"How are you settling in?" Edwin asked Serena as they sat down for dinner. He tried to keep his tone casual, though he couldn’t help but study her as he spoke. From his research, he had learned that Serena enjoyed eating and strongly disliked being hungry. Yet, according to the chef, she had barely touched the food prepared for her, except for a single sandwich she had made herself earlier in the day. It puzzled him. Was this reluctance to eat a sign of a change in her personality? Or was it rely the weight of her lost mories clouding her appetite?
Serena looked up from her plate at his question, her expression distant, almost detached. She released a soft sigh before replying, "I’m... okay. This place is comfortable enough."
Edwin nodded silently, pretending to focus on his al. But the quiet stretched between them, heavy and expectant, until Serena sighed again, louder this ti.
"Are you sure we’re siblings?" she asked, her voice sharp with skepticism.
Her words drew his gaze upward. She was staring at him now, her narrowed eyes filled with doubt. Edwin set his fork down deliberately and leaned back slightly. "You only have to look in the mirror, Serena," he replied evenly, "and you’ll see the answer for yourself."
But Serena wasn’t satisfied. Her scowl deepened, and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Yes, we have similar features. I’ll admit that. But sothing about all of this feels... off. This house doesn’t feel like ho to . And you—you’re hesitant when you speak to , as if you’re holding back. Even the staff here—they’re polite but distant. Shouldn’t they be familiar with if I had been living here?"
Edwin sighed. He had known this mont would co but hadn’t anticipated it so soon. She really was quite clever. "You weren’t living here, Serena," he admitted after a pause, his voice quiet. "In fact, you didn’t even know I existed until a few months ago."
"What do you an?" Serena asked quietly. She had a sibling and she didn’t know he existed until a few months ago?
"It’s a long story." Edwin spoke after a mont.
Serena leaned back in her chair, feigning a thoughtful expression. Then, with exaggerated nonchalance, she glanced at her wrist—where there wasn’t even a watch—and gasped. "Oh no," she said, her voice dripping with mock alarm. "I completely forgot—I have a very important... um, eting to get to."
Edwin blinked at her, clearly startled. "What? A eting?" he asked, genuinely confused. "But..."
Serena sighed dramatically, rolling her eyes as she dropped her arm back to the table. "I was being sarcastic, Edwin," she said with a faint groan. "Obviously, I don’t have anywhere else to be.. I an, unless you know sothing I don’t about my calendar."
Edwin opened his mouth to reply but seed to think better of it, opting instead to give her a sheepish nod.
"Good," Serena continued, leaning forward slightly. "So, since I’m not exactly running late for my nonexistent appointnt, why don’t you tell this long story of yours? I’ve got ti of ti."
Edwin exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. He would have to tread carefully from hereon. He could not let her know that they had never t before this but he also could not lie or else she would catch on. So, twisting the truth would require him to be creative.
"I was kidnapped when I was a baby," Edwin said quietly, his voice steady but laced with an undertone of emotion.
Serena blinked, the weight of his words sinking in slowly. "Okay," she said, drawing the word out as she tried to process what he’d just revealed. That was... unexpected, to say the least. She folded her hands in her lap and waited, sensing there was more to co.
Edwin exhaled deeply, his gaze dropping to the table. "The people who took —they didn’t want to harm . At least, not directly. I suppose you could say I was a ans to an end. They had a plan, though I doubt they cared about beyond my usefulness to it. Rather than keep or hurt , they sold to an older couple. A childless couple. They... they raised as their own."
Serena frowned, her mind racing with questions, but she held her tongue. Edwin’s tone had taken on a distant quality, as if he were speaking of soone else entirely.
"It was later," he continued, his voice softening, "when our father—your father—found . I was a teenager by then. He tried to reach out, to make contact. But he never succeeded." Edwin’s expression tightened, and he rubbed a hand over his face as if trying to push away the mory. "Before he could tell anything... he was killed by those very people. And then, you were left in the care of soone who—well, let’s just say they were far from innocent. One of the people responsible for everything."
Serena stiffened at that.
Edwin nodded, "After your grandmother died, you started looking for answers and understanding the conspiracy that had taken place. You wanted to avenge our parents and your grandmother. While getting to that person, you discovered my existence.."
Edwin paused. Until now, everything he had said was true. But now, he would have to get into so improvisation.
"Around the sa ti, my adoptive parents had passed away, a couple of years earlier. I was serving in the army. I thought my connection to them was all I had, but as I sorted through their belongings after their deaths, I found sothing—a letter. It was from your father. He had written to , trying to explain everything, but my adoptive parents never passed it to ."
"The letter led to you," Edwin said finally. "But when I found you, you were in the middle of sothing—fighting back against the people who had orchestrated everything and winning.. I was also still on active duty and couldn’t stay long. So, we thought we would connect when the timing was better, when I could actually be a part of your life. We even made plans for you to spend ti with once my service term ended. You took a month long leave from work. But when I returned... you were hurt."
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