# Chapter 81
Fenil’s steps were directed toward Kane. Meeting him first before reporting to Boss was her priority. As she entered the underground prison reeking of foul odor, her complexion gradually darkened. Her shadowed face was filled with guilt.
Although the situation was confusing, one thing was clear. She had committed an unforgivable act against Kay. Along with the cool air, intense regret enveloped her entire body.
Fenil’s plan was more for Boss than for Kay. Not that it would negatively affect him. Boss would be able to live a happy life, and it was a way for Kay to be revived.
So she thought it couldn’t be helped, even though she was sorry. Even when she knew Kay was terminally ill. Even when she thought of using his feelings to make Boss realize his own heart.
But seeing the scene before her, Fenil couldn’t help but feel disgust toward her past self who had thought that way. In the silent prison, the sound of shuffling footsteps echoed softly.
“You are…”
At that sound, Kane’s head lifted. After seemingly confirming who it was, his face gradually hardened.
Fenil momentarily held her breath upon facing him. Kane’s appearance in her sight was far from normal.
His body seemed to have been treated and was clean, but she could tell. That the Kay of the past no longer existed.
He had been imprisoned in this underground cell for over three weeks. During that time, Kay had broken. His empty eyes devoid of anything were proof of that.
She didn’t know what to say. The irreversible past kept coming to mind.
If she had told everything from the beginning, would something have been different? If she had told Kay that he was the one Boss liked, would he not have ended up like this?
On her way here, Fenil had briefly stopped to find the person in charge of Kane. And through the records she received from the handler, she examined what had happened. Through these records, she could infer why he wore such an empty expression.
Kane, no. The reason Kay had become like this was because of Boss. The reason Fenil was so certain was that the period when Kay’s condition became strange coincided with when Boss stopped visiting him.
Others might call it a mere coincidence, but Kay’s life revolved around Boss. The only person who could reduce him to this state was Boss.
“What brings you here?”
What on earth had he done to collapse so completely? Fenil’s face, which had been deliberately maintaining a blank expression, slowly began to distort. Kay’s attitude was like dealing with an unfamiliar stranger. It was different from acting to hide his identity. His empty, void eyes held no expectations.
He should have been likely to ask for help clinging to a faint hope, but he was looking at Fenil as if he had given up everything. The eyes that had always shone uprightly had long lost their luster.
She hurriedly turned away to hide her trembling lip. She couldn’t face Kay’s eyes.
“…I have something I want to talk about.”
After taking several deep breaths, Fenil spoke. Kay detected something strange in her voice, which desperately suppressed her emotions. He slowly examined her appearance. She didn’t see this as she closed her eyes tightly and reopened them, trying to compose herself to continue speaking.
Having finally calmed down, she was able to turn around. Looking at the brown eyes drawn above calm green ones, Fenil smiled. It was a smile painful enough to touch Kay’s heart. Though she was smiling, he couldn’t shake the feeling that she seemed to be crying. But his questioning of that smile was only momentary.
“It’s been a while, Kay.”
Kay couldn’t hide his bewilderment at Fenil’s subsequent words.
“…How did you know that.”
He spoke urgently but seemed to realize his mistake and immediately closed his mouth. Countless questions rapidly flashed through Kay’s mind.
Fenil shouldn’t have known. He wasn’t even connected to Kane. Moreover, Boss had said Kay was revived and sleeping. Then she should have thought the same. Yet she called him Kay…
He regarded Fenil with suspicious eyes. No matter how she found out, he couldn’t trust her carelessly.
Fenil gave a bitter smile at his sharp attitude, as if confronting an enemy. It was a natural response since she had spoken so suddenly. She began to speak slowly toward Kay.
“I saw you killing someone. That’s a method Kay often used.”
“That alone isn’t…”
He didn’t know exactly how she had seen it, but anyone could use such a method. If she thought he was Kay based on just that, his suspicion could only deepen.
Realizing this wasn’t enough to dispel Kay’s doubts, Fenil hurriedly continued.
“And I hacked into Peace’s surveillance cameras to track your traces.”
“That must have been an enormous amount of footage.”
