Fshback scene(Third person point of view)

  The hospital room was dimly lit, it was night time now. The faint beeping of machines echoing in the silence. The scent of antiseptic lingered in the air, but to Victoria, it was an oddly comforting presence. After all, he worked here. It was almost funny-her Zane, a doctor, in the very pce where she was now confined.

  Beside her, her 8 year old son was sitting on the hospital bed. Decn was there. Decn was sleeping on her bed. He was-curled up against her, his tiny body rising and falling with each peaceful breath.

  Victoria sighed, running her fingers through his bck-blue locks, a soft smile on her lips. The more Victoria looked at her son, the more she relishies the fact that her son was proof that Zane was hers.

  “Hmph. Just look at you,” she muttered, pressing a lingering kiss to his forehead before pyfully poking his puffed-out cheek. “My hair. My eyes." Victoria took a moment to look at Decn's brown skin. "But that skin-definitely your father’s.” She scoffed lightly. “You’re like a custom-made gift-taking all the best parts of us. A perfect blend of us both.… ahhh, it just makes you even more ridiculously good-looking. You’ll make people cry, you know? Too handsome.”

  Decn grumbled in his sleep, shifting slightly. “Mmm… Mama, stop talking. Sleeping…”

  Victoria rolled her amber eyes, a soft chuckle escaping her lips.

  She smirked, as she poked his Cheeks again. “Oi, brat, wake up.”

  Decn groaned, scrunching his face. “Mmm… Five more minutes…”

  “Don’t 'five more minutes' me, you little gremlin.” Victoria then slid her fingers under Decn's armpits and tickled him hard. Decn immediately woke up, desperately trying to fend off the tickling but failing miserably.

  "HAHAHA… MAMA… YOU’RE TICKLING ME HARD!"

  Victoria grinned maniacally, keeping both hands on him. "HAHAHA… DON’T UNDERESTIMATE YOUR MOTHER, WHO KNOWS YOU WAY TOO WELL, MY GREMLIN CHILD! I LEARNED IT FROM YOUR DAD, AFTER ALL! HAHAHAHA!"

  For a few minutes, she continued her relentless tickling assault until, finally, she finished. Decn panted, trying to catch his breath.

  But there was no escape.

  Without warning, Victoria lunged forward, mercilessly seizing Decn's little cheeks between her hands. She didn’t give him a chance to breathe or recover from the tickling.

  “GAAH-Mama! Mama! NOT AGAIN-!!”

  She squished his cheeks mercilessly, rubbing and stretching them like they were a stress ball. “Ahhh, so squishy. I could just eat you up…” She rubbed her thumbs over his cheeks before pnting a loud kiss right on his forehead.

  “So soft,” she muttered to herself, nuzzling against his chubby little face as he squirmed. “So round and cute. It’s criminal.”

  Decn tried to escape, but Victoria’s grip was inescapable.

  Decn pouted as he y on the bed again, catching his breath. "Mama... you're a meanie."

  Victoria chuckled but quickly softened, brushing a hand through his hair before pulling him into a tight hug. A deep, lingering, almost desperate hug. Decn stiffened for a moment before melting into it.

  “…You really are the best present I ever received,” she murmured against his head.

  Decn blinked, his small hands clinging to her hospital gown. "...Mama?"

  "Shh... let me hold you, son... just in silence for a bit, okay, dear?"

  Decn said nothing and listened. Victoria didn’t say anything after that either, simply holding him for a long time. Eventually, she spoke again, still not letting him go from her embrace. Her voice had softened.

  "Hey, Decn."

  "Hmm?" he hummed.

  She hesitated for a moment, then ran her fingers through his hair again.

  "Make sure your father’s okay."

  Decn blinked. "...Huh?"

  Victoria exhaled. "Your dad... he doesn’t think he deserves to be taken care of."

  Decn blinked again. He was smart enough to understand what she meant-but also smart enough to know how stubborn his father was.

  She pulled him closer, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Your father-that idiot-he’s strong, and he’ll protect you with his body and soul, without hesitation. I have no doubt about that. He’ll make you happy, Decn. He’ll love you and keep you safe, no matter what."

