"She is the last one… Compared with other weaklings, she is quite tough and daring. Instead of begging, she chose to fight as a warrior, look I even got a little scratch on my stomach," Dragging the last body to the main hall, while blabbering about how each maid faces their death, Eric tries to entertain Aiden who is sitting on the sofa with a trembling body.
Hearing the words, Aiden slightly peeks at the dead body of the maid who got the courage to fight back. But seeing her body condition was beyond his worst expectation. Her whole body is covered in blood, all her bones seemed to be broken into pieces, and even flesh is coming out from her skin. Seeing that, Aiden couldn't hold back his vomiting tendency and ran towards the wash basin.
"Here, drink some water," Eric says, concernedly offering a glass of water to Aiden. The warm blood-dripping hands showed both his brutality and, strangely, a hint of care.
Aiden couldn't find the courage to refuse the glass that Eric offered, when he witnessed what he had done to others. He heard the screams of those people, their begging voices to spare their lives, but the person who stands in front of him (Eric) never listened nor showed any mercy. Then why was he letting him live still? This question remains unanswered in his mind.
"A-are you going to kill me?" Putting all his courage into one sentence, Aiden anxiously looked at Eric, who was drenched in blood.
"What? Why should I? Do, I look that ruthless?" Instead of answering, Eric replied with a confusing question, almost mocking the idea.
In Aiden's view, he killed almost eight people just like a devil. The one who fought back to save her life, died cruelly and even pathetically. If that person wasn't called ruthless and blood-thirsty, then what was he?
"Hush, you still do not believe me, right… Then how about I give you three choices!"
"…"
"The first choice is... I will give you a chance to kill me. I won't fight back, but… if you fail, never expect any mercy from me.
Second, if you are just afraid of me, I won't force you to stay here. You can leave this house and live your life the way you wanted.
Third, you can stay by my side. We can go through ups and downs together as before. How about it? If you don't like my third proposal, I genuinely wish you to choose the second option," Giving three choices, Eric curiously waits for Aiden's answer.
Aiden wasn't sure what to choose. Each option only leads to a bleak future.
The first choice simply means kill or be killed. However, the chances of dying are higher than killing the devil. If he somehow succeeds, what awaits him is an even more horrific death at the hands of Jonas's (Eric's father) men.
The second choice seems like a fake, sparkling gem when compared with the other two, but if he chooses it, then what next? A penniless orphan with no home or relatives, where can he go? Perhaps his remaining life would be spent rotting in a slum or running all his life to escape the clutches of the Black and White Dragons' association (Black Dragon - a gangster group currently led by Jonas; White Dragon - an opposing gangster group working under Emile's father). One to erase and the other to gain evidence of the murders. It feels like death is calling him from afar.
The third one is to face everything together as sworn brothers, putting trust and loyalty in each other. But is it possible now? The heart that was once filled with trust and loyalty now has a new guest, fear. If he chooses this path, then there is no turning back even if he wanted to.
"However, I don't know what's the cause that made you change, nor do I have any idea how the future would turn out... Let's face everything together as always. Then from now on, I will be in your care. Don't let me die so young, I haven't even lost my virginity yet." Aiden finally musters the courage to respond, putting his whole trust in Eric as he chooses the third option.
"Is that your only reason to live? 'I haven't even lost my virginity yet'… Anyway, I really like you, dude," Eric says, a strange mix of seriousness and a hint of amusement in his tone.
"Hmm... Wait, what about these bodies? How are we going to explain? Are we going to end up in jail? What about our future then?" Aiden's heart races at the thought of his well-planned future rotting away in a prison cell.
"Don't worry, just call Butler Itt. He will handle this matter in his own way," Eric answers without any worries, seemingly confident in the butler's abilities.
"Are you gone mad or something? How can he handle this matter? You don't just murder some maids; among them, the master's second wife and her son are included. If he knew about this, instead of getting rid of this problem, he will make it more complicated."
"Then how about you come up with an idea! How about it?
You have nothing to speak about now... Then do as I said, instead of wasting time… Right now, if someone can help us, it's none other than Butler Itt."
Putting all his confidence in the novel's written future, Eric decides to put forward his first chess piece into the game board.
[Eric Jonas, a teenager who commits suicide for an unknown reason in the novel, does not score much interest from the readers. But one thing is clear for all the readers if the guy named Eric won't die in the novel, then a villain named Aamon won't come into the picture at all.
So, Keith is sure that Eric's existence can eliminate a villain. However, at the same time, the villain's hardships, sufferings, and enemies are thrown into Eric's hands as some bonus points. Among them, Emile and Alan are just two leeches that suck a small amount of blood; anyway, the real predators are hiding behind them.
Luring them and destroying their existence is the only way for Keith to live a peaceful life.
A fight is inevitable in this place, only two things matter:
First, who will start a fight, and second, who will stay alive until the very end?]