Is He Still Alive?

The building at the back of the mansion? That place has long been closed off and sealed. Was it always the site of the rituals performed by Kaelith and Red?

I must check it again; perhaps Kael is still alive and trapped beneath the rubble.

I clutched the pendant from the necklace tightly; it felt cold, just like when I touched Kaelith’s skin.

That curse couldn’t just vanish; Kaelith said they were connected to my family. If the curse were to be broken, perhaps the Haugen family business would crumble too.

"Alaric, we must check that building. Kael might have been buried under the rubble!"

Alaric looks displeased whenever I mention Kaelith; he’s even turned his face away now. What’s wrong with him?

"There’s nothing there, Vaelora! Focus on getting better—you’re injured."

Alaric’s voice sounded annoyed and angry.

"Do you know anything about our family’s curse?" I asked again.

Alaric’s eyes widened slightly; he then turned away from me.

“What curse? I don’t understand what you mean.”

Seeing his reaction like this, he knew something.

The door to the room where I was being treated opened; a nurse came in, with Saga following behind her. She approached Alaric and whispered something.

I couldn’t hear their conversation.

Alaric turned to me, whilst Saga simply stared at me with a serious expression.

“I’m going to be away for a moment; Saga will look after you here,” said Alaric, and then he left.

The nurse had finished examining me; in this room, only Saga and I remained. The man sat beside my bed.

“Do you know anything about what happened to me?” I asked Saga.

He nodded, “You vanished suddenly; we found you in an empty building behind the Haugen family’s mansion.”

“Didn’t you see who I was with when I went missing? I mean, perhaps there’s CCTV footage or something in front of the mansion.”

“Nothing at all.”

Saga’s answer gave me no clues whatsoever. Why didn’t anyone see me with Kael there? It was strange and made no sense.

••••

I returned home after a few days in hospital; Alaric was keeping a close watch on me. He ordered Saga to step up security around me.

I couldn’t just stay cooped up in the house like this; I had to check the back building for myself.

In the middle of the night, I sneaked out of my room again. I saw Saga fast asleep on the sofa—this was my chance.

I tiptoed through the back door and finally managed to get out of the mansion.

The building was still standing, though the interior had collapsed. Police tape cordoned it off; I searched the entire area, hoping to find even the slightest clue.

But there was nothing—not even a trace of blood. There were only faint marks of ritual carvings on the floor, buried beneath the collapsed roof.

“Kaelith Vaeltharion Morveth… Where are you?”

That man’s trail had completely vanished; I couldn’t sense anything here at all.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

I heard footsteps right behind me. They felt so close; my body tensed instantly.

“Vaelora!”

That was Alaric’s voice; he was standing right behind me, his face full of anger.

“I told you, don’t come here! What if something happens to you again?”

Alaric pulled me back into the house; before I knew it, tears were streaming down my cheeks. I wanted to find Kael; he shouldn’t have just vanished like this.

“But Kael—,”

“Which Kael?! Mr Morveth? He hasn’t been in town since his meeting with you ended; I’ve already contacted his secretary. You’re imagining things—thinking you went off with him. Stop this nonsense!”

“What? Is Kael still alive?”

Alaric pointed to a photo on his mobile phone. “This is Mr Morveth! He’s doing fine in London.”

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Alaric was indeed showing a photo of a man attending a formal event, but… that wasn’t the Kaelith I knew.

That man was different; he wasn’t Kaelith.

“That’s not him! Kael has red hair and beautiful hazel eyes, not a man with black hair like this! His face doesn’t look like his either!”

Now I understand—there’s something wrong with everything that’s happening here. Kael hasn’t just disappeared; his very identity has been erased, as if he’d never existed at all.