Half-step Purgatory

Durin stroked the black cat on the armrest of his chair, sitting on the black leather sofa. Through the glasses perched on his nose, his gaze passed over the long table in front of him and settled on the man kneeling on the carpet:
"I understand, you've made money in Naples, your business has been very successful, and you've led a happy life. You've had those secret police, friends in both the law and the underground, and even the Royal Family speaking on your behalf."
"You don't need a friend like me, I know that. You're afraid of owing me a favor, and you don't want to get involved in troubles."
"But now you come to me and say, 'I beg you, Mr. Durin of the Corleon family, please help me seek justice, so that my life and my family will not suffer and sink into despair.'
Yet, in your eyes, I was nothing more than a second-rate artist involved in movies and music. Even at the brink of death, you still show me such disrespect, not even willing to call me by my title... Keeper of Secrets."

Durin's Diary

Watching his younger brother leave, Pool wanted to say something, but in the end, he kept his mouth shut.


Returning to his own room, he sat on the windowsill, looking at a distant small spire—allegedly, his brother had recently been living there, in less than ideal conditions, but he seemed content.


What kind of person was Durin? Back then, Pool didn't understand at all. He only knew he had a younger brother who bore their mother's surname, living with their grandfather in Lublin, destined to inherit the title of House of Ailish.


Their father chose to trade his brother for everything the organization most needed.


As a child, Pool couldn't comprehend why his father would do such a cruel thing. His brother hadn't even begun to keep memories yet when he was taken away from their mother's side; he had seldom been held by her, nor had he felt his father's love. He understood nothing, but if his peers bullied him, calling him a child without parents, what was he to do?


Chapter 62: The Present Time