Chapter 92
“Yeah.”
“Did you find any connection with the Hameln incident?”
Merci’s voice sank into a serious tone.
Lavian, slowly shaking his head, wore an equally grave expression.
“I’m not sure about that, but the problem is… I wasn’t the only one who saw it.”
“What do you mean…?”
“My brother seems to see it too.”
“……”
“I’m talking about the baby’s father.”
Lavian’s low, added words carried a sharp mockery.
“He says the baby keeps showing up in his dreams. And it looks exactly the same as what I saw.”
A hand with all the nails ripped out and wrapped in bandages.
A demeanor far too unnatural for a six-year-old child.
How likely was it that all of that was just a coincidence?
Even if the situations were different, there was no choice but to see it as the same person.
Merci’s face hardened, which was rare for him. His golden eyes trembled violently.
“If both you and your brother saw the same thing, then that means…”
“Yeah, I’ve already thought of that. It sounds crazy, but they say there were royals long ago who could see the future.”
“Do you have any piece that fits… even if it’s not perfect?”
“There was.”
Not is. Was.
The clear past tense made Merci’s eyes sharpen.
“What was it?”
Lavian slowly lit a new cigarette and drew in deeply.
“Picture the baby right in front of you now.”
“I’m picturing.”
“Now imagine the kid asking me to peel off his fingernails.”
“…You’re joking, right?”
“Not a childish prank. He meant it. Even when I said no, he brought up imperial orders. Then he said he wanted me to do it for him… that if I didn’t, he’d do it himself. And he really did it himself.”
This time, Merci’s face was truly a sight to see.
At the grim look—something rarely shown—Lavian let out a twisted, bitter laugh.
“Can you imagine it? I couldn’t. But now… maybe it’s not impossible.”
“You…”
Knock, knock.
A small tapping sound interrupted them.
Lavian, unfazed, spoke casually.
“Come in.”
Merci quickly pushed a fruit box aside, out of sight, and soon Katya entered.
“Um, it’s about the log report…”
Still leaning back in the armchair, Lavian silently stretched out a hand.
Katya hesitated upon noticing Merci but saw no sign of him moving, nor did Lavian dismiss him.
So, trying hard to hide her unease, Katya walked up and handed Lavian a notebook.
It was the journal she had kept for the past two weeks.
“Nothing much happened, but… anyway, I wrote down everything in detail, just like you told me to.”
While Lavian lazily flipped through the journal with one hand, Katya uneasily glanced toward Merci.
He was calmly sorting through a stack of papers, indifferent.
So that’s Merci’s brother? They look the same, but the atmosphere is totally different.
Of course, Katya had no way of knowing the two were the same person. She just made her own assumption.
Then Lavian, barely even skimming the pages, suddenly asked:
“What’s the kid doing right now?”
“Huh? Nina? She’s sleeping.”
“Sleeping for real…?”
“I watched her fall asleep before I came out.”
“I don’t think so.”
Lavian set the journal down carelessly on the table and rose from the armchair.
Katya blinked blankly at him.
“You sleep upstairs tonight.”
“Huh? …Okay.”
She nodded dazedly.
Normally, she would’ve instinctively asked why, but for some reason she couldn’t bring herself to this time.
Was it because of Merci’s presence? Or because Lavian’s mood felt strangely different tonight?
“That’s enough, go on. You don’t have to do this anymore.”
Katya’s eyes widened.
She’d felt uncomfortable, like she was spying on her friend, so being told she could stop brought relief.
But at the same time, she felt anxious—had she done something wrong? Was the way she kept the log not to his liking?
As she hesitated, Lavian added one last thing:
“When you wake up tomorrow, ask Kees for your thing.”
“Ah…”
She had no idea what “your thing” meant, but instead of prying, Katya obediently turned to leave.
Her head swirled with wild guesses.
What is it? A gift, maybe? …No way. No way.
After she left, Merci shook his head at Lavian, who was crushing out his cigarette.
“Humans really are hard to understand.”
“I think your brain’s harder to understand.”
“What does she see in you? She’d give you her liver if you asked. Think just a box of cookies will cover that?”
Lavian shrugged lightly and started walking toward the door.
“Boss, about what you said earlier…”
His hand froze on the doorknob.
“I don’t know what you went through in the capital that makes you think that way… but at least from what I’ve seen, Nina doesn’t seem like the type to throw such childish tantrums.”
“Tantrum…?”
The bitter word slipped out between his teeth, almost like a groan.
“What kind of tantrum is that supposed to be?”
“It’s like asking for proof of love—like demanding someone carve your name into their skin. Only instead of the skin, what’s left is guilt carved into your mind forever.”
Merci’s smooth, almost gentle words carried a vicious metaphor. He blinked calmly.
“It’s a rotten kind of proof, but if she weren’t sure you’d accept it, she wouldn’t do it. If that’s not a tantrum, what is?”
Lavian squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again.
The reason he had dismissed all those daydreams as nonsense until recently wasn’t just because he couldn’t imagine Nina doing something like that.
Even if she did attempt such a brazen act, he had always believed his real self would never flinch.
The emotions he felt in those dreams—the way he reacted—he had believed none of it could ever happen in reality.
At first, he had been sure. Arrogantly sure.
But right now, he couldn’t come up with a single rebuttal to Merci’s nonsense.
It was a bitter truth.
* * *
Around the time Katya was sneaking out of her room to see Lavian—
Nina really had been asleep.
But she woke up in the middle of the night.
After a short but noisy dream, she opened her eyes to find the space beside her empty.
Where did Katya go…? Maybe she had something to say to Lavian?
It wasn’t the first time—before too, Katya had slipped out while she was sleeping. Clearly, it was something personal she didn’t want to talk about.
Nina waited a little, trying to drift off again, but her mind was wide awake. And Katya showed no signs of returning.
Why is it so quiet? Where is everyone?
She glanced at the wall clock.
Just past midnight.
For the last two weeks, the nights had always been noisy and bustling. But tonight, the dead silence felt strange.
This room doesn’t even have a door.
Lying alone in the dark, soundless bedroom, Nina began to feel increasingly uneasy.
Maybe it was because of the dream she’d just had.
Was that really a dream? Why was I crying…?
Soon after, Nina found herself walking down the dark hallway.
She touched the wall for balance, quietly making her way until she reached the dimly moonlit living room.
No one was there.
The whole penthouse was silent.
So it really was just a dream, she thought, standing dazed.
Then—footsteps, muffled by the thick carpet.
Nina spun around instantly.
“Uncle Lavi…?”
“Like a ghost.”
From the opposite hall, Lavian appeared and switched on the mood lights in the living room.
Nina blinked.
“Why am I a ghost?”
“Walking around in a white nightgown makes you look like one. Why aren’t you sleeping?”
He was still dressed in the same outfit from earlier.
And Nina, unusually bold, let slip a question she normally wouldn’t dare ask.
“Why haven’t you gotten ready for bed either? Are you going out again?”
