The words I had just spoken caused a visible ripple of unease among those around me.

To those unaware of my true identity as Baek Seo-jun, it likely seemed as though I had brought up the story of the eldest son Baek Hyung-won and Kim Yoo-jung had lost as revenge for the orphan-related insult.

"Don’t talk about my brother like that!"

Baek Seo-jin shouted angrily at me, his voice trembling with emotion.

To anyone observing, it would appear as though he deeply respected his brother and was defending his missing sibling out of grief and longing.

But I had no intention of letting it look that way. Instead, I decided to provoke him further.

"You were close with your brother?" I asked casually.

"No, not at all. I barely saw him. He was a terrible person who caused our parents nothing but trouble," Baek Seo-jin replied bluntly.

At just eleven years old, he didn’t even realize how shameful his words were.

If he had grown up interacting with his peers like a normal child, he might have noticed how wrong his statement was.

But having been raised under the doting favoritism of Baek Hyung-won and Kim Yoo-jung, he was now spouting the idea that his missing brother, who had been handed over to villains, was somehow a bad person.

He wasn’t lying; he was simply stating what he believed to be true without any filter.

"He speaks of his kidnapped brother like that?"

"Even if he was six at the time... shouldn’t he remember something?"

At six years old, it wasn’t as though memories would have entirely faded. Yet he claimed to have barely seen his brother, which didn’t make sense unless the family had intentionally segregated the two.

The murmurs from those around us betrayed their growing suspicion.

Kim Yoo-jung, noticing the shift in the crowd’s perception, tried to cut off Baek Seo-jin’s words, but I intervened, shutting her down with a subtle burst of aura. It was enough to suppress her, making it physically difficult for her to even open her mouth.

"You thought your brother was a bad person? Why?" I pressed.

"Because even when the family ate meals together, he never joined us. He didn’t come along when Mom and Dad went shopping either. He just stayed shut up in his room. Dad and Mom didn’t like talking about him and always got annoyed if his name came up," Baek Seo-jin said with surprising honesty.

His naïve bluntness didn’t let him register how strange his words sounded to others.

‘This is the result of a spoiled upbringing.’

By the time of the original story, Baek Seo-jin had at least some social polish from interacting with others. But the eleven-year-old version of him standing before me was entirely unrefined.

"Ho-jun, may I say something?"

I heard Seomun Ye-jin’s voice behind me, tight with anger.

Her reaction showed just how infuriated she was by Baek Seo-jin’s words.

However, her anger wasn’t directed at the child himself, but rather at the way Baek Hyung-won and Kim Yoo-jung had raised him.

"If it’s hard for you to hold back, go ahead," I said.

"Thank you..."

Still unable to fully control her emotions, Seomun Ye-jin stepped forward to stand beside me.

As soon as she moved, Baek Seo-jin’s gaze was drawn to her, his green eyes filled with admiration.

His obvious infatuation with her only made my blood boil. The desire to gouge those eyes out with my bare hands surged within me, but I suppressed it.

"Are you certain your brother was a bad person?" Seomun Ye-jin asked, her tone sharp and direct.

Unable to tear his eyes away from her, Baek Seo-jin nodded eagerly.

"Yes! Pretty noona, I’m sure!"

Unlike the way he had addressed me with disdain and informality, he spoke to her with respect, his voice tinged with admiration.

Even as he sweated under the pressure of my aura, Baek Hyung-won and Kim Yoo-jung seemed more focused on the way their son was fawning over Seomun Ye-jin.

"Did your parents tell you that your brother was a bad person?" she asked.

"Yes. They always said he caused trouble and wasn’t worth remembering!"

Gasps rippled through the room at his words.

And rightly so—five years ago, I had been ten years old, one year younger than Baek Seo-jin was now.

What kind of trouble could a ten-year-old cause that would make their parents declare them unworthy of being remembered?

***

Disgusting.

Seomun Ye-jin realized the true meaning of disgust as she looked at Baek Seo-jin’s beaming smile.

It reminded her of the feeling she had when facing the villains who had once tried to kidnap her.

So this is the kind of family Seo-jun grew up with.

The child, Baek Seo-jin, seemed to want to win her favor. He genuinely believed that the way he was speaking would make him appear clever and good-hearted.

Her stomach churned at the thought of Baek Hyung-won and Kim Yoo-jung’s twisted parenting—the way they had not only favored their younger son but also instilled such warped beliefs in him while discarding their eldest to villains.

