"...He said I just need to focus."
He squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated, but only small ice crystals bloomed from his hand. Even those melted away helplessly. Aden's face turned tearful.
"Mom said this would work..."
It was just as Aden was muttering weakly.
“Are you really stupid?”
Aden turned around at the sound of a voice full of mischief.
The brothers giggled and approached Aden.
"Can't you even do something this easy?"
"I wonder what is so difficult that you are struggling like that."
"Try again. Let's see how you do it."
The brothers surrounded Aden.
As Aden, who was already on the small side, hunched over, his brothers looked like giants.
"No, I'm trying..."
Aden spoke in a hushed voice.
"So let's see, huh? I'll let it slide."
"Alright, show me."
At the continued urging, Aden hesitated and spread his hand.
Biting his lip nervously, Aden squeezed his eyes shut.
However, the ice did not even manage to bloom and simply melted away.
"Hahaha! Hey, that's a bit much!"
"You still can't do it properly?"
"Your mother will be disappointed."
The words that followed pierced deep into Aden's heart.
Especially the last remark about his mother being disappointed.
To think he had lived enduring such mockery. Eve clenched her fist without realizing it.
"I, too, did not just sit idly by and do nothing."
As soon as the King spoke, someone entered. It was the young King.
“Your, Your Majesty!”
The brothers recoiled in surprise. Aden, who was at the center, raised his head and looked at the King.
"I told you that brothers should know how to comfort each other."
The young King spoke in a cold voice.
“Did I teach you that?”
The brothers slowly shook their heads at the King's words.
“Get out.”
The brothers bowed in greeting and hurriedly rushed outside. Left alone, Aden fidgeted with his fingers. The King let out a small sigh and opened his arms.
“Come here.”
Aden hugged the King as if he had been waiting for this moment.
"Don't be too impatient."
"But Mother, my older brothers are skilled at handling various kinds of magic, but I, I..."
"Magic isn't important. You can find something else to do. Don't waste your time. You're interested in Herbalism, too. There are plenty of things you can do."
The King gently stroked the head of the boy who was completely dejected.
At this very moment, his face was filled with sorrow as he briefly stepped down from the throne.
The current King, who had been quietly watching the scene, spoke.
"I tried to share my strength with Aden in my own way. But Aden was powerless. The more I stepped forward, the more Aden blamed himself. There was nothing I could do for Aden, who hated himself."
At the same time as those words, the scene changed. Before she knew it, the surroundings had transformed into snow-covered mountains.
“This is..."
Eve looked around blankly.
A winter forest where a blizzard raged endlessly. It was undoubtedly the North.
Eve looked around. Aden, who had grown from a young boy into a young man, was breathing heavily on the snow.
"Aden! You cowardly brat!"
“Where did you go!”
"Are you scared of just one wolf?"
The sound of brothers panting came from behind him. In their hands was something bloody. Aden's face turned pale.
“This is... not it.”
Aden, who had been muttering blankly to himself, shook his head and ran off somewhere.
There was nothing but snow around. The further he ran, the deeper he went into the forest.
"Ugh!"
Just then, he tripped over a stone buried in the snow and fell.
To make matters worse, there was a cliff ahead. With a loud crash, the surroundings went dark.
Before long, the surroundings brightened. Aden blinked blankly. He was lying inside a small house where firewood was burning quietly.
“Are you awake?”
With those words, someone approached Aden. Eve involuntarily covered her mouth. It was her mother.
She looked healthy, so different from before she passed away. Eve bit her lip to suppress the surge of emotion welling up inside her.
"I found you collapsed, so I brought you home. Oh, and don't worry, I didn't touch you."
"..."
"Hmm?"
When there was no reply, she tilted her head. At that, Aden's face turned bright red.
"I, I really appreciate it!"
Both of them were startled by the sudden hiccup. She smiled brightly, and Aden fumbled, trying to stop the hiccup.
The scene changed again.
The two shared stories about each other and became close, and unlike at the beginning, they looked into each other's eyes with trembling hearts.
"I should have stopped this..."
The King, looking down at the scene, spoke in a trembling voice.
It was before she could even ask what it meant. The scene surrounding her changed.
The King, who looked a little older than before, was staring at Aden with an angry face.
"How long have I been looking for you! You've caused this mother so much heartache, and now what do you say? You're going to marry a wolf? You, the Prince?"
"She is the person who loved me just the way I am. I want to marry her."
"Absolutely not! No beastmen! And a wolf, to think of it? Cut that nonsense!"
The King strongly opposed it, but Aden had no intention of changing his mind. The King, grinding his teeth, shouted.
"In that case, leave everything behind and go. This castle, your position as a Prince, your money—everything!"
It was a stretch. A human couldn't survive in the Beast World without possessing a single thing.
"All right."
However, Aden nodded obediently. He turned around without hesitation.
The King, who had been watching his retreating figure while biting his lip, reached out his hand.
Something like a transparent bead slid out from behind Aden and landed in the King's hand. With that, the door closed.
The scene ended. The screen that had surrounded them returned to normal.
The transparent bead she had just seen had landed in the King's hand.
"This is your father's memory. Can you believe it now?"
"..."
"...It seems you still can't believe it."
The King smiled bitterly.
"Right. I guess I should show this."
He waved his hand lightly. A blue light bloomed from the King's hand. It was the exact same color as Eve's.
As if entranced, Eve also spread her hand. An identical light bloomed from her palm.
"..."
The King also seemed surprised, his eyes trembling slightly.
After remaining silent for quite a while, he opened his mouth.
"It's just... like Aden."
"..."
"As expected, you..."
It was difficult to continue speaking due to the surge of emotion. Biting his lip, he lifted her head with a sad smile.
A face exactly like his father was looking at Eve.
Eve looked at him silently.
"...It seems you hate me."
"..."
"If I tell you everything, will you be able to understand me? I'm not asking for much. I just want you to listen."
Eve remained silent. The King, accepting this as permission, spoke.
"The reason I didn't look for your father, and the reason I blocked entry to those with unclear identities—yes, I did it on purpose. I naturally assumed they wouldn't last long. I hoped that child would apologize and return. That is why I tightened the crackdown. There were people secretly going back and forth between the beastmen realm and here."
The King continued in a self-deprecating tone.
"I thought that child, without status or surname, wouldn't be able to endure it. But he never appeared even once. I realized too late that he wouldn't be coming back."
“...You could have found it yourself.”
Eve opened her mouth after a long while.
"If you wanted to see him that much, couldn't you have just looked for him first? Father only went away because he was told to."
At Eve's rebuttal, the King silently stroked his wrinkled hand.
"Yeah. I brought this all upon myself."
He smiled faintly.
"But I wasn't just sitting around doing nothing."
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