He raised his finger without even looking and pointed toward Henry.
"You too. A little kid. Don't worry—there's no discrimination here… everyone is a child equally."
Henry froze in place, muttering to himself as if trying to make sure his ears hadn't betrayed him.
"He's… twenty years old? Seriously?"
Roger suddenly burst out laughing, slamming his hand on the table.
"Haha! That explains why he acts like a young clown! The younger Adam… this is amazing!"
As for Colton, he merely raised an eyebrow and muttered coldly, with a hint of mockery,
"Younger… and more dangerous. A troublesome combination."
A short, heavy silence followed, while Adam kept smiling as if the information were nothing more than a small game he had tossed onto the table, just to watch how the waters around it would tremble.
Adam then stood up with theatrical elegance, lifting his shoulders like a prince on a stage, and spoke in a formal tone.
"I'll be turning twenty-one in the ninth month. As for now—"
"He's lying again," Roger muttered, but Adam ignored him. He slowly turned his head and stared at Kayden with narrowed eyes, as if interrogating a dangerous criminal.
"And how old are you?"
Kayden hesitated briefly before answering,
"Twenty-two."
Adam froze for just a single second, then let out a long, overly dramatic sigh and shook his head in exaggerated sorrow. He raised his hand in a mocking gesture, as if brushing filthy dust off his clothes.
"So I'm sitting with a retirement home crowd, then. You're in a completely different social category now. It's simply not fitting for me to hang out with the elderly… I can feel my social standing collapsing just by sitting next to you! Of course, I don't mean Roger—nor Colton."
Without waiting for a response, he waved at Roger as a final farewell, then turned and walked away at a brisk pace, like someone fleeing from a scandal.
The remaining three stayed silent for a moment, watching his back as he disappeared into the crowd.
Henry whispered slowly, eyes wide. "Did he just… insult us? Because of our age?"
Kayden shook his head. "That's correct."
Roger suddenly laughed, slamming the table so hard the cups shook. "Hahaha! Oh my god! Retirement home! I can't…!"
Colton, on the other hand, pressed his temples as if trying to fend off a headache.
" I've confirmed it now… we're living in utter absurdity."
Meanwhile, Adam smiled a quiet triumphant smile, patting his empty pocket lightly.
'Brilliant… I didn't pay a thing, even though I ordered everything on the menu. I'm a genius!'
Inside the Price family house, silence filled the room. Only the sound of a quill gliding over paper could be heard.
Colton sat in the corner, watching his master write with unwavering focus.
Even as a high-level demon, almost perfect among creatures, humans always unsettled me.
'What makes them different? What makes them… special?'
Since stepping into this house, Colton had immersed himself in books, devouring history, philosophy, and even human myths. Slowly, a conviction took root in his mind:
Knowledge is the real weapon.
Yet, every time he looked at his master, he wondered:
Was that same knowledge what once destroyed him?
Kayden in front of him wasn't just a man writing; he was something else. Something larger than this world—or perhaps something exiled from it.
For the first time, I feel my anxiety isn't from ignorance… but from knowing too much.
'Humans fear what they don't know… so why do I, despite all my knowledge, feel this disturbance?'
He exhaled slowly, then spoke in a low voice, almost a whisper.
"My Lord… I've been sorrowful over what happened to Fiona."
He paused, testing Kayden's reaction, then added slowly,
"And will you not grieve for the one I will hunt next?"
Kayden stopped writing, raising his head slowly to look at Colton.
"Sorrowful?" he murmured coldly, tilting his head slightly.
"No… I've never been sorrowful. She merely had an ability that affected me for a moment, like reading a sad novel. You feel it briefly… then turn the page and continue your life."
He extended his hands toward Colton with a vague gesture.
"As for the other… if he dies? Then his role is over. His time is up. You happened to be there, and that alone… is reason enough."
A silence fell for a moment before his voice deepened, heavy, almost like an eternal decree.
"This is how it goes… the weak are devoured, the strong take everything. In the forest, the lion does not ask, does not pity; it rules. Predators do not cry as they consume others—they feed. Simple… endless cycle. This is life."
He paused, a faint smile on his face, as if recounting a cosmic truth beyond debate.
"We take meat from cows, from beings that devour plants—they too eat to survive. Everyone fights for something: food, survival, dominance… all part of the system."
Colton shivered, unwilling to admit it.
My Lord's words are not mere philosophy… they're closer to a declaration of true identity… an identity beyond humans or demons, something that transcends both.
Kayden's eyes locked onto Colton's, and he sighed.
"Think carefully… you'll see it's natural. Perfectly natural."
Colton shook his head slowly, as if trying to drag his mind toward a logic he could not fully accept.
Kayden smiled calmly, yet there was something else in it. His voice lowered, almost a whisper.
"Everyone is a monster, Colton… even you."
He stepped forward, closing the distance between them.
"The only difference? The true monster… knows how to smile."
He pointed to his mouth slowly, grinned widely, then paused and looked down at the floor.
"The monster knows how to hide its fangs beneath a fake kindness, how to greet politely, shake hands with everyone warmly… while inside, it only thinks of devouring them."
Colton nodded, this time with a slow understanding, then whispered,
"Like Adam? And Lord Airton?"
The room froze.
Kayden's focus shifted; no longer on the papers or Colton's presence alone, he slowly lifted his gaze, as if caught off guard. Turning fully toward Colton, his eyes narrowed slightly, voice hesitant yet sharp between the lines:
"Adam?… and why Airton?"
