A week later, Dai finished the book.
He organized his notes, then carried it to the basement—a dust-choked space where books lined the walls, nearly suffocating him. Damn allergies.
He wedged the book into the Primords section with difficulty. They'd need to expand this space soon, or the shelves would burst.
As he turned to leave, a loose paper stuck to his shoe.
He peeled it off carefully. Likely his parents'—it depicted a dissection of twin fetuses.
Curiosity won.
The cramped handwriting was nearly illegible, filled with archaic terms no one used anymore. It had to be old—not his parents' work.
He sat on the steps, squinting at the text.
It discussed twin birth rates across the continent, cases of healthy twins, and those born with physical and mental deformities—and how to dissect them for study.
Horror coiled in his gut.
How had they gathered this data? By cutting open mothers and ripping out twins?
Then he reached a lengthy passage detailing a near-guaranteed drug recipe for conceiving twins.
His eyes raced over the words, trembling.
Conditions the parents must meet. The ideal age for conception.
More facts that made him hurl the paper away in disgust, bolting up the stairs like a gust of wind.
He slammed his bedroom door shut, heart hammering.
What was this heavy feeling? Why did his parents have this suspicious document?
And why did his chest tighten at the realization he was a twin?
No—impossible!
His parents hadn't used this to conceive him and Haley.
His existence couldn't be the product of some twisted experiment.
One crucial condition for the recipe's success was that the parents themselves had to be—
No. Impossible.
He stole a glance at the bed he shared with his sister, clamping a hand over his mouth.
He nearly vomited.
---
Dai barely spoke for three days.
Not even the eight-fingered human hand specimen from the Institute of Medicine and Anatomy could hold his interest.
After the incident, he sneaked back to the basement—the paper was gone.
His parents noticed his sudden coldness, his evasion when questioned. He avoided holding Haley's hand at night, giving her his back, deliberately staying up late.
Home became suffocating.
He holed up in his lab day and night, listening to his parents' muffled arguments from adjacent rooms. He focused on anything else to drown them out.
One night, he dozed off at the lab table past 2 AM. His mother no longer enforced bedtime, given his persistent silence. Strangely, his parents had stopped pressing him to talk.
Only Haley still tried to approach him, forcing him to eat with them.
Ignore her. The ignorant girl who has no idea what torments you—living carefree, thoughtless.
How he envied that.
Another night, still asleep—or so he thought.
He felt himself sleeping upright in a chair. Odd—he remembered collapsing on the lab table.
His father's voice echoed as the door opened.
"Eileen, Dai's still asleep. Should I move him to bed?"
"Leave him. I'm starting to fear for Haley around him... Do you really think he knows?"
Fear for Haley around me? Why?
"If he does, so what? He's ten. Even if he knows, he won't act. He values science—he'll forgive us for its sake."
"Then why the silent treatment? Dai values perfection more than science. I can't imagine him accepting this. What if he learns his fate is to continue it?"
Continue it? What? Are they really—
Dai didn't want to hear the truth that had chased him like a nightmare for weeks, feeding his paranoia and hatred.
"Don't worry. I'll talk to him soon—"
Stop!
"—He'll accept the truth eventually."
This isn't the truth... Stop. Don't say another word!
"He must accept that our family—our ancestors—devoted themselves to science. We've done this since the dawn of time. He must accept that his parents were twins, just like him."
Dai's eyes flew open at the last word.
His father hugged his mother tenderly from behind.
What is this feeling?
Contaminated.
I'm contaminated. Born tainted from tainted blood.
Not pure like the king.
Not ordinary like the mailman.
Not malformed like the two-headed squirrel.
Contaminated.
Me. My sister. My mother. My father. This entire damned family!
To guarantee male and female twins, the parents had to drink the drug described in the document at age twenty.
One crucial condition—the parents themselves had to be twins.
What are they doing embracing like that? Brother and sister?
And they want me to continue this with Haley?
