The Anomaly Beyond The System

For some time, everything appeared quiet, peaceful, almost normal—as if nothing had happened inside the house.

As if his father hadn’t beaten his mother, hadn’t beaten him.

As if his mother hadn’t almost killed his father, only to be stopped by his actions... leading both of their lives to become even more miserable.

But instead of feeling the quietness to be peaceful... that very same silence made Aiden even more frightened.

At first, he refused to leave his room altogether, afraid that the monster was outside, or might even come in to beat him just like he had done to his mother.

Every tiny sound coming from the other side of the door made him instinctively curl up into a corner.

But no matter how terrified he was...

He was still only a child.

Eventually, thirst left his throat unbearably dry, while hunger gnawed relentlessly at his stomach, and his tiny body simply couldn’t endure it any longer.

Finally...

The child stepped out of the bedroom.

Even after Damien noticed him wandering around the mansion, the man didn’t say anything.

He didn’t even look at him for very long, simply continuing with his own work.

His complete silence left Aiden strangely conflicted.

Part of him remained terrified, while another tiny part quietly relaxed.

Perhaps...

Perhaps nothing would happen to him anymore.

Perhaps everything was finally over.

And—

’...What a foolish thought that was.’ Lucian almost laughed at his own naïve thinking.

How could a man like him ever leave him alone?

Of course... he wouldn’t.

Damien wasn’t showing mercy. He was simply waiting for the wounds on Aiden’s hand to heal to some extent.

After a week or so had passed...

That was exactly when Damien began asking—more like ordering—him to do all sorts of things.

Like bringing him his charger, getting him water, cleaning his room, then the entire hall.

Every little chore slowly became the child’s responsibility, and whenever even one thing failed to satisfy Damien’s expectations—

Smack—!

"I-I’m sorry, I’m s-s-sorry... aghh!"

Aiden’s cries echoed loudly as he felt an extremely sharp sting explode across his back, making his body arch forward from the pain.

Damien stood behind him, holding the belt he had just removed from his waist.

His expression was furious—the same expression he had worn while beating Seraphina.

Fury. Disgust. Contempt.

Lucian himself barely reacted to the pain, though the emotions flowing through Aiden caused him far greater mental anguish than the pain itself.

He looked through the kid’s eyes and felt every movement, every sensation, down to the absolute minutest detail.

"I thought you might become better, so I decided to give you a chance. But... you’re exactly like that whore of a mother of yours."

Damien’s expression twisted further as he saw the kid not responding, only kneeling on the floor with his body trembling violently while muffled cries escaped his lips.

"Tch."

Damien clicked his tongue.

"And stop crying!" he suddenly shouted, continuing to strike the child, only stopping when the kid finally forced himself to suppress his cries.

...

And...

It wasn’t something that happened only once or twice.

After a while, it gradually became normal.

Eventually, Aiden became so terrified of Damien that he no longer dared to meet his eyes, instinctively lowering his head, believing that even accidental eye contact might lead to another beating.

Before long, the outside world completely disappeared from his life.

He wasn’t allowed outside the mansion anymore—not even once.

He wasn’t even allowed to return to school.

But since Damien didn’t want anyone becoming genuinely suspicious, he simply hired a private tutor.

At first, the man genuinely tried to teach Aiden.

But seeing the child barely responding to anything, constantly spacing out, and unable to remember whatever had just been taught...

The tutor eventually gave up.

Rather than teaching him, he simply remained seated inside the study until the scheduled hours ended, collecting his payment despite barely doing anything.

Even Damien didn’t bother watching or caring about either of them, since a couple of dollars meant nothing to him—at least not compared to maintaining his image.

’Did he just buy everyone with his money?’ Lucian thought to himself, watching as none of them—not even the servants, who had once tried talking to him—did anything, simply turning their heads away whenever they witnessed the brutality his own father inflicted upon the child.

’I’ll have to remember their faces too. Can’t let them off after they took such... such great care of me.’

By now, he no longer cared whether they were innocent or not.

Every single one of them had watched. Every single one of them had looked away. Not one of them had stepped forward.

Which meant none of them deserved forgiveness.

Days passed.

Weeks disappeared.

Months faded by in the blink of an eye.

And...

Even years passed in exactly the same manner, and after seeing and feeling this much, Lucian almost felt as though something inside him had already changed.

He just didn’t know what.

He was now approaching his ninth birthday, with only a month remaining.

But Aiden neither cared nor even knew that his birthday was approaching.

There wasn’t even anyone left who remembered it, nor anyone who would celebrate it.

Lucian remembered how his mother had happily celebrated his birthdays with him before.

Once, she had even tried baking a cake on her own, though she ended up putting far too much essence into it.

Of course...

The child didn’t remember those fleeting memories anymore.

They had long since begun fading away, slowly being overwritten.

Even Lucian had only learned about them through these memories, and perhaps he might have felt grateful for devouring the fragment...

Only if he weren’t the one suffering through it right now.

Curled up on the living room couch, Aiden quietly looked at the sky through the large window.

His tiny knees were tightly hugged against his chest.

"Mom... Mom... momm... mom..."

His voice came out clipped and strangely hollow, almost devoid of life.

Yet...

There was still an undeniable longing hidden within it, as though he genuinely believed she might somehow hear him.

"Where... where are you...?

Why... why?

Why did you leave me...?

Was I not... a good kid?

Just... like how Father... always says?"

The final words barely escaped his lips, and before he even realised it, warm tears quietly streamed down his cheeks one after another...

Falling silently into his lap.

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