"Look."
"Wow..."
“Isn’t it fascinating?”
Before he knew it, the man's hair color had become the same as Zion's.
Forgetting to be on guard, Zion gazed at him with sparkling eyes. The child's blue eyes were filled with curiosity.
"What is that?"
“My abilities.”
"Ability?"
"Yeah. It's similar to your sister."
"Do you know my older sister?"
Zion, who had eagerly bitten the bait on the man's fishing hook, soon realized his mistake and clamped his mouth shut.
The man grinned as if he had expected it.
"It's okay. I won't say anything."
“...Really?”
"Yeah, I may look like this, but I'm actually tight-lipped. Really!"
"..."
"I can't believe it..."
Zion mumbled softly while glancing at the man.
He wanted to run away right then and there, but since he had already revealed his sister's secret, he couldn't go on until he got a proper promise.
'Kids are just like that.'
The man, who had been muttering to himself, grinned again.
Catching a kid who wasn't even that young was a piece of cake.
The man gestured to Zion's hand with a smiling face.
"What's in your hand?"
"Ah. This is..."
At the man's question, Zion unconsciously opened the hand he had been tightly clenching.
The man's eyes gleamed with interest at the red, jewel-like object rolling in his palm.
"Wow, it looks really warm."
"...It's warm."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Then your sister would like it. Right?"
Zion nodded silently. His sister couldn't stand the cold, though not as much as he could. That is why she preferred sleeping while hugging Rachel rather than him.
'That's right. She said it's too cold if she sleeps holding me.'
So he thought that if he gave this to his sister, she might hug him.
Zion bit his lip tightly, thinking that.
'If I prod them just a little more, they'll fall for it. Definitely.'
It was the moment the man was about to open his mouth to reveal his dark intentions.
"Then if I give that to my sister...."
"...Hmmm."
"...Huh."
The man's laughter stopped abruptly.
Zion's eyes were gradually turning red.
Drooping eyebrows, lips pouting as if trying to hold something back, teary eyes, and even heaving shoulders.
'No way!'
The man's face was filled with shock.
Sure enough, Zion began to sob bitterly. The man was startled and scrambled around.
"Hey! Why are you crying?"
"My older sister likes Ruby so much."
"Ru, Ruby? Who is that..."
"So... I guess she doesn't like me anymore."
Tears trickled down Zion's white cheeks.
The man was flustered and just gaped.
'I told you I had no intention of doing it!'
The man hurriedly approached Zion's side.
Zion roughly wiped away his tears with the back of his hand. He felt even more sorrowful because the corners of his eyes stung.
"Hey, why are you crying? Huh?"
"Sister, my sister hates me. So giving this to her won't do any good."
"Wh-did your older sister say she hates you?"
“No...”
Zion slowly shook his head. The man patted Zion's shoulder as if to say, "See?"
'Damn it, why are you crying? You're breaking my heart!'
Despite his appearance, the man was soft-hearted.
This was especially true when seeing a crying child. It was because the child resembled his own childhood self.
"Why are you crying so bitterly?" He clutched his chest, which was aching intensely, and offered clumsy words of comfort.
"Why would your sister hate you? Don't be so narrow-minded as to think that, you punk."
"But she likes Ruby even more...!"
Zion recalled the days he fell asleep hugging his older sister.
Even though she hid it, she used to say that it was warm when they held each other like this. At one time, Zion believed that firmly, too.
However, after Rachel appeared, the older sister liked sleeping with Rachel in her arms more than with Zion.
She said Rachel was warmer because she had a lot of body heat, his older sister said while half-asleep and dazed.
She had no idea how hurt he was at first when he heard that.
However, Zion endured it. Rachel had lost her memory and looked unwell.
I'm not a kid anymore. I've grown this tall, too. So you can understand!
He shouted it out confidently on the outside, but inwardly he was so heartbroken that he secretly wiped away tears.
So when they carried her together a few days ago, he was really happy... but Eve didn't seem to feel the same way.
