What was the point of killing?
For an assassin, it was to complete a job.
For a killer, it was to make money.
And for an "artist," it was to create.
Clearly, the Zoldyck Family belonged to the second category.
They were an established family of top-notch killers in this world.
Generation after generation, nearly all of them had made their living this way.
Killing? Just a profession.
Making money? What difference did it make how you earned it?
So, at its core, nothing could move a killer more than money.
Especially when it was so easy to earn.
All you had to do was set some jewels into the original.
Silva pondered, gently rubbing his fingers against the whip.
He thought about all the bizarre assassination jobs he had turned down over the years, big and small.
Their combined bounties had amounted to at least several billion Jenny.
...What a loss.
He looked up at his youngest son with an expression that said he should have known better.
Why couldn't this kid have been born a few years earlier?!
Silva pressed his lips together. His expression softened, though he still sounded stern. "As long as you don't... you can do whatever you want."
Coleman was a little surprised.
That was the first time the old man had given in so quickly!
Well, well. What a rare sight.
He could only marvel at the power of money!
Silva paid his youngest son no mind. He tossed the weapon in his hand aside and spoke to the servant.
"Go through the usual routine."
He started to walk out, then suddenly turned back. His expression grew complicated for a moment. "Your mother's cooking today."
"Oh? Is that so? Then I'd better hurry!"
Coleman smiled, looking delighted.
His mother's cooking! He'd never gotten to try it in his previous life!
Silva nodded, secretly relieved.
At last, someone else could deal with the aftermath.
It wasn't his fault. His wife's cooking really wasn't good.
It was far too sweet!
Just thinking about that dish with an entire jar of sugar in it made Silva's teeth ache.
He couldn't understand how Coleman could eat it without so much as changing his expression.
Perhaps... it was a talent?
Bang.
The iron door to the dungeon slammed shut.
The only ones left in the room were a bespectacled servant in a suit and Coleman, who sat there doing nothing, his expression vacant.
The departure of his loved ones wiped away the happiness Coleman had managed to feign.
He was like a puppet.
"Lal, get started. Call me when it's over."
He spoke calmly, coldly.
Then Coleman ignored the servant and let his mind go blank, sinking into his own world.
"Yes, young master."
Lal was used to it by now.
Everyone in the Zoldyck Family was a little strange.
And this was when the young master seemed most like himself.
It was when you could see that he and Illumi really were twins.
Equally lifeless eyes, equally empty gazes.
Equally unsettling.
Terrifying and uncanny.
Lifeless, yet not the least bit dejected.
Enough to make your blood run cold.
The whipping continued.
This time, the whip was dipped in chili water.
The sound of the whip cracking echoed through the air. There was nothing else.
If you didn't know better, you might have thought someone here was practicing with a bullwhip.
After who knew how long, Lal finally stopped.
He took a pocket watch from his breast pocket and checked the time.
Not a minute more or less. Exactly three hours.
The punishment was over.
"Young master, it's over."
"Hm? Oh, that was fast."
Coleman murmured without meaning, as if he still hadn't come back to himself. He kept staring at one corner of the room.
Lal stepped forward and untied the ropes binding him.
"Lal..."
Where's Mom?
"Ah!!!!"
A shrill, piercing woman's scream cut through the night sky above the Zoldyck Family estate.
Coleman frowned slightly, silently enduring the pain in his ears. He felt a headache coming on.
Great. No need to ask.
When would Mom break that habit of hers?
Never mind. She'd probably never change.
"What is it, young master?"
"Nothing."
Now that he knew the answer, there was no need to ask.
He jumped down onto the floor and stretched his stiff shoulders.
Then he slowly made his way out.
He had barely stepped outside when he heard Mom scream.
"Oh, darling, I'm pregnant!"
Tsk.
Hearing those words, Coleman frowned despite himself.
The blood-red in his eyes churned.
The possessiveness buried deep in his bones roared to life.
He licked his lips.
In an instant, a thousand methods of inducing an abortion without harming the mother flashed through his mind.
No. No.
Mom was mine and mine alone.
