A strange man approached Kayden, his voice calm, but there was something unsettling in his gaze.
Kayden watched him carefully. He did not recognize the man's features, yet those brown eyes reminded him of a hunter watching his prey… and suddenly, Kayden realized that he was the prey.
The man smiled broadly and said, "My name is Enzo."
He then gestured toward his two companions. The first was short, with blond hair and brown eyes. He introduced himself as "Frey."
The other was roughly the same height as Kayden, with blue eyes and long black hair. Yet the exhaustion etched across his face made him appear older than he actually was.
"This is Elster."
Kayden gave a sluggish nod, but Enzo soon asked him with a strange smile, "And what about you?"
"Kayden Bryce," he answered clearly, watching Enzo's expression.
A bright smile appeared on Enzo's lips, one Kayden had not expected. Along with it came a heavy feeling settling in his chest.
"Why are you smiling like that?" he asked. "Have we met before?"
Enzo shook his head. "Not really… In fact, just give me some time."
Kayden raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Time? Do you think I'm keeping you from your work?"
Enzo chuckled lightly. "You really are a difficult person."
He then moved away to speak with Isabelle, leaving Kayden alone with his curiosity and unease.
At that moment, Kayden opened the letter he had been keeping and began reading quickly.
"Everything I do is nothing but an act of good intentions… I am a person who loves justice.
Justice alone gave me a reason to keep going.
You must grow accustomed to this life. There are many times when we must forgive our sins, just as you must forgive your own.
You have an honorable record… in suicide.
Go and wash away your sins."
Kayden paused for a moment. He did not understand what the sentence meant, but his heart grew heavier with every word that followed.
"I am Arbella… I have never forgotten you.
Sean has not forgotten you either.
And we have not forgotten Mavilda.
She was incredibly beautiful… You should have kept her body… for contemplation.
But I have never failed.
I only failed when I met you, so I went away to reclaim my glory."
Kayden froze in place, his eyes going blank as he stared at the paper.
Anger, grief, emptiness… they all gathered inside him until he no longer knew what he was feeling.
Overwhelmed, he tore the letter into tiny pieces and threw them into the trash, memorizing its contents.
But before he could catch his breath, he felt a cold breeze pass beside his ear.
His hand instinctively moved toward his neck, only for his fingers to collide with the cold touch of metal that had not been there a moment ago.
A metal collar had been fastened tightly around his neck.
He looked toward his mother in shock and asked, his voice filled with irritation, "When… What is this…?"
Elster pulled out a paper bearing an official seal and held it up for everyone to see, as though announcing a final verdict.
"Here… Look."
Kayden approached with hesitant steps, his eyes widening as he examined the document. His voice trembled as he quickly muttered, "But I haven't done anything wrong!"
"Everyone says that."
The document was clearer than any defense could have been… It was an official order, issued and certified by the Church, demanding his arrest.
Enzo spoke while emphasizing every word as though it were an accusation.
"Three reports have been filed against you, by three different people. You are a person with deviant tendencies, and that is obvious to everyone."
The flames of anger ignited in Kayden's eyes, and his words exploded from him in fury.
"I am not a deviant! And who are you to speak to me like that?"
But when he turned around, he found his mother, Isabelle, shaking her head with heavy sadness. Her voice came like a faint breeze trying to calm him.
"Kayden… calm down. Everything will be resolved before it even begins."
Her words did not have long to reassure him. Frey stepped forward quietly like a shadow and fastened shackles around Kayden's ankles first, then another pair around his wrists.
"Don't resist," Frey said in an oddly gentle voice, as though offering advice rather than an order.
But Kayden violently stumbled backward, the chains producing a harsh metallic clang throughout the hall. He then staggered and collapsed to the ground, a cry of pain tearing from him. He struck the floor violently with his palms before clutching his head as though the pain had erupted from within.
Isabelle could not bear the sight. She shouted, her voice carrying an order rather than a plea.
"That's enough, you bastard!"
It seemed that Kayden's scream itself had opened the door, for Henry and Colton rushed inside at incredible speed.
"You must not interfere," Colton whispered. "He'll come back. Let him face his own problems."
But Elster did not retreat. He raised the official document before them and calmly handed it over with cold composure.
Colton stepped forward sharply, contradicting the very words he had just spoken to Henry, and asked sternly, "Who filed the reports?"
Enzo met the question with a rigid smile and a cold voice.
"We are not obligated to disclose that information. If we reveal their names, Kayden may seek revenge against them. We are responsible for protecting everyone's lives."
Colton asked, "Whose lives are you protecting? What lives are you talking about? You're torturing him like this, and you call that humanity?"
As for Henry, he completely ignored Enzo and knelt beside Kayden. His voice was low but sharp.
"Don't disobey their orders… Just give them routine answers. You know how to speak and how to answer. Colton and I will get you out of there… even if I have to prove that we're a family of murderers."
Kayden raised his eyes, filled with pain, but before he could speak, Frey interrupted, pointing toward the collar around Kayden's neck.
Enzo froze and immediately fell silent.
Frey spoke with quiet firmness. "Kayden Bryce… Do not make another mistake, or you will be punished."
Not a moment passed before Elster reached out, placed a black cloth over Kayden's eyes to blind him, and grabbed him to lead him out of the house.
But Henry stopped him. He took a heavier piece of cloth and threw it over his brother's head, covering him completely.
Enzo stepped back, his brows knitting together as he asked with cold curiosity, "And why are you doing that?"
Henry answered with a tone of irritation that held no shortage of contempt. "So no one can see him! Don't ask questions you already know the answer to. Don't pretend to be stupid…"
Enzo burst into loud laughter. "Your tongue is just as sharp as your brother's. Have you ever committed a crime before? I would love to meet you in the interrogation room…"
A wide smile spread across Henry's face, but it was anything but friendly. "You'll never see me there."
