The words left my lips, hollow, disbelieving.

  "You are my father?"

  A shudder ran through the chamber, though perhaps it was only within me. The man before me sat still and composed. Shadows twisted across his face, carving him into something inhuman—something that should not have been real. And yet, he was.

  He was my father.

  My breath was sharp, shallow. I took a step forward, as if distance could tether me to some understanding. But his expression remained unreadable, a still lake hiding horrors beneath its surface. No flicker of recognition, no warmth, not even a cruel smirk. Nothing. Just silence.

  The other man, the one who had led me here, exhaled a laugh that slithered through the room.

  "Are you sane, Fidi?" My father spoke at last, his voice dry, brittle.

  "Yes, I am Fidi," the crimson-eyed Boshaft looked at me and chuckled. His grin sharpened, cruel and knowing. "And since dear Barrett here won’t tell you the lore himself, allow me."

  Barrett remained silent.

  Fidi leaned against the cold stone wall, arms folded, his voice dipping lower, richer, as if savoring the tale like the finest vintage wine.

  "This man you see before you, looking all composed and solemn, was once the worst of us. A hedonist. A goddamn nightmare."

  Something cold curled in my gut. My fingers twitched at my sides.

  "Eighteen years ago," Fidi continued, "your father grew curious about the Edels. But not their culture. Not their ways. He wasn’t some scholar fascinated by foreign lands. No. He was a man with an insatiable thirst for the perverse. The thrill of taking. Of destroying. Of bending something so pure to his will. So, with that insatiable hunger gnawing at him, he carved through the Forest of Hallucination, tearing apart its magic like it was nothing more than cobwebs."

  The fire in the hearth cracked, spitting embers into the silence.

  "It took him a day to reach Edel land. And the first one he laid eyes upon was Soledad. A name already dripping with sorrow. She was beautiful, wasn’t she, Barrett?" His laughter was cruel, hollow. "Ethereal. Delicate. Untouched by filth like him. And what did he do?"

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  Fidi’s eyes slid to me, gleaming with unspoken horrors.

  "He stole her from the only world she knew. Dragged her to this very Citadel Ruin. And then? Then, the real fun began."

  The pit in my stomach yawned wider, gaping like a wound.

  "Torture. Torment. Not out of hatred. No, no. Barrett was curious. Like a scholar dissecting a rare creature, he needed to see how an Edel would break. How their voice would splinter under agony. How their skin would bruise beneath his touch. And Soledad? She endured. She endured because she had no choice. Until endurance itself became a curse."

  Fidi’s fingers trailed against the stone wall, as if recalling the echoes of the past. The very walls had borne witness to my mother's suffering.

  "Three months." His voice was almost gentle now, mockingly so. "Three months of captivity. Of hunger so sharp it cut into bone. Of sleep deprivation until her mind was on the edge of madness. He would let her believe kindness existed, only to snatch it away. A meal just when starvation twisted her insides. A soft word after days of silence. A touch that wasn’t cruel—just for a moment. Enough to make her crave it. Enough to make her need it. That, little girl, is how monsters make love bloom in their prisoner’s heart."

  My throat closed, strangled by something I couldn’t name.

  "And then," Fidi sighed, "she fell in love."

  The words felt like knives against my skin.

  "Not willingly. No. It was survival wrapped in the illusion of devotion. And then she was carrying you. The experiment. The offspring of a Boshaft and an Edel. Barrett, for a time, thought you would be something extraordinary. Perhaps even God. A being greater than either race. But the moment you were born, and he looked into your silver eyes, he felt ashamed for entertaining the mere thought of being superior to the Boshafts."

  My mind went blank.

  "So what did he do?" Fidi leaned in, savoring my unraveling. "He discarded you. Discarded her. Dumped you both back into Edel land like rotten fruit. He had lost interest. The curiosity ended. And Soledad? She was free. Finally free. But she wasn’t."

  His voice curled around me like a noose.

  "Because she had you. And Edels do not abandon their own. It's in their blood. Yet, she could not love you either. Because every time she looked at you, she saw him."

  Silence swallowed the room whole. The fire was nothing more than a faint glow, its embers sighing. I need time to comprehend this.

  Fidi tilted his head. "Poor little girl. You were nothing more than a shadow cast by his sins."

  I turned to Barrett, my father, the man who had orchestrated all of this. I wanted to ask if all this was true but the words didn't leave my mouth. I couldn't speak. Something strangled my throat.Slowly, he met my gaze. It looked like he knew what I was going to ask. And in those deep crimson eyes, I saw no denial.

  Only regret. Only shame. And worst of all—

  Indifference.