  Decn listened intently to her words.

  "But," she continued, her voice soft yet firm, "That dense, self-sacrificing idiot doesn’t value himself the way he should. He acts like he does, but I know better. Even if he never says it, even if he acts like he’s fine, he still doubts himself. In everything. He thinks of himself as... I don’t know, disposable? Unimportant? Like everything and everyone else matters more than him. That fool doesn't believe he's good enough, not as a father, not as a person... not even as my husband. He just keeps going, acting like his existence doesn’t matter-like he isn’t everything to us." Her voice turned sharp, cutting, before she sighed and looked at Decn. "But you and I both know better, don’t we?"

  Decn nodded slowly, processing her words. He hesitated before muttering, "He never really talks about himself..."

  "Exactly," Victoria whispered. "That’s why, even though he’s supposed to protect you… I want you to protect him too."

  Decn was quiet for a moment. Then, he asked softly, "From what?"

  Victoria smiled faintly, brushing his hair back. "From himself. If someone doesn’t protect him, he’ll throw himself away without a second thought."

  "But how do I-"

  Victoria smirked. "You just have to watch over him, that’s all. Simple, you being around him is already the way to go. Your presence make him happy after all."

  Victoria then let out a slow breath before she continued.

  Victoria let out a slow breath before she continued.

  “And also-” She tightened her hand on Decn’s shoulder, her amber eyes glowing with something… possessive. “Make sure he doesn’t go near any other women.”

  Decn blinked. “...What?”

  “I mean, I know he won’t.” She flipped her hair dramatically, acting as if it were a given. “He’s way too loyal. Beyond it, really. That man wouldn’t even look at another woman.”

  Decn sighed, rubbing his temples. “Mama, are you being… yandere again?”

  She gasped in fake offense. “What? Me? I’m a dignified woman who simply loves her husband in a very, very deep, scary, and soul-consuming way.”

  Decn deadpanned. “That’s literally what yandere means.”

  Victoria huffed, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug as she pouted. “Tch! Disrespectful brat! Here I am, dying in a hospital bed, and you’re calling your mother a yandere?!”

  Decn let out a muffled ugh against her shoulder. “I mean… you kinda are. You literally just said Dad’s yours.”

  “Because he is!” Victoria decred, her grip tightening. “He’s mine. Mine. I don’t care if I am dead or alive. He was always mine first! That man-tch, I just want to hug him forever and make him mine all over again!”

  Decn held up his hands. “Okay, okay, I get it! Geez, Mama, you sound scary.”

  Victoria grinned. “Good. You should be scared. That man is my heart and soul. I don’t care if he isn’t handsome, smart, or ideal or whatever nonsense people spout-I love him so deeply it’s terrifying.” She smiled softly, her fingers brushing through Decn's hair again. “Even if he were the ugliest man alive, even if he were the most pathetic person in existence, even if he’s in another life, even if he’s in nonexistence itself… I would still love him. Deeply. Unconditionally. Scarily.”

  Decn stared up at her, his amber eyes reflecting the warmth of hers.

  “…I know.”

  She blinked. “Huh?”

  “I know you love him,” Decn said, resting his head against her shoulder. “You always talk about him like he’s everything to you.”

  Victoria chuckled, ruffling his hair once more. “That’s because he is, brat.”

  Decn then stared at her again and grinned. "But you do realize that he does need space sometimes, Mama."

  Victoria smirked. "Tch, you say that, but who’s the one who followed Dad around all day yesterday like a duckling?"

  Decn turned red. "I did not!"

  "Oh, really?" She grinned. "I seem to recall you clinging to his sleeve when he was just trying to get some food for us, and you thought he was leaving somewhere else."

  "I WAS... I WAS JUST MAKING SURE HE DIDN’T GO TO THE WRONG PLACE BY ACCIDENT!"

  Victoria cackled. "HAHAHA! YOU’RE REALLY MY KID, THAT’S FOR SURE!"

  As Victoria’s ughter died down, silence settled between them for a moment, with only the soft beeping of the machines filling the space. Then, Victoria sighed, her eyes narrowing slightly, her expression growing distant for a moment.