“It was. But I watched all the places where you were likely to be.”
All of them? Even if she only looked at places where he might have been, the volume would be enormous. And it wasn’t just a few days but months of records. Yet Fenil claimed she had watched all of that footage. Even for her, it couldn’t have been an easy task. Why had Fenil gone to such lengths?
Along with questions about her, an unpleasant feeling began to surge from somewhere. It was a familiar sensation he occasionally felt. Kay bit his lip and forcibly erased that emotion.
This would only be a hindrance. Having calmed himself again, Kay relaxed his entire body and waited for her next words.
“And I found out that you started acting like a different person from two months ago.”
“…”
Kay lowered his head as Fenil knew everything. When his face disappeared from view, she hesitated whether to continue speaking but eventually opened her mouth.
“Coincidentally, that’s when Kay died.”
“That’s a coincidence.”
Kay immediately gave a negative response to the voice coming from above his head. He knew he couldn’t refute Fenil with such words. But he still wanted to deny it. He hoped she didn’t know his identity.
“Zenon, Ben, and Tade also started approaching you.”
However, despite his wishes, she continued to utter words that were like a death sentence. His hands began to tremble violently. Kay squeezed his eyes shut. If he could, he wanted to run away.
“Is all of this really just a coincidence?”
But escape was impossible in this situation. Eventually, Kay had to face reality. His head, which had been lowered all this time, slowly began to rise. Kay, who had painfully lifted his eyelids, stared at Fenil with an unreadable gaze.
“…So what?”
He couldn’t deny it anymore. Even denying was burdensome. He had hoped so desperately that she wouldn’t know, but Fenil had found out after all.
“You are Kay?”
The clear voice that didn’t contain a trace of hesitation struck his mind. He nodded with a twisted smile.
Kay wanted to hide his identity from her. The reason was, in a way, simple.
It was because it was miserable.
Meeting her like this was terribly miserable. Fenil wouldn’t know. His current state of mind.
In this nightmarish reality that moved so slowly, he had given up everything. The memories of when he was Kay. The memories of when he was Kane. He had to erase everything without a trace to endure.
That’s how he could live day by day without going mad. In this reality where there was no hope.
But Fenil had come to him. And she had discovered his identity.
Hope had finally appeared for him, who had nothing left. Someone who hadn’t come when he wanted to be recognized.
Unfortunately, she had appeared at this moment. He couldn’t be the Kay that Fenil wanted right now.
What was here was just a pathetically inadequate version of himself.
That’s why he had hoped she wouldn’t know. Because nothing could be more miserable than Fenil thinking she was looking at his past self.
“…It’s been a while, Fenil.”
But such wishes of his didn’t matter. With nowhere to escape, Kay gave up everything and meekly spoke.
“I’m sorry.”
Kay and Fenil’s words overlapped. Belatedly noticing her words, Kay tilted his head. What was she sorry for? It wasn’t her fault. It was just something that couldn’t be helped. It would have been better if there was someone to blame, but since nothing was intentional, Kay had no choice but to choose to give up.
Yet looking at him, Fenil said she was sorry. Somehow, he had an ominous feeling.
“I knew everything.”
She opened her mouth after contemplation. Fenil avoided Kay’s gaze as if even speaking was painful.
“Everything?”
Kay expressed his doubt at her behavior. Was there something Fenil needed to hide? He fell into thought briefly, but there was no such memory anywhere. Unable to find any suspicious scene in his mind, Kay focused on her words to get an answer.
Fenil’s voice, which repeatedly closed and opened her mouth, finally became audible. A voice buried in guilt was conveyed to Kay.
“I knew everything—that you were terminally ill, that Boss would save you, that you would disguise as Hans and infiltrate Peace. I knew it all.”
It was hard to accept Fenil’s words, as if his heart had plummeted. Unconsciously, the corner of his mouth began to tremble. Kay barely opened his mouth in this situation.
“…How did you know?”
Kay’s voice trembled severely, reflecting his emotional state. Noticing this, Fenil gave a faint smile. And then her final words fell.
“Because it was all orchestrated by me.”
