A distant voice called from the gate.
"Lord Wisteria! Please—please, we beg of you!"
Aidan paused by his window, eyes narrowing as he spotted two men carrying a small, limp figure between them. Her body hung like soaked cloth in the arms of her brother. The older man behind them—perhaps in his sixties—looked hollow. His eyes were red and swollen, lips trembling with things he couldn't say.
The name the man used caught Aidan's attention.
No one called him that.
He recognized them.
One of the men—Elric—had mocked him years ago. Said he wasn't fit to call himself a Wisteria. Laughed at Aidan's pale hands, too soft for a man. Called him a faker. Said if he ever needed help, he'd rather be dead.
Now he was here.
Aidan opened the cabin door just enough for them to see a sliver of him. The same pale hand Elric once mocked held the frame.
Elric's voice broke.
"Please... help my sister."
Aidan didn't show much of a reaction. It wasn't unusual to see dying people coming in and out of Dmitri's clinic.
"Should I help you?" Aidan said coldly. "I think Dmitri is a better option than me."
He pulled the door inward, clearly intending to shut it.
"No! It's closed!" Elric snapped. "It's been two days—he's not around! We waited, but if we wait any longer, I'll lose my sister!"
He let go of the girl, letting her body drop to the ground to stop Aidan from closing the door.
A soft thud echoed.
Adeena rushed down the stairs, glancing at her brother before darting outside.
Aidan hesitated.
There were secrets in this house. Parts of himself he kept locked away. Someone like Elric might expose them.
But the girl… dying on the ground, her father trembling in fear…
Memories flashed behind his eyes—ones he kept buried. That expression... he'd worn it once too. Hopelessness. A wound apothecaries couldn't heal.
"You're pissing me off. Step aside, brother," Adeena muttered, brushing past him and kneeling beside the unconscious girl.
"Give her to me."
Aidan didn't stop her. In fact, he was relieved his sister had made the decision for him.
Elric hesitated, looking between them.
They were twins—he remembered—but he'd rarely seen Aidan. Always covered by a scarf and wide hat. It was Adeena who made appearances at Dahlia's estate.
Now, he saw Aidan in daylight. No scarf. No layers.
His features were unreasonably beautiful for a man.
And yet his presence was... sharp. Cutting.
They brought the girl inside.
Adeena laid her down in the small treatment room beside the main cabin. Clean. Bright. Aromatic like citrus and pine. Elric found himself comparing it to Dmitri's wing—it was nicer.
The girl was breathing, but barely. Her skin had a sickly yellow tinge. Lips cracked. Hair falling in patches. Her stomach bloated.
"She took something," Aidan muttered, inspecting her. "A slimming concoction?"
He had seen cases like this in Dmitri's clinic. He wasn't the one treating them, but he knew the symptoms. Diagnosed them. Prescribed painkillers.
Most died along the way. The things growing inside them didn't stop.
Dmitri never took responsibility. He always said:
"They did this to themselves. And when it gets out of hand, they come crawling to people like us?"
"I don't know," Elric muttered. "She said everything was fine. She promised she stopped."
"Has she taken it before?"
Elric hesitated.
"Yes. Once. But she recovered. She looked... better. I thought—"
Aidan's face darkened. He turned to leave.
Elric grabbed his wrist.
"Where are you going?! Please—don't walk away. Not now. I'm sorry, alright? For what I said. For what I did. Just—save her."
Behind them, the old man finally spoke. His voice cracked like brittle paper.
"We'll pay. Everything. Anything. Please."
Aidan didn't look back.
"Adeena. Stay with them. Distract them."
"My brother's getting something to help her," she said calmly, guiding them back. "Settle down, Lord Elric."
Elric blinked.
She called him Lord—but her voice was edged like a blade.
Suddenly, the girl began to convulse. She lurched, gagging. A horrific sound escaped her throat.
"They said I'd be beautiful…" she whispered. "Pretty like the women on the posters… I didn't know… It hurts. It hurts…"
Adeena leaned closer.
"Shh… Don't talk. Save your strength."
"Inside… something's inside me… moving… clawing…"
Adeena froze.
In the main cabin, Aidan moved like a ghost through the shelves. His hands trembled as he rifled through vials and jars. Glass clinked. He muttered under his breath.
"Where is it... the blue one… No, that's not it. Damn it, where is the Vail?!"
He slammed a drawer shut. Dust puffed out. Sweat beaded along his brow.
"Come on, Addy… Think. Where did you put it last time—?"
He had stopped making the antidote after Dmitri advised him to abandon the research. He'd given Dmitri the recipe.
