While David stared blankly, Saul seemed to belatedly realize that he had raised his voice. Looking at his younger brother who couldn’t take his eyes off him with a startled expression, Saul raised his hand to cover his eyes like hiding his face.

Then he apologized in a tone filled with deep regret and self-reproach.

“I’m sorry.”

I didn’t mean to get angry at you. Please forgive me… David listened quietly to the muttering voice, and only after a long while did he belatedly come to his senses and blink.

Seeing Saul take a long deep breath like trying to regain his composure, David frowned and dropped his shoulders.

I’ll forgive you. David muttered weakly. And he too soon regretted raising his voice, wiping his face with his hand. However, his unsettled heart wouldn’t easily calm down. Ahem. He cleared his throat once for no reason.

“I too… am the same. I shouldn’t have done that.”

David then opened his mouth to seek forgiveness for his wrongdoing. However, he couldn’t continue his words. This was because Saul, who had dropped the hand covering his eyes, shook his head. After exhaling deeply, Saul said to David.

“It seems one of us seeking forgiveness will be enough.”

I know all of this was my fault from the beginning. Speaking in a sighing tone, Saul gripped David’s shoulder once with a somewhat heavy touch and then let go.

The argument between the two brothers that had erupted in an instant ended like that. As the intensely heated atmosphere subsided and entered a lull, an awkward silence lingered between the two for a while.

Neither Saul nor David opened their mouths. The two brothers stood there blankly for quite some time without being able to meet each other’s eyes.

However, this didn’t last very long. Both of them knew they didn’t have much time given to them. David, who had been glancing at Saul’s noticeably darkened face, saw Saul’s lips moving hesitantly. And he intuitively realized that Saul had decided to confess something.

“The evil thing has tampered with Catherine’s memories…”

David’s guess was correct. Not long after, Saul opened his mouth while slowly caressing his gaunt, prominent chin with his hand. The hand that had traced the path up to below his ears slowly fell. And soon stopped.

David saw the stopped middle and ring fingers remaining at the edge of his chin like pushing it away, and the index finger above them lightly tapping Saul’s thin lips. It settled there for a while, then fell down with Saul’s movement of blinking and raising his head. Saul asked.

“Haven’t you ever thought it strange?”

At Saul’s question, David also blinked. Eyes of similar color gazed at each other. David, who had been lost in thought while looking into Saul’s eyes, suddenly realized something was strange and frowned.

“Seeing how it’s trying to hold on even by tampering with memories, it’s obsessed.”

When Samuel learned that the evil thing had tampered with Catherine’s memories, he had said that. At the time, David had been too bewildered to think deeply about it, but looking back carefully, there were points that didn’t match what he knew.

The essence of evil things was ‘desire.’ At the root of their coveting immortality lay desire. The desires of evil things were each different, but they were always the same in being faithful to their desires.

Evil things, being faithful to desire, also reacted sensitively to others’ desires. They saw through others’ desires. Thus, they would tempt others with the words they most desperately wanted to hear, leading those who were tempted to ruin… in order to covet the ‘vessel’ to contain their souls, the finite beings’ possessions they willingly cast away.

Because of this, David had thought that the evil thing tampering with Catherine’s memories was a trace left while tempting Catherine.

Since Catherine was young and beautiful, he had mistakenly thought she was sufficiently worth coveting. But… looking back, tampering with memories was definitely strange. Because…

“The evil thing that exists in Cavendish.”

“Is obsessed with Cavendish blood.”

Saul, taking up David’s unconscious muttering, nodded like asking if he finally understood.

Saul’s point was correct. The desires of evil things each had their own reasons. Though the reason was unknown, the evil thing existing in Cavendish was obsessed with ‘Cavendish blood.’ 

The incidents that occurred during the brothers’ childhood were the same. Though young David at the time couldn’t remember, Saul remembered clearly. The evil thing tempting those around them to threaten young David, and trying to tempt young David himself, were all for one reason.