What's the point of this experiment anyway?
Two contaminated creatures want me to further stain this cursed blood.
I must end this.
This vile, tainted blood cannot continue. It shouldn't exist at all.
He kept up the act until his parents fell asleep—peaceful, facing each other.
Disgust twisted his gut.
A black cloud of hatred shadowed his heart.
He couldn't accept this level of contamination in existence.
He slipped out unnoticed, his expression icy. Blood crystallized in his veins, his heartbeat slowing as if muffled to avoid waking the sleepers.
He entered the kitchen, retrieving a large meat-cleaving knife—one capable of slicing human flesh.
As he turned, he saw his twin sister watching him from behind, trembling with fear.
How did she know?
Her danger sense had always been uncannily accurate—life's compensation for her stolen voice.
He raised a finger to his lips.
Silence.
She trembled violently, tears streaming silently as she clutched her blanket.
He walked slowly toward his parents' room, moonlight seeping through the slightly ajar door.
The door creaked softly.
Haley followed silently, her tears unending.
He knew she wanted to stop him.
He knew she couldn't.
So he didn't bother acknowledging her.
The bed where his twin parents slept came into view.
He climbed onto it, knife hovering millimeters from his father's neck.
This man who had provided Dai with endless books, specimens, and desires.
Then he looked at his mother—remembering every kiss, hug, and argument over bedtime.
He emptied his heart of all feeling and whispered:
"This is the end of the tainted blood..."
The knife plunged deep.
His father convulsed, a choked gurgle escaping as blood sprayed Dai like rain.
He yanked the blade free and turned to his mother, who woke to the commotion.
Another swift stab—her body collapsing onto his father's, bleeding out.
Dai stood between them, watching their final breaths.
His father raised a trembling hand toward him, tears brimming—just like his mother's.
They're... crying?
Dai's emotions had already abandoned him.
He remained still, witnessing their last moments.
Haley clung to the doorframe, shaking.
Right. One more contaminated person remained alive.
He stepped off the crimson-soaked bed.
Haley stumbled back, hyperventilating, her eyes locked on his hollow ones.
Identical, yet so different in this moment.
He grabbed her throat, slamming her down, bringing the knife close.
"Don't worry, Haley. I'll be quick. You won't feel a thing. Our existence in this world is unacceptable. We're contaminated, filthy—we can't live with this blood. Understand?"
Haley stared, stunned.
Then her tears stopped.
She closed her eyes—submissive.
Dai pressed the knife closer.
"That's right, Haley. You need to listen to your—"
His heart lurched violently.
His hands trembled uncontrollably. Sweat dripped from his brow as he struggled to steady himself.
Haley—resigned to the fate he'd chosen for her.
Why hesitate now? Kill her! Eradicate this cursed bloodline! No one from this house should live!
Haley opened her eyes, seeing his turmoil.
Her small hand reached up, brushing his cheek.
He recoiled, leaping back, knife clattering away.
His heart wrenched painfully.
Why?
He staggered out of the house, Haley's gaze etched into his mind—that look of tenderness.
Damn it!
---
His limbs were numb, every inch of his frail body aching.
He didn't know where he was. He'd run through the night, passing villages, fleeing the cold despite the melted snow.
Now he sat on the roadside, unsure where to go.
He remembered he should go to the other world—but he lacked the energy.
A carriage stopped before him.
An elderly hunchbacked man stepped out, eyeing the bloodstains on Dai's clothes with concern.
"Son, are you alright? Let me see your wounds."
The old man inspected him, finding no injuries. Then he realized—the blood wasn't Dai's.
He sighed, placing a hand on Dai's head.
"I won't ask questions. But... would you come with me to the capital? I don't have spare clothes, but I have a warm blanket!"
Dai looked up.
The capital—that vibrant city of life, the land where he'd witnessed absolute purity two years ago.
Did he deserve to enter it, knowing it housed the royal family?
