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Whoever came, whoever saw this scene, I would kill them. Like I always did.

But when I looked up, I saw her. I frowned. Mina hadn’t been to Lesse in years, and despite being a journalist, she had managed to stay away from this area every time. She must have been deliberately avoiding me, so I didn’t even think the girl standing in front of me that day was really her.

My only hesitation was whether she was real.

It could have been an illusion like last time. Many times I had tried to embrace silhouettes never existed… So I reached out and touched her, caressing her cheeks.

It was real.

I didn’t listen when the clone claimed to be the real Mina. She wasn’t the first clone to say that. Some had developed personality disorders and fallen into despair, while others had even attacked me. So I assumed this one was the same.

But when the damned clone started talking about ‘forever’, I lost my mind.

The other Raymond had ruined Mina because of his obsession with eternity. I couldn’t bear how exhausting the word “eternity” had become. Our eternity was like my family’s—destructive and narrow-minded.

I loathed it.

Up until now, no clone, no robot, and no hologram had ever spoken of eternity. Just like before. I had never seen a child want eternity before meeting Mina, so it was very strange, or maybe that clone…

When I looked at my necro-bracelet, I caught the sight of Mina’s location. It showed my own home. No way. It couldn’t be possible. I stared at the girl I had locked in the cage, fear ruled over me.

Also… hungrily.

I swallowed. Everything I suppressed for four years was about to come to light. I should’ve hugged and kissed her, added new bite marks to her throat, licked and swallowed every inch of her skin that adult Mina had yet to taste. After all, she came to me. Despite seeing me in a terrifying state on the street, she was in my house of her own free will.

Well, I had kidnapped her in a way, but she hadn’t resisted. She said she missed me. How? Do you still love me? I shouldn’t think about these things. I didn’t deserve her. All the things we never ever said to each other no longer mattered—she would carry them to her grave, and I would carry them into eternity.

“You really think I wouldn’t die for you?”

Hearing this dragged me back into my biggest sin. Back into my greatest nightmare. The reality of the voice recordings struck me all again.

A Mina who would die for me, a Mina trying to prove her love…

I wouldn’t let that happen. Never.

I had learned the hard way not to speak definitively about certain things; life had kept slapping me in the face, but I was resolute on this matter.

We were over.

It seemed the young Mina’s anger toward me had subsided, but I had no intention of hurting her again. She had no idea how thin my composure truly was, or how easily I could spiral into the pitiful, broken man I tried so hard to hide. She would never know. I would protect her forever. For her sake, I would fight the entire planet, the horrors of science. Even God.

Even myself.

After that reunion, I had no idea what Mina was thinking. She was a journalist; maybe she’d go to the news agency and write about how the most respected scientist on the planet was conducting banned human cloning experiments. Maybe I would see my face on the news the next morning. There might be comments about me being a psychopath who couldn’t forget his ex-girlfriend, and I might even end up in jail for violating ethical standards in my work. Being a Loxton might not help me against Mars’ laws.

But Mina did nothing. I was unable to leave my room for a week, consumed by the desire to disappear, but… nothing happened. She didn’t contact me again, nor did she write any news about cloning.

Tell me, my precious Mina, what are you doing? What are you thinking?

CHAPTER 4

Mina

Mars, Year 99

I smiled as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I was wearing the galaxy itself: a navy blue mini-dress, its tiny white sparkles glinting like stars. With its flowing sleeves, pearl-trimmed heart-shaped neckline. I had a large azurite ring on my finger, black lace stockings, navy blue eyeshadow, and lastly, straightened reddish hair. I looked more elegant and more alluring than ever. Blue had always been my favorite color, but that wasn’t the reason she’d chosen this dress.

Raymond. It reminded me of his magical blue eyes.