Hannibal: (Draws a calm smile)
"What ails you? You look as if you've seen a ghost before me."
Caro: (Gathers his strength and returns to his senses)
"No, no, not a ghost. What astonished me is that you vanished without a trace after your last mission."
Hannibal: (With steady confidence)
"But Caro, I am here now, in flesh and blood."
Caro: (With a noticeable calmness, balancing tension and yearning)
"Father, you haven't changed much."
Hannibal: (Shrugs indifferently)
"The city hasn't changed much. As for the family... I thought it had stayed the same as well."
Caro:
"You are right, Father, everything remained as you left it. But where have you been all this time?"
Hannibal:
"I was on a top-secret mission, accompanied by Isaac."
Hannibal: (Suddenly changes the subject, asking his son with a scrutinizing look)
"How do you feel?"
Caro: (Slaps the side of his thigh with suppressed anger)
"You see how things are. Nothing has changed since the last time you left me."
Hannibal: (Closes his eyes slowly, as if gathering his courage)
"I want to confess to a sin I committed years ago."
Hannibal: (Very calmly)
"Do you still remember Selena?"
Caro: (Sighs deeply, bitter despair coating his voice)
"No matter what I do, I still love her."
Hannibal:
"Selena... I have a story concerning her, and I hope you will listen closely."
🎞️ Flashback: Two years after their marriage
(Hannibal was in his office with Showken. Hannibal had his back to Showken, looking intently out the window.)
Hannibal: (With suppressed inner rage)
"That girl, Selena, she infuriates me."
Showken: (Calmly, trying to alleviate the tension)
"But we haven't noticed anything suspicious from her."
Hannibal:
"She has. After their marriage, she started planning. Bala is the proof."
Showken:
"Bala and Masaki loved each other and got married. What does that have to do with Selena?"
Hannibal: (Draws a malicious smile)
"Use your brain. She planted her family's cells inside ours. They want to exploit the idiot Caro."
Hannibal: (His smile widens with confidence)
"But I knew how to get her out of here."
Showken: (Calmly, with a philosophically challenging statement)
"I want to ask you: If you were forced to make a sacrifice for someone, would you meet that sacrifice?"
Hannibal: (Laughs a strong, sarcastic laugh)
"You don't seem to know me well! I won't sacrifice myself for anything. What good is a sacrifice to me in the end?"
Hannibal: (Calmly and decisively)
"Now, you may leave. I will handle Selena
Hannibal: (In a sober voice that allows no argument)
"Do not speak. I want to talk first."
Selena: (Gathers her courage and replies politely)
"Alright, Father, please speak, and I will listen to you."
Hannibal:
"Since my eyes first fell upon you, I have not found peace nor comfort."
Selena: (Fear is etched on her face, and her mouth trembles with confusion)
"But Father, you haven't seen any mistake from me that warrants this worry."
Hannibal: (Raises an eyebrow with subtle sarcasm)
"And why? Are you waiting for me to stand idly by until the mistake actually occurs?"
Selena:
"If you have noticed an oversight or a shortcoming from me that I did not intend to commit, I apologize to you in advance."
Hannibal: (Takes a step forward, his tone carrying an irreversible condemnation)
"You manipulated the mind of my son, Caro. And I will correct this mistake before I leave."
Selena:
"But my love for Caro was not fake! It is real!"
Hannibal: (Draws a cold smile carrying cruelty)
"Why the crying? These are just crocodile tears that won't help you now."
Hannibal:
"I have a special mission to entrust you with."
(Outside the room, night casts its black veil over the place, and shadows dance faintly on the walls, as if witnessing a tragedy being written in silence.)
(Inside, Hannibal stood like a stone statue, his eyes like a cold, unyielding sea, and his voice came out as calm as a breeze, yet carrying the impact of a cutting sword:)
Hannibal:
"You will leave this city. Now
Hannibal: (In a low voice, but carrying the weight of explicit threat)
"If you do not execute precisely what I dictate to you, I will shred the fate of your sister, Bala. I will even make Hadeen taste a slow, painful death."
(Selena's entire body trembled, and her tears flowed down her face like unending rivers. She coughed between gasps, like a trapped, homeless child.)
Selena: (Wailing in a broken, pleading voice)
"Please... have mercy on me... I have nowhere left to seek refuge in this world."
(Hannibal slowly turned his back, his steps heavy as if knocking on the doors of destiny. Before leaving, he turned his sharp gaze and spoke in a hushed voice that concealed an abyss of evil):
Hannibal:
"You will write that Hadeen is not my son, but the son of Showken... and you must also document that he has fallen captive into our hands."
(Selena screamed a broken shriek, as if her voice wanted to tear through the walls, expressing her absolute refusal):
Selena:
"I can't!... Don't kill me with the hand of my own pen!"
(But Hannibal cut off her plea with stony, pitiless coldness, as if emotions had never been born in his heart):
Hannibal:
"If you whisper a single word to anyone, know that you are the one who opened the gates of hell upon those you love. Even if you consider kidnapping Hadeen, I will savagely break your mind in a way no imagination can endure."
Selena's hand trembled as she wrote, the ink mingling with her falling tears as if they were blood on the paper. Every word she penned was a knife slicing her soul. When she finished, she approached the sleeping Hadeen, pressed a shaky kiss on his forehead, and a hot tear fell to settle upon his innocent skin, like an eternal seal on his painful destiny.)
(Outside, Hannibal stood with Showken, and the air around them was heavy, like the scent of death and secrecy.)
Hannibal: (In a deep, still voice, devoid of any hesitation)
"Isaac Benjamin is requesting me for a mission. What awaits us will be nothing short of hell itself."
(Showken fixed him with a serious look, and asked cautiously):
"What about Selena?"
(Hannibal offered a cold smile like a mask of stone, and answered decisively):
"I will leave... and perhaps never return. If your brother becomes the head of the family then, do not be deceived by his authority. Always remember that he is your elder brother, and the shadows of blood are never erased, no matter what time tries to do."
(Then Hannibal departed, his footsteps slowly fading into the darkness of the road, as if the earth was swallowing him, leaving behind a gloomy void that reeked of betrayal and ill-fated destiny.)
💢 Return to Reality: The Confrontation Between Father and Son
(Caro holds his head, remaining silent for minutes, his fingers pressing hard against his skull, trying to comprehend the horror of the memory.)
Caro: (With terrifying calm, carrying the weight of grief)
"Why are you telling this story now specifically?"
Hannibal: (Smiling coldly, as if correcting a trivial mistake)
"I wanted to correct a historical error."
Caro: (Shouting violently and with extreme anger)
"Why are you telling this story, when you know for certain that you completely destroyed my life?"
Hannibal: (With unwavering seriousness)
"I did the right thing, my son."
Caro:
"No, no! You are arrogant and suffer from megalomania! All you care about is yourself and nothing else!"
Hannibal:
"That girl was not of your social or intellectual standing."
Caro:
"She was not of your standing! Don't drag me into your judgments! You crushed my dreams and my relationships!"
Hannibal:
"There are a thousand better girls waiting for you."
Caro:
"Do you know that because of you, I have lived in complete darkness? I haven't seen the light in my life since that moment!"