"Big brother...!"
Hugo turned toward the voice calling out to him and saw Fee.
The boy started toward him with a smile, but Dogma suddenly materialized behind him.
"Hehe... You still call that man your brother? How precious..."
"——!?"
Fee gasped at Dogma’s mocking words.
He turned back toward Hugo, his expression now clearly clouded with suspicion and fear.
"Big brother... is the person inside you... someone who isn't my brother?"
"..."
"Say something! Please, I'm begging you... give me an answer!"
Hugo stood paralyzed by Fee’s strained plea. Watching the brothers struggle, Dogma leaned in and whispered to Fee with a smile full of malice.
"You understand now, don't you? That man has been deceiving you and your friends, usurping your brother's life and living carefreely until this very day. For someone acting like a Paragon of Virtue, what a Sinful Man he is..."
"..."
"Your real brother is gone. The Real Yugo Kurei—the one who loved you, who wanted you—no longer exists anywhere in this world!"
Dogma’s words were a cruel pronouncement. Hugo looked at his younger brother, whose face was twisted in agony.
"I'm sorry," Hugo said softly. "I couldn't bring myself to tell you the truth. I was afraid of hurting you, so I just kept running away. It's probably too late for an apology, but—"
"Indeed, it is far too late. The Real Yugo Kurei is no longer