* * *
Sia, his impatience written plainly across his face, strode toward the castle.
Unlike the relatively tranquil duchy, the castle had a heavy, somber atmosphere.
He furrowed his brows before approaching the knights standing guard.
At the sudden appearance of a stranger, the knights tensed.
Noticing their wary reaction, Sia glanced over them and spotted a familiar face among them.
He smirked.
He had been prepared to reveal his identity and cause a scene if necessary to demand an audience with Haen.
But it seemed that wouldn’t be needed.
Ignoring the knights’ questions, Sia removed the ring—the sacred artifact that had been suppressing his presence.
The quiet man had yet to state his business, but as soon as he took off the ring, all the knights looked taken aback.
One knight in particular, Dean, stared in shock.
As the hazy features of the man before him shifted into something more familiar, Dean unconsciously parted his lips.
“…Sia?”
The boy whom Vivisian had once cherished had returned as a young man.
It was impossible to mistake that rare, pale pink hair and those cold, gray-blue eyes.
The tension in the air eased slightly, though considering eight years had passed, such a reaction wasn’t unexpected.
Sia, meeting Dean’s dazed gaze, smiled brightly.
“I’m relieved someone still remembers me.”
His soft voice, one that had once occasionally graced the castle halls, stirred something in Dean’s memory, snapping him back to his senses.
The young man standing before him was none other than the heir of the Grand Duchy—the one whom Vivisian had personally sent away.
Sia had suffered countless hardships simply because he was someone Vivisian had loved.
He had been sharp and sensitive, but as long as Vivisian was there, he had endured, believing that was all that mattered.
Any ordinary child would have long since broken down, begging for salvation.
But Sia had remained silent, enduring trials that should have shattered him.
So why had he come back now?
To seek retribution for the past?
Even setting that aside, the castle was already on edge due to the mysterious disappearance of Vivisian’s corpse.
And now, of all times, Sia had returned.
Dean swallowed dryly.
He could see that Sia had come alone, suggesting that this wasn’t an official visit.
But that only made it all the more unpredictable.
Struggling to keep his expression steady, Dean finally managed to speak.
“Why now…?”
“Oh, don’t be so nervous.”
Sia’s tone was pleasant, even affectionate on the surface.
But if one listened closely, there was a sharp undercurrent beneath his words—an unmistakable trace of malice.
Dean flinched as Sia’s gray-blue eyes curved in a smile, yet remained cold.
“My grandmother gave me permission to travel now that I’m an adult. So I thought I’d take the chance to ask Haen De Winter a few things about Vivi.”
Dean hesitated.
“Now isn’t a good time.”
“Why?”
Sia tilted his head, his expression unreadable.
His question, on the surface, seemed innocent.
Almost playful. But Dean couldn’t shake the unease curling in his gut.
“Tell me the reason. I need to hear it before I can decide whether to understand or keep arguing.”
Do you really want to keep going like this?
At the sharp tone of the question, Dean’s expression sank into resignation.
Considering the other person’s status, keeping things hidden wasn’t the right answer.
With a deep sigh, Dean revealed the truth about what had happened in the castle.
“The former duke’s body has disappeared.”
And the moment those words left his lips, Sia’s expression turned chillingly cold.
“…What?”
“Count De Winter had originally laid the former duke’s body to rest in the bedroom he used in life… but somehow, without a trace, it suddenly vanished.”
The shock lasted only a moment.
Almost immediately, Sia realized that there was a high possibility that Vivisian had left of his own will.
‘Vivi, let’s go far away together.’
Whenever his younger self had said those words, Vivi’s face would light up with joy.
The first time he ever saw him was also during a journey.
Despite his noble birth, Vivisian had always loved wandering from place to place.
If it was him, then rather than lingering in the place where he had been killed, he was far more likely to be roaming freely somewhere else.
With a face now much calmer, Sia sank into thought.
At the very least, Haen could not find out about this until Sia found Vivisian and took him back to the Principality.
With his expression cold as ice, Sia weighed his options.
Then, after making up his mind, he spoke slowly.
“…Then all the more reason for me to see Count De Winter.”
“You’ve been quiet all this time, and now you suddenly show up like this? That puts me in a difficult position.”
“And do you really think you have the right to complain, after making all the wrong choices?”
