Kayden fell silent for a moment, then leaned slightly forward as he continued:
"As for oxygen… it supported the plant's cellular respiration and metabolic activity. Along with the other modifications, I noticed an increase in the production of some of its toxic secondary compounds. But the problem was that it distorted the plant's aesthetic structure. And I… only wanted beauty."
William slowly nodded, his eyes gleaming with a rare intensity. He wasn't merely listening; he was beginning to understand on a deeper level, and it showed on his face.
"I understand!"
Kayden finally sighed, his voice calm, with a faint hint of amusement.
"So I arranged everything in this order: first, melatonin… to disrupt the plant's biological clock. Then sugars… as an additional energy source and to stimulate its activity. After that, ethylene… for rapid maturation. The result? More concentrated toxins, and flowers that bloom at night… while oxygen was the final catalyst."
Silence fell over the room for a moment, as though his words had left a strange impression in the air. William's eyes remained fixed on Kayden, as if he were seeing him for the first time.
William slowly rubbed his temple, as though forming the words themselves had suddenly become a burden.
"How… did you obtain the melatonin? As you know, the brain naturally produces it to regulate the sleep-wake cycle. It's what makes us feel sleepy at night… especially in darkness."
His gaze shifted toward Henry, who was, at that moment, completely absorbed in reconstructing the experiment in his mind.
"What is it?" Henry asked, looking at him with concern.
William answered immediately, suspicion lacing his voice.
"Were you the one who got him the melatonin?"
Henry quickly shook his head.
"No, definitely not! That man has a thick skull. He wouldn't even let me get near his experiments… It's not as if I'm some black-market dealer."
Henry exhaled before throwing the responsibility elsewhere.
"Kayden… explain yourself. He dragged me into this experiment whether I wanted it or not."
Kayden raised a hand in the air, as though demanding silence.
"All right… calm down. At first, I tried extracting it from walnuts, but the concentration was far too low. It wasn't enough to provide the quantity I needed for the experiment. Then I discovered that some types of fungi contained higher concentrations of melatonin… so they became a more practical and efficient source for me."
William nodded, and Kayden continued in an even tone, though a long series of memories stirred inside him.
"But before I turned to fungi… I tried two methods."
He rested his head against his hand, as though the headache had returned while he recalled the details.
"The first was using walnuts. I ground them into small pieces to increase the surface area, then placed them in an opaque container… and poured a solvent over them—it was nothing more than ethanol."
He raised a hand and moved it through the air as he explained, as though drawing the scene before them.
"Imagine this is the container. I added enough solvent to cover the walnuts, then shook it thoroughly."
He interlocked his fingers, mimicking the motion of sealing the container.
"I tightened the lid… and left it there for a long time. I came back almost every day to shake it again, as if I were waking it from its slumber."
He slowly exhaled before continuing.
"When the time was up… I poured the contents through a piece of cotton cloth, then squeezed it firmly until the extract came out. After that, I stored it somewhere dark."
A brief silence followed.
Kayden lowered his head, his voice carrying a quiet disappointment.
"But it wasn't pure, and it didn't work as I had hoped. There was nothing but a mixture of compounds… and the melatonin was only a very small part of it. So… while I waited to obtain a better extract, I studied some other methods."
William's eyes followed him with unusual focus, every word settling into his mind like a missing equation he was desperately trying to solve.
Curiosity flashed in William's eyes as he leaned slightly forward.
"And what was the other method?"
Kayden gave a faint smile.
"I'll tell you. This time, I started the same way. I brought another sample—the walnuts—but I froze them first. Then I ground them thoroughly until they became a fine powder, and used methanol as a new solvent."
He paused for a moment, then gestured with his hand as though sketching the process in the air.
"But this time, I dried the crude extract until it became a powder, mixed it with a small amount of the stationary phase, and packed it into a glass column. As for the mobile phase, it wasn't a single solvent, but a series of solvents with gradually varying polarities… As they passed through the column, each compound began separating from the others, emerging at its own specific time."
Kayden spoke with such steady calm that his voice sounded almost like a lecturer explaining a simple lesson.
Yet he failed to notice Isildar's gaze fixed upon them.
"With this method… I was able to isolate the components one by one and collect them separately. I was looking for the pure fraction… melatonin alone."
Silence settled over them once more. The only sound was the quiet rhythm of their breathing.
William suddenly spoke, with a strange excitement that neither twin had ever seen from him before.
"You two… are the best friends I could ever ask for! Isildar, you brought the treasures! How wonderful!"
Isildar, however, simply stared at them with a half-blank expression, his mouth slightly open as though he were trying to comprehend something far beyond him.
He looked more foolish than ever.
Then, without thinking, he muttered:
"What… is the stationary phase?"
William burst out laughing and pointed sharply at him.
"Isildar… you ignorant fool!"
The latter shook his head with exaggerated seriousness.
"I've never studied this kind of thing, obviously! I studied history, not… whatever this is."
William shrugged indifferently, while Kayden folded his arms and began explaining in an even tone.
"The stationary phase, simply put… is the material that remains stationary inside the glass column. It interacts with some molecules or attracts them more strongly than others."
Kayden noticed that Isildar's confused expression hadn't changed in the slightest. He was still blinking stupidly, which prompted Kayden to change his approach.
He cleared his throat before speaking more slowly.
"Imagine it as the heart of the glass column… a motionless powder that holds onto molecules, testing their patience. The compound that is less attracted to it passes through quickly, while the one more strongly attracted to it is delayed. And so, each component emerges at its own time, separated from the others… It's like a knight standing at the gates of a city, allowing some people to enter while turning others away."
