Karl almost felt his knees giving way.
He had rushed here as fast as he could, but little did he expect that even after trying his best, he wouldn’t be able to save himself.
"Do you think I should go and look for a good burial spot for myself already?" he asked Felix, lifting his gaze toward him.
Crossing his brother was equivalent to courting death. And he had done exactly that ... today.
Felix didn’t answer.
He rely tucked his hands into his pockets and watched as Karl tried to wrap his head around the consequences —one that were, frankly, exaggerated but not completely impossible.
"What?" Karl asked, looking like he was already standing at death’s door. "Say sothing?"
"Eira ... cried today."
Felix didn’t indulge Karl’s dramatics. He chose to address what truly mattered.
Karl’s expression shifted instantly. He straightened and stared at his brother, trying to determine whether Felix was serious or simply trying to guilt him further.
"No. Leaving her with Camilia shouldn’t have been that bad of a choice."
Felix didn’t respond. But the unwavering steadiness in his eyes was an answer enough.
"I am not going to spare Calia."
Clenching his fists, Karl moved toward his bike when Felix grabbed his arm to stop.
"I thought you liked Calia."
Karl’s pupils dilated. He stared at Felix, deeply offended. "How could you think of like that?"
Felix didn’t explain. He simply looked at him —and the answer was clear.
"Fine, I admit," Karl surrendered. "I did consider making her my girlfriend. But that had nothing to do with liking her. She just fit the list of attributes I needed in a woman."
Felix knew. Apart from being rebellious, his brother was painfully dense.
"And even if I had liked her," Karl continued, incredulous, "do you really think I would turn a blind eye to her attitude toward our precious Eira?"
He scoffed. "If you think I would, you are gravely mistaken. Little Eira is my bottom line. No one crosses it. Or else —"
Before he could finish, Felix turned away.
Karl blinked. "You don’t trust ?"
"Karl," Felix said, his tone laced with a different kind of seriousness. "Eira can’t go on like this."
"What do you an?"
Felix turned back to him. "She is too small to endure even the slightest suffering. And yet, she is enduring the worst."
"The worst?" Karl repeated. "How can it be the worst. She has three uncles, and they all love her —"
"That’s not enough for her." Felix interrupted, his brows knitting. "For a child, the greatest suffering is growing up without a mother. And that’s sothing we understand better than anyone."
Karl’s expression sobered.
They had a family —but they had grown up without one.
Without a mother.
Of course, they understood.
But —
"Eira needs a mother," Karl began seriously, "then, shall one of us marry and bring her one?"
Felix almost nodded to that idea.
But when he processed Karl’s words and realized what he said, he lifted his leg to kick him without hesitation.
"Karl," Felix sneered, "can you for once be serious in life?"
Karl stumbled back, barely avoiding the hit. "
"How am I not serious?" he protested. "Watch your words," he pointed accusingly, then brushed dust off his trousers.
"I am serious. Is there any other way to get Eira a mother? Old Demon won’t marry, and if he doesn’t, what option do we have?"
Felix wanted to refute him —but Karl wasn’t entirely wrong.
"I tried talking to him earlier —"
"Haha —" Karl cut in, already knowing how that talk must have ended. "Give it up already. That’s Dylan Warren you tried to talk to. There is no way you or anyone could negotiate with him. Especially when it cos to this."
Felix pressed his lips together.
"And honestly, I don’t even think he is entirely at fault," Karl added awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "So things ... can’t be helped."
Felix frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Karl t his gaze and gave an uneasy smile.
"Speak clearly," Felix said coldly. "I don’t have ti to decipher your stupidity."
"I an ... haven’t you heard the rumours?" Karl muttered. "They say brother isn’t ... functional in that area—"
Karl yelped as the sharp kick landed squarely on his hip, nearly sending him off balance.
"Finish that sentence," Jasper warned from behind, "and I will make sure you never sit on that bike properly again."
"Jasper!" Karl groaned, clutching his side. "At least aim better."
Jasper shot him a glare and said nothing.
"Fine, fine," Karl sighed. "I shouldn’t have brought up baseless rumours. But what else are we supposed to think?" He scratched his head. "Apart from that one woman in his past who gave him Eira, who else has ever —?"
"You —"
Jasper took a step towards him, but before he could reach his collar, Karl went to hide behind Felix.
"Can we not find Eira’s real mother by any chance?" Felix asked, looking at Jasper.
Jasper gazed at him, his brows drawing together. "If it were easy, we would have found her by now. But there is nothing left to trace her through."
This wasn’t the first ti they had discussed this.
And like every ti, it led nowhere.
"Since we can’t find her," Karl said from behind Felix, "we can only look for a new one."
Both brothers turned slowly to stare at him.
He swallowed. "I an ... logically, only that’s the solution. Don’t you think?"
—————
anwhile, on the other side of Sanctuary Heights —
Even long after the car had pulled up out of the house for a long ti now, Dylan didn’t make any movent to step out.
He sat inside with Eira nestled in his arms.
His posture was steady — protective even — yet his expression remained aloof and distant.
Ford glanced at him through the rear-view mirror and spoke cautiously.
"Boss ... don’t you think it was a mistake to let the Little Miss et her like this?"
"Mistake?" Dylan re-uttered.
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