The Anomaly Beyond The System

After crying for a long while...

Aiden gradually managed to calm himself down.

He sniffled quietly before rubbing his reddened eyes with the back of his hand, then wiping his nose as well.

The small hand that brushed across his face looked far rougher than it ever should have for a child his age.

His palms were no longer soft, carrying tiny calluses along with several thin scars crisscrossing his fingers and the base of his palm.

All of them had been gained inside the kitchen—because of his father’s orders for him to help the maids with their work.

One of the maids had even tried to politely refuse, explaining that the child was far too young to handle sharp objects.

For a brief moment, Lucian had almost wondered whether someone inside this house finally possessed a conscience.

But of course, after receiving a scolding from Damien himself, along with a threat that she would never get another job again...

The maid no longer protested.

And because of that, Aiden had no choice but to obey as well, causing him to make mistake after mistake, increasing the number of scars on his hands even further.

Aiden remained in the same position, sitting on the couch with his body curled up, hugging his knees as though shrinking himself would somehow make him disappear.

His eyes slowly wandered around the enormous hall, only to notice that there wasn’t a single person inside.

The servants were most likely busy doing their own work somewhere deeper inside the mansion.

For several long minutes, he didn’t move, his thoughts lingering on only one person.

His mother—the only person who had felt more like a friend to him than anyone else he had ever met.

He was feeling really, terribly lonely, with no one he could talk to and no one he could share how he truly felt with.

He still had a father...

But crying before him would only earn him another beating, so he quietly buried everything deep inside.

He missed Seraphina more than anything, so much so that sometimes just thinking about her made his vision blur with tears.

By now, even her face had begun to fade from his memories.

Every time he tried to remember her, he could only feel a knot tightening in his chest, along with an unknown pain that he couldn’t understand.

The only thing he remembered was that...

That she had been a beautiful woman, perhaps even more beautiful than any woman he had ever seen, carrying long jet-black hair and eyes that shone like a frozen ocean.

Everything else...

Had gradually become hazy.

Even her voice...

He couldn’t remember it anymore.

Lucian felt a little disoriented internally, since he knew exactly how Seraphina looked and sounded...

And at the very same time, through Aiden’s emotions, he simultaneously couldn’t remember her very well.

The child no longer remembered the details.

Only the warmth of being held in her embrace.

Several more minutes passed, yet still, no servant entered the hall, leaving him all alone.

Eventually...

Aiden’s wandering gaze slowly drifted toward the mansion’s front door—

The one leading outside.

Throughout all these years, he had never once seriously considered leaving.

It wasn’t that he liked staying here.

Of course not!

It was just that he was genuinely terrified of his father finding out, afraid of what he might do to him afterward.

And he didn’t want to get beaten even more brutally than he already was.

Even though his fragile body was unsettlingly getting used to it...

He didn’t like pain even a bit.

But...

Today, for some reason...

A completely different thought surfaced inside his little head.

’Mom... she left the house...’

His eyes blinked.

’Can I do that too...?’

The thought came to him, and a hesitant curiosity immediately surfaced.

’Mom won’t come here... but I can go and meet Mom!’

The instant that thought crossed his mind, something within him changed.

The darkness clouding his eyes suddenly weakened, and a tiny flicker of hope began to shine.

Perhaps it was a childish hope.

A naïve one.

Yet it filled him with an overwhelming longing to walk out through the mansion’s front door.

If he could find her...

She would surely hug him again, smile at him again, feed him again.

And maybe...

Just maybe...

She would even let him stay with her forever and ever!

His small fists clenched tightly as a determined expression appeared on his little face.

After taking another cautious look around the empty hall, Aiden slowly climbed down from the couch before walking toward the door, one tiny step after another.

But the very moment he took another step—

Creak...

His leg lightly bumped against the sharp corner of the glass table, producing a faint creaking sound.

"Ouch...!"

Aiden let out a pained yelp before immediately closing his mouth, both little hands hurriedly flying over it as his eyes widened.

His leg was already hurting after Damien had kicked him there earlier, leaving behind a dark bruise.

Yet even then, that didn’t stop him.

Because he still wanted... to meet his mother.

...

Carefully glancing around once again and seeing no one coming, the child let out a small sigh of relief before lowering his hands.

Once again, he took slow, cautious steps, walking toward the front door while instinctively glancing back every now and then, half-expecting someone to suddenly appear from one of the hallways.

Thankfully...

No one came.

Standing before the front door, he slowly reached out to the doorknob, and with his height having increased a little over the years, he was finally able to open it without too much difficulty.

Slowly...

Gradually, he pulled the heavy wooden door open, making sure it wouldn’t make a creaking sound before finally stepping outside.

Then, with the same care, he gently pushed the door closed once again until it shut with a soft click.

A breath he hadn’t even realised he had been holding quietly escaped his lips.

His shoulders relaxed ever so slightly, and so did the tense expression on his face.

The instant he turned around...

His black eyes widened, filling with wonder as he saw the evening sky stretching endlessly above, glowing with beautiful shades of yellow and orange.

Everything around him seemed to be bathed in a warm golden light.

For a brief moment, the child simply stood there, unable to even remember the last time he had stepped outside.

But Aiden barely cared about that for more than a second, and without another word, he suddenly broke into a run, his tiny legs carrying him across the garden as fast as they could.

His breathing hastened, growing heavier almost immediately, but before long, he was finally able to see the mansion’s front gates.

A bright spark of excitement appeared across his face.

He was almost there.

Almost outside.

Almost free from his father’s clutches.

His pace instinctively quickened.

But then—

His body abruptly came to a stop, and his expression froze.

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