Isabelle only offered a sly smile and a playful wink, as if keeping a delicious little secret she had no intention of sharing.
Roger burst out laughing, while Adele covered her mouth in a failed attempt to hide her amusement. Arthur, on the other hand, could only sigh and look away in resignation.
"The power system will be explained in detail later," Isabelle continued firmly. "For now, you're both in the Spirit Birth stage. You must proceed carefully—no recklessness, no foolishness."
Then she gestured decisively,
"George will oversee Henry's training. And as for Kaiden…" she turned her gaze toward Roger,
"You'll be in charge of him."
She sat back with confidence and pride as if she'd just closed a big file successfully, then quickly returned to her usual teasing with Arthur—tapping his shoulder and pulling his cup to take a sip.
Kaiden, meanwhile, sat quietly in a side chair, staring at the candles slowly melting on the cake. This world wasn't like his own, and this family wasn't like his family… yet for the first time, he felt—that he wasn't completely alone.
After the cake was eaten, Kayden and Henry slipped out of the party quietly, away from the noise and the eyes, and headed toward the town's backstreets where the lamp light mixed with the cold night breeze.
"We'll definitely find Adam tonight."
"I hope so. I'm thinking of buying a corpse illegally," Kayden muttered under his breath.
Henry raised an eyebrow in surprise, then glanced at him sideways. "Are you going back to studying hybridization?"
Kayden shook his head cautiously. "No… I just want to see how a spiritual core reacts if it's destroyed completely."
They walked side by side through the alleys, their footsteps echoing lightly on the cobblestones. Suddenly Henry stopped, as if remembering something. "Kayden… aren't people with supernatural powers supposed to be rare?"
"Yes…" Kayden answered calmly.
Henry spoke hesitantly but with a deep intuition, "I've been thinking… what if Adam kills those supernaturals? Then sells their parts as ordinary corpses?"
A chill ran through Kayden — the idea wasn't impossible… but it was dark. "I don't think so. Maybe… he's just an obsessed graverobber, nothing more."
"We should ask him directly," Henry said, pulling up his coat collar.
A few minutes later they arrived at an old tavern. Its light was dim and the music barely audible. The place felt somewhat familiar, especially to Henry, who, upon entering, was recognized by some of the patrons.
"Henry! There's someone who looks exactly like you!" someone from the corner shouted.
Henry smiled and motioned to Kayden. "He's my twin, Kayden."
He began introducing him to the others one by one, amid an atmosphere of warmth and familiarity. Kayden felt he liked this place.
Henry approached the barkeep and placed some gold coins on the table. "Has Adam been through here recently?"
The man glanced at the coins first, then replied, "He hasn't shown up since the last time I saw him…"
"Oh… that's disappointing," Kayden said with a sigh of frustration.
From a neighboring table, a thin man with a fox-like look intervened, his voice low but clear. "If you're looking for Adam… I advise caution."
Kayden turned to him with curiosity, and the man continued, "That man is completely mad. Sometimes you see him talking to himself, and other times he does things that defy nature and reason. The Church hasn't punished him directly, though they know of his actions. They say he gambles with people's souls… his reputation is terrible, very bad."
Then he pointed at Kayden, adding in a half-mocking tone, "As for you, your golden reputation here is nothing compared to his."
Kayden, taken aback by the remark, frowned and retorted sarcastically, "Me? Oh, damn whoever spread those rumors."
Kayden sat on the chair beside him and began recounting some facts.
The man laughed, then offered a sly suggestion, "So, if you want to spread a new rumor… juicy, true or not, just tell me. I have people who can spread it faster than you can imagine."
Henry watched them and became witness to the deal.
The man then leaned back slightly and added in a warning tone, "And finally, it's my advice… if you meet Adam, never play with him. Don't gamble, don't bet, don't challenge him."
Kayden raised a brow. "Why?"
"He's cursed. His bad luck might rub off on you."
"I don't need any more bad luck… right?" Kayden glanced at Henry and asked.
"That's true. You already suffer from plenty…" Henry replied.
After a few rounds of drinking, Kayden struck a deal with the man to spread some rumors later. On their way back, Kayden began talking about his hybridization project.
"Actually, the project was never meant for humans. That would cause… complications. But I did throw around a few ideas before!"
Henry let out a worried sigh, his concern obvious. "You know… that's completely unethical."
Kayden laughed softly, his tone a mix of sarcasm and regret. "That's why I started with plants. Just experiments on insect-eating flowers , poisonous flowers… and some poisonous fungi. Nothing really harmful. But it failed — and the worst part? That girl stole the research, even though it wasn't finished."
Henry asked, curiosity mixed with a sense of impending doom, "So what's the completed research, then?"
Kayden smiled coldly. "Human gene modification."
A shiver ran down Henry's spine. He tried to hide his anxiety behind a shaky joke. "You're a menace… am I going to need to study more medicine because of you?"
"I'm going to tell you," Kayden said excitedly. "Alright, the whole thing is that I ran a few more experiments on additional plants. After that, I accidentally discovered that some of these hybrid plants produce pollen that causes strange changes in humans who are exposed to it… for example, it makes pregnant women give birth to babies with deep blue eyes."
"Did you test that on humans?" Henry asked, frozen in place.
Kayden shook his head, but then added in a more serious tone, "But it happened… by accident. There was a woman who was exposed to that pollen, and she gave birth to a child. Today, he's a year old and in perfect health — even Colton confirmed it."
Kayden remembered his first instructional conversation with Colton; how the latter became flustered while reading the research.
"I can't believe this… you have to publish this!" Henry said, trying to hide the awe in his voice.
On the way back, Henry wouldn't stop trying to convince him, while Kayden remained hesitant, promising he would think about it.