"Don’t you think that’s wrong? Your brother was younger than you are now when he was kidnapped by villains."

"There’s no way Dad and Mom could be wrong," Baek Seo-jin replied stubbornly.

His obstinance was unshakable. To him, his parents’ teachings were infallible.

Seomun Ye-jin realized that trying to reason with him was futile. How could she get through to someone who had already decided the answer?

"Why are you even with that bad brother of mine?"

And now, Baek Seo-jin crossed yet another line.

***

To Baek Seo-jin, the current situation made no sense.

The woman named Seomun Ye-jin, standing before him, was far more beautiful in person than in the pictures his parents had shown him.

Though he didn’t know the name of her outfit, her racing-girl attire highlighted her stunning figure and perfect proportions, even to his young, untrained eyes.

He couldn’t help but marvel at how beautiful she was.

How can someone so pretty be hanging around someone like Kim Ho-jun, that bad brother of mine?

In Baek Seo-jin’s eyes, Kim Ho-jun was a terrible person—someone who had rudely spoken down to his parents and argued with them.

He had grown up in an environment where everyone, regardless of age, showed the utmost respect to his parents. To him, someone who didn’t do the same was unquestionably bad.

His parents were always right.

They had told him that his brother was a terrible person, and he believed it wholeheartedly.

It was incomprehensible to him that someone as beautiful as Seomun Ye-jin could associate with someone so awful.

Having been raised to see his parents as the center of the universe, Baek Seo-jin was completely closed off to any perspective that contradicted theirs.

"That man was speaking informally and arguing with my parents! Why would you associate with someone like that?"

At his words, Seomun Ye-jin’s expression turned icy.

"Kid," she began sharply.

"My name is Seo-jin. Baek Seo-jin," he corrected.

"You might think everything you’re saying and doing is correct, but someday you’ll realize how wrong you are. Today, it’s your parents who are in the wrong."

"No, they’re not! My parents didn’t do anything wrong! It’s that man’s fault—he didn’t show proper respect and acted so arrogantly!"

"So, you’re saying that man should grovel and act submissively toward your parents?"

"Of course!"

"And why should he do that? Your parents barged into someone else’s workplace uninvited and acted rudely. Why should he bow to them?"

"Well, because… my parents are important people…"

"Kid, Ho-jun is an SSS-class mana awakener. If we’re talking about rank, he’s higher than your parents. If he wanted, he could easily secure a deputy guildmaster position in a guild much larger than Baekho Guild."

Baek Seo-jin couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

That man—Kim Ho-jun—was higher-ranking than his parents?

"Go home with your parents. And take some time to think about all of this," Seomun Ye-jin said, her voice cold and firm.

***

As soon as Seomun Ye-jin finished speaking, I released the oppressive aura I had been using to suppress Baek Hyung-won and Kim Yoo-jung.

"Urgh!"

With the pressure lifted, they glared at me with murderous intent but didn’t dare make a move.

They knew that any attempt to attack me would backfire, as I could claim self-defense and beat them down with impunity.

"Leave. I won’t forget today’s disrespect," I said coldly.

"You’re just a child. The world isn’t as simple as you think. Let’s go," Baek Hyung-won muttered, grabbing Kim Yoo-jung and Baek Seo-jin by the hand and leading them out.

"Uh…"

Even as he was being pulled away, Baek Seo-jin kept looking back at Seomun Ye-jin with longing eyes.

I already disliked Baek Seo-jin, but seeing that look on his face made me hate him even more.

"Ho-jun, are you alright?" Seomun Ye-jin asked gently.

"Come now, young lady. That’s my line. I’m the one protecting you," I replied with a smirk.

"Fufu, I’m fine," she said with a small laugh.

Although we were still in the presence of others, and she kept her words light, I understood what she truly meant.

She was worried about how I felt after facing my parents and brother again.

I expected as much.

Baek Seo-jin had been fed countless lies about me.

And because he believed his parents’ words without question, he saw those lies as absolute truth.

"Still, I’m sorry things got so messy. Should I have stopped them from coming in?" I asked apologetically.

Seomun Ye-jin glanced at the people around the shoot and asked, "Can we continue the photoshoot?"

"Of course."

The shoot resumed without further interruptions. But I knew that the vile conspiracy was only just beginning.