— At the Gates of the Truth —
To clear his name, Eren had to uncover the truth behind the Veyne family massacre. And Arden Kairos, the city's Director of Police, undoubtedly held the most detailed records.
Thus, Eren decided to visit the Kairos Manor.
When Eren stepped into the manor, the family patriarch, Reginald Kairos, was already waiting in the hall. Seeing him, the old man's face lit up with a hearty smile. "Young friend Eren, you've come! Please, have a seat!"
Eren wasn't surprised Reginald knew his name—Nadia must have mentioned him beforehand.
Reginald appeared to be in his seventies, his hair silver like frost, yet his spirit burned bright, like the rising sun.
"You must be in some kind of trouble to come all this way. Don't stand on ceremony—if this old man can help, he will."
Eren didn't beat around the bush. "I assume you've heard about my situation. I need the detailed case files for the Veyne murders."
"No problem," Reginald agreed readily. "I'll have Arden bring them to you at once."
In less than half an hour, Arden Kairos arrived in a hurry, carrying several thick document folders. After exchanging pleasantries with Eren, he said, "Mr. Eren, here are the materials you requested. Security footage, forensic reports, weapon analysis—everything is inside."
"Thank you, Chief Arden."
Eren accepted the files, a flicker of hope stirring within him—perhaps the key to his innocence lay within.
Arden shook his head with a smile. "You're too polite, Mr. Eren. You've accomplished so much for the Vigil-Wyrm Order. This small matter is nothing."
Reginald, however, spoke with a heavy, fiery tone. "Young friend Eren, this old man knows you've been wronged. Investigate freely. Whatever you need, just ask. Someone like you should never suffer such injustice. If I find out who framed you with murder—I will not allow such a crime to go unanswered."
Touched by his blunt righteousness, Eren smiled slightly. "Thank you, Sir. I will uncover the truth and bring everything to light."
Watching Eren depart, Reginald said gravely to his son, Arden, "That young man stayed calm even behind bars—truly remarkable. If our Kairos descendants had someone like him, our family could remain prosperous for at least another fifty years."
— Threads of Truth —
The prison — luxury single cell.
A sparse room housing only Eren, arranged by Warden Kane to at least include a light, a desk, and ventilation.
Eren sat at the desk, meticulously reviewing the case files for the Veyne massacre.
The stack of photos, videos, and reports was like sharp blades, forcing his brow into a deeper and deeper furrow.
For a moment, even he almost believed it: the killer truly seemed to be him.
The footage showed him, drunk, being led into a guest room at the Veyne mansion that evening.
It was the only room in the entire estate without a surveillance camera.
No one knew what happened next.
Until late at night—
The guest room door opened, and Eren walked out.
A faint, peculiar fragrance permeated the entire manor.
It was lingering, subtle, yet inducing a mental haze.
On camera, servants, guards, and guests alike collapsed one by one, like puppets whose strings had been cut, their eyes vacant.
Some fell in corridors, others slumped over dining tables, a few by the windowsills.
Then—
Eren, in the video, walked coldly through every room, a dagger in his hand.
Over thirty lives were extinguished in the footage.
He finally appeared outside Lyra's door and pushed it open.
After that, the surveillance feed cut out.
He didn't reappear until the police stormed in and took him away.
Eren closed the file, his expression grim.
He had never felt such a distinct, disorienting fear.
—That wasn't him.
—That absolutely was not him.
"Damien Vale..." Eren murmured the name, a cold light in his eyes. "You truly have capable people around you. This frame-up is almost perfect. The man I was before would have died here."
He reopened the file, carefully comparing each photo again.
Suddenly, his finger stopped on one particular image.
It was a corpse.
Lucien Veyne—Lyra's father, the head of the Veyne family.
In the photo, Lucien's face was a bloody, mangled mess, barely recognizable as human.
And this was the one anomaly in the entire case.
Why, among over thirty bodies, was his face the only one destroyed?
The official police explanation: the killer was psychologically disturbed.
But Eren wasn't buying it.
"Disfigurement... to hide his identity... or was it a body double?"
A spark of connection flashed in his mind, threads of reasoning rapidly linking together.
A moment later, he picked up the phone and dialed Arden's number.
"Director Arden," Eren said gravely. "I suspect there's an issue with Lucien Veyne's corpse. Please arrange for another DNA test. Check if that body—is really him."
Hanging up, he leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples.
A wave of exhaustion and a stifling sense of powerlessness washed over him.
—Damien Vale's schemes ran too deep.
This wasn't a simple conspiracy, but an elaborate tapestry woven from illusion and lies.
The night deepened, the cell's single bulb casting a pale yellow glow.
He closed his eyes, waiting in the silence.
He didn't know how much time had passed when the phone rang abruptly.
He snatched it up immediately.
"Mr. Eren," Arden's voice carried a trace of excitement. "Your suspicion was correct! The disfigured corpse doesn't belong to Lucien Veyne! The DNA shows no relation to Lyra or any other Veyne family member. Lucien... might still be alive!"
Eren's eyes snapped open.
For the first time in what felt like ages, a light ignited in their depths.
"Just as I thought..." he whispered, a slow smile spreading across his lips. "Lucien Veyne—so you're the key to this whole charade."
He immediately called Darius, his voice firm and low.
"Tomorrow, find a way to get me one of Lyra's hairs. I need to perform a a bloodline-tracking technique to locate Lucien Veyne."
Ending the call, Eren closed his eyes again, taking a deep breath to steady the turmoil within.
—Perhaps tomorrow, he could clear his name.
—Perhaps tomorrow, the truth would be unveiled.