In House Velerion, weakness was either hidden or eliminated.
That was the law Father taught us.
And yet... Arjen still existed.
The bastard son.
Cursed.
Pathetic.
Useless.
He should've broken years ago.
So why was he still alive?
---
I first noticed the change three nights ago.
It was subtle. Almost imperceptible. A shift in how he moved. No longer shuffling or dragging his steps like before—no, Arjen now walked like someone with purpose.
But still pretending to stumble.
Interesting.
---
I began watching him.
Not directly. I let the shadows do it. A few strings of mana laid in corners of the estate, a servant's silence here, a camera crystal that no longer recorded.
What I saw disturbed me.
He no longer cried when beaten by our third brother.
He no longer flinched when spoken down to by our father.
Instead… he observed.
Waited.
And when no one was looking—he disappeared.
---
The bastard was hiding something.
Not talent. I would've sensed that.
Not strength. Father's curse still chained his core.
No… it was something darker.
Something wrong.
---
Last night, I followed him.
Even with all my precautions, I nearly lost him three times. He'd vanished into the garden, and when I tracked his footprints through the old ruins, I couldn't sense him at all.
That wasn't human stealth.
That was trained. Almost predatory.
When I finally located his presence again… he was back in bed. Breathing evenly. Dirt beneath his fingernails, but not a speck of dust on his sheets.
Calculated.
---
This morning, he stumbled in like a kicked mutt.
Dirt on his cheeks. A fake limp.
Too perfect.
I didn't let my eyes linger.
But in my mind, the pattern had already formed.
---
Arjen Velerion is not as harmless as he pretends to be.
Not anymore.
---
If it's strength, Father will notice.
If it's magic, Mother will sense it.
But if it's something else… something forbidden…
Then it's my responsibility to deal with it.
Before it threatens the house.
---
I reached into my coat and touched the cold glass of the Hero Registry Orb.
Each of us carried one. It alerted us to nearby heroes—or those marked by divine fate.
Mine had started glowing faintly for the past two days.
A coincidence?
Or was it reacting… to him?
---
I closed my eyes.
One thing was certain:
The next time Arjen slipped away…
I would follow. And this time—I wouldn't just watch.
---