Sia let out a soft chuckle, as if amused by something absurd.
It was a perfectly gentle yet utterly impudent remark.
Dean couldn’t come up with any response.
After a brief hesitation, he admitted that it wasn’t his decision to make and told Sia to wait.
“Fine. I’ll wait right here, in a very good mood.”
Sia’s cheerful reply was laced with the unpleasant certainty that he already knew the answer.
A man who still wandered aimlessly, unable to let go of Vivisian’s corpse, wouldn’t be able to resist a bait like, “I have something to say about Vivi.”
And as expected, after disappearing into the castle for a few minutes, Dean returned with a reluctant confirmation.
With that, Sia followed Dean inside and headed to Haen’s office.
Even after eight years, the castle had remained exactly the same—except for the absence of the one person who had once made it warm.
Sia didn’t spare it a single glance.
He simply followed Dean in silence.
It seemed Haen still used the same office as before.
Dean led Sia into a familiar space.
And there, Haen greeted him with a composure that made it hard to believe the rumors of his madness.
Perhaps something had changed in him over the past eight years. His hair, a striking shade like molten gold, had grown long.
With his hair tied back and draped over one shoulder, and his attire unassuming for his status, he reminded Sia of someone.
That strange sense of déjà vu stirred open irritation in Sia, his beautiful face twisting into a scowl. But Haen remained unfazed.
“You were looking for me?”
He still treated Sia the same way, even knowing that he was no longer a mere commoner but the heir to the Merien Principality.
That kind of consistency was almost admirable.
Sia’s lips, which had been twisted in a sneer, slowly curled into a smirk.
“Yes, I was.”
“…Is this about Vivisian?”
“This is about Vivi.”
At the immediate reply, Haen fell silent for a moment.
Then, with a slight nod, he gestured to the empty sofa in front of him.
An invitation to sit.
Sia understood the gesture perfectly.
But he remained standing.
With his arms crossed and leaning against the doorframe, his stance made it obvious whose influence had shaped him.
Seeing this, Haen didn’t bother telling him to sit again. Instead, he sat down himself.
The result was an odd scene—the master of the room seated, while the guest remained standing.
It almost looked like the guest was unwelcome.
But in reality, it was the guest who was rejecting the host.
Sia turned his gaze away from Haen’s face, which soured his mood just by looking at it.
His eyes landed on the familiar garden beyond the window as he spoke.
“I heard Vivi’s body is missing.”
“Who told you that?”
“You drove Vivi to his death, and now you’ve lost his body, too. And that’s what you’re worried about right now?”
His tone made it clear—was Haen joking?
Haen’s lips pressed into a tight line.
For a moment, the guilt he had managed to forget slithered back, blackening a corner of his heart.
Seeing the cracks in Haen’s previously unshaken expression was satisfying.
But the fact that Haen’s distress was because of Vivisian… that, Sia did not like.
Sia had been watching him with open disdain.
But now, his face hardened.
He was about 80% sure that Vivisian was alive.
But that didn’t change the fact that he had died.
And that fact alone was enough to make Sia seethe with fury at the world.
His voice dripped with cold rage as he whispered, each word deliberate, each syllable laced with venom.
“Haen De Winter. Wake up. You didn’t just kill someone—you’ve been wallowing in self-pity over their corpse. And now, you’ve committed the ultimate atrocity of losing it after he finally found peace.”
“…It’s not like Vivi’s body disappeared because of me.”
Sia thought the way Haen casually referred to him as “Vivi” was absolutely revolting.
He scoffed.
“You don’t seriously believe that, do you? Because if you do… that would be, I don’t know… hilarious.”
Anything a person in power cherishes—be it a person, an object, or even an animal—always becomes a target.
And a corpse, with neither thoughts nor will of its own, could never protect itself.
Sia knew that better than anyone.
He laughed bitterly, remembering all the threats and temptations he had faced just for being someone Vivisian cared about.
He was furious.
But one thing was certain.
Vivisian’s body had suffered all manner of indignities because of Haen’s wretched, twisted obsession.
And since Sia’s words were undeniably true, Haen had nothing to say in return.
The man who had once spoken endlessly about Vivisian was now utterly silent.
And to Sia, there was nothing good about that silence.
* * *