He thought Dmitri would be kind. But he changed the ratio, weakened the effects. Said it was business.
"People put anything into their bellies if someone says it's good. If they die, is it my fault, Aidan?"
"Like me?"
"So you agree with me."
Aidan turned suddenly, nearly knocking over a tray.
Behind him, the door creaked.
Naina stood there.
Her expression was soft, but tense. Her eyes flicked to the vial in his hand.
"There are strangers here," she signed quickly.
Her movements were fast, betraying her worry.
Aidan didn't meet her eyes. He was short of breath, searching for words.
He raised his hands slowly, responding in sign.
"Emergency. The girl's dying."
"You shouldn't have let them in."
She hadn't looked at his lips. Her focus was solely on his hands. She was disappointed.
"I didn't."
She stepped forward.
"They'll know. They'll see things they're not meant to."
"You promised. That day was the last time. You disappoint me."
Aidan's jaw clenched.
"She would've died on the road," he muttered aloud, knowing she could still hear.
Naina touched his wrist—gentle, but firm.
"They bring eyes with them. Eyes we escaped."
Aidan pressed his forehead against hers.
"She was calling for help," he whispered. "And her brother… used my name."
She flinched.
That name.
Wisteria.
Voices echoed in her head:
"Don't touch me."
"I hate it when you touch me."
"A filthy being like you isn't worthy of affection."
The boy's kindness was what killed her husband.
"They called you Wisteria?" she asked, quietly.
He nodded.
"Loud enough for the wind to remember."
Aidan tapped her shoulder and left the room.
"Bowl—get the milk!" he shouted as he returned, vial in hand.
Adeena slid a shallow bowl of warm milk beneath the bed.
The girl vomited.
Something slithered out.
A thin, fleshy worm wriggled into the bowl. Adeena winced, holding her upright. Another began to crawl from her mouth.
Elric turned white.
He collapsed.
Adeena's eyes glowed faintly. Her magic activated—allowing her to see inside the girl.
"There's more," she whispered. "They've nested in her body. Lungs. Maybe her brain."
Aidan's face darkened.
"She's going to die," Adeena muttered, glow fading.
"No!" Elric screamed. "It's that woman! She did this to my baby sister!"
Adeena pulled another worm free. The girl opened her eyes—barely.
"Addy…" she rasped.
Adeena began to cry.
"My friend is dying! Put your ass over here this instant!"
"I'm here," Aidan said calmly, quickly.
He handed her the vial.
"She took the antidote before, didn't she? It wasn't enough."
"One worm's in her lung," Adeena whispered. "You think you can do it?"
Aidan nodded. They worked together, carefully pulling the second worm. It writhed violently, resisting.
The antidote kicked in.
More worms gushed out—into the bowl.
Elric, trembling, drew a knife and smashed one. He sliced and crushed them, snarling.
The bowl filled.
When it was over, Aidan collapsed onto the desk. Heat rushed over him. He tugged at his collar, fanning himself.
Adeena noticed his trembling.
"Your brother has anemia, doesn't he?" Elric asked, trying to ease the tension.
Aidan smiled faintly. Said nothing.
The father clutched the girl, now asleep.
"Bring her to the guest room," Aidan said. "It's a mess here. Adeen—"
Adeena nodded, but Aidan looked to Elric.
"Thank you for trusting me. I'm not a doctor… but I'm glad the medicine worked."
"Your sister needs care. She should stay here."
Elric hesitated.
"This is a noble house. I—I couldn't."
"I won't charge anything. You may visit. Or stay. If you trust me."
Elric looked at him.
"Do you trust me?"
Aidan didn't reply.
Adeena stepped between them.
"I can kill you now if you'd like," she said coldly.
"What?!" the father gasped.
"You called my brother Lord Wisteria. Acknowledged his status. Yet you bullied him. Treated us like fleas. If not for your sister, I'd have locked the door."
"Adeena," Aidan warned.
"He crossed the line," she hissed. "Why should I care if he's offended?"
"I'm sorry," Elric muttered.
Adeena grabbed his collar.
"Listen here, you little piece of—"
Aidan gently caught her hand.
"I'm hungry. You're the cook today, remember? Go."
She snarled, slamming the door behind her.
"Fine!"
"Manners," Aidan muttered with a sigh.
He turned to Elric- smiled
"Come. The guest room's away from the main house. You can help me at the farm to pay me back."
Outside, Naina waited.
Her soft eyes met them.
"My Lady," Elric whispered, bowing slightly as he carried his sister past her.
The wind shifted.
And from the trees above, a small bird fluttered between the branches.
It didn't sing.
But it watched.
Something always watched.