  “…This illness. I have a feeling it’s not natural.”

  Decn’s gaze sharpened. “What do you mean?”

  Victoria shook her head. “Nothing. Just a feeling.” A very strong suspicion that this wasn’t just some illness. She had a feeling that-those filthy, scheming bastards-had something to do with it.

  But she wouldn’t say that. Not to him.

  "For now, it’s time for you to sleep."

  Decn yawned. "Okay, mama."

  Decn, in his mother’s embrace, felt comfortable enough to start sleeping. As Victoria hugged him and held him close, whispering against his hair.

  “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, Decn.”

  Then, whispering so softly that Decn almost didn’t hear before he dozed off to slumber again:

  "And when you see him… tell him when you wake up, I just want to hold him again."

  Decn Pov(first person point of view) (present)

  I woke up from a dream-a memory of the past, back when my mom was alive, lying in that hospital bed. The warmth of her embrace, the way she ruffled my hair, her voice filled with love and mischief… It all felt so real. But reality was much colder.

  I sat up in the bed of this luxurious room, staring at nothing in particur. My mind had been restless these days. It’s been a few months since Dad died… and even now, I still can’t get the image out of my head. Him being shot. His body colpsing. His life slipping away while I was dragged away, powerless.

  I failed, Mom. I couldn’t keep my promise. I couldn’t protect him. I wasn’t even allowed to go to his grave. I was denied even that.

  A knock came from the other side of my door.

  "Master Decn..."

  I didn’t want to reply. I wanted to ignore them. But I had to. Right now, I have to bide my time, learn all I can about this pce, and figure out my options-how to survive, or maybe… how to escape.

  "What?"

  "Master Decn, your grandfather has called for you. Loran is with him as well."

  I clenched my fists. "Tell them I’m coming in a few minutes."

  "Yes, Master Decn."

  I listened as the maid’s footsteps faded down the hall.

  I didn’t want to see them. Not in the slightest. Loran killed my father that night, and I will never forget that. Ever.

  I still remember it so clearly. After I saw my dad die, I screamed, kicked, fought with everything I had. But then… everything went bck. The smell of chloroform was the st thing I remembered before losing consciousness.

  When I woke up, I was here. A pce completely different from home. A massive mansion, filled with butlers and maids that moved like ghosts in perfect silence. At first, I didn’t care about any of that. I only wanted to find my father.

  And then, I saw Loran.

  I nearly lunged at him the moment I id eyes on him, ready to tear him apart with my bare hands. But before I could even move-before my body could even process the command-something stopped me.

  I was paralyzed.

  Not by someone physically restraining me. No guards held me down. Instead, it was something unseen. An invisible force locked my body in pce, holding me completely still. My muscles wouldn’t respond. My breathing turned shallow.

  That was the first time I realized something terrifying.

  This was real.

  Sorcerers exist.

  And so does my so-called ‘grandfather’-a man my mother never spoke about.

  She never once mentioned her st name, "Veynoct." She never let me ask about her side of the family. She always insisted that our name was Zoshant. That Dad’s name was the one that mattered. I understand why she never mentioned her own family.

  And yet, here I was, in the Veynoct estate.

  And when I met my grandfather and grandmother for the first time, I was stunned.

  They didn’t look old. Not in the slightest. Their faces were youthful, their skin smooth, their movements elegant and precise. It was unnatural. Unsettling.

  Was it sorcery?

  I don’t know. But I do know one thing.

  They are dangerous.

  I remember the way Loran stared at me that night when I was paralyzed. The way he spoke, his voice void of emotion, like he was merely stating an unshakable fact.

  "Your goal will be to get stronger, Decn. Stronger than you ever imagined. You will continue to grow. You will serve the family's purpose and do what Victoria refused to do."

  And then, the words that chilled me to my core:

  "You will become the head of this family."

  I don’t know what they truly want from me.

  But I do know one thing for sure.

  I don’t belong to them. Never have...never will.

  And no matter what it takes-no matter how long it takes-I will find a way out of here.