The older sister kept looking for Rachel, repeating only that she was cold.
"Noona likes Ruby more...!"
That sorrow burst out all at once because of the man in front of him.
Zion now began to cry out loud. The man became even more flustered and didn't know what to do.
"My sister always says I only cause trouble... Ugh..."
"Hey, you punk, don't cry, okay? I'm gonna do it. I will!"
"She keeps making me read books! I think she doesn't like me."
"I'm saying all this for your own good, you rascal!"
"Liars...! Ughhh..."
"You, you bastard...!"
The man trailed off, as if choking up. It was because memories of his own childhood overlapped with it.
The man also cried a lot, caught up in the pressure from his brothers.
However, as he grew up, he realized that all those scoldings were meant for his own good. He spoke, holding back his choked-up emotions.
"Sob. You'll understand when you grow up, too..."
“I don’t know...!”
"No, this guy...!"
"You could have just told me now! Why make me realize it later...!"
"...!"
At Zion's words, the man wore a blank expression, as if in shock. Then, muttering to himself as if mulling it over, he nodded.
"...That's right. That's true. You wouldn't know unless I told you..."
"In other words, I'm right, aren't I?"
"If you don't tell me, I won't know...!"
The man embraced Zion tightly. The thought of coaxing Zion to do something had long since vanished.
Zion was glad to find someone who understood his feelings, so he hugged him tightly.
"I was like that too! Me too...! I know exactly how you feel!"
"Ugh..."
"I was the second child, too...!"
"The second one is so sad!"
And so, they hugged each other and sobbed for a long time.
He wondered how much he sobbed.
The man, having briefly encountered memories of his childhood, wiped the corners of his eyes with a slightly relieved expression.
"Still, don't hate your older sister too much. No one loves you as much as she does."
"..."
"I'm saying this for your own good. You might not understand it now, but you'll realize it as time goes by."
"...That's right."
Zion quietly nodded with a swollen face. However, he still looked dejected and depressed.
'It can't be helped.'
The man held out his hand as if doing a favor. As he lightly waved his hand, it turned as white as snow.
"...!"
Zion's eyes widened. However, it didn't make much difference since they were all swollen.
The man shrugged his shoulders with a proud look. His raised chin showed no signs of coming down.
'This is definitely the best for soothing kids!'
"I can change the color of my body. I'm a chameleon."
"Chameleon?"
"What's wrong with you? You don't even know a chameleon?"
“Yes. I don’t know.”
Zion nodded, his eyes shining as if he had forgotten that he had been sobbing.
"If you didn't know, learn this now. We can change our body color at will."
"Wow, that's fascinating!"
"Well, people look down on us for being useless, but when it comes to sneaking in, no one compares to us. We're snakes in our own right! We're the workers of the South!"
“Amazing!”
Before they knew it, the conversation between the two turned to praising chameleons.
It was just as the man, completely intoxicated by Zion's reaction, was rambling on about himself. He covered his forehead with a look of sudden realization.
'I used this guy as bait. My goal was to drag that woman away!'
Far from taking the child, they just clung to each other and sobbed.
The man, realizing the situation only then, bit his lip nervously.
"Th-well, let's leave our chameleon aside for now."
"Yes?"
"How is your sister? I heard she gets really cold easily because of her constitution."
"That's right. My older sister gets cold easily."
The man's eyes lit up at Zion's words.
"If you give that to your sister, she'll like it. It's warm, you know."
"..."
Zion's face was serious as he gazed at the red gem. Seizing the opportunity, the man poured out even more words.
"Take that and go see your sister. It might hurt for a few days, but everything will be resolved once you come to the South..."
“Who is hurting?”
The man stopped speaking abruptly. As he slowly turned his head, he saw Rachel with a terrifying face.
"Ah, Miss..."
"Ruby!"
A voice filled with the exact opposite emotion rang out.
Rachel slowly approached them. Her jewel-red eyes looked incredibly cold.
Rachel shot back coldly.
"What are you doing here?"
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