"Lord Mordrek is dead."
Caelum's words cut through the room like a blade.
Trafalgar stopped in place, the weight of the statement freezing him mid-breath. For a moment, his mind went blank, caught between disbelief and the chill of inevitability.
'Mordrek… dead?'
The man had been his uncle—the uncle of the original Trafalgar—but also someone he himself had come to know, even if only for a short time. He remembered the weeks he spent in Euclid, living with Mordrek's family. They hadn't treated him like an outcast or a burden. Mordrek had been strict, yes, but fair. His home had been warm, full of life. In some ways, it reminded him of his own family back on Earth—a family that loved him, one he hadn't appreciated enough before it was torn away.
'Three weeks, maybe a month… it wasn't long. But still, I grew attached, didn't I? Mordrek wasn't like Valttair. He wasn't like a worthless monster. He was… a normal human.'