Colton thought for a moment, his expression frozen in heavy silence before he spoke in a measured tone:
"He is strong… I don't think he knows the path of mercy, and that alone makes him a dangerous opponent… yet interesting. As for Airton, he's undoubtedly the most dangerous; watch how he moves, how he smiles… as if wearing an unbreakable iron mask. Then… what about you?"
He raised his eyes to Kayden with curiosity, studying him as if trying to catch an invisible thread that would reveal his inner truth.
Kayden exhaled slowly, his voice heavy with thoughts deeper than the question itself:
"Me?… I don't know. All I want now is to reach a higher level… then find a way back to my homeland."
He spoke calmly, yet with a hidden longing and weight too difficult to voice.
Colton leaned back in his chair, eyes wandering toward the ceiling as if searching for words. He murmured softly, barely audible:
Something is missing… this is bad. What you lack is drive.
The next morning, Kayden did not go to work.
He chose to stay home, surrounded by piles of papers and notes covering the table, immersed in completing the remainder of his research.
Fortunately for him, it was the weekend. He felt a small sense of gratitude for the coincidence and allowed himself a little laziness, without any pangs of guilt chasing him.
Yet, as circumstances often do, Kayden's peace was short-lived.
Henry came seeking his help with something, and due to his persistent insistence, Kayden had no choice but to agree, despite his clear reluctance.
With a mysterious smile, he pretended he was about to summon a "friend" for assistance.
It wasn't long before Colton arrived, carrying his usual poise and elegance, which made him seem like a distinguished guest entirely out of place in this house.
Kayden pointed at Henry and spoke casually,
"He wants to meditate… and he wants to learn how to enter a deeper state of stillness and focus, and how to control the flow of his energy."
Colton shifted his gaze from Henry to Kayden, then nodded silently, as if agreeing without words. He sat calmly and began to explain, his voice patient and gentle, his movements precise and deliberate.
To his surprise, Henry was learning at an astonishing speed, absorbing the instructions and applying them as if he had practiced them before.
'This family is truly annoying' , Colton thought coldly, hiding his irritation behind his composed expression.
Colton continued to explain, showing Henry the basics of entering a deeper layer of meditation, where the mind becomes a tool for inner focus, and the soul draws closer to its essence.
As time passed, Kayden began to lose his patience gradually.
"When will this boring stage end?" he muttered, his voice tense, staring at his brother sitting with closed eyes, his face as still as a stone.
"This is taking far too long… I feel like I'm tending to something fragile, something that could break at any moment!"
Kayden paced back and forth, his steps short and quick, as if trying to contain his growing boredom. With each round, his voice rose, creating a bizarre mix of Henry's serene meditation, Colton's strict patience, and Kayden's barely-contained frustration.
Before long, Henry finished his session. He opened his eyes slowly and saw his brother circling around him like a caged animal, muttering incomprehensible words at times, and sometimes raising his voice as if scolding unseen ghosts.
"Are… you okay?" Henry asked, a mixture of surprise and concern on his face.
"I'm fine!" Kayden replied, his voice louder than necessary, without stopping his pacing.
"But I'm bored to death! It's like being trapped in a pointless game… just waiting aimlessly!"
Henry remained silent for a moment, then suddenly moved, walking in the opposite direction of Kayden's circles, his steps calculated and deliberate, until they looked like two dancers in a ridiculous performance.
Colton stood between them, silent, eyes moving from one to the other, then to the ceiling, as if searching for a heavenly explanation for what he was witnessing. Eventually, he chose to surrender to silence; the situation was beyond logical analysis.
"Why are you mimicking me?" Kayden asked, a mix of amusement and sharpness in his expression.
Henry replied with an odd seriousness,
"You're acting unnaturally right now, so I'm trying to imitate you… so you understand how I feel. Strange, isn't it? Don't you see… it's impolite?"
Kayden paused, tempted to provoke a quarrel just to vent his fiery tension. But he restrained the urge, swallowing it with a heavy silence.
Later… with someone else, I'll provoke a fight. That will be far more entertaining, he thought.
Colton sat on the floor, placing his hands on his head and exhaling deeply, as if appealing to the last shred of sanity he possessed.
' My great lord… please, stop moving' , he murmured internally, feeling the headache intensify with each of Kayden's circling steps.
It wasn't long before the door burst open, and Isabel entered, her features tight with worry and annoyance.
"What on earth are you doing?!" she shouted sharply, her eyes darting between Kayden and Henry.
"Why are you scaring your friend like this? Oh my god! This is the first time in ages that you've brought someone into the house, and instead of showing proper hospitality, you act like children! Have you forgotten how polite people behave?!"
Before the tension could subside, George appeared from behind the door, having witnessed almost the entire scene. He raised his eyebrows with a smile tinged with amusement and asked his mother, who stood beside him,
"What's going on here?"
Henry answered with an almost excessive innocence, as if explaining something perfectly ordinary:
"We were bored… that's all."
George turned to Colton, who was still sitting on the floor, pale as if half his soul had evaporated into the air. He tilted his head toward his mother and whispered sarcastically,
"That… is a friend?"
Isabel nodded briefly, then leaned slightly to quietly explain to him what she knew about Colton from Roger, speaking softly so as not to embarrass anyone.
George raised his voice again, genuinely curious,
"But why are you bored at all?! Isn't working with Airton already chaotic and full of action?"
Colton remained silent, sitting on the floor, observing the exchange with detached composure, he thought to himself. ' These humans… they are endlessly chaotic…'