A strange prickling sensation spread across Kayden's neck, an irritating itch that made him instinctively raise a hand to touch his skin again.
He immediately left the office, as though the air itself had become suffocating, and found Isildar still questioning Hudson.
Kayden slowly approached.
This time, his eyes were filled with open contempt a stark contrast to his usual composure.
Stopping directly in front of Hudson, he asked in a sharp, uncompromising voice,
"Mr. Hudson… What exactly is your profession? I already know the standard answer. Explain it properly."
Hudson raised his head. "I'm a forensic pathologist. I oversee the examination of corpses and determine their causes of death."
The words themselves were ordinary.
Their weight, however, felt heavier than bullets, as though they completed a disturbing pattern whose pieces were finally beginning to fit together.
Kayden looked directly into Hudson's eyes. His voice was quiet, yet filled with certainty.
"You're an Attendant…"
"That's right. What's wrong with that?"
Kayden leaned his head slightly forward.
His tone remained calm, yet it made Hudson shiver. "Did you notice anything strange about your wife's body? Such as the fact that it was unusually cold?"
Hudson's shoulder twitched involuntarily.
His eyes widened in shock. "W-What… what do you mean?"
Isildar suddenly intervened, his voice cold and unwavering.
"She was a Catastrophe… Don't pretend to be stupid. If you answer incorrectly, you'll be in serious trouble."
Hudson was stunned. Then he stood up.
Henry pulled the nearby chair toward him and made Hudson sit down. Hudson felt as though his legs could no longer bear his weight.
He raised a hand to his head, his fingers rubbing his scalp wearily, before letting out a heavy sigh.
"I didn't know at first… but as time passed, I noticed that her body was unnaturally cold. But she… she never got angry. She never showed any fear. She simply said that she didn't think it would cause a problem. Whatever her nature is, I love her! Even if she's a demon, I'll love her a thousand times over."
Kayden and Henry exchanged glances.
Then Henry asked in a calm voice, carrying a mixture of curiosity and accusation, "Then what about Hazel's medicine?! It's made from fetuses and the corpses of children… Were you the one supplying her with the bodies?"
Hudson stood with difficulty, as though the words themselves had become a dagger buried in his chest. He clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
His voice came out broken, yet filled with desperate sincerity. "No… I didn't! I swear to you… I never betrayed my humanity. I never slaughtered an infant, and I never betrayed my honor! I'm not a murderer!"
He bent forward, gasping for breath. His face was pale, his tear-filled eyes struggling to remain steady beneath the gazes of the three men.
His final words sounded like a buried scream that had finally broken free. "I… am not a murderer."
"Children's corpses?" Hudson whispered.
His voice trembled as tension became evident in his features. He wiped the sweat from his brow with a trembling palm before adding hesitantly, "You can… you can go to Hazel."
"We'll go to Hazel's house now," Isildar replied coldly as he stood.
He then turned toward the twins, only to find Kayden staring at him with obvious disgust, as though everything around him was filthy and not even worth questioning.
On the way, Isildar broke the silence.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Kayden answered instinctively, without changing his expression. "It's my natural expression."
But he felt a prick of unease as the memory of those unknown holes resurfaced. He sighed quietly.
"I don't want to see them again. Damn, that was exhausting. Anyway… Henry, do you want to make a bet?"
"Actually, I was thinking the same thing," Henry replied with a faint smile. "I'll buy you lunch."
As they drew closer to the address, Isildar asked, "What does that girl look like to make you this disgusted?"
Henry answered, describing her appearance, her illness, and what Grace's research had uncovered about her condition.
Kayden listened in silence before commenting coldly,
"How can she live with that curse? Just imagine it… If she were a normal human, she would probably have been dead a long time ago."
He paused for a moment, then muttered to himself so quietly that he could barely be heard.
"…A normal human?"
Henry interrupted his thoughts, his expression turning wary. "Can you confirm whether she possesses a spiritual essence? We're still beginners at this."
Isildar nodded in agreement.
They entered the house and found that Hazel lived in one of its most secluded corners.
They knocked on her bedroom door. Hazel opened it with a faint smile.
Isildar exchanged a few words with her before asking directly,
"You were running at the crime scene. Why?"
Hazel answered casually, "It's my family's property. I didn't even know who the dead person was."
Meanwhile, Kayden and Henry stood beside her desk, examining the bookshelves.
Kayden noticed a worn-out book and pointed toward it.
"Look… this book."
But before he could reach for it, Hazel's voice suddenly turned sharp.
"Stay away from my belongings!"
Isildar stepped forward and took the book himself without hesitation. "This is dangerous. You shouldn't touch it right now… It could harm your spiritual essence."
He then turned toward Hazel. "Where did you get it? Do you know that it might be the reason behind your condition?"
Hazel's expression trembled. Her voice came out hesitantly.
"I… I got it from Mr. Hudson."
A mocking smile appeared on Isildar's face. "Really?"
He continued in a deeply sarcastic tone,
"Don't tell me the two of you had a physical relationship before your body became disfigured. I doubt he could accept you looking like this. He certainly has… unique taste."
His eyes swept over her. "And you're not his type."
A heavy silence descended. A silence that revealed everything.
Hazel lowered her gaze, as though her confession had escaped her lips without a single word.
Isildar continued coldly, his words falling like one wound after another.
"This book… the treatment… everything you've been taking was never made to cure you. It was made to keep you disfigured."
"The medicine doesn't heal you. It's nothing more than a temporary painkiller… a temporary solution. Nothing more."
