"Get out! Get out! Get out!"
The hoarse voice repeated endlessly, echoing in the confined space as if it sought to become a prison that suffocated Lucian’s existence. The surrounding air grew increasingly cold and damp, so it felt like it could freeze anyone instantly.
Lucian gazed at the countless eyes with an indescribable expression. "Sister, don’t you recognize me anymore? Sister..."
Tears welled up and streamed down his face as he spoke, falling to the ground and transforming into pearl-like beads scattered across the floor. Their tiny sounds seemed almost insignificant against the relentless curses filling the space. Yet, a miracle occurred — the cursing gradually faded, leaving only the wide, unblinking eyes staring at Lucian, their gaze filled with greed so intense it seemed they wanted to devour him whole.
"Sister, can’t you come back? I miss you so much... How can I make you and our parents reconcile?" Lucian looked at the terrifying eyes before him with innocent eyes and asked softly, like a child yearning for a complete family.
"You killed Lucian. You’ve got a new face now — and I won’t deny it, it’s a face that stirs people’s greed — but you killed. You’re no different from our parents. You’re no longer my brother. Every last one of William’s family deserves to die!"
The harsh voice rang out, condemning Lucian’s sins.
Yet in the face of these accusations, Lucian tilted his head in confusion, his blue eyes filled with innocence: "But... Sister, you killed too. Why is it that you and our parents can kill, but I can’t?"
His blue eyes were genuinely pure and sincere, showing no awareness that his words were anything but normal. It was as if Lucian was still that same little boy from years ago, foolishly trailing behind her, unaware of fear.
"They corrupted you, Lucian!"
The voice was full of sorrow and anguish. The eyes reflected a growing fury, though the anger was no longer directed at Lucian this time.
"Sister... Why did you disappear? Why don’t our parents remember you? Why... why do I hate you so much..."
As he spoke, Lucian reached out toward the painting filled with countless eyes as if trying to tear it apart with one hand. His eyes gleamed with a strange light, almost as if he were under some spell.
However, he squeezed his eyes shut, then snapped them open again, shaking his head violently. He staggered backward, looking at his hand with horror as if unable to comprehend why he acted that way.
"It’s not your fault, Lucian. It’s all their fault! It’s your parents’ fault!"
Elena’s harsh voice rang out again. Lucian lifted his head to look at her, a strange glint in his eyes: "My parents... aren’t they your parents too?"
Elena screamed: "After everything they did, they’re nothing but trash!"
Her voice was so strained it sounded as if her throat had torn apart. The eyes in the painting widened, bleeding fresh blood that flowed toward Lucian. A sudden violent windstorm erupted, sending objects flying and filling the room with deafening noise as if the entire place could collapse.
Lucian instinctively backed away, seemingly frightened by Elena’s violent reaction.
The eyes in the painting rolled and shifted, some narrowing as if scheming something. Then, Elena’s voice echoed again, softer than ever: "Only you can help me, Lucian. Right now, you’re my only hope."
Lucian took a step forward: "But I need to know everything. I... Whenever I get close to our parents, I become... different..."
The eyes narrowed, their pupils constantly shifting, and Elena’s sinister voice followed closely: "That’s right, Lucian. They’re no longer our parents — monsters disguised as humans!"
[Haha, two "actors" are facing off, but Elena’s acting is way worse.]
[Way worse, honestly. She’s only good at being a monster.]
[I sometimes wonder just how obsessed Nerio is with acting. Sometimes, I even question whether Lucian is actually Nerio or if he’s truly Lucian, haha.]
[I’m curious whether Elena still has any genuine affection for Lucian or if she’s using him now...]
[From what I see, it’s both. She’s using him but still has some familial affection. After all, Lucian also still cares for Elena — the proof is that he didn’t throw away the painting. He’s been "influenced" by his parents.]
[Is the reward simply that Elena doesn’t kill him?]
"This... this can’t be..."
Lucian voiced a weak protest, but his heart was still wavering.
Elena laughed as if mocking Lucian’s innocence and stubbornness. Slowly, she began to reveal the "truth."
"Our parents once loved me too — surely you remember that..."
[Lucian doesn’t remember because it never happened, you witch.]
The spectators’ comments suddenly interjected into Elena’s narrative, making Silavnus feel his body was being split in two — one half following the comments, the other half listening and reacting to Elena’s words.
Oddly enough, he could manage both effortlessly, likely due to evolution, making his body more complete and stronger.
"However, they believed the lies of wicked people. They betrayed me, stole my scales, and imprisoned me at the bottom of the waters, unable to escape, all because they thought by doing so, the William family would thrive forever!
But they were wrong — all of them were wrong!"
"Don’t you see? It’s not just them — even you have started to change. When night falls completely, you can barely control yourself. You’ve even turned into a monster without realizing it.
You think it’s normal, don’t you?
Even now, when your parents are monsters, you’re starting to think that’s normal, right?"
Elena’s words pierced into Lucian’s heart like arrows, awakening his clouded mind.
They were all becoming monsters.
Lucian didn’t even remember some of the times he transformed.
He might never have realized it if Elena hadn’t pointed it out!
"Very soon, your parents will become mindless monsters, hunting prey endlessly. No matter how prosperous the William family becomes, no place will be left for them!
And you’ll follow after them — there will be no escape!
They called me a monster, but now, they’re the actual monsters!"
Instinctively, Lucian stumbled backward.
Perhaps from the sheer horror of it all, he tripped and fell heavily to the ground, sitting there in a daze.
"No... our parents... they loved me..." he murmured weakly.
"Yes, they did — but monsters do not! They are no longer your parents, Lucian. Only I — only I have always been your sister!
Because I have never changed, not since the day I was born!" Elena screamed.
Lucian muttered, "Yes... only you..."
He didn’t even notice that the eyes in the painting had changed, now radiating bright red energy that wrapped around his body like tentacles, slithering into his ears and nose, weaving themselves around his mind, whispering "truths" — truths that no one could tell if they were real or false.