"Adrian, your actions were reckless."
King Lutheran's voice was firm as his gaze locked onto Adrian. He already knew what his eldest son was thinking; after all, he had been too harsh on him for his own good.
Adrian's fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white, his jaw grinding in frustration.
He knew, just as always, that even though Dryn was clearly at fault, he was the one about to be punished.
Just like usual.
"But Dryn, you must take responsibility for what you did."
The King turned toward his younger son, who was lounging on the sofa with one leg folded, casually eating an apple. A smirk tugged at Dryn's lips as he watched his older brother get reprimanded—an unusual sight.
Normally, he would ignore such moments or leave, not sit there enjoying the spectacle.
"Mm, okay, I get it. I take responsibility," Dryn said with a nod, raising his left hand lazily. He leaned back further into the sofa, closing his eyes, clearly amused by the father-son moment.
King Lutheran had two wives—one he loved and another he married for political reasons.
From the woman he truly loved, he had a son, a child he openly favored while neglecting his legitimate queen.
But despite this imbalance, there was no hatred between the two queens.
At least, not at first.
Everything seemed fine when the queen—his official wife—finally gave birth to a son of her own.
With both women now having an heir, there was no conflict.
Until she discovered the horrifying truth.
Her newborn son carried a demonic origin seed.
A cursed power that would grow alongside him, corrupting his mind until he inevitably became a Demon King.
The realization sent a shiver down her spine. She trembled at the thought of losing her child to darkness.
But then she remembered—Adrian, the king's eldest son, born from his beloved wife, carried something else within him.
A fairy origin seed.
Also known as the Angel's origin Seed, it was a sacred power that, like the demonic seed, would grow stronger with time, granting its bearer divine energy and the strength of an archangel.
The choice was agonizing.
There was no hatred between the two women, but for a mother, nothing was more painful than choosing between her own child and another.
And so, she made her decision.
She used a forbidden magic unique to her people.
She was the last descendant of the Primordial Atlantian race—beings with an exceptional affinity for water and rare, powerful abilities.
By some cruel twist of fate, her particular ability was the only one in history capable of transferring an origin seed from one body to another.
Something believed to be impossible until that moment.
She ripped the Angel's origin Seed from Adrian's body and gave it to Dryn to balance out his evil with the divine.
In doing so, she severed Adrian's path to power forever.
The process left him half-dead, paralyzed, and barely clinging to life.
She had saved her son but nearly killed another.
The guilt crushed her.
In her anguish, she fell to her knees before the king's second unofficial wife, begging for forgiveness.
She offered her own life in exchange for the atrocity she had committed.
A mother who had stolen the future of another mother's child to save her own.
Another mother who had just lost her son.
The pain was unbearable.
The second queen who had lost her son demanded first queen's life in return, invoking a forbidden magic exclusive to her clan—a bloodline feared for their mastery of Necromancy.
There was no hesitation.
Without resentment, without resistance, the Atlantian queen agreed.
The ritual began in secret while King Lutheran was away on an expedition, unaware of the tragedy unfolding in his own palace.
The queen with the Atlantian bloodline knelt at the sacrificial altar, her head bowed, waiting for death.
But in the final moment, the grieving mother holding her son's lifeless body revealed a terrible truth.
It was not the Atlantian queen who needed to die.
It was her.
And so, she sacrificed herself, trading her own life to bring her son back from the dead.
A mother who killed to save her child.
A mother who died to save hers.
Before taking her final breath, she entrusted both children to the woman who had stolen her son's future.
'None of them cared for this old man.' Dryn, sitting on the sofa, looked at King Lutheran, meeting his narrowed gaze, not seeing one of the strongest humans he had ever known even in his past life, but a broken man who lost both women whom he loved forever.
In his past life, Dryn had seen his mother cry, seen her beg Adrian for forgiveness while he stood there, cold and silent.
Even when she took her last breath, she told Adrian to forgive her, but he did not speak up.
Back then, it had filled Dryn with hatred seeing his mother dying while begging his older brother, who did not even fulfill her last wish.
He hadn't realized that Adrian had every reason to hate his mother.
"And how is that?"
King Lutheran folded his arms, leaning back in his chair, his sharp gaze locked onto his son.
His presence alone was intimidating, and he was already thinking of ways to handle this situation.
To begin with, he hadn't expected this child to come up with a plan on his own.
"Father, I want to return the Angel's origin Seed to Brother."
Dryn gestured with his arms still folded, deliberately avoiding Adrian's eyes. For the first time, he saw his father's expression waver—his eyes widening slightly in shock.
Lutheran's gaze flicked toward Adrian, who stood there, completely blank, blinking in silence.
'Be happy, rascal. I'm finally calling you brother.'
Dryn rubbed his nose with his forefinger, feeling oddly embarrassed.
Even after living two lives, saying those words felt strange.
Adrian, on the other hand, seemed frozen in surprise, his gaze shifting downward toward the floor.
"Dryn! Do you even know—"
King Lutheran shot up from his seat, slamming a hand onto the desk. His voice boomed with anger, disbelief clear in his tone. His son had no idea what he was talking about!
Returning the Angel's Seed wasn't something that could be done so easily. But before he could continue, another voice interrupted him.
"I don't want it."
Adrian's voice was quiet but firm. His eyes, which had been looking at Dryn, closed before opening for a fleeting moment, lifted and met Dryn's.
"What?"
Dryn blinked, as if he had misheard.
Was this the same Angel's origin Seed they were talking about?
The same one that had saved him from execution?
The same one that had been his leverage to survive and even go so far as to offer to that psycho princess in exchange for his own life?
And yet, the rightful owner of the seed—the one who had lost everything because of it—was rejecting it outright?
"I said, I don't need something that you've touched."
Adrian's voice was calm, almost emotionless. His eyes locked onto Dryn's, his meaning clear.
Even if returning the seed were possible—which it wasn't, since the only person who could do it was dead—he still wouldn't take it back.
Because now, that seed was a part of Dryn.
Because taking it back would corrupt him.
But there was one thing more,
(("I'm sorry, my son… I ruined your life, and now, I ruined my own. Every sin is mine to bear—I deserve nothing, not even your forgiveness. But before I go, please… protect your little brother. He is innocent. He shouldn't suffer for my sins like you did. And if you must hate someone… hate me, not him. I beg of you...."))
A voice from the past.
A memory etched deep into the mind of a seven-year-old boy.
The day the first queen died.
Adrian's blank expression didn't change, but his hands slowly relaxed at his sides. He averted his gaze and spoke in a tone devoid of emotion.
"Not that you could return it even if you wanted to. So forget it."
Dryn sighed, already expecting this reaction.
"But I awakened my Atlantian ability... just like Mother."
'!?!'
"WHHHATTT!?"