I want to see it.
I want to witness the fall of this family… the Moonshade Family.
Cain thought it with a cold thrill running up his spine, and the moment that thought formed, Ivira froze as if a knife had pressed against her throat.
Her breath caught.
Her eyes widened.
The air felt heavier, even if nothing around them had changed.
He looked calm, gentle even, but the voice in his head was hard to listen to.
It made her stomach turn.
Cain wasn't really present anymore, drifting into a daydream, his eyes were even catching a faint, strange glow.
Let me see! Let me see their fear. When their pride breaks apart. Their screams. Their pleas.
His imagination spared no one.
Rivik struggled to breathe.
Elders collapsing where they stood.
Cousins falling to their knees, disbelief written across their faces.
Servants trembling.
Guards dying.
The images stretched on, one after another, until Ivira no longer felt like an observer. She felt trapped inside his vision, standing amid the ruin of it all.
He imagined one elder screaming.
He imagined another choking.
He imagined the family head collapsing.
He imagined the young ones running and being dragged back.
He imagined the final moment when all of them realized they had no future.
No hope.
No tomorrow.
Cain's blood boiled from excitement.
I can't wait! I can't wait!
Ivira's blood froze from fear.
"Why…?" she whispered under her breath, almost unable to speak. "Why do you hate us that much…?"
Cain didn't hear her. He kept thinking, kept sinking deeper into that twisted daydream.
Then his thoughts sharpened.
"And to think," he mocked in his head, "you were all so stupid back then. You all were dying. Everyone knew you were dying. And yet you treated every loyal household blood member like trash. Even me. You kicked us. You stomped on us. You humiliated us. And for what? For pride you couldn't even defend? For a family name that collapsed in one month? What a joke."
Ivira trembled. She could hear every word in his mind.
Every insult cut through her like a hot knife.
Every memory he recalled felt like a blade against her chest.
Cain smirked in his thoughts.
"Well, maybe it was karma. You people died one month later. Nothing more, nothing less. A perfect ending for fools who didn't even deserve pity."
Ivira felt cold sweat slide down her spine.
She could not move.
She could not speak.
"And those household members," Cain continued in his mind. "All of them died too. Hunted down. Killed. One by one. Like rats. They were loyal to you. They served you. And because they were connected to you, they were slaughtered."
His expression softened on the outside, but his inner voice was sharp.
"I only lived because my bloodline awakened back then. A tiny bit. Pure luck. But now… now I get to stand here. And I get to watch. This time, I can witness it. This time, I can enjoy it."
Ivira's hands shook.
That was the future?
That was what happened?
Their entire plan… was stupid?
Her heart began to pound.
She couldn't breathe right.
She felt like she was the one being hunted.
And then she realized something terrifying.
If Cain wasn't lying.
If he wasn't exaggerating.
If he wasn't joking.
If all of this was true from the future.
And if he was telling the truth…
Then their Moonshade Family was in danger not only from the Crimson Blood King…
Not only from the Demon Emperor…
But from Cain—the Overgod himself.
Her knees weakened.
I must save us
I must save the Moonshade family from Cain's wrath!
Ivira burst into tears.
She couldn't stop them. They fell like a broken dam. She looked at him with trembling eyes and said in a soft voice,
"Cain… my husband… I know… I know I didn't treat you right in the past. But please… please listen to me."
Cain turned his head slowly.
His face remained calm.
But Ivira must act like this to change the perspective of Cain so he wouldn't hate the Moonshade Family.
"If the Moonshade Family faces extermination… if we fall… I want you to run," she said. "I don't want you to stay. I don't want you to die with us. Our predicament has no escape. We cannot run from annihilation."
Rivik growled from inside the coffin.
"Daughter! We won't die! You broke through! We can extend—"
"Father," Ivira cut him off sharply. "Let me speak to my husband."
Cain blinked.
Husband again.
Every time those words were uttered by her, he couldn't help but feel a goosebump.
Ivira looked at him again, eyes red and pleading.
"I want you to run. Do you hear me? We are planning to mistreat our household members so they won't be implicated. So the Crimson Blood King won't target them later. We want them to live. And… I plan to include you."
Cain paused. Then he stepped back as if he had been slapped. This…
"You're telling me," he whispered, "that everything in my last life. Being sent away. The mistreatment. That was all meant to protect us?"
Pain tightened around his heart.
"I was wrong…?" he whispered.
The idea made him dizzy.
It felt unreal.
It felt impossible.
But then his eyes hardened.
"No," he muttered. "No. They still mistreated me. They still threw me away. I can't forgive that. No. Whatever. I'll just do what I need to do to avoid being implicated again."
Ivira wiped her tears.
"Please," she whispered. "Please save yourself once it happens. You deserve a second chance."
Cain clenched his hands.
"What about you?" he asked. "What about the others? Why let them go? Why not gather everyone and resist?"
Ivira inhaled slowly and explained.
She explained that their household blood members were not mere servants.
They were descendants of those who once protected their ancestors.
They were people the Moonshade Family owed everything to.
Loyal.
Faithful.
Bound by duty and kindness.
Always standing behind them without asking for anything.
"If they die because of us," she said in a trembling voice, "our guilt will never fade. They are our responsibility. They are our debt. I cannot… allow them to die because they stood with us. I will not let their blood soak the ground for our mistakes."
Her voice cracked with emotion.
"That is my decision."
Cain stared at her.
No way.
No way.
No way.
"They're not… that bad?" he whispered.
Rivik suddenly exploded from the side.
"You little son of a bitch!" Rivik roared. "If you are really her husband, then you should stay too! You should die with her! You useless brat! You don't deserve her! You think you can run away while she fights?! You coward! You pathetic little—"
He went on and on, cursing Cain.
Calling him worthless.
Calling him trash.
Calling him weak.
Calling him spineless.
Calling him unworthy of stepping inside the Moonshade estate.
Calling him nothing but a worm who hid behind a woman.
Cain's eyebrow twitched.
Inside his head, he sneered.
"You dumb old man. You act righteous now? You dare lecture me? You, who will betray your own daughter later? You think I don't know? You think your fake pride will fool me? You… are the worst of them all."
Ivira gasped.
Her body froze.
She heard it.
She heard every word.
Father… would betray them?
Her eyes trembled violently as she turned toward the coffin where her father was lying.