Lorelei crumbled to the ground. The pieces finally clicked into place. The people she killed weren't just dead—they were erased, fading from memory as if they'd never existed. Yet Clovis, after all these years, remained vividly alive in everyone's minds. And she herself had no memories of his life at all.
I… didn't kill him?
Her eyes flooded with tears once more. All this time, she'd carried the unbearable weight of believing she was the one who struck him down. Now she knew the truth—she had nothing to do with his death. She still bore the lingering ache of losing someone she cared so deeply for, but the crushing guilt she'd carried all these years slipped from her shoulders like a heavy cloak finally set aside.
Still, one daunting task remained: telling Iria that Clovis was truly gone. Her reaction wouldn't be pretty; that much was obvious. Lorelei let out a long, weary sigh before reaching down to pick up the knife lying on the ground. Its blade had nearly turned black from the blood that had dried crusty across its surface. She tucked it into the farthest corner of her bag, then collapsed onto her bed.
One week.
That was all the time she had left with Brant and Samuel. She called out into the darkness, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Are you there?"
"…"
"That Shiniel. You said she knew about my power."
"I lied."
Lorelei's trust in the figure was fraying, thread by thread. This wasn't the first lie she'd been fed. Even when discussing her purpose, there was always something being left out.
"Then how did she know I killed so many people?"
"She can see the colour of others' cores. In her eyes, yours was completely black—the blackest core she had ever seen. You know, cores are tied to personality and the life you've lived. She wanted to see what kind of person you truly were."
"But my core is white, isn't it?"
"Sometimes no, sometimes yes."
"What does that even mean?"
"…"
The figure had already admitted to lying, but at the time, Lorelei's mind hadn't been in the right place to take it in. She still struggled to recall the events of that day. Only fragmented flashes surfaced—blood splattering against the ground, and Shiniel's horrified face staring down at her.
"I know I probably won't get an answer," Lorelei said quietly, "but who are you? Really?"
"I am you. And you are—your—"
"Is something wrong, Rei? Having trouble sleeping?"
Brant tiptoed into the room and lowered himself gently into the chair beside her bed. His voice was softer than she'd ever heard it.
"No. I'm fine."
He reached out, patting her hair with a tenderness that made her chest tighten, and gave her a look full of quiet compassion. For the past two months, he and Samuel had poured everything into caring for her—something they'd never done for anyone before. They'd tended to her health and guided her training, so the thought of leaving them behind was something Lorelei couldn't bring herself to be excited about.
"Hey… I… I heard from four-eyes that you're leaving in a week. Is that true?" His voice came out stiff, stripped of its usual energy.
Lorelei's gaze met his, and she saw tears slowly gathering in his eyes. She hesitated, then gave a small, delayed nod.
"Alright…"
Brant pressed his palms against his eyes, wiping at them with the back of his arm. Lorelei had never seen him like this—even in his lowest moments, he'd never worn an expression so broken.
"Me and Sam…"
He sniffled, struggling to steady his voice.
"As far as I remember, we were raised in an orphanage. We had no names, no family name, nothing. To them, we were just orphan number 6455 and 9002—that's how they called us. They fed us the bare minimum for survival. Just enough nutrients to live and see the next day." A faint, wistful smile crossed his lips. "You know, the name Brant? That was Samuel's doing. He was the sharp one, even back then. And Samuel—I named him. Even though at first, it wasn't really Samuel at all." He let out a small, quiet laugh.
"Then they changed our orphanage. They'd planned to separate us because we'd grown too close, but in the end, they let us go to the same one. Looking back, we really were lucky."
A slight smile traced his lips, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"That new orphanage was probably the best part of our lives. It was nothing like where we'd lived before. We had our own room to sleep in—even if we shared it with others. We had proper beds, real comfort and warmth we'd never known until then. The caretaker even made us different kinds of meals every day. She did everything for us, even giving names to those who had none." His voice grew thick. "We had something to look forward to. We had a tomorrow worth living for. And that was all thanks to her. She gave us a family name; she turned us, all together, into a real family. Fidelya."
Brant paused, glancing away from Lorelei. Even though he turned his head, she saw tears tracing silently down his cheeks.
"For her, Fidelya meant fidelity. Loyalty to the family, and care for one another. She gave us orphans a reason to live. Before Samuel and I met her, our only concern was how to conserve enough stamina to survive the next few hours. But with her, we learned to plan for the next week. The next month. The next year, even." His voice broke loose. "She meant the world to me—the whole family did. Each and every one of them. Mila, Vins, Linnel, Pirus, Olfe, Quinn, Rim."
