Blood dropped from the forehead, flowed slowly down his face between the nose, clinging to the eyes until they finally fell from the open eyes—violent eyes that once had the gentlest light, now lost their life. Without a soul, they stared into a daze. The soft long lashes stopped blinking, as still as frozen. A breathless mouth slightly open, the body falling down on the wheelchair, carrying a lifeless person. Without a sound, lay pale Caelis…
M_ Master? Jason, still on the ground, voice trembling, dropped.
Serena stood right in front of the wheelchair that carried Caelis's dead body—frozen, trembling. She couldn't let a sound out. Her shoulders that once looked so strong now looked as if they would crumble at any moment, her eyes unmoving on the man in front of her.
Caspian let a laugh out like a madman as he dropped the gun and flattered back. "HE IS FINALLY GONE! I KILLED MY OWN TRASH BROTHER! HAHAHA!" One of the men helped him stand on his feet while Liam trembled—his eyes widened with tears all across his face. He didn't blink once. Jason was finally released, frozen in his place.
Caspian looked at Serena as he finished laughing. "Bitch, try everything you can—you think you can ruin what I start?" He raised his voice. "You think you can run?"
Serena flinched a bit.
No one talked. Only Caspian rustled as he turned around, leaving after ruining everything.
"M.. Master… Ca… ha… ha… ma…" Jason couldn't let out his voice as he sat trembling on the ground.
Serena, still frozen, her eyes dropped unstoppable tears while she just looked at the dead Caelis—her eyes totally empty.
"M… Mom…" Liam, trembling and crying, called Serena, slowly reaching out his hand to her.
When Serena suddenly slapped the hand that slightly touched hers, her crying face faced Liam as the pocket watch fell on the ground and flapped open. The clock hand moved twice before the clock completely stopped moving. Serena watched the clock silently.
Liam, shocked by Serena's rejection and the look on her face, finally cried out loud.
Jason ran toward Caelis's body, crying, "Master! Master! Master!!"
He quickly pulled Caelis's body down from the wheelchair and hugged him. "Master, please an… answer me, Master!" he shouted, crying, "Ahhh, ahhh, nooo!"
Even though her surroundings were full of Jason and Liam crying, her ears were quiet. She couldn't hear a thing.
Serena bent down, picked up her silver pocket watch, and as she closed the lid, she lifted her crying face up.
—Ahhh, Lis… Caelis… you want me to still love this child? ...But I can't. My time ...is stopped.—
Serena stepped towards Jason, who held Caelis's body. She knelt on the ground, closing the eyes that didn't close even after death. Slowly, she brought down his eyelids, and when they were finally shut, she crossed her hand gently across his bloodied cheek.
Liam ran toward them crying, "Mom, Mom, Mom!"
Serena gently reached out, took Jason's trembling hand, and pressed the silver watch into his palm—her touch quiet, her gaze unreadable.
Then she finally said, "Everything will be okay," as she gently smiled. Then she crossed Caelis's cheek once again. "How can you leave sooner than me when I am older than you? Did I ever tell you I really love you?" she said, smiling and crying.
Jason didn't know what was happening—his arms trembling as he clung to Caelis's bloodied body. Confused, broken, he lowered his head, and a sharp sob escaped his lips. His hands tightened around Caelis's shoulders like he could still protect him. Then, helplessly—almost like a child refusing to watch the end—Jason squeezed his eyes shut, burying his face into Caelis's chest, as if hiding there could stop the world from falling apart.
Serena finally retreated her hand, watched Liam once again behind her. Her look was so empty—her eyes never saw him. Then she finally closed her eyes and picked up the gun that killed Caelis, pointing it at her own head.
Liam screamed, "MOM NOOO—!"
When Jason jolted to the sound of the gunshot, it had already gone through Serena's head.
Jason stayed seated, saw Serena's head as she fell on Caelis's lap, her pink hair covering her body, blood flowing out from her head.
"My Lady?...." Jason said, his face completely in tears, shocked—still seated. In front of him lay the dead bodies of the two people he had in the whole world.
His hand trembling as the other still held Caelis's body, he slowly let Caelis's head rest on his lap. As he slowly leaned forward, he slightly shook Serena as if she were only sleeping and tried to wake her up.
"My lady?... Lady Serena?…" he said, his voice barely coming out.
As Serena's body had already left this world, she didn't answer. Even then, he grabbed her shoulders and leaned her body back. Her face was pale and unresponsive, her eyes closed shut.
Jason's tears didn't stop. He hugged Serena's dead body tightly, digging his face into her pink hair.
A thud was the only sound left as Liam fell to the ground, his lips trembling, his whole body shaking. His eyes were wide open, tears falling nonstop, but no sound came out.
"Mmmphhh... what's with today…" Jason finally, with a low voice, let out—no energy left in him.
"We just wanted to run away and finally be free…" he continued, his tear-streaked face clinging to the two dead bodies in front of him.
A sob finally left Liam's mouth with a heavy breath, his eyes still full of tears.
"Mom… Papa…" his voice slipped out.
Jason finally looked at Liam.
This was all his fault. He told our escape plans. He blabbed everything. He took them away from me, Jason thought, without noticing his dampened clothes, his bruised hands.
Liam's face finally met Jason's eyes—eyes full of hatred when Liam flinched.
Jason had never looked at him like that. Not with such hate. Jason was Liam's best friend—they always played together, and Jason had always been kind, always tolerated Liam's every mischief. He thought, If Jason… even if only Jason stays with me… But that hope shattered. He didn't just lose both parents… he lost his best friend too.
Jason finally shouted, voice breaking in anger, "Leave!! I don't want to see you! Go with that father of yours!"
Liam broke at his voice, tears streaming down his face. He had lost everything—and it was all his fault. I should've endured… I shouldn't have been scared… I—
A sudden pressure, like the earth itself was about to rip open, flushed through the area, startling Jason. Far down the road, Caspian—heading back to the mansion—flinched as he felt it. He ran back toward the villa.
There, he saw the boy—his back to him—his aura wide and roaring above his small body. The entire area trembled, the ground cracking under the weight of it. Almost a disaster itself.
Caspian's eyes widened as if he'd just found a hidden treasure. He wasn't aware he had it.
He ordered his men, "Grab the boy—quickly!"
But the two large bodyguards hesitated. They took one cautious step forward… then froze. Their eyes darted toward each other in silent alarm. Sweat dripped down their temples.
The raw, uncontrollable power radiating from a four-year-old boy was paralyzing. The earth quivered beneath their boots, and a dense, golden pressure swirled like a storm above the child. Neither of them dared step closer right away.
"Now!" Caspian barked again.
Reluctantly, the two men moved—each step slow, their backs tense, flinching at every sudden flicker of energy from Liam.
Jason kept shouting, "Young Master! Young Master!" but Liam didn't respond. He just sat there, unaware of what he was doing—already broken.
Finally, one of the men reached him and delivered a sharp strike to the nerve in his neck, rendering the child unconscious.
With that, the overwhelming pressure finally dropped, vanishing from the air like it had never been.