kayden looked at him.
He felt grateful… but Adam had threatened to hit him if he spoke, so he stayed silent.
"You're the one who blew up the chicken and got blood all over yourself, right?" Adam suddenly asked.
Kayden shook his head. "I didn't do anything."
Adam looked around the room and sighed.
"It's unfortunate there aren't any chairs here."
Then he turned back toward Kayden, whose eyes now gleamed strangely.
Adam gave a small smile. "Go back home… bring the money. We're leaving tonight."
"Why?" Kayden asked, startled.
"Because you… succeeded. Thanks to me."
Kayden raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Succeeded?"
"Because of me."
Kayden gave no response.
He stepped out of the room Adam followed with steady footsteps before turning toward the others with a look that was half mocking, half serious.
"I managed to open a path. Success rate: sixty percent only. And naturally… thanks to me."
He waved a hand through the air as though drawing the curtain on a final decision. "I'm taking him with me to the fraud psychic's place to finish this. As for you, Henry… begin the deep meditation phase. Feed him, give him water, and then go into the room. Don't argue."
Then he turned and walked away, speaking without looking back. "Henry, you'll be coming out in a week."
Adam shot Kayden a brief glance before speaking in a commanding tone. "You tall idiot… go home. Take only what matters. I'll see you here in an hour. If you're late… I won't help you."
There was no room for negotiation.
Arthur quietly pulled Kayden and Henry away and left with them.
Ayrton looked toward Adam while crossing his arms.
Adam glanced back at him, and finally Ayrton spoke.
"Don't you think you're a bit controlling? You're starting to sound like a stepmother."
"I'm not controlling. You know me—don't insult me like that."
Ayrton stared at him in disbelief.
"Don't say things like that in front of strangers. They might think you've finally gone insane."
Inside the carriage, silence lingered for a while before Arthur's deep voice finally broke it.
"To be honest… this was expected. Ever since your mother."
Kayden looked at him hesitantly. "What do you mean?"
Arthur sighed, as though the conversation itself dragged old memories back to the surface.
"You two are twins. That's extremely rare when it comes to spiritual core bonding. Most of the time, one twin dies… or both of them do.
The connection between them becomes so deep that weak souls simply can't endure it."
He kept his eyes on the road ahead before continuing.
"Some families, greedy for spiritual advantages, intentionally try to conceive twins.
But they never survive. They're born… then die almost immediately."
He lowered his gaze for a moment, his voice carrying both pride and sorrow.
"But your mother… was different. She rejected that reality. She clung to both of you… fought to keep you alive. And she succeeded.
We won't lose that now… not after everything we've been through."
Then he looked at them again, his expression firmer this time.
"So follow Adam quietly. Don't resist him. And the 'fraud psychic'… is actually a doctor. Adam is just terrible at describing people."
—
Kayden returned home quickly and headed straight for his room.
But the moment he opened the door, he froze.
A black cat sat elegantly on his bed, its front paws stretched out with aristocratic poise.
Beside it…
was a perfectly organized pile of money.
"Everything is prepared," the cat said calmly, as though it had just finished attending a secret meeting.
Kayden's eyes widened in shock.
He hadn't expected to see a talking cat—let alone realize it was Colton in disguise.
"…"
He approached and tried to pick him up, but Colton immediately grumbled in protest.
"You're a fat cat," Kayden said flatly.
Colton puffed out his cheeks while readjusting his weight indignantly.
After a short goodbye to his mother, Kayden left before he could be late.
During the carriage ride, Colton began speaking freely while stretching across the seat.
"My lord , Adam truly helped you. And he wasn't lying. You never accepted anything… but the issue runs deeper than your core. Much deeper. You still haven't accepted being Kayden. You reject life here."
Kayden stared out the window, avoiding eye contact.
"I'll think about it."
Then he gestured toward Colton.
"Stay quiet."
Kayden headed toward the library, but Fiona informed him that Adam had already left for the station.
Before Kayden departed, Fiona handed him a small silk pouch.
"Give this to Adam."
Kayden hurried there and found Adam standing near the platform, staring at his watch as though preparing to flee the country.
"When are we leaving?" Kayden asked while catching his breath.
"Now. I booked everything in advance. The trip takes six hours."
Kayden raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Six hours? That's long…"
He boarded the train and sat across from Adam.
He liked the design of the place.
He didn't think he'd ever ridden such a comfortable train before.
The two sat in silence until Adam's gaze landed on the black cat sitting beside Kayden.
"…"
"A cat?" Adam suddenly asked. "Whose cat is that?"
"He's mine," Kayden answered quickly. "He can't stand being away from me."