“Did something happen?”
Following the source of the voice, the current head of the Zoldyck family, Silva Zoldyck, lowered his head and brought his youngest son, Killua, into his view.
He had decided long ago to make this child his successor. The most important condition, of course, was this child's unparalleled talent. If there was another reason, it was that this child's appearance was very similar to his own when he was young. As a father, such a strong blood resemblance naturally led to extra affection.
No one is perfect. This child's only flaw was being too emotional. He had clearly proven and informed the child of the danger of the "unknown object," telling him that the entire family might be implicated and die. Yet, the child remained stubbornly attached to the "unknown object" as family, defying his parents, refusing training, and even protesting by going on a hunger strike for the sake of the "unknown object" being confined.
Helpless, he had tacitly agreed to his eldest son Illumi's solution: to implant a Nen needle into the child's head, making the child consciously avoid all potential dangers.
The dangers of the world were not graded by age. Before this child could stand on his own, it was necessary to protect him more securely.
As for the circumstances of this child's death, even though he had witnessed countless deaths since childhood, including the deaths of family members, Silva did not wish to imagine this child's death. Of course, he did not wish to imagine the deaths of his other family members either, but this child's death would likely be the most difficult for him to accept, because this child represented the brightest future.
“Milluis is having a bit of a situation,” Silva put away his phone. “We need to go home immediately.”
“…Sister.” Although the family members always expressed themselves subtly, after years of being exposed to it, Killua understood that his sister was an anomaly, and her words and actions sometimes seemed incomprehensible to everyone. He heard that his sister had been different since birth, and everyone indulged and tolerated her. His mother, father, grandfather, and brothers all had an unusually consistent attitude, teaching him to disregard his sister's peculiarities and remain unfazed.
This time was different from usual. Killua keenly sensed a slight shift in his father's aura during the phone call. His father, as steady and awe-inspiring as a mountain, showing signs of wavering was truly extraordinary. Killua, unable to contain his curiosity, pressed, “What happened to Sister?”
“I’m not sure of the specifics yet. I’ll know when we get back,” Silva reached out and ruffled Killua’s hair to reassure him. “Either way, the situation has stabilized, so you don’t need to worry too much.”
Yes, no need to worry too much. Choosing to "go home immediately" was merely a demonstration of how much the Zoldycks valued their family.
His father had never lied to him. With his father's assurance, Killua nodded and felt relieved.
Due to limitations in transportation, even with an immediate departure, it took them three days to return to the Zoldyck main mansion located on Mount Kukuroo.
The special infirmary established within the territory in anticipation of potential issues was now being used for the first time, though the Zoldycks wished it would never have to be utilized, as it was reserved for dire circumstances—such as Milluis's complete loss of control.
The only piece of furniture in the pure white infirmary was a hospital bed securely fastened to the floor, placed in the center. Essential medical equipment surrounded it.
The patient on the bed was in a stable condition, still unconscious after a ten-hour surgery.
As a precaution, the unconscious patient was still carefully restrained.
Her lying in the infirmary was a scene too familiar, so familiar that scenes from different periods overlapped and became indistinguishable.
From birth, she had spent a lot of time in hospitals. Later, sometimes due to her self-punishing training, sometimes as a punishment, she was constantly injured, and the infirmary had practically become her second home.
The door of the special infirmary was perfectly flush with the walls. When closed, the entire room resembled a perfectly sealed white cube, as if isolated from the world.
“‘Independence, a clearly visible boundary, a relatively small enclosed space can provide a sense of security.’”
Silva recalled the advice of that doctor.
“‘This is the patient’s special psychological need, which cannot be understood from a common person’s perspective.’”
He accepted that doctor’s advice because the previous advice had indeed been effective.
“‘Since your daughter has a masochistic personality, appropriately creating an uncomfortable environment will actually make her feel comfortable.’”
Initially, he had sought out the doctor with a "let's try it" attitude. Although the doctor's previous advice had been effective and demonstrated professional skill, Silva had always disliked that doctor. This was because psychological treatment required providing some information, not just about privacy issues, but more importantly, having an outsider invade and guide their family life felt like a constant infringement upon their private territory, which was hard to ignore.
That doctor was renowned for his psychological consultation services, and many important figures were his clients. He was "public resources," and the Zoldycks found it inconvenient to recruit him and claim him as their own.
What bothered Silva the most was not the doctor's prediction that "your daughter will eventually have a complete mental breakdown," but the undisguised abnormal interest following that prediction.
“‘How about entrusting your daughter to me for observation and treatment? She is a very rare patient, and it would be my great honor to heal her.’”
Of course, he couldn't agree. Rather, the doctor's "suggestions" had subtly encroached upon the Zoldycks' bottom line.
If it weren't for the fact that the doctor's other advice later proved effective, and that the Zoldycks had the means to erase him in a specific sense, without personally acting, things might have been different.
As for the doctor's prediction, it was merely clever phrasing. Without the doctor's prediction, Silva had already prepared for the worst-case scenario, the same one predicted.
