Beyond the Eternity

[Would you like to examine the Fragment of Despair?]

[Yes (selected) / No]

Kururu!

As soon as the selection was confirmed, a faint vibration reverberated through the parlour. The scene transformed, revealing a vision of several people laughing. These were not real people, but the shadows of characters from the fragmented memory.

"Gulp* Who remembers the time we used to gulp* take care of the garden?"

"Take care of it? We wrecked it, let's be honest."

"And then Father would storm out, yelling, 'You bloody kids!'"

"Haha… such a good memory. He always looked so frustrated whenever we tore through the house like a hurricane…"

"Yes, yes, and Dante will always get us into trouble while flirting with the maids."

"Dammit! Didn't I tell you I'm not like that anymore?!"

"You say that, but I haven't forgotten the time you tore my stuffed bunny right in front of me~ And you never even apologized~ You're a terrible brother! How could you be so mean to your little sister~?"

"You.... You still remembered that~ That was long time ago. I'm sorry, okay~ Please forgive this dear me~"

Laughter echoed through the room.

Dante, Elena, Isabella, and Julian.

They were all hopelessly drunk, drowning themselves in alcohol and babbling nonsense.

Where had the air of elegance gone? Was this really the same group that had been so composed only moments ago?

For a moment, it felt like a peaceful family gathering, with the siblings laughing together as if they had forgotten all about their inheritance dispute.

Indeed, It was a strange story.

Wasn't this how siblings should behave? But considering the bad blood between them, this peaceful scene felt entirely out of character. Perhaps the alcohol was a way to numb the tension and avoid confronting their true feelings about the inheritance.

Yes, with the inheritance no longer at stake, there was no reason for them to continue antagonizing each other.

I scanned the room and noticed other familiar faces in the parlour. Luna and Simon were there too, drinking alongside everyone else.

Their faces were flushed, unmistakably showing they were drunk, and their words were a muddled jumble of nonsense.

What was going on here? Wasn't this memory supposed to be a clue? Instead, all these people were doing was drinking.

Moon Jiyeon noticed the situation and frowned.

"What is the meaning of this memory? Why is it called the Fragment of Despair when all they're doing is drowning their past in liquor?"

"Honestly, I don't know at this point."

Yoo Rin groaned. "Can we skip this memory and move on? Their laughter is starting to get on my nerves."

"I agree. Let's go somewhere else."

Ryu Yeji also added.

I frowned. Weren't they all impatient?

"How can you be so sure this memory is useless if you haven't even watched it to the end?"

"Isn't this memory like a boring movie? Watching it to the end won't make it any more interesting."

"What about those stories that start off slow but have a great ending?"

"Ah, those movies are very rare you know."

Ryu Yeji, unable to come up with a strong counterattack, could only manage those words.

His words weren't completely wrong. In the first place, good and great stories were difficult to find.

But how can you discover those stories if you don't see them through to the end?

Reluctantly, we all agreed to watch the memory through to the end, hoping it would reveal something important.

5 Minutes

.

There was hardly any relevant information. They were just reminiscing about the time when Dante was a playboy, constantly messing around with countless girls.

There was even a time when he got three girls pregnant and completely abandoned them right after.

Wow. What a nice guy.

His siblings weren't exaggerating when they said he was a real piece of work in the past. Honestly, I don't think he's changed all that much.

It wasn't easy for people to change. They just conceal certain parts of themselves and portray the image they want the world to see.

That version of themselves would stay hidden for a long time, perhaps until their death, or until the right moment allowed it to surface.

Dante Valoment was a perfect example of that.

The best way to describe Dante's existence was that of a

'Snake'

.

Snakes shed their skin to reveal a new layer, but beneath it, they remain the same creature. They coil themselves in the shadows and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike.

They won't hesitate to turn on their own kind if it means securing their survival.

Despite building a successful company, marrying a good woman, and having a remarkable son, he still managed to ruin it all somehow and conspired with others to exploit his brother for money.

In the end, he was still the same person with the same layer.

10 minutes

.

At this point, Elena began spouting random words, but I managed to piece some of those words together and constructed a m narrative inside my head.

Elena was the second child of the Family Head. But with her exceptional academic achievements surpassing those of her siblings, she relentlessly worked to secure her place as the sole successor to the family legacy.

