It was a voice he was very familiar with.
Whether he was asleep or distracted, he still recognized that voice. And the owner of it was the one person he had tried hardest to avoid.
Baines slowly turned.
Cecilia sat in her wheelchair near the doorway. But this time, she was not alone, and it wasn't just her attendant.
Around ten guards surrounded her, donned in full black, which was strange considering the house was usually empty.
The room fell silent.
The air was thick with it as he met those questioning but calm eyes and steady posture that almost readily revealed that she was very well aware of his intentions.
Yet, she still asked.
'How did she know to come here?' Baines frowned. He just couldn't understand how his sister always knew his next move, and it bothered him.
But he did not panic.
He steadied his breath and remained calm. 'At this point, there is no escape. I should tell her. Maybe she can understand me.'
He opened his mouth, "I'm leaving."
Cecilia stiffened.
"What?"
Baines raised his voice, "I said I'm leaving."
Her gaze sharpened. For a while, neither of them spoke.
Then — quietly:
"Why?"
Baines did not hesitate.
"It happened with Father. With mother. With our brothers. And…" He shook his head, forcing his memories back. "And we couldn't do anything then —and even now, we stayed back, did nothing, and everything keeps slipping away."
His voice trembled — then surged into a roar that exhausted every breath in his lungs. "But if I leave, we can change something."
Cecilia's hand trembled against the armrest.
His words struck like a blow.
It was like a direct slap to her face, like saying she was incompetent and wasn't doing enough. While he — a child — now wanted to act.
And perhaps, some of it was true, because after all…
He let the rest of his thoughts hang.
Cecilia slammed her fist on her chair.
"And where will you go?" Her voice rose — sharp, strained. "No. Tell me — what do you know of the world outside?" "
Her gaze drifted toward the papers he had been searching through.
"Let me guess—you were looking for clues as to what happened to us. Did you ever consider that what happened to us may not have been by chance?"
Her voice tightened.
"But even that isn't the point. When you leave, what is your plan? Or are you just heading out thinking the world will favor you after our misfortunes?"
The guards stared — stunned.
Cecilia was known to be calm, composed — yet now, her frustration spilled over at last.
She lowered her head.
"And what will happen to us… If we lose another one?"
The words struck him like thunder.
Baines' chest tightened painfully.
He had not considered a single one of her questions.
Not where he would go.Not what awaited outside.Not what plan he would follow.
He had only thought about leaving.
Leaving… to try and fix everything.
But at what cost?
His thoughts crumbled beneath the weight of it.
The question that hit him the loudest was the last,
What if they lost another one?
The mind he had finally managed to calm moments ago collapsed beneath the weight of those questions.
Baines froze — trapped between fear and guilt. For once, he could not run. Guards stood all around. His body trembled—
—and then suddenly…
His thought process stopped, muscles loosened, and his mind cleared as a faint scent drifted to his nose.
His gaze shifted toward the hall beyond the door from where its source was.
'That smell…'
Pale… calming… familiar.
'Pint lilac.'
It was a plant known for its calming effects, among other uses.
But there was no reason he should smell a plant that was locked inside his room, which was directly in the opposite wing of the manor.
The only reason outside that was-
"…Uncle Kwon?" He muttered in confusion.
"What?" Cecilia's head snapped in the direction Baines was facing.
She had noticed Baines' subtle change, and there was only one thing that could do that.
Though she didn't see anything, she trusted her instincts telling her that Baines had, in fact, sensed someone.
Her voice hardened, and she quickly motioned to the guards.
"Catch him! Hurry! He must not escape."
Eight guards expertly rushed out of the room at once.
The atmosphere shifted in an instant as the situation took a strange turn.
"What's happening?" Baines whispered. "Why are you ordering them to capture Uncle Kwon?"
Cecilia did not answer, but her shoulders dropped, and she exhaled.
'Finally'
When she raised her head back up, her eyes had returned to their previous state. Her expression had grown cold again.
…
A blur moved swiftly through the halls of the Baek manor with skilled expertise.
It was Kwon, and his mind was spiraling.
'Shit!' He cursed and gritted his teeth.
'Damn it — I forgot to remove it.'
That pint lilac was a plant Kwon used to calm Baines during the breathing exercises. However, due to the abrupt opportunity he had to sneak in, he had forgotten to take it off him before choosing to continue his investigation.
He had forgotten Baines was a plant lover and could identify plants from meters away.
And because of that single slip-up — that mistake — everything had fallen into disarray.
"Block the entrances. Don't let anyone leave."
The urgent voices of several guards echoed around the halls, and their stomping boots signaled their proximity.
'Wait, more guards?' Kwon frowned. 'Since when did this house have this many…?'
He could hear the rapid footsteps of those chasing behind him and grit his teeth.
'This changes things. I have to escape this house and report to them, NOW.'
He roared in his mind.
His blur rapidly approached the stairs when something tugged at his mind.
'How did she react so quickly… and send people after me?'
As he asked himself, his eyes widened. The answer dawned instantly.
'Did she already suspect me? But how'
The thought of it was maddening. More guards. The suspicions. The instant reaction.
It was as if she had been waiting for the moment.
'Since when?' The number of guards he could sense wasn't a number that could have been gathered recently.
'I haven't done anything suspicious.'
His questions remained unanswered as he reached the central stairway —
—and stopped.
More guards waited at the base of the steps, their weapons drawn.
"He's here! Call the others!" One of the guards shouted
Another guard broke away from the group to spread the word.
"Sir — we don't want to attack you," one called. "Please — surrender."
"Yeah. Whatever you've done… We'll speak for you," another added.
The soldiers tried to persuade Kwon to surrender. Some of them knew him and still believed in the man they had known for decades.
But Kwon only sighed.
"I suppose… I'll have to struggle a bit."
All of a sudden, a thin blade slid from his wrist and silver energy gathered along its edge — dense and heavy.
The air hardened, and pressure rolled down the stairs, falling squarely upon the guards.
The guards swallowed.
"S-Sword aura…"