This was not a difficult possibility to foresee; it was just that ordinary people tended to be optimistic and unwilling to consider the worst.
Silva was certain that he had been prepared long before.
He believed this current problem could also be solved, just like the last time, without needing to seek that doctor's advice.
“If… it doesn’t work, we’ll have to go to that doctor,” came his wife Kikyo’s voice from nearby.
Shifting his gaze from the infirmary's surveillance footage, Silva looked at her. To deal with the aftermath, coupled with her worry for her daughter, she probably hadn't slept much these past few days, her voice betraying her fatigue.
When it came to educating their children, she was sometimes too impatient. Her concern often clouded her judgment, leading her to place too much expectation on that doctor's abilities.
“I don’t like that doctor very much. He’s very good at lying,” Silva said.
“You’ve said that, I know,” Kikyo replied listlessly, her mood clearly low. “But his track record is evident to all. We cannot deny that it is also a solution.”
“I will take it into consideration.”
Normally, unless he ordered her to "shut up," this ambiguous answer would usually provoke a verbal pursuit from her. However, at this moment, she was staring at the infirmary's surveillance footage, silent, unnervingly so. He could imagine how much of a blow the incident had been to her.
To be honest, when he received the contact and learned that the foreseen possibility had come true, Silva had not accepted it as calmly as he had anticipated. In his subconscious, he, too, like ordinary people, resisted the worst outcome from the bottom of his heart—humans are not made of wood, how can they be without feeling?
Silva closed his eyes, concentrating to dispel the vexation in his heart.
When he reopened his eyes, the surroundings seemed frozen in time. Kikyo maintained her previous posture, quietly gazing at the infirmary's surveillance footage.
Taking a step closer, Silva put his arm around her shoulder. “You’ve worked hard these past few days. I’ll confirm other matters with the butler. Tell me the detailed cause of this incident, and I will handle what comes next.”
“It’s… all my fault.” Kikyo repeated what she had said on the phone. Unlike her relatively calm voice on the phone, intense self-blame and guilt caused her voice to choke.
“I shouldn’t have mentioned ‘Kalluto.’ You know how persistent Milluis was about wanting a sister, even introducing Kalluto’s appearance to her younger brothers and bringing souvenirs for the nonexistent ‘Kalluto.’” Kikyo took a shallow breath, forcing herself to calm down. “She used to ‘talk’ to herself in the mirror back then. We all thought ‘Kalluto’ was a ‘friend’ she fantasized about because she needed a playmate. I never imagined ‘Kalluto’ would have such a big impact on her.”
“It’s all my fault,” Kikyo lowered her head. “It’s my fault for being too hasty.”
Silva felt the weight Kikyo was placing on him. To maintain his own composure, she was seeking physical reliance.
“……” Silva held her tighter, remaining silent. He knew she needed to vent most at this moment.
“If… if we hadn’t taught her ‘Nen’ back then, perhaps she would have had less room for fanciful thoughts and wouldn’t have caused such severe harm,” Kikyo said. “I deeply regret it.”
After much effort, the child had become lively. Should they risk pushing her back into a slump by allowing her to continue with the family's traditional professional training? When she was four years old, Silva and Kikyo had hesitated.
No normal parents would want to ruin their child.
Regardless, she was still a Zoldyck, and her talent was excellent. To let it go to waste would be like a gem covered in dust, difficult not to lament.
Furthermore, a fragile child could not be separated from the Zoldyck's protection; she would lose most of her freedom.
Wasn't this also a form of cruelty?
Although she cried a lot during the torture class, and her adaptation period to pain was longer than that of an ordinary Zoldyck, she did not resist, which was good. It indicated she was resilient enough. Even though she was a bit different, she was, in the end, a Zoldyck at heart, which was comforting.
They had intended to delay the teaching of "Nen" as much as possible. Giving a mentally unstable child super-normal destructive power might lead to her spiraling out of control and becoming unmanageable. Fortunately, her Nen abilities had not exceeded controllable limits.
They didn't want her to waste her talent, but they also didn't want her to grow too quickly. This balance required careful handling.
Fortunately, she hadn't caused any truly severe consequences.
“It’s alright, it’s not too bad. There’s still a chance to salvage this,” Silva consoled her. “Don’t blame yourself too much. Teaching her ‘Nen’ was a decision we made together, wasn’t it?”
“…En.” After a moment, Kikyo said, “Sorry, I’ve been thinking about too many past events these last few days. I should have started by explaining the cause of the incident. You know, Milluis was extremely obsessed with a certain host, so we sent people to monitor that host.”
“……” When Silva had first learned of this, he had also found it difficult to accept.
What was the profession of a host?
It was the profession most skilled in honeyed words.
Losing money was not important. If their naive daughter were to be hurt emotionally by a scumbag and fall into sadness, as a father, he couldn't help but feel the urge to kill.
That child was very stubborn. Direct intervention might backfire, so they decided to observe the situation first and deal with it accordingly.