Near the house, Kayden recognized the man standing nearby — none other than Mr. Ayrton. "…?"
"He's our father's friend," Kayden whispered, greeting him. Henry did the same.
"Congratulations to both of you for obtaining a spiritual essence," Ayrton said, looking between them, trying to spot a difference but failing. He simply pointed toward Henry. "You need to meditate a lot."
Henry thanked him for the advice. "I've already started."
"That's good. May I ask Kayden something? It's about… suicide."
Henry smiled faintly before leaving. "Don't pressure him too much."
'I want to go home too,' Kayden thought with a hint of sadness as he watched his brother walk away.
"Yes?" Kayden asked calmly.
"Do you want to join us?" Ayrton asked sincerely.
Kayden pretended to think, then shook his head. "No, I don't have much time."
"How is that possible?" Ayrton stepped in front of him. "Think about it for a moment. You didn't even consider it."
"But I'm extremely busy."
"You'll receive a high salary!"
Kayden raised a brow in feigned surprise. "Is that so?"
"Yes, you can even bring your brother!"
Kayden placed a hand over his mouth as if in deep thought. "I'll think about it."
When Kayden returned home, he went upstairs to his room, only to find Colton staring at him as if he had committed a crime. "You shouldn't be too easy, Colton! You need to act hard to get—make him feel like he actually needs you. Don't make him feel like you're already agreeing."
But Colton changed the subject immediately. "Open the gifts."
Kayden opened the gifts; most of them were books. One of them was from Roger, and he really liked it. Colton took the rest without a word.
The next day, during lunch, strange and unsettling news began to spread everywhere. Even Isabelle, who was known for avoiding gossip, couldn't stay silent. She spoke about it: "I heard about a bizarre murder… they said a man was found dead, but… the strange part is that his body had fungi and wilted flowers growing inside it."
Kayden's hand froze, and the piece of bread slipped from between his fingers onto the table. He looked up to find Henry staring at him with questioning eyes.
A heavy moment passed, as if it dragged back into his chest the urge to end his life — the urge he thought had died.
'I want to kill myself and end this.'
Kayden whispered bitterly, as if confessing to a disaster, "It's… Arbella." Then he exhaled deeply, his voice dripping with frustration. "That damn thief."
"What are you going to do? Someone might come to question you!" Henry asked in a low voice.
Kayden replied calmly, though he hid his fear, "I'll deny everything."
Only a few hours passed before Ayrton came himself, and without drawing attention, quietly took Kayden to his office. Ayrton's voice was heavy with anger and disappointment as he spoke:
"You're the only lunatic who would dare write research like this. Kayden… tell me now, what did you hide?"
But Kayden only shook his head lightly, as if he had expected this moment. "I'll tell you the truth."
Ayrton stepped back, his eyes narrowing in genuine shock.
"Why do you always confess so quickly?! Don't you know how to maneuver? To lie?"
Kayden gave a faint smile and spoke with more sincerity than Ayrton ever expected. "I don't want to make things worse for you, sir."
Ayrton sat down, his expression stern. Kayden explained that whoever took the research had only managed to get the incomplete version — a version impossible to finish or understand.
"And why is it impossible to finish?" Ayrton asked, his tone thick with suspicion.
Kayden answered slowly, as if weighing each word. "Because the nature of those plants rejects coexistence. Their chemical and spiritual properties don't allow them to fully grow inside a living human body. It's… unnatural."
Silence settled for a few seconds before Ayrton suddenly stood up, grabbed his coat, and cast a stern look at Kayden. "You still refuse to join us?"
Kayden hesitated for a moment, then spoke with a seriousness untouched by his calm tone.
"I can't, sir. Maybe I should speak with my father first… before taking a step like this."
Ayrton didn't comment; he merely said one thing as he headed for the door:
"Follow me."
Both of them got into the carriage, sinking into a heavy silence. The clatter of the horses' hooves against the rocky road was the only sound breaking the stillness. Kayden used the moment to think — his thoughts crowding, his eyes watching the scenery melting away as they approached the forest.
The scent of moisture and decaying wood began seeping into the carriage, carrying with it a creeping chill.
After a short distance, the carriage stopped at the forest's entrance. The two of them walked between the dark trees until they reached the crime scene.
There, Kayden's steps halted for a moment as he took it in.
The corpse looked as if it were part of some demonic stage performance, not an ordinary murder.
A man completely naked, his skin pale and tinged with gray as if drained of blood, tied tightly with ropes to the trunk of a tree. The tree's branches stretched over him like twisted arms, as though blessing what had happened—or bearing witness to it.
The man's eyes were half-open, staring into a cold emptiness, while from his frozen mouth there seemed to be remnants of something plant-like and dry… thin strands resembling dead roots.
It wasn't just a corpse. It was a horrifying tableau painted jointly by death and silence.
The body had been arranged in a strange posture, almost like an inverted sacred ritual.
His knees were bent as if in prostration, and his hands were bound tightly to his chest, like someone begging for a final mercy. His head had been forced upward, held in place by coarse black strings preventing it from falling, making it appear as though the corpse insisted on keeping its gaze raised toward the sky.
His chest had been torn open with brutality—a long wound, split in a crude, primitive manner. It didn't suggest science, but rather ritual… or sacrifice.
From the cavity emerged dark violet flowers and fungi, wilted yet still retaining a vicious shape.
Kayden stepped forward quietly, his eyes never leaving the scene.
Between the edges of the split chest, he noticed that the heart looked charred… burned from the inside, as if hidden flames had devoured it while it was still beating.
And on the dead man's lips, there were traces of a sticky brown liquid, slightly glistening under the light—closer to a toxic plant extract than to blood or vomit.
Kayden paused for a moment, then said to Ayrton, "Bring Henry. He needs to see this."