A smile appeared on Isildar's face.
Kayden felt a faint sense of satisfaction—
Until the next question came.
"And what about the other one? The mobile one?"
Kayden smiled again and continued explaining with remarkable patience.
"The mobile phase is the solvent we add to the glass column. It's usually a liquid—but in this case, I used a mixture of solvents. Its purpose is to move through the column, carrying the molecules along with it and separating them according to how strongly each one is attracted to the stationary phase."
Isildar raised an eyebrow and spoke in an authoritative tone.
"Explain it more clearly."
Kayden took a short breath and thought for a moment before answering. "The solvent is like a small river, carrying away whatever it can. Some molecules float along with it quickly and emerge first, while others cling to the stationary phase and refuse to let go so easily. In the end, each component appears at its appointed time… as though nature itself were slowly revealing its secrets."
Isildar nodded slowly, then muttered dismissively:
"That's incredibly easy. William… you make everything sound complicated just to look impressive! If I asked you about something in history… you wouldn't know the answer either, you're a failure!"
William's face froze for a moment before he gasped as though he had just been stabbed in the chest. He clutched his heart and staggered a step backward, shouting dramatically:
"You traitor! Your words stab me in the chest far deeper than an enemy's sword ever could on a battlefield!"
He raised his other hand toward the heavens and continued his performance with a grim expression.
"History?! You dare question the breadth of my knowledge?! I have studied the legends of kings… and the names of kings whom no one has mentioned for centuries! Do you dare call me… ignorant?!"
Isildar let out a muffled laugh before replying with deadly calm:
"I don't dare… I'm simply saying it directly, you ignorant fool. You're ignorant!"
William nearly exploded with rage, but Kayden quickly intervened, raising both hands as though stopping an impending duel.
"Enough! We're not in a debate hall or on a stage! We're talking about science, not the pride of our ancestors!"
Isildar laughed again, while William remained standing where he was, his nose held high as he tried to recover the dignity that had just been shattered.
Kayden chuckled foolishly as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Anyway… my research was stolen and used for murder. But it was extremely valuable. Now I've returned to studying it and combining it with spiritual power. Still, I'll close this chapter soon. I want to start studying the stars."
Isildar looked at him with genuine curiosity.
"The stars? And what exactly are you going to study about them?"
Kayden lowered his voice until it was almost a whisper.
"I'm still thinking about it…"
William returned to his seat. Apparently, the mention of stars had done little to satisfy his curiosity, so he asked instead: "Anyway… where is Ayrton?"
Henry answered without hesitation. "He's in his office, of course."
William frowned. "And Adam? I've sent him dozens of messages, but he hasn't replied. Is he ignoring me now? Wasn't I a good friend to him?"
Kayden shook his head, and Henry followed with the exact same motion.
William muttered sarcastically: "You two really do make the same movements… Twins."
But his amusement quickly gave way to concern.
Henry spoke in a quiet, mysterious tone. "Adam… left and never came back."
William gasped in shock. "How did that happen? He's strong!"
Kayden folded his arms and agreed. "Shame… never dies."
William hesitated, clearly unsure whether he had understood correctly. "Shame? … That's right. I completely agree."
Henry sighed quietly before answering.
"He fought Hugo… a man with exceptionally rare skills. He took Adam to the far south. And since that day… he hasn't returned. Hugo tried to bring him back, but he ran into a problem."
William lowered his head and muttered:
"I see… but I feel like I've seen you two before."
He suddenly raised his head with a smile.
"But it wasn't you two. You're my friends now. Do you have any other siblings?"
Henry answered "Three."
A distant memory lit up in William's eyes.
"Your brother… he wasn't cheerful or smiling. And beside him was one of the Fate Followers."
Kayden immediately replied:
"That was George. Where did you see him? And the other one… did he look a little like him?"
William nodded. "That was Roger."
He smiled faintly. "Your brothers are quite remarkable. I usually forget faces, but I remembered them. I saw them at a celebration… They kept to themselves. Fate Followers are always like that. They're extremely dangerous. But George… who does he follow?"
Kayden raised an eyebrow. "Ask him yourself. Don't ask me."
William thought for a moment. "He's a politician, isn't he?"
Kayden and Henry exchanged a brief glance before Kayden answered flatly "Yes?"
William sank deeper into thought before asking "Is your brother corrupt? Politicians are corrupt."
Kayden froze.
He blinked several times as he looked toward Henry, who had also gone completely still.
Kayden muttered:
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
William turned toward Isildar for support, but Isildar completely ignored him.
"So, what does your family do?"
Kayden shrugged indifferently.
"A lot of things. We have several different companies… It depends on what exactly you're asking about."
William gave a small smile.
"I'm just curious. But it's obvious that your brother is powerful… I don't want to fight him. I want to make friends with powerful people."
Henry murmured quietly "That's possible."
Kayden quickly jabbed him, warning him, before speaking louder "I'll introduce you to my brothers later."
William smiled happily, though the expression somehow looked remarkably stupid. Then he turned toward Isildar.
"Write a letter. Ask that man… Hugo… to come here."
Isildar didn't answer immediately. When he finally did, his voice was filled with irritation.
"Are you stupid? How is he supposed to enter the Lord's City? The security here is airtight. He wouldn't even be able to—"
William didn't answer.
Instead, he stood up and walked into his room.
A few minutes later, he returned dressed formally, his coat carefully arranged.
"I'm ready to leave."