Enzo tilted his head to the side, his voice calm. "And why do you think that?"
Henry shrugged indifferently. "Because I have someone willing to bring me your eye."
Enzo froze in place, unable to understand what he meant. He asked in confusion, "I don't understand."
From inside the carriage, Kayden interrupted with a sharp, mocking voice. "Of course you don't understand… because you're an idiot!" He then added more harshly, "Your smile is disgusting. Stop smiling before I break that damn jaw!"
Frey tried to calm him from the side, his voice almost unnervingly gentle. "Don't make a mistake, please."
But Kayden did not calm down. He exploded loudly, "I didn't do anything wrong! I only spoke! Are you going to punish me for talking too? You annoying bastard… Are you a eunuch inside the Church?!"
Elster let out a quiet laugh. "Actually… most of them are."
Kayden shouted defiantly, "And what about you?"
Elster shook his head, then realized that Kayden could not see him. He approached and sat beside Kayden, then whispered into his ear after erecting a spiritual barrier to isolate his voice from the others.
"I'm not a eunuch… I like having fun, running…"
He lowered the barrier afterward and smiled.
But before Enzo could climb into the carriage, an enraged voice thundered from inside the house, shaking the entire place.
"I'll cut off your hands! How dare you touch my son?!"
The next moment, a violent purple aura erupted, sweeping through the surroundings with such force that it nearly tore the carriage apart.
A massive spiritual wall rose before the carriage, hastily constructed by Enzo. But a terrifying sound of destruction followed, as though something unstoppable had just broken loose.
Countless weapons shot out from inside the house, piercing pillars and walls and sending fragments flying in every direction.
Despite his shock, Enzo muttered with genuine admiration, "Your mother is really strong."
But Henry, who was staring directly at him, showed nothing but cold disgust.
Enzo climbed into the carriage in silence, and it sped away before the ground around them could collapse.
No one said a word throughout the journey. The silence weighed heavily on the air, even the creaking of the carriage sounding unnaturally faint.
When they finally stopped, Kayden was dragged inside by force. He felt as though he were being pulled through an endless maze of corridors, his footsteps echoing like distant sounds inside his troubled mind.
He was shoved forcefully into a wooden chair, and the moment his body touched the backrest, a barrage of punches rained down on him. He was given no chance to catch his breath. Blood poured heavily from his nose, while the iron restraints around his wrists tore into his skin from his resistance.
And yet… Kayden did not utter a single word. His mouth remained shut, as though silence were the only shield he had left.
When the cloth was finally torn from his eyes, he opened them slowly, his eyelids trembling as they adjusted to the dim light.
The world around him was dull, submerged in faded shadows, while the walls were stained with traces of old dampness.
Three men stood before him in a line, silent, watching him with cold eyes.
His gaze was unwillingly drawn to Elster's hand… where blood stained his fingers.
And in the silence that followed, Kayden felt as though the room were closing in around him, as though even the air itself had abandoned him, leaving nothing between him and them but the blood that had just spilled from him.
Elster did not wait for him to ask a question. He approached with slow steps, grabbed Kayden's restrained arm, and then drove his fist into his face.
Kayden's head snapped backward from the force, and the chair beneath him shook violently, nearly tipping over. He tasted blood filling his mouth at the same moment a hot red line ran from his nose.
Elster gave him no time to process the blow. He struck him again, but the iron restraints forced him to remain in place like a bound body awaiting execution.
Elster raised his fist once more, then calmly wiped the blood from his fingers onto Kayden's shoulder, as though leaving his own signature.
He then smiled faintly and said in a quiet but threatening tone, "You will talk… whether you want to or not."
Kayden slowly raised his head, his eyes half-closed from the pain, but he met Elster's gaze with silent defiance, as though his silence were the only weapon he had left.
"But you didn't ask," Kayden muttered in a low voice.
Elster lightly grabbed Kayden by the hair, slowly lifting his head. There was something resembling painful confusion in his eyes.
Elster spoke calmly. "Is that so? But words come faster through punches… Didn't anyone teach you that?"
Kayden shook his head, trying to pull Elster's hand away, but to no avail.
He finally quieted, his gaze becoming sharper. "But you have to be clear."
Elster smiled crookedly, then added with biting coldness, "You should show your face. You look prettier when the bruises are visible. You'll have to get used to being beaten."
Kayden breathed with difficulty, a tightness beginning to creep into his chest, like a weight that refused to loosen.
He whispered bitterly, "You… I thought you were smarter than this, you damn eunuch."
Enzo intervened in a neutral voice, watching the exchange with an expression that never quite left his eyes.
"What is your problem with us?"
Kayden completely ignored Enzo, as though refusing to let the argument turn into a staged interrogation.
He spoke without acknowledging him. "This isn't an interrogation… It's more like kidnapping. To a much greater extent."
Frey slowly pulled a chair over and placed it in front of Kayden, then sat down.
"Tell us… how many times have you shown an intention to commit suicide and summon a calamity?"
Kayden exhaled slowly, his eyes guarding a secret that nature itself had not intended to reveal easily. Everyone in the room felt that whatever his answer was, it would alter the psychological balance between them—and nothing afterward would be the same.
Kayden raised his eyebrows in feigned surprise, then let out a short laugh devoid of emotion.
"Strange…" Kayden spoke calmly. "If I were really thinking about suicide, shouldn't I be dead by now instead of sitting here in front of you?"
"How unfortunate. Do you really think I'm the kind of person who would end his own life?"