“Enjoying the view?”

Right, it suddenly hit me again. The person whose body I was staring at was Erhan. I was just a stone rolled into the Serpentine household, and Erhan was the firmly set stone that I needed to impress. A very large and intimidating one at that.

Speaking as if amused, Erhan slowly approached me. The temperature in the greenhouse, already only slightly warmed by a few candles, seemed to drop even more.

“Why, do you find this disgusting?”

The runes for sensory deprivation on his body seemed to ‘wake up’ and look at me, twinkling like jewels. Some might find them beautiful, but I didn’t.

It was frightening – a scary person adorned with eerie things. Feeling like I might scream, I instinctively stepped back. I leaned awkwardly against Zachary, who was still holding me, as I looked up at Erhan.

“Answer me, do you find it disgusting?”

Erhan’s face, now just inches from mine, no longer held any trace of a playful smile.

“No…”

Who could look at that and not find it somewhat disturbing?

I shook my head repeatedly, not fully comprehending my own words. Erhan burst into laughter seeing me tremble, but soon after, his laughter ceased, and he spoke seriously.

“You really can’t lie, can you?”

What was he expecting me to do?

…While I did find it a bit unsettling, I couldn’t just bluntly say it was disgusting.

“Tell me the truth.”

“I really don’t find it disgusting.”

“Hmm, that’s hard to believe. It’s disgusting, right?”

Why is he doing this? Just stop asking…

Erhan’s persistent questioning was terrifying. It felt like he wouldn’t let me go until I admitted I found it disgusting.

As I was pondering what to do, Erhan leaned in closer, reducing the distance between us even more. Out of desperation, I clenched Zachary’s arm and shut my eyes tightly, shouting.

“Enough, please!”

Erhan stopped moving. But my mouth didn’t stop.

“It’s moderately disgusting!”

Realizing what I had just blurted out, I opened my eyes wide in shock.

It was too late to take back my words.

A heavy silence, filled with tension, wrapped around us. Erhan just looked at me, then suddenly tilted his head to the side.

In that moment, I had a sinking feeling.

“……”

“……”

“…What?”

I had really messed up, more than just moderately.

If only I hadn’t said anything, things might have been halfway okay. I didn’t expect to blurt out something so awkward.

Regretting my own foolishness, I wondered if covering my face might make things less embarrassing. Erhan’s presence felt too intense through my hands, not easing my tension at all.

Is he going to hit me? He probably will. He’s definitely going to.

My guess turned into a certain dread, spiraling into terrible imaginings.

If he hit me with his massive hand, I’d probably be bedridden for at least a month. While worrying whether I should beg him to be gentle, I braced for what might come next.

“…Ha. Ah…”

“……”

“Ha, haha! Ahaha!”

Loud laughter echoed through the space.

Caught off guard by his laughter, I slowly removed my hands from my face to see Erhan doubled over, bursting into laughter.

“Haha, hahaha!”

Laughing, he suddenly looked like a boy.

He seemed unable to contain his amusement, eventually slumping into a chair, leaning back, and laughing heartily. Erhan’s laughter, combined with his beauty, was almost picturesque. Yet, as he laughed more, my face became increasingly pale, as if I might faint at any moment.

He must be laughing in sheer rage.

What should I do?

As I observed him, his expression didn’t seem purely angry. It was closer to being genuinely amused. Doubting my perception, I blinked and continued to watch blankly.

“Hahaha.”

He erupted into laughter again.

While I was in disarray, Erhan was laughing openly. His laughter didn’t seem to stop, continuing for quite some time. All I could do was stand frozen, watching and thinking.

‘He really seems insane.’

Should I run away? Feeling sweat building up on my back, I was about to look for an escape route when suddenly…

“Ah, really.”

He was uncannily perceptive. As if sensing my readiness to flee, Erhan, still chuckling, got up from his seat. He closed the distance I had put between us, his eyes still curved with traces of laughter.

Erhan was intimidatingly large. His size, disproportionate for his age, felt threatening to me. Despite a small part of me wanting not to show weakness, my shoulders involuntarily shrank.

I timidly raised my head to look at him, all crumpled up. Zachary, as before, silently and slowly wrapped his arms around me in a protective embrace.

‘Is this also an effect of some spell?’

