Barkın examined the cigarette pack in front of him for a long time. Initially, it seemed odd that the doctor had given him cigarettes. As he took the pack during their conversation, he noticed that the cigarettes inside were his favorite brand. Upon opening the pack and looking inside, he found a familiar lighter, confirming that the pack belonged to him.
He chuckled as if mocking, "Does a doctor give cigarettes to his patients?"
The noble doctor opposite him was different from ordinary doctors. While talking to him, Barkın felt their relationship was more like brothers rather than doctor and patient. Despite never having a brother, the doctor's sincere approach had impressed Barkın. Despite being from the noble clan, his inability to awaken the [Soy Ruhu] made the doctor feel close to him. The doctor had inherited from his mother, who had a low [Soy Ruhu], rather than from his father, the heir of the clan, and had therefore left the clan to become a doctor.
"What are you talking about? Who is that doctor?" he initially feigned ignorance. But after hearing Barkın's explanations, he tried to take the pack back.
"When I was admitted to the hospital, this pack should have been on me. I don't know if the doctor is aware, but this pack looks open and soaked for a month. The tobacco might be dried out, even moldy. Are you sure you want to give this to a patient?"
The non-smoking doctor realized his mistake. He reached out to take the pack back, but Barkın had already thrown it out the window.
"I guess I'll quit now," Barkın said.
The doctor smiled joyfully upon hearing that Barkın was quitting smoking. Barkın started to smile back. After a while, the smile disappeared from the doctor's face, replaced by a worried expression. Then he lightly but painfully punched Barkın's head.
At first, Barkın didn't understand why he was being scolded. As he rubbed the sore part of his head, he didn't know what to say. It wasn't until the doctor said, "Did you think the garden was a dump?" that Barkın understood why he was being scolded.
"Aaaa!" he screamed. "So, it's okay to smoke, but throwing the pack in the garden is the problem now?" he asked incredulously.
The doctor closed the subject by saying, "Your status within the clan is disgraceful, you have to live in pain every day. It seems strange to me that you do not increase your smoking in such a situation."
"Ha!" Barkın laughed bitterly at what the doctor said.
"I wasn't a regular smoker. I only smoked occasionally during difficult times," he replied. "Also," he said as he turned his attention to his phone and looked at today's date.
"Soon my hard times will be over," he said to himself.
At first, the doctor did not understand why Barkın said such a thing. However, when he looked at the date on his phone and the date of birth on Batu's report, he understood.
In order for someone to become [Soylu], he had to awaken the [Soy Ruhu] he inherited. For those who inherited it, it was not difficult to awaken the [Soy Ruhu], but there was a time limit. If one could not awaken the inherited [Soy Ruhu] before the age of 16, one would lose the chance to become [Soylu] forever.
There were common rules among noble clans. If a clan member failed to awaken his [Soy Ruhu] before the time limit, it was quite normal for him to be expelled from the clan. This situation was not common in main families; Usually, each member of the main family would manage to awaken their own [Soy Ruhu], But cases like Barkın's were not rare. The main family members who encountered such situations could survive in the clan depending on their position, but they were unlikely to be expelled from the clan.
However, it was inevitable that Barkın, who had no position and was known as "[Illegitimate Useless Child]", would be expelled from the clan. Even though he was expelled from a rich, distinguished and crowded family, he neither regretted nor felt sad. On the contrary, as he told the doctor, getting expelled from clan would save him from difficult times, and this turned out as he predicted. Since his condition was not fully clear, he could not be discharged from the hospital again due to the possibility of his injuries recurring. His father came to visit a few days after hearing about his awakening.
During this visit, his father indirectly told Barkın that he was expelled from the clan.
"When you are discharged, go to your mother. I will send your belongings later."
Before leaving, his father left a bank card and a piece of paper with his address on it. The address written on the paper was most likely where his mother was staying.
Before Barkın was 8 years old, he was taken from his mother and taken to the clan. He had never seen or contacted his mother during his time in the clan. Her mother was ignored because she was one of the "people" who did not have the [Soy Ruhu] and thus was not accepted into the noble clan.
Due to his crystal-like hair and blood, Barkın was highly likely to be noble from the Crystal family. For this reason, the main family kept him away from his mother, but because he could not awaken his [Soy Ruhu] before the time limit, he was asked to go to his mother's place when he was expelled from the clan. His father thus implied to Barkın that he no longer had any relationship with the tribe.
A few weeks later, the young doctor gave Barkın the news that he could be discharged after careful examination and treatment. The cause of the injuries has not yet been found, but they have not recurred since he woke up.
When Barkın was finally discharged, he thanked the doctor for his attention and help and asked for his contact information.
Barkın felt strange when he learned the doctor's name and wrote "Ozan brother" on his phone. He had never asked his name before and had never used the name "Ozan". However, Barkın was ashamed because he did not know the name of the man who helped him and whom he saw as a brother.
After recording Barkın's phone number and name, he walked towards the park. In the afternoon, he passed children playing in the park and sat down on an empty bench in the shade of a tree. He stretched his hands behind the bench and lifted his head to the sky. Sunlight was filtering through the leaves and illuminating it.