Vincent got beaten so badly that he wasn't even able to make sense of the situation. Without any pity for himself or at least a part of him, the crimson one grabbed him by the hair and yanked him above his feet, looking straight into his eyes. Vincent gritted his teeth and met his gaze, wrath surging below his hatred-filled eyes.

The crimson one curled his lips into a mocking smile as he patted his pale cheek with his cold hand, one that lacked any signs of life and warmth. Vincent felt as his face would freeze if he were to touch him three or four more times.

"Trying to fight me? Oh, father's little champion, you're too weak for that. You only made a fool out of yourself."

The way he was caressing his face was enough to disgust and disturb him. The way he kept on involving his dead father in everything got on his nerves. His anger intensified and his blood boiled.

"Y-you bastard! I will kill you!" Vincent said in a weak voice, appearing exhausted and tired, but he strongly grabbed his wrists, holding them in a viscous clutch. He used so much strength that the crimson one felt as if iron clamps had gotten fastened around his wrists.

"Resistance is futile," he said as several red threads carrying the sharpness of knives shot out of each of his wrists, stabbing into Vincent's palms and branching out of the other side, giving him an immense taste of pain. He felt as if someone had stabbed him dozens of times. Painful groans naturally escaped out from the gap between his gritted teeth. The crimson one relished his agony as his groans were his favorite melodies, and watching him in pain was the best thing in his life. However, he was irked by the fact that Vincent's grip remained as strong as ever. Thus, he stabbed his hands another ten times. Ten times because only after that did Vincent's hands loosened around his wrists and weakly fell. "I mean, weakling shouldn't try to fight back. Otherwise, you're just asking for pain."

Vincent didn't reply, silently keeping his head low. He seemed like a body without a soul, all because the pain had ravaged him extremely badly.

While watching the pathetic version of himself, the crimson one couldn't help but sigh. "I can never understand our father! Why did he choose you over me? You're nothing compared to me. Heck, I am better than you at everything! Yet, he still selected you over me. How is that fair?! Why did something so unfair happen to me?"

"Haha!" Vincent raised his head and looked at him like he was looking at a soon-to-be corpse.

"Pa!" The crimson one slapped his face, not once but multiple times. Immediately after, he shouted, "Don't you fucking stare at me like that! Next time I will gouge out your eyes!"

As if he hadn't heard his words, Vincent kept the same look in his eyes. Moreover, he also said a few insulting words to add salt to the crimson one's decades-old wounds. "You got an inferiority complex, don't you?

"You!"

"Ptui!"

Vincent spat on his face. It wasn't just his saliva that spat on the crimson one's face, but also his blood.

His ridiculing actions caused veins to pop out on the crimson temple of his look-alike.

The crimson one loosened his hold around his hair and suddenly grabbed his neck, holding his life in his hand. He could end his life in the blink of an eye if he just squeezes his windpipes. Only after did he say the following word with a murderous smile on his contorted face, "You're simple-minded, weak, and easy to read. Just like the days old, you're still daddy's little boy, believing all his lies, never raising a question about your origins, attacking anyone that points a finger towards himeven if it's your true self. However, you're not only unable to fight for yourself but also unable to protect those who care about you; and you always need me to clean up your mess.

"You're stupid, charging headfirst into danger that you can't possibly get out of alive, and also reckless enough to challenge those who are stronger than you without thinking twice. More than that, you are selfish and take actions without any consideration.

"So tell me, just what right do you've to be in control of what's mine?!"

"Why is it you who gets to breathe in fresh air but not me? Why?! Why am I locked in the depths of darkness while you get to enjoy the freedom of experiencing the sky littered with stars? Why?!"

While saying those words, the crimson one slapped him twice on the face, keeping him conscious. He didn't use a gentle hand and hit him extremely harshly, adding to his pain. Vincent winced, feeling as if bees had stung his cheeks.

"I don't know a damn about you nor do I know you, so how would I know?"

To his pathetic cries, that was Vincent's only reply.

"You don't remember me?" The crimson one said in a broken voice tinged with bewilderment.

Vincent's long eyelashes fluttered as he blinked his eyes. It was his way of silently agreeing to his words, telling him that he knows not a thing about the crimson one's godforsaken existence.

The crimson one's eyes widened to circles.

He was shocked, almost rooted to his cores. He had spent a lot of time with him. To be more exact, he was born for him, born from within himself. Yet, the one who he spent every second of his life with doesn't remember a thing about him? He felt his world slipping from beneath his feet. However, it knew that being shocked about it wasn't going to take him anywhere. So he started to think about the cause of his forgetfulness while holding him by the neck.

The wheels in his mind as well as the rusty clogs started to spin as a pondering look appeared on his face.