I glanced at Zachary, but his face was obscured by the fluttering paper I had awkwardly attached earlier.

Yet, the warmth from his touch was surprisingly comforting. The solid, warm presence at my back was oddly reassuring.

‘What’s his deal now?’

But as one problem seemed to resolve, another emerged. The smiling Erhan was gone, replaced by a face void of any amusement. His gaze, unwavering and intense, bore into me with a persistence that felt unnerving.

Can an expressionless face be this terrifying?

I could feel sweat trickling down my spine, the stillness was so chilling. I thought to myself that Erhan’s laughter was better than this silence. Even though he was scary when laughing, it was preferable to this current, strange stillness.

In the midst of the tense situation, where I felt unable to move, Erhan made the first move. He silently extended his hand, slightly bent at the waist, his arm straight and reaching out. Though it appeared threatening, as if it could harm at any moment, it wasn’t directed at me.

“Proper training is necessary. How dare a servant touch their master’s body…”

His hand, or more precisely his finger, pressed firmly against the center of Zachary’s forehead.

There was significant pressure, not just a light touch. The paper under his fingertip seemed about to tear.

However, Zachary’s reaction was unexpected. Servants in our household are conditioned to obey unconditionally, so he should have been pushed back easily by Erhan. But not this time. Zachary’s head resisted momentarily, like in a tug-of-war, before being slowly pushed back.

‘This isn’t right.’

Zachary is destined to become powerful enough to threaten our family in the future, so how can he be so easily subdued now? I couldn’t just stand by and watch. I stepped in front of Zachary.

“What are you doing?”

Blocked by me, Erhan had no choice but to step back. His sharp gaze slid towards me, as if challenging me to say something.

“…Stop it.”

In a way, for someone like Erhan in the Serpentine household, where servants’ rights are non-existent, he might be considered relatively gentle in his treatment of Zachary. After all, servants are expected to obey every command, even to die if ordered, and give up anything demanded of them.

If Zachary had been an ordinary servant, I wouldn’t have intervened like this.

‘Pressing the forehead of a potential disaster?’

I was drenched in sweat. Erhan’s insane laughter was frightening, but not as much as this situation. How could he be so reckless with Zachary, who could potentially annihilate our family in the future?

‘Is he seeking his own doom?’

Knowing what the future might hold, I was on edge.

I couldn’t just watch Erhan, my stepbrother, dive headfirst into danger. Of course, there was a chance Zachary was unconscious due to the spell. However, if that were the case, the original Zachary wouldn’t have ruthlessly massacred the Serpentine family.

He must have remembered everything after awakening and fueled his revenge.

‘What if Erhan’s actions trigger Zachary’s rampage?’

What if Zachary, harboring resentment from this incident, decides to destroy the Serpentine household and kill us all?

My reason for helping Zachary wasn’t solely for my own survival. I sympathized with him – brainwashed at a young age and later tormented by madness. Even if our goals differed, if the journey aligned, and it meant we could all survive together, wouldn’t it be alright to have one more purpose quietly added to the mix?

‘He’s glaring at me.’

Why is he looking at me like that, as if I’ve done something wrong? I was nearly driven insane by his cold, blaming gaze. Erhan probably would never realize that his stepbrother was trying to save his life.

His unawareness of my efforts to avert disaster made the situation even more frustrating and worrisome.

“Why are you going so far?”

As expected, he was curious about my actions.

I really wanted to tell him everything. That the Zachary he’s pressing and tormenting now will become a disaster, mercilessly severing his throat in the future.

But such a claim would undoubtedly be dismissed as madness, so I had no choice but to respond differently.

“This boy is my…”

I hesitated for a moment.

“…servant.”

It was frightening to refer to a potential disaster as merely a servant, but I forced myself not to look at Zachary, struggling to get the words out. At my response, Erhan blinked slowly, then slightly tilted his head. I watched him apprehensively as his lips parted slowly, wondering what he might say next, but his response was unexpectedly gentle.

“Then what am I to you?”

“…What?”

“What am I to you?”

His question, direct and simple, caught me off guard. Erhan’s eyes held a strange intensity, compelling me to consider my answer carefully. How should I define Erhan, my stepbrother, who unknowingly stood on the precipice of a dangerous future?