“As expected, when Milluis arranged to meet that host privately again, we would have a frank conversation with her,” Kikyo said. “Illumi’s disguise is convenient, and it can confirm if she was so infatuated that she lost her judgment. He also has enough ability to bring her home without harming her.”
“I’m glad she injured Illumi. Illumi also completed the mission, everything was as expected. There was even another good thing.” After a brief pause, Kikyo continued, “When the disguise was removed and she recognized Illumi's presence, she… forgot everything about Illumi. She was very concerned about the ‘stranger’ who appeared in the house and kept asking me about Illumi's identity. I thought this might be a rare opportunity, so I told her the truth. As a result, she thought Illumi was an adopted brother.”
“En,” Silva responded.
“She once told her younger brothers that according to the rules of the name-chaining game, Miruki, Killua, Alluka, and then Kalluto. Remove the beginning, add the end, the number of people is correct. We discussed it. Illumi’s existence was likely replaced by her with ‘Kalluto,’ which would maintain the basic logic,” Kikyo said. “To explain Illumi’s existence to her, we had to mention ‘Kalluto.’ I used a hypothesis to guide her to discover it herself. I… asked her to take me to see ‘Kalluto.’”
What followed was the crucial part. Kikyo paused again, composing herself.
“She might not have realized that she was following a constantly repeating route, making it seem as if she were lost.”
“So she began to suspect. The object of her suspicion was me. I tried to shift her mental burden, to stop her from thinking about ‘Kalluto.’ However, it was too late.”
“She completely lost trust in me. She believed I was an imposter, and even that the surrounding environment was fake. She believed everything was an illusion created by Nen abilities. She wanted to escape the illusion, so she needed to destroy—perhaps that’s what she thought.”
Having spoken in one breath, Kikyo let go of the last bit of strength supporting her. Her tightly clenched shoulders relaxed.
“I understand,” as the head of the family, Silva remained calm as usual. “I’ll look at the compiled recordings later. You should go rest now.”
“Okay.”
Watching Kikyo leave the room, Silva turned his gaze back to the screen. He operated the keyboard, and the footage from one of the surveillance screens was switched to a recording from three days prior.
The recording had been personally compiled by Kikyo, starting from Milluis’s return home, through Milluis’s abnormal behavior until her collapse. Kikyo said she had deleted the footage of Milluis’s destruction after her collapse because those images would only cause the family distress, and she believed Milluis herself wouldn't want her undressed images to be preserved.
“……” Silva trusted Kikyo’s judgment. After all, Kikyo had paid meticulous and continuous attention to their somewhat troubled daughter since Milluis’s birth.
Yes, in this world, no one could love Milluis more than Kikyo.
The footage played to Milluis appearing "lost" in the hallway. Milluis suddenly turned, retreated, put on a vocal device, and her expression was strange. As Kikyo said, this was undoubtedly a crucial turning point for this anomaly.
“You’re causing trouble. What did you do?” Milluis in the footage, clutching her head, spoke with growing frenzy. “What… did you do to me? What… do you want to do to me?”
“‘People with insecurity are prone to paranoid delusions.’”
Silva recalled what that doctor had said. Milluis's behavior in the footage was very close to this description.
“We didn’t do anything, Mill, you’re just a little tired,” the Kikyo in the footage attempted to comfort her. “We’ll go see ‘Kalluto’ again tomorrow. Let’s just rest for today.”
“Tomorrow? What will be different tomorrow? You’re buying time, aren’t you? So you’ll have a chance to create the situation you want. What do you want? What do you want? What do you want? You… want to prove to me… prove that ‘Kalluto’ doesn’t exist?” Milluis in the footage intensified her suspicion.
“No, we won’t mention ‘Kalluto’ anymore. We’ll never mention it again. Let’s stop here, okay, Mill?”
“You’re not yourself. You’re not Kikyo. You’re deliberately distorting my perception, making me confused, making me doubt myself. In reality, I’m not on Mount Kukuroo. The last time I was affected was in a hotel, you inserted a needle into my head, and then I lost my mobility, only able to act according to the Nen user’s instructions, making me believe it was an manipulation ability. In reality, this is a specific ability that transports my consciousness into an illusion, then creates various anomalies, gradually breaking down all my inherent perceptions and driving me insane.” Milluis in the footage had completely lost all trust in Kikyo.
“So, how do I escape this illusion?” Milluis in the footage pressed the tip of a dagger to her neck, breaking the skin, blood dyeing her collar red. “The usual cliché, kill myself?”
“No, no, Mill, don't do that. Once you make the wrong choice, there's no turning back. This… should be your last attempt.”
Milluis in the footage remained unmoved, becoming even more convinced, even smiling.
The recording ended here.
The black screen reflected Silva’s furrowed brow.
Milluis firmly believed she was trapped in an illusion. When she woke up, how could she break free from a nonexistent labyrinth?
Perhaps, even the answer didn't exist.
This was truly… an unimaginably difficult hurdle.