“What’s wrong, Dave? What’s the matter?”

Saul’s gentle voice drifted softly as he embraced his young brother with affection.

“Brother…”

The whimpering voice continued as young David buried his head in Saul’s arms. David narrowed his eyes and groaned faintly.

When was this memory from?

He searched his mind briefly but couldn’t recall. In truth, David remembered very little from when he was that young. There was no special reason for this. He had simply forgotten naturally as he grew up.

Had something significant happened, he would have remembered it. Yet the scene before him merely showed a child who had a nightmare seeking comfort from his brother.

If not for what followed, David would have thought just that.

“I keep hearing strange sounds.”

At young David’s tearful voice, David hesitated. Sounds…?

Sensing David’s confusion, Saul asked.

“What kind of sounds?”

“I don’t know… Someone keeps calling me. Saying Dave, Dave…”

They say I belong to them. They want what’s theirs. Someone keeps calling me, but the nanny says she can’t hear anything. I can hear it. I’m scared… Waaah. Young David burst into tears and clung to Saul.

“Only I call you Dave, so that wasn’t me…”

Saul gently patted the back of his little brother who burrowed into his embrace. The flickering light illuminated the small figures holding each other. David limped toward where the two were.

“It’s okay, I’m right here. Can you still hear it now?”

Young David shook his head. I can’t hear it. When I’m with you, I can’t hear anything. Yet, whatever frightened him so much kept young David clinging to Saul. David watched as Saul cupped his young cheek, wiped away his tears, and smiled brightly.

That playful smile seemed unfamiliar. Though it remained only in distant memories, it was clearly someone he knew…

“It’s alright, David. Nothing bad will happen.”

Saul whispered, placing a light kiss on his young brother’s head. Watching this, David felt another sense of déjà vu.

Why did he keep recalling that day, the day of the “accident”? He couldn’t understand how this connected to that. David wasn’t certain. His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed the flickering light.

He snapped back to attention. The young brothers, who had been talking quietly while holding hands, were disappearing down the corridor.

Saul, who had been looking down tenderly at his young brother, suddenly raised his head. He turned to look at David, gave a slight nod, then looked away. It seemed like he wanted David to follow.

Before David could react, the two young brothers vanished around the corner. The light was growing distant. David hesitated briefly.

Should he follow or not? There wasn’t much time to consider. As the light became a faint glow in the distance, David finally began walking slowly toward it. Following seemed the only option now.

Whether this was a temptation shown by the evil thing or some other strange occurrence… either way, confronting it would reveal the answer.

Strangely, David wasn’t afraid to follow. He felt a certain conviction. David recalled the young Saul who had gestured for him to follow.

Though similar in appearance, he seemed like a different person from the Saul he had seen in the study.

Somehow, it seemed like he wanted to reveal something important that David had forgotten. Even this might be an illusion. Swallowing the rising pain, David paused momentarily.

Then he slowly continued walking. As David entered the section with windows, he heard rain pouring down overhead. The sound of rain hitting the windows grew increasingly violent. Practically dragging his leg, David advanced toward the end of the pitch-black corridor.

The light that had shone from around the corner was no longer visible. Finally, David reached the end of the corridor and turned the corner.

He lost his balance for a moment and staggered. Reflexively taking several steps forward, propelled forward, David barely managed to steady himself by leaning against the wall.

After gritting his teeth to suppress the pain from his sudden movement, he looked back.

Something had caught his foot. He saw someone collapsed on the floor. The dimly visible person’s attire looked familiar. It seemed to be a servant.

Looking around more, he saw another person who had lost consciousness nearby in a similar state. That person also appeared to be a servant. The silhouette of one of them looked familiar. David approached the familiar figure to check their face.

It was as he suspected. The girl who had been attending Catherine.

He could hear the unconscious girl groaning painfully. She looked similar to Samuel when he had collapsed. David shook the girl’s shoulder just in case, but like Samuel, she didn’t regain consciousness.

This must also be the evil thing’s doing. Biting the inside of his lip, David straightened up after bending to check her face.

This was also like that day… Looking down at the two collapsed people, David recalled the past. He clearly remembered the events of the day the “accident” occurred. Even without that accident, he would never have forgotten what happened that day.

It was a bizarre day. That day, just like now, everyone in the manor was found collapsed and unconscious. Only Saul and David had remained conscious.

That strange occurrence was overshadowed by the accident that followed, which left Saul bedridden for days, and since it never happened again, it was forgotten… David’s hand, which had been roughly rubbing his face while trying to organize his thoughts, stopped.

He sensed someone behind him. A cold hand gripped David’s shoulder. Startled by the dry sensation, David turned his head.

A reddish light that hadn’t been visible until now appeared. The person gripping David’s shoulder was holding a lamp. The red light glowed on black-gloved knuckles. Beneath them, a thin wrist briefly showed through the white shirt sleeve before being concealed again.

The face was half-hidden in shadow from the low lamplight. However, David easily recognized who stood before him.

“…Brother.”

“It’s been a while, David.”

Saul said in a dry voice. He released David’s shoulder and stepped back. Only then could David fully see Saul’s appearance.

Wearing a high collar that constricted his neck and a black jacket, he looked somewhat thin. His face, revealed in the reddish light, was gaunt and had a haggard quality. Saul looked similar to how David remembered him six years ago, but with a more sickly complexion.

David recalled his bloodless face lying in the coffin.

Simultaneously, he recalled the young Saul he had seen in the study.

“One day you will die because of that child.”

The voice of their father whispering in an exhausted tone came to mind. David suddenly wanted to ask Saul.

Was what the evil thing showed him real? Did he know about it? Was it true that their lives were determined solely by providence?

But David couldn’t ask.

“You’ve done something foolish.”

Saul said this while looking down at David’s limping leg. Though there was no hint of reproach, his tone was stern enough to make the listener shrink back.

David couldn’t hide his half-dejected expression and let out a hollow laugh.

Foolish. The voice of the evil thing whispering in Saul’s form seemed similar to Saul’s stern voice. David admitted his own foolishness.

He realized that despite knowing he shouldn’t listen, he had unconsciously been paying attention to it. And simultaneously, David knew that even if he asked, Saul would certainly not answer.

David knew Saul well. They shared the same blood and had long shared the same secret. Whether what the evil thing showed was real or a distorted vision wouldn’t matter to Saul. David was certain of this.

“Can you handle the evil thing?”

For a long time, the only thing important to Saul was whether one could kill the evil thing or not. Nothing else mattered.

David looked at Saul.

Saul resembled their father. His thin, black hair that often became disheveled, his bloodless pale complexion, the prominent contours of his face, his thin body, and every small habitual mannerism were exactly like their father’s.

This became even more apparent as he fully matured. Yet despite the resemblance, Saul was not their father. Every time David met those blue eyes inherited from their father, he was newly reminded of this fact.

Unlike their father’s cold gaze, Saul’s eyes had always been kind. At least they were until they gradually became detached. Now his face showed neither affection nor expectation, but David knew Saul’s true nature. He was kind. Because of that kindness, he sometimes troubled others.

For this reason, David loved Saul but also hated him, depended on him but simultaneously distrusted him. Sometimes David couldn’t tell for whose sake Saul’s kindness was offered. 

There were moments when he couldn’t fully accept the kindness Saul extended. There were instances when things went wrong without anyone being at fault.

The two brothers who had harbored the same secret for a long time experienced such moments particularly often.