Chapter 4

The room fell into stunned silence as everyone processed the bombshell Aeron had just casually dropped. Malvin's mouth hung open as he shakily raised a finger, pointing at Aeron. "Y-You're that little shit's older brother?" he stammered, his voice quivering with disbelief. Aeron simply nodded, completely unfazed.

Malvin's hands shot to the sides of his head, his eyes staring at the ground as if his entire world had just collapsed. "No wonder you piss me off so much," he muttered under his breath. "Is it some kind of familial trait to be this aggravating?"

Jos threw his arms up dramatically, grabbing Aeron by the collar and shaking him as if that would somehow fix the situation. "Look at what you did! You've sent the Captain into a full-on existential crisis!"

"I-just-answered-his-question," Aeron responded in the same monotone, completely unbothered as Jos shook him back and forth.

Meanwhile, Loreen stood by Malvin, awkwardly patting his back like she was trying to comfort a child. "There, there, Captain. It's going to be okay," she cooed, her tone a mix of sympathy and confusion.

"But you don't even look like Xain," Clare blurted out, stepping closer to Aeron, her curiosity getting the better of her. "Yeah, I didn't see him much, but you two look nothing alike," Tores chimed in, now standing beside her.

Aeron, who had been fixing his hair from Jos's shaking, looked at them with his trademark deadpan expression. "Why would we look alike?" he asked, his voice calm and direct.

Tores and Clare exchanged confused glances, as if Aeron had just asked something completely absurd. "Uh, because you're siblings?" Tores said slowly, his tone making it clear he thought that should have been obvious.

"Yes, we are siblings," Aeron replied, as if explaining basic math, "but we're not blood-related."

Malvin, still in a daze, snapped out of his mental fog. "Wait… what?" he asked, echoing the confusion of everyone else in the room.

"We're not blood-related," Aeron repeated calmly, his expression still neutral, as if that cleared everything up.

"Oh, for the love of—" Malvin started, exasperated, just as Jos grabbed Aeron by the shoulders, shaking him again, but this time with more frustration than shock.

"Stop with the cryptic, half-answers! Explain what you mean, you infuriating bastard!" Jos yelled, practically nose-to-nose with Aeron at this point.

Aeron blinked once, seemingly realizing what Jos wanted. "Oh. Okay, I understand now," he said, his tone still maddeningly flat. "Xain and I are siblings because we grew up in the same orphanage. That's all."

Malvin dragged his hands down his face, letting out a long sigh. "That makes a hell of a lot more sense," he muttered. "Why didn't you just say that the first time?"

Aeron opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say anything, Malvin raised a hand to stop him. "Don't. Just… don't."

Aeron promptly closed his mouth without another word.

"You're an orphan? I didn't know that," Loreen said, her voice soft with surprise.

Aeron turned his gaze toward her, his lifeless eyes locking onto hers. "I was told my parents abandoned me in front of the orphanage. So, I still have biological parents—most likely—they're just not in my life. Xain, on the other hand… is unknown."

He trailed off, his expression barely changing, though there was a flicker of something behind his usual deadpan stare. It was subtle, almost like he was recalling a distant memory.

"I found him one day," Aeron continued, his voice still eerily calm. "He was just lying there in front of the orphanage. I took him inside and showed him to our caretaker."

Jos, who had been ready to crack a joke about Aeron's sudden verbosity, paused, his brow furrowed in confusion. "Wait. You just said Xain was unknown, unlike you. But didn't the exact same thing happen to both of you?"

Everyone else seemed equally interested in the clarification, their attention locked on Aeron, who shook his head slightly. "No. I was left in a basket, wrapped in warm clothing. There were even a few iron crowns left with me, a token of sorts. But Xain? He had nothing. No blanket, no coins. Nothing. He was just a newborn lying on the cold ground."

The room fell into a somber hush as Aeron's words sunk in. Malvin clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white, anger boiling just beneath the surface. Loreen's face twisted in confusion, trying to make sense of the cruelty. Jos crossed his arms, glaring at the ground, his jaw tight with barely contained fury. Tores, usually the more lighthearted one, looked like he'd been hit in the gut, his shock plain on his face. Clare's expression softened with a deep sadness, her eyes filled with sympathy for the kid she barely knew.

"Who the hell does that to a baby?" Jos spat, his voice rough with anger.

"That's just horrible," Clare added quietly, her voice thick with emotion.

"What… what's wrong with someone who would just leave a newborn like that?" Tores said, his shock still evident, shaking his head as if he couldn't comprehend it.

"Why? Why would anyone do that? It just doesn't make sense," Loreen muttered, more to herself than anyone else.

Malvin, still staring at the ceiling, felt a storm of thoughts swirling in his mind. *Is that why? Is that the reason both those things happened?* His mind flashed back to that unforgettable gaze—eyes filled with complete and utter Hatred, and this time something else as well, those same eyes gleaming with sadistic glee and malice.

"I'm going to continue now," Malvin said suddenly, snapping everyone's attention back to him.

They all turned toward him, sensing that the story was about to take a darker turn. "I feel like I have to now, unlike before."

The others nodded silently, exchanging glances before settling into their seats. Jos and Aeron, decided not to bother with chairs and sat down on the floor, ready to listen with more intensity than before. Malvin let out a long, tired sigh, the weight of his memories pressing down on him as he prepared to continue.

"Alright," he began, his voice lower, more serious. "Let's pick up where I left off…"