The kingdom's knights and investigators began gathering evidence from the disaster site. The scout commander read his report with a serious voice: "So, let us gather the data we have. Three monsters attacked Lord Albert's orphanage this evening, resulting in the deaths of Sister Olit, Lord Albert, and several children. Among them were those preparing for the Seven Heroes' acceptance test... The survivors are fourteen children, including Charles and a boy named Andrei."
The commander asked intently: "How is the boy, Charles?"
The accompanying doctor answered: "His vitals are good, but he is in a state of severe psychological shock. He keeps mumbling one word: Brother."
The commander furrowed his brows, asking: "His brother? Did he have a brother here?"
An investigator replied, flipping through the orphanage's surviving records: "Yes. After investigating, we discovered that Dave, the boy who was killed protecting him, was his brother from another mother."
The commander hummed slowly: "Interesting. And what about your investigations into the boy Andrei?"
The investigator sighed and said: "There isn't much information. He is the son of the hero Leon, but unfortunately, he didn't inherit any magical talent like his father. He lived in a small village until Lord Albert took him in after his village's incident."
The commander slammed his fist on the table in disappointment. "I am disappointed. I thought for a moment that he was the one who defeated the monsters thanks to his father's bloodline, but my assumption was wrong after examining Lord Albert's corpse."
The investigator asked curiously: "What did you find in the corpse?"
The commander answered, his eyes narrowing with suspicion: "We found cursed bones embedded in his body. The monsters mentioned in the report cannot do that; they are mere wild beasts that do not use magic. Someone was controlling them... but what is their goal? Send the scouts to track any magical traces immediately."
In the recovery room inside the capital, Andrei sat in silence, staring into the void, while Charles lay on the adjacent bed, his eyes red from crying.
Charles said in a broken, hoarse voice: "So we are the ones who survived. Only fourteen children."
Andrei turned to him silently, allowing Charles to continue as his tears fell again: "This is all that's left of our family. How pitiful. I wasn't strong enough to protect them. My helplessness now makes me wish for death."
Andrei replied with a strange calmness, carrying a weight far beyond his years: "Charles, do not speak of death so lightly. You are not the only one carrying this burden."
Charles wiped his tears with a trembling fist and said bitterly: "Do you know what the greatest regret of my life is, Andrei? It happened when I learned I had a brother three months ago. Just when I finally decided to muster the courage to tell him the secret... he died right in front of me to save me."
Andrei furrowed his brows, asking: "A heavy regret indeed. A brother? Who is it?"
Charles answered, his voice choking with sobs: "Yes, Andrei. It was Dave."
Andrei's eyes widened, and he said with feigned surprise: "What?! Dave? But I always saw you two together as close friends."
Charles smiled a sad, torn smile and said: "Yes, because we were always with everyone else, it didn't seem strange. I also thought we were just friends. Until I discovered the truth one day by chance... My brother had been close to me all this time, and I didn't even know."
Charles drowned in the sea of his memories, returning to the day he discovered everything. He was seven years old.
He remembered when some older bullies cornered him. One of them mocked him, saying: "Look at this kid and how he stares at us. What are you going to do? Are you going to hit me? Come on, do it! Wow, you walk like a waddling penguin, and you think you're scary!"
But before the bullies could go any further, Dave intervened. In the blink of an eye, Dave delivered powerful blows that knocked them to the ground, then stood before their leader, saying strictly and coldly: "You! I know you, you are from the southern district. Tell me, do your supervisors know you came here to cause trouble?"
The boys were terrified, and their leader stammered: "No... they don't know."
Dave smiled in a frightening way and said: "That means if I killed you here, no one would know, right?"
The boy screamed in terror: "We are sorry! We apologize profusely! We didn't know the boy belonged to the northern district. Please forgive us!"
As soon as the bullies fled, Dave turned to Charles and asked with a brotherly concern that Charles didn't understand at the time: "Are you okay, Charles?"
Charles replied with childish pride, trying to hide his fear: "Yes, I could have beaten them alone."
Dave laughed sarcastically to provoke him and said: "Oh, look at this little hero, defeating three bullies all by himself! Charles the hero. Is that what you wanted? How pathetic. Let's go."
Charles boiled with anger and shouted: "Pathetic?! You call me pathetic? What's really pathetic is that you can't beat me in a race!"
Dave replied with confidence and challenge: "I might be slower, but I am stronger than you. And maybe I'll beat you now in a race because your leg is injured."
A race began between them, ending with Charles's victory. He stood panting and said triumphantly: "See? I am better than you."
Dave smiled with satisfaction, patted his shoulder with hidden affection, and asked him to go visit Uncle Albert because he was asking for him.
Charles remembered how he went to Lord Albert, who then tricked him and Dave into cleaning the storage basement. There, in that dark basement, while dusting off old boxes, Charles found a carefully folded paper attached to a picture. Time stopped for him when he saw his father's face in the picture. Questions stormed his mind: Who is this woman? And why is my father standing with her?
He opened the letter and began to read, his hands trembling:
"To my master Albert, my second wife has given birth to a son. He is six months younger than his brother. I entrust both my sons to you, for I am a soldier, and I do not know when I might die. In the midst of these wars, I do not know if I will live to see tomorrow. If news of my death reaches you, raise them to be strong, just as you taught me. This is the wish of your student, your soldier, and your son who was not born of your blood."
The paper fell from Charles's hands. A brother six months older than him? There was no one in the orphanage exactly that age older than him except Dave! Did that mean the one who protected him all this time, his close friend and constant rival, was his older brother? Why didn't Uncle Albert tell him? And did Dave know?
Charles ran up the stairs like a storm and burst into the room, confronting Albert with the letter. After a long sigh and an attempt to calm him down, Albert confessed the truth. He confirmed that Dave was his older brother, but Dave knew nothing about it. He explained that the woman in the picture was his father's second wife, whom he married under special circumstances.
Charles shouted in disbelief, asking how he could accept this sudden truth. Albert advised him calmly and wisely not to force immediate acceptance, but to consider it a test of fate. He could either live his life ready to tell Dave and face him, or remain afraid of taking that step. Albert left the decision up to him whenever he was ready.
And Charles chose to wait. He preferred to joke with him, laugh with him, and postpone telling him until they both became heroes. But the right moment never came.
Charles snapped back to reality in the recovery room, tears washing his pale face. He looked at Andrei and said with a voice dripping with regret: "That is why I am full of regret, Andrei. I waited too long, and I lost my chance forever."
Andrei gave him a mysterious look, then said quietly: "Do not blame yourself, Charles."
Meanwhile, very far away from the orphanage and the capital, in a desolate cave reeking of death and echoing with endless screams, a dark entity that had been asleep for thousands of years stirred. Just its awakening silenced the mountain winds and froze the blood of nearby creatures.
The entity whispered in the dark, its voice echoing like reverberations from Hell: "I had a vision... of a young man who will appear soon. I am looking forward to meeting him."