Despite her relentless efforts, the Family Head rejected Elena's claim to the succession simply because she was a woman, and ultimately chose her eldest sibling, Julian as the next successor instead.

This rejection hardened Elena, turning her into a bitter person who despised others and channeled her resentment toward anyone she deemed unpleasant or unworthy.

Elena married a successful businessman and had him adopt the Valoment name. But her husband's shareholders had bought majority of his company's stock, putting them in a difficult financial position.

With no other choice, Elena must have reached out to Dante before the Family Head's birthday, teaming up with him and her husband, Simon, to devise a plan that would force Julian to give them money ahead of time.

That plan failed spectacularly, but if it had succeeded, she would have manipulated her brother into giving her a large sum of money and lived comfortably with her choice.

The best way to describe Elena's existence was that of a '

Fox

'.

20 minutes

.

The next person was Isabella.

She was the youngest of four siblings and held the least influence within the Valoment family.

Her timid demeanor when speaking with her older siblings suggested she had been frequently bullied by them during their childhood.

The reason was unclear, but unlike her crimson-haired siblings, she had silky black hair. Perhaps her striking resemblance to their mother, the family head, had drawn more attention to her, stirring jealousy and envy among her siblings.

The relentless bullying she endured likely broke her spirit, leaving her mentally fragile and unable to resist as an adult.

She had a daughter, Beatrice, but no husband. It might have been understandable if he were simply busy and unable to be present, but she never once mentioned anyone resembling a husband figure.

Nevertheless, she owned a beauty company that was struggling financially, mainly due to her own mistakes. Eventually, she was contacted by Dante and became involved in their scheme to exploit their eldest sibling.

No matter how I look at it, she she seemed like the type of pathetic person who couldn't even stand up for herself.

The best way to describe her existence was that of a '

Rabbit

'

30 minutes.

Finally, there was Julian.

The eldest among the four siblings and the successor of the Valoment Family Head.

Unlike the other siblings, he was the one about whom I had the least information, making it difficult to fully understand his personality and character.

All I knew was that he had married his wife, Victoria, in an arranged union and had a daughter named Iris.

He was a real estate investor who oversaw several projects, though nearly all of them ended in failure. Along the way, a series of mistakes and growing liabilities led him to accumulate a substantial amount of debt. Perhaps he must have tried to embezzle his Father's funds to save himself only to discover something terribly wrong.

Wait a minute....

I immediately became suspicious.

If the eldest was responsible for overseeing the Family Head and his assets, how did he fail to notice when the Family Head sold off all his assets and gave away his funds?

Looking at it, it made no sense.

The Valoment Family Head had tens of billions of pounds to his name. It was a rather large sum of money that couldn't possibly be spent all at once without raising suspicion.

Realistically, it was impossible. He could manage a few million, but a billion was a different story. There's no way anyone wouldn't have noticed if that amount of money was spent.

If Julian was responsible for managing his father's finances, how on earth did he fail to notice his father's actions?

He didn't strike me as the careless type. After all, wasn't he the same shrewd and calculating man who had outwitted his siblings' every attempt to corner him and siphon off his money?

That's right, something was off, and the more I thought about it, the more suspicious he seemed.

I needed to check the study before making any conclusions.

Even the narrative I had built in my mind could be flawed. I needed to dig deeper into their personal lives, gather more information, and sift through the inaccuracies and errors (flaws)

Yoo Rin spoke with a hint of frustration.

"Ahjussi, this is so boring. How much longer do we have to watch this?"

"I agree it's boring. But wait, do you actually find the Fables fun?"

"Honestly, I'd rather fight some enemies than slog through this boring mystery. I thought we would be fighting stronger enemies from the Sixth Fable upwards."

Of course, we're going to face stronger enemies, but the nature of the Fable itself would be unpredictable.

We continued watching the events contained within the memory fragment, but by this point, some members of the group were already showing signs of fatigue.

Could someone get tired of watching a memory?

I was starting to feel tired as well. The characters weren't revealing anything relevant to the mystery.

Heck, we still don't know what even happened in this place.

How much longer are they going to keep talking like this?

Finally, Elena, clearly drunk, blurted out, "Hey, do you all believe that Mother was a witch?"

At some point during the conversation, she accidentally let those words slip from her lips, causing a subtle shift in the atmosphere.