So was Big Brother.
They could only belong to me.
His gaze was cold, brimming with murderous intent.
But the next moment, someone stopped him.
"Coleman!"
Illumi frowned at his younger brother.
He reached out, cupped Coleman's shoulders, and gently massaged them, trying to ease his emotions.
Illumi understood.
Just now, he had almost lost control, too.
Sharing their father and mother with someone else was bad enough.
But this time, someone was going to share his little brother with him?!
Unforgivable!
But Illumi had studied all kinds of books from an early age, along with the family rules. He knew that this was forbidden.
Killing a family member was out of the question.
Besides, the Zoldyck Family's rule was that the head of the family had to be someone with white hair and blue eyes.
Like Father.
Clearly, neither Illumi, with his black hair and black eyes, nor Coleman, with his white hair and red eyes, was suited for the role.
So the Zoldyck Family needed a newborn child.
Illumi stood still, waiting for his little brother to work through his feelings.
When he noticed Coleman's shoulders beginning to relax, he let go and reached up to stroke his white hair instead.
He rubbed it over and over, as if petting a cat.
"Mm... But I'm still really unhappy..."
Coleman understood the reasoning, of course.
But knowing the reason didn't make him any less unhappy.
"Well, you could think of it as your 'new toy' arriving."
Illumi thought for a moment, then spoke again. "A free toy that won't break."
That sounded pretty good.
Zoldyck children were all sturdy from a young age, anyway.
You could play with them however you wanted.
Coleman lowered his head, lost in thought.
Then he suddenly threw himself into Illumi's arms.
He rubbed against him.
Ah, he'd gotten to hug Big Brother again today.
Happy~
He muttered softly, "All right, then. But you can't share the part of you that belongs to me!"
Big Brother's love should mostly go to me, okay?
I was here first, after all!
I've been really good.
I can share you with everyone else.
So don't ask for too much.
Coleman felt he'd already given as much as he could. He thought he'd been incredibly generous today.
"Of course. We're one. Our relationship will always be different from everyone else's."
Illumi felt the same way as Coleman did.
His little brother still had to love his big brother.
I've already shared you, Coleman.
So don't push your luck!
Possessiveness burned in his eyes, but he didn't let his little brother see a thing.
From afar, their mother, Kikyo, watched the two of them with satisfaction.
As expected, the two of them really were twins.
They were her children, after all.
That damnable yet charming possessiveness.
They were exactly like her.
Her electronic eyes flickered nonstop as the corners of her mouth curled up.
If she hadn't just found out she was pregnant, she would have loved to hold her two adorable children in her arms.
"Illumi, Coleman, dinner's ready!"
Kikyo called out, waving from where she stood.
"Coming!"
The two of them called back and hurried over.
"Coleman, Mom cooked today."
"Yeah, Father told me. I'm really looking forward to it."
"...If I can't finish it..."
"I'll help you, don't worry."
Once Coleman promised, Illumi breathed a sigh of relief.
It wasn't that he disliked sweets.
But he really couldn't stomach the super-sweet food his mother made.
The fact that even someone with a secret sweet tooth couldn't handle it told you just how deranged the sweetness was!
Thinking about the terrifying dish he'd have to eat later, Illumi shuddered.
As he thought about it, he glanced at Coleman beside him.
He had no idea how that guy managed to eat it.
"Also, Mom bought a whole bunch of little dresses."
"Are we getting a little sister?"
Hadn't they only just found out she was pregnant?
"I don't know, but they're the same size as ours."
At that, Coleman understood.
Their mother was going to start making them dress up as girls again.
"Ahem, I've taken a job. I'm leaving tonight," Illumi said quietly.
So, the job of wearing dresses was all yours.
"Hm? Illumi doesn't like dresses?"
"Hm? Coleman likes dresses?"
The questions came one after the other, and their voices were almost identical.
Like echoes.
They both stopped and looked at each other.
In the end, Coleman was the first to cave.
He shrugged and spoke sheepishly.
"I just think it's very gentlemanly to fulfill a lady's wish."
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