“Though evil things don’t only tempt those who belong to the category they’re obsessed with…”

Evil things had categories they were obsessed with. Those who belonged to that category were vessels, and all those who didn’t were obstacles. Like… Suddenly, Saul, who had been looking at David, dropped his gaze.

Puzzled by the voice that suddenly stopped, David stared at Saul’s shadowed face, not knowing what he was thinking. Then he lowered his gaze to Saul’s hands, which repeatedly clenched and opened like trying to grasp something.

Like doing it unconsciously, Saul continued this for a while. Saul, who had been lost in thought, seemed to belatedly realize David was watching and stopped his movement. And he stopped for good after clenching his hand once more with strength.

“It would be impossible to be obsessed with someone outside the category.”

Looking down at his gloved hands, Saul muttered.

Saul recalled the figure of someone he couldn’t save long ago. Deceived by the evil thing, ultimately unable to save… his mother. Vague images that were difficult to distinguish clearly rose like impurities.

Saul swallowed them with a bitter smile and raised his head. Then he looked at his grown younger brother standing before him.

Unlike Saul who resembled their father, David resembled his mother. His brilliantly shining golden hair and faithful nature were so, but his noble and neat eyes especially reminded him of the mother remaining in Saul’s childhood memories.

The mother he remembered wasn’t someone who suited Cavendish. Originally, she wasn’t someone who would have had any connection with Cavendish either. If Saul had been a little more cautious, she might still be alive. Perhaps they might have met in a relationship other than mother and son.

He might have been able to ask after her well-being in small talk like with people from other families, and hear stories of her living an ordinary life.

If that had been the case… there would have been no cherishing him fondly, and no birth of David either. Saul shook his head lightly to shake off his thoughts.

“I don’t understand.”

David spoke like he had been waiting for Saul to emerge from his thoughts. In fact, he too seemed to have been thinking about what Saul had said all along.

Perhaps his head was throbbing, as David rubbed the area around his brow bone with his knuckles a few times before dropping his hand. Frowning, David said.

“But the evil thing is actually obsessed with Catherine.”

The evil thing couldn’t possibly be mistaken about something… His words that had been continuing unconsciously soon stopped. David suddenly blinked, recalling something. 

David’s gaze, which had fallen in thought, shot up. It turned toward Saul. David’s trembling gaze fixed on Saul.

“…That’s not it, is it?”

David whispered. Saul didn’t ask what he should deny. This was because David’s whispering voice was trembling helplessly. Because he understood the confusion and anxiety mixed in that voice.

Instead of answering, Saul quietly closed his eyes and opened them. He knew that David had found the complete answer.

And David, who had been facing Saul, also realized that he had found the answer. David’s mouth moved wordlessly. Words wouldn’t come out. Truly, he couldn’t believe this was the right answer.

Surely this couldn’t be… David barely managed to say that much without even realizing he was contorting his face. The voice that followed was scattered so messily it was almost incomprehensible.

“Catherine… the reason you can’t meet…”

Even that couldn’t be completed and stopped. David absolutely couldn’t voice what he had realized.

He raised his hand to cover his eyes. His throat choked up. David finally completely understood why Saul had made such a request of him.

His throat moved greatly as he swallowed the dry air. David inhaled enough to fill his chest. 

Then, hoping that Saul would deny that he had misunderstood even now, he dropped his hand and looked at Saul.

What would you have me deny? But the moment he met Saul’s gaze, he knew. The somewhat dry rising gaze told him. That he already knew the answer. With that characteristically dry expression, Saul’s calm attitude of quietly looking at David was the answer to all of it.

That’s my desire. The sound of Saul exhaling lightly once, the words he spoke brushed David’s ears.

“Yes… because I love Catherine.”

The evil thing is obsessed with Catherine. Foolishly mistaking what’s mine for its own. It’s imitating me and craving love from Catherine…

Saul’s voice continued, but no words entered his ears. Not because he couldn’t understand what Saul was saying. Rather, he knew too clearly. And despite understanding David’s confusion, Saul still said this.

“Now, will you grant my request?”