One year passed.
Kean had grown faster than anyone expected. He started walking before he turned one. His body was small, but his steps were steady.
Too steady.
Children usually fall, laugh, cry, then try again. But Kean never cried.
Never laughed.
Just walked.
Quietly.
Reon watched him from the old wooden chair near the window. His hands rested on his cane, his eyes always half open.
"He doesn't blink," he told himself one morning.
At first, Reon thought it was just his old age. Maybe he didn't notice it properly.
So he watched again.
An hour passed.
Still.
Not a single blink.
Kean would sit outside for hours — staring at birds, trees, clouds, animals passing by.
Sometimes, the birds stopped flying when he looked up. They just... hovered in the air like something invisible held them there.
One time, a crow sat on the fence near him.
Kean tilted his head.
The crow tilted its head.
Kean raised his hand slowly.
The crow opened its wings, screamed, and dropped dead.
No one else saw it. Only Reon, watching from the window.
He didn't tell anyone.
But that night, he lit a candle and opened an old book. Its cover was dark, almost burnt, with words written in a forgotten language.
Reon flipped through pages, stopping at a symbol — a circle with a strange eye drawn in the center. Under it was a single line written in old tongue:
"When the Eye that never blinks awakens, the world will remember what it tried to forget."
Reon slowly closed the book.
He looked at Kean, now sleeping in his basket.
Eyes closed. Finally.
But Reon's hands were still shaking.
That week, Reon started teaching Kean basic things — words, objects, sounds.
Kean learned fast.
Too fast.
In just three days, he could repeat over thirty words. Not like a normal kid. He said them clearly, softly, looking straight into Reon's eyes.
But there was one word Kean said differently.
It wasn't even taught to him.
One night, when Reon was closing the windows, Kean suddenly whispered:
"Void…"
Reon froze.
He turned.
Kean was staring at the dark sky outside.
No fear.
No confusion.
Just… stillness.
Reon stepped closer. "What did you say, child?"
Kean didn't reply.
He just smiled.
For the first time.
But it wasn't a happy smile.
It felt… wrong.
End of Chapter 3