He paused before adding,
"Was this Grace's punishment? If so, I can't blame her."
He stepped closer, his voice growing sharper. "And when did you betray your doctor? Didn't the shame weigh heavily on your heart?"
Hazel slowly raised her head. Her voice remained composed, but it was tainted with shame.
"I didn't do that… It happened before their marriage, nothing more. He was strong… and very impressive. Would you have refused to keep a rare diamond? Everyone wanted him. So did I. He wasn't even conscious, and he remained trapped in hallucinations and suffering. The only person who woke him up was Grace."
Isildar raised an eyebrow, a crooked smile appearing on his face. "I'm a conservative man… I have no idea what you're talking about. But just like you, I'd rather keep a diamond without touching it, so it doesn't break."
He paused, then added,
"And now… it's broken. You were in the forest to make sure Hudson was safe, weren't you?"
She slowly nodded, her voice barely audible. "Yes."
Isildar asked coldly, "That explains a lot. Then what about Grace? Wouldn't getting rid of her clear the path for you?"
Hazel suddenly shouted, her features tightening.
"I would never kill my doctor!"
On the other side of the room, Kayden watched in silence.
He could tell that Isildar was connecting the pieces with remarkable skill, but internally, he thought,
'He explains things well… but he's a pervert. He's definitely not conservative.'
Kayden suddenly stepped in. He studied Hazel carefully before speaking with surprise. "She really does possess a spiritual essence."
Isildar smiled faintly, his eyes briefly settling on the shirt Kayden was wearing.
"That's right… Well done, Ka—" He paused for a moment before saying clearly, "Kayden. Well done."
Kayden noticed the look and silently made a mental note.
'I should change this shirt later.'
He then turned toward Hazel and noticed that her eyes were filled with tears. "Did you have trouble progressing as well?"
Hazel gave a small nod. "Sometimes… but I don't know why. I never received enough education… and Hudson… became difficult to talk to after his marriage."
Henry crossed his arms, his voice sounding as though he were lecturing her.
"That's natural. When an ordinary human stands before someone who has reached immortality… they become like an ant before a mountain. You are nothing. In situations like this, you should respect those above you."
Hazel felt insulted. "And what about you? What do you think you are?"
Henry smiled sarcastically, his eyes still scanning the manuscripts. "I advise you… not to speak to me like that again."
Hazel raised her voice defiantly. "And why not? The two of you are worse than my curse! You should be sacrificed!"
Kayden leaned slightly toward her.
"You didn't receive enough education, did you? And yet… you know about us, the twins. You're deceptive. And as my brother said… learn to watch your words when you speak to us."
He raised a hand and pointed toward the floor. "You're here."Then he raised his hand higher."And we… are here."
His eyes narrowed, his voice carrying a deadly hint of contempt. "There's a vast difference between us. Learn how to use your brain… instead of running after things that have nothing to do with you."
"Just as my brother said." Henry smiled at her before returning his attention to the papers.
Suddenly, Henry whispered to Kayden while pointing at some drawings on the desk. "Look… Her drawings are ugly, but notice the spine in some of them. It's deformed, and bones are growing out of it… Doesn't it resemble something?"
Kayden placed a hand against his cheek. "It looks like her."
"What do those drawings mean?" Isildar asked as he carefully flipped through one of the pages, his eyes following the black lines of the crude sketches.
Hazel answered in a quiet but steady voice. "They resemble… the stages of the curse I'm suffering from. I was told that I've already reached the final stage."
Before he could comment, she grasped the edge of her robe and slowly pulled it aside.
Bones appeared beneath her skin, shifting slowly, scraping against one another and producing muffled cracking sounds, like a rusted machine struggling to work again.
But what made Isildar's eyes widen wasn't the sound.
It was her spine.
It looked as though it were trying to break through her body, the bones pushing against her skin in a horrifying rebellion.
His gaze lowered slightly. When it fell upon her neck, he froze.
Something about it made him swallow slowly before abruptly turning away.
Behind him, Kayden had already averted his gaze. His eyes were narrowed almost shut, as though he refused to acknowledge what he had just seen.
Isildar slowly exhaled before speaking firmly.
"Put your robe back on. And never show your neck again… ever."
Hazel muttered as she quickly covered herself. "That was… rude."
Isildar smiled faintly and began walking around the room, moving calmly past the shelves and books.
Then he suddenly stopped in front of her again.
He leaned slightly closer, studying the details of her face.
His voice came out low. "Let me examine your eyes."
He didn't wait for her response.
He slowly removed his gloves, then raised his hand. His fingers touched her cold skin.
It appeared as though he were looking directly into her eyes, but his gaze seemed to penetrate deeper, searching for something behind her irises—some trace of something else.
Then he asked slowly, "Is your foot… diseased as well?"
Hazel raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Before she could answer, the door opened.
Her father entered calmly, his expression rigid, though his eyes suggested that he had expected to find this exact scene.
He stood silently, watching.
Isildar repeated his question as he moved closer, intending to do what he wanted without waiting for her answer.
"Your feet, Hazel… I want to see them."
She recoiled angrily, her face reddening with fury.
"My feet aren't diseased! You're an eccentric man… with a filthy mouth!"
Her father took a step forward, his voice tense and almost pleading. "Hazel… do as he asks."
She gritted her teeth in refusal, but Isildar gave her no chance.
He suddenly bent down and boldly grabbed her foot.
His fingers pressed against the bone beneath her skin.
A faint cracking sound came from within.
He smiled coldly. "…Just as I expected."