He named at least ten more names before his voice finally gave out, and he slumped down in the chair, burying his face in his hands.
"We thought it would last forever."
He wiped at his eyes again and again, but the tears wouldn't stop. They kept coming, relentless.
"Then a minor war broke out in Vileth. Just a few strays, trying to overthrow the capital. They planned to seize the outer regions around the capital… It's just… They… Th—"
"They attacked and burned down the orphanage." Samuel stepped in, walking over to Brant, his voice heavy with the weight of memory. "They burnt our everything."
He laid a gentle hand on Brant's back, then pulled a chair over to sit beside him.
"They killed everyone. There was no one we could save—we were weak and powerless back then. All we could do was hide and cower in the closet, listening to our brothers and sisters being brutally murdered by those barbarians." His jaw tightened. "The only reason we survived was our caretaker. She dragged her bloodied body to the closet and blocked the door with herself. We stayed in there for at least a day, maybe more, until the knights finally found us. They would've executed us too if Lady Melivine hadn't stepped in. To them, we were just two stray animals."
"Lady… Melivine?" Lorelei repeated, her voice shaking.
"Yes. The woman you asked me about before. She saved us from being killed on the spot. She took us into the castle and arranged for us to be trained by the Order—but Brant refused. He refused to train under the people who hadn't come sooner to save us. I begged him to accept the offer, but he wouldn't budge. He went so far as to disrespect one of the Order members, and Lady Melivine had to save him from execution a second time. It was an old man who called himself Beam who trained Brant outside the castle walls. That was the day we parted ways." Samuel paused, gathering himself. "I trained under a direct member of the Order. She taught me everything I know about firearms and manipulating surrounding energy—not to cast spells, but to sharpen my control over my own movement. I trained relentlessly, passing out from exhaustion and waking up to train even harder than the day before. I never once thought about giving up. Then, a year later, Lady Melivine brought Brant back, and we both pledged our oath to Iria. Just like that, we became her knights."
He let out a slow breath. "At the time, Lady Iria was only ten years old. She clung to her older brother, Clovis, always. She trusted no one but him—until, gradually, she opened up to us. He was kind to us both, constantly worrying about our well-being, but he kept everyone at a distance except his mother, Lady Melivine."
Lorelei was at a loss. Everything she'd read painted Melivine as someone willing to use children for her experiments and ambitions. Hearing that the very same woman had saved those same children left her deeply unsettled.
"What kind of person was she?" she asked.
"Lady Melivine wasn't very talkative, but she always wore that warm smile whenever she spoke to us. Most of the time she was locked away in her chambers, and the only people permitted to enter were the king, Clovis, and her trusted serva—"
"That woman deceived them all. Everyone. Even us." Brant cut in sharply, his voice suddenly hard. "She isn't human."
"Stop, Brant. Now isn't the time for this," Samuel said firmly.
"Clovis killed her. I saw him do it with my own eyes." Brant's voice trembled with conviction. "And not only her—I'm certain he killed that angel too. After The Bleeding, he proclaimed himself king, and no one dared to say a word. They all knew he wielded absolute power; no one could defy him within those walls. He was still the same to us, but his look changed. Everything about him changed. His eyes stayed barely open, and he rarely slept. Then, two years later, he vanished without a word. Iria was meant to become queen, but she refused and left the castle for Vinyl. We followed her, and since then, she's spent every passing year searching for Clovis."
Brant wiped his tears and stared down at the floor, his shoulders slumped.
"Iria changed after that too. She wore the same fake smile Melivine had. She sent us across the country hunting for Clovis, but we never found a single trace of him. It's like he just disappeared off the face of the earth."
Lorelei wanted to tell them. She wanted to reveal what had really happened to Clovis. But the words wouldn't find their way out of her mouth, so she stayed silent, the truth pressing heavy against her heart.
"It's getting late now," Samuel said gently. "You should sleep. Sorry Brant troubled you with all this."
He helped Brant to his feet and guided him toward the door.
"Goodnight, Rei."
"Wait." Samuel turned around.
"Something wrong?"
"Is it because of the fire… that you have that burn mark?"
Samuel lightly grazed his face before shaking his head in denial.
"Don't worry about this, sleep well."
The door clicked shut behind them, and Lorelei sank back onto her bed. In a single night, she'd learned so much—about her caretakers, about the origins of that journal. Her head still spun, but she managed to hold onto most of it.
"Don't think about it too much," a voice echoed softly. "You should sleep."
"Yeah…"
She closed her eyes and let sleep pull her under.