The smoke still covered part of the En Family mansion.

The smell of burnt mushrooms permeated the destroyed corridors while bodies of members of the En Family remained scattered throughout the main halls. The silence after the violence was almost worse than the fight.

The men of the Cross-Eyes occupied the lower floors now, looting weapons, black smoke and documents. Some were still excited by the impossible victory they had just won.

But Kai didn't seem interested in any of that.

Not even in power. Not even in the territory. Not even in En's death.

While the others celebrated, Kai walked alone through the internal corridors of the mansion, completely silent.

As if you were looking for something specific.

Or someone.

His boots crushed fragments of glass and dried mushrooms on the floor as he advanced through the private areas of the residence. The few survivors who crossed his path simply retreated without the courage to stop.

Because there was something wrong with his expression.

Too calm. Too fixed.

Like obsession.

He stopped in front of a huge dark wooden door adorned with golden details. Unlike the rest of the mansion, that part seemed intact, almost protected from the outside chaos.

Behind him, Dokuga appeared silently.

"Boss... the others want to know—"

"Don't come in."

Kai's voice came out low.

Without emotion.

Without repeating.

Dokuga immediately understood that this was not a request.

Kai put his hand on the door slowly.

For a few seconds, he stood still.

As if the simple act of entering that room carried something much bigger than the invasion of the entire mansion.

Then he opened it.

The room was gigantic.

Dark. Silent. Almost untouched.

The closed curtains let only a weak light cross the environment. In the center of the room there was a huge bed surrounded by dark fabrics and partially extinguished candles.

And in her...

She slept.

Calm breathing. Completely unaware of the massacre that was happening outside.

En's "treasure".

The only thing he really hid from the world.

Kai stopped immediately when he saw her.

And for the first time that night... His expression changed.

Not drastically. But enough.

The normally empty eyes were stuck in her as if the rest of the world had suddenly disappeared.

Because he knew that face.

Since long before the En Family. Long before the Cross-Eyes. Long before Kai became... Kai.

An old memory crossed his mind like a blade.

A dark street. Cold. Hunger. Blood on his small hands.

And her.

Sitting next to him without fear.

No disgust. Without retreating.

Offering food while he remained too still to accept.

"You seem lonely."

He remembered the voice.

He remembered because no one had ever spoken to him like that before.

At that time, people looked at him as a problem. Like a wrong thing. Like something that should be avoided.

But she doesn't.

She had been kind.

Docile.

And that destroyed something inside him forever.

Kai walked slowly to the bed.

The silence in the room seemed too heavy now.

She kept sleeping soundly, probably sedated by the En Family itself to remain hidden and protected inside that luxurious prison.

Protected.

The word made something dark cross his gaze.

I kept it there as a possession.

As a precious object.

Kai stood next to the bed watching her for long seconds, almost as if he was confirming that it was real.

His fingers slowly touched a lock of her hair.

Too careful for someone like him.

"Finally..."

The voice came out almost inaudible.

There was no triumph in her.

There was emotional hunger.

Old obsession.

Whole years of keeping the memory of the only person who looked at him without fear.

And now... En was dead.

The mansion was his.

The corridors were his.

And she should also have been from the beginning.

Kai leaned slowly, bringing his face closer to hers while his fingers remained stuck in her soft hair.