The lingering scent of the archive room still clung to his nostrils, biting cold.Ethan sat alone at his dorm desk, the brass key in his palm already icy, yet he couldn't bear to let it go.The flickering candle before him cast shifting shadows, and in his mind, the fragmented lines from the dossier replayed endlessly:
"Two brothers… fate will decide the rift between the realm of Death and the human world."
The words cut into his nerves like a blade.He could neither ignore nor explain it—only one absurd, chilling possibility took shape: the so-called "brother" didn't refer to him alone.
He drew a deep breath and opened the fragment he had secretly copied. The ink slanted from hasty writing, but one name burned with clarity:
Ronan Viel.
The air seemed to freeze instantly.Ethan's pupils constricted, his fingertips pressing hard on the name, breath ragged.
—How could this be?Ronan was supposed to be dead. He had seen the funeral, the tombstone. The icy stab to his chest still coursed through his bones and blood.
Yet the dossier clearly stated:
"Ronan Viel, confirmed as a candidate for 'Shadow Vessel.' Status: unknown."
Status—unknown.
Not dead… just unknown.
Ethan felt his heart tear in two.He refused to believe it, yet the scattered clues began forming a far more terrifying picture.
Was that act of betrayal truly Ronan's choice?Or had someone already laid out the board, pushing the two brothers into a life-and-death opposition?
"Damn it…" Ethan muttered under his breath, sweat beading on his forehead.His mind involuntarily recalled Ronan's smile—familiar and intimate, now laced with cold irony.
Had Ronan never truly betrayed him?Or was his betrayal simply part of fate?
As his thoughts churned, a soft knock came from the door.Ethan immediately stashed the papers in his sleeve.
"Who's there?"
The door opened.Aiden stepped in. His usual eyes, sharp with mocking humor, now carried an unspoken gravity.
"Your recent actions… have been a bit too conspicuous," Aiden said quietly. "The Bureau already suspects you've been sneaking into forbidden areas."
Ethan felt a chill, forcing himself to remain calm. "You came to warn me?"
Aiden walked to the desk, fingertips tapping lightly on the wood, gaze sharp as a blade."Not just a warning," he said, lowering his voice. "I want to confirm something."He leaned in slightly: "What did you see in the dossier?"
Ethan swallowed hard, silent.
Aiden let out a dry laugh. "Never mind if you won't say. But remember, some names are best left unspoken, or you'll disappear faster than anyone else."
The candlelight flickered; the air felt sliced by an invisible knife.Ethan watched Aiden's back, clarity settling in his chest: he had been drawn into a conspiracy from which there was no escape.
And the name at the heart of that conspiracy… was Ronan.
For the first time, he understood—his friend's betrayal was only the tip of the shadowy veil.The real answers lay buried in the deeper pages of the Shadow Dossier.