The old man didn't wait for an answer, lifting him into the carriage and wrapping him in the blanket.
True to his word, it was warm enough to revive him.
After a week of the old man force-feeding him and chattering endlessly with no response, they reached the capital at dusk.
The city bustled despite the approaching night.
While the old man haggled with vendors, Dai slipped away, the blanket discarded.
He knew where he was.
He remembered this road—right at the fruit market, then straight...
Sunrise Square.
He stood where he had two years ago—third row, near the black carpet, close enough to see King Chris.
But there was no third row. No carpet. No king.
People walked past, eyeing his blood-crusted clothes with disgust.
His heart ached.
Was living always this painful?
He had to die.
A tainted creature like him didn't belong in this square—where every Primord king had walked.
He couldn't dream of approaching them or unraveling their secrets anymore.
They were too pure for him.
He chose the tallest building nearby, slipping inside like a ghost, scaling it unnoticed.
At the edge of the roof, he closed his eyes, the cold wind whipping his frail body.
Enough stalling. End it. Now.
He leaned forward—
A scream echoed behind him.
For some reason, he hadn't hit the ground yet.
He opened his eyes.
The pavement was still far below.
A hand gripped his right arm.
Who dares—?
"Forgive me, but since I've chosen you, I won't let you die before our first conversation!"
The voice was calm yet firm, carried by the icy wind.
Chosen me?
Dai didn't understand the electric sensation coursing through him.
He looked up slowly.
And his eyes widened.
Blond hair.
His own. His veins. His gaze. His aura—radiating purity!
"Before Colin and Sai break their arms, could we climb back up?"
Dai looked past the boy—two others straining under the weight. One, chestnut-haired, nearly choking. The other, clearly Eastern, scowling as he helped.
They gritted their teeth, hauling them up as the blond boy dangled between them and Dai, his piercing eyes locked on him with a resolute smile.
Pure.
Dai felt a strange familiarity, but his memory failed him.
"W-Why choose me? I'm trying to die here—"
"I know. And oddly, I always choose those on death's doorstep. I choose them to be my brothers."
Dai's heart clenched.
"I don't want brothers. And why should I listen to you? You're my direct opposite!"
Pure, while he was tainted.
"Opposite? What do you mean? Aren't you alone now?"
Alone.
Dai lifted his head, bewildered. "Y-Yes."
"Then we're the same. Forget dying for now. Be our brother—isn't that reason enough to live?"
Tainted Dai couldn't live among ordinary people.
What would he do as this pure one's brother?
A brother. A sister. A family...
Tears streamed down his face as he screamed for his parents—why now?
He didn't know. But his heart and body wept uncontrollably.
His grip tightened on the blond boy's hand, his heart softening with each passing second.
"Great! He's crying—I'll take that as a yes! Colin, Sai, pull us up!"
The four boys collapsed onto the rooftop, gasping.
Dai sobbed like a child—perhaps for the first time in his life.
The chestnut-haired boy sat up, rubbing his arms. "I can't feel my arms. You should've convinced him after pulling him up. We almost died holding our breath!"
The Eastern boy nodded, panting.
The blond boy laughed, patting Dai's back. "No matter—we have a new brother now. I'm Matthew. These two are Colin and Sai. What's your name, crying child?"
"...Dai." His voice was hoarse.
He hadn't imagined any fate but death after leaving home.
Now he had a sudden, unexpected family—one with a purity that contradicted his name.
Matthew.
And others unrelated by blood.
Could he endure family again?
Could he erase his bloodline's sins and his own through these new bonds?
"A good enough reason to live," Dai finally conceded.
He stopped crying, watching Matthew and Colin bicker over offering him wild berries while Sai approached quietly with a water pouch.
Dai accepted it gratefully.
Maybe living tainted under this purity's shadow was acceptable.
He'd let this family decide his fate, burying yesterday's horrors in oblivion.
Maybe his story deserved another chance.
Didn't it?