Present: A New Face
Arin and Selevara watched Aeren, their minds unable to process his words. In their eyes, Aeren was either a madman or a liar. Who would do such a thing? What was this "answer" he was looking for?
Before they could speak, another voice cut through the silence, a voice filled with a familiar worry.
"Aeren, what happened to you?"
A young man who bore a striking resemblance to Aeren but looked slightly older stood in the doorway. His face was a mask of concern, but his eyes held a strange, knowing fear.
"Brother," Aeren said, his flat tone devoid of surprise. "What are you doing here?"
This was Adam Drevin. Adam looked at his brother's still, calm face, and a shiver ran down his spine. He had seen his brother do things in the past that made him shudder, terrible things no one else would believe. But he had always chosen to ignore them. After all, he was his brother.
Flashback: The Birth
When Aeren was born, he did not cry. The room was unnervingly silent. The family stared at the motionless infant, their faces filled with despair. For a moment, his parents thought he was stillborn. Aeren's mother's eyes began to well up with tears, and the family was consumed by sadness, a heavy silence hanging in the air.
But then it happened.
Aeren's eyes moved. Adam, a boy standing by his mother's side, felt his entire body go cold. A sense of deep fear, a primal terror he could not explain, ran through him when he saw his brother's eyes. They were not the eyes of a newborn baby. They were hollow, empty, and knowing. It was as if a ghost inhabited his brother's body.
"Mother, Father!" Adam shouted, his voice trembling. "His eyes moved! He's alive!"
Aeren's mother and father looked at him. A wide smile spread across his father's lips, and he shouted loudly, "He's alive! Our child is alive!"
The family's happiness was at its peak. But it was the last time they would ever feel happy because of Aeren. As he grew, Aeren showed no emotion. He was never happy, never sad, never angry. He was a perfect statue, an empty vessel. He spent all his time in the library, utterly alone, with no friends. His lack of feeling was a constant, unsettling presence in their lives.
Flashback: The Betrothal
Years later, the family decided to find a wife for Aeren. They hoped that if he married, he might be able to feel some emotion, to find some happiness through a fiancée. Adam had seen many things that scared him about Aeren, but he decided to keep them to himself.
The Drevin family found a fallen noble family whose territory was on the verge of ruin. They had a good reputation but had gotten tangled with a dark organization. Their noble status was about to be destroyed. The Drevin family decided to offer a marriage proposal: Aeren would marry their daughter, a girl named Lena, and in return, the Drevin family would help save their territory. The family accepted. They decided to meet on Adam's birthday.
The day came, and the party hall was filled with people. The fallen nobles arrived with their daughter, a girl who was a one years younger than Aeren. They met each other in the bright, shining hall.
Later that evening, Adam noticed that Aeren and his fiancée were missing and thought emerge into his head. A shiver ran down his spine. He began to sweat, a cold dread filling him. He ran to the hidden laboratory where Aeren conducted his "experiments."
Adam pushed the door open and froze in horror.
The room was filled with strange medical tools and the unsettling scent of antiseptic. Aeren was standing over his fiancée, holding a scalpel. He was methodically cutting her body, his expression completely blank and emotionless, while she screamed in a mix of terror and agony.
"AHHHH! Somebody, please help me! AHHHHH!" Lena screamed, her voice a raw, ragged sound. "Sob… please… make him stop!"
"Aeren, what are you doing, let her go."
"Brother, don't worry. she will be fine."
Adam ran inside. His fear turned to rage, and he pushed his brother away, saving Lena. He carried her to a healer. He covered the entire incident, hiding the truth to protect his little brother. The girl, Lena, never spoke a word about Aeren or what he did to her. She didn't leave her house for years, trapped by the trauma.
Afterward, Adam suggested to his parents that they send Aeren to a bigger city. He hoped that Aeren might find something there to help him. The family agreed, and Aeren was sent to the Verdan Territory to serve as a butler.
Adam never told his parents what he had seen. He let his brother leave, hoping he would find a place where he could finally belong, somewhere far away.
Present: The Aftermath
Adam took a chair from the side and sat, looking at Aeren. A single thought emerged in his mind.
He hasn't changed at all.
"What happened?" Adam asked, ignoring Arin and Selevara. "Why are you in the infirmary?"
"Oh, nothing," Aeren replied bluntly. "I just jumped from the roof of the Academy."
Adam nodded. He wasn't surprised. Aeren had always been different.
"Why did they say you were in critical condition?" Adam asked, confused. "That wouldn't hurt you much."
"Oh," Aeren said, a flat explanation for the unexplainable. "I closed my mana circulation and then jumped."
Adam's eyes went wide. His mind raced, a chilling realization dawning on him. He had always known Aeren was inhuman, but this... this was a new kind of terrifying. His brother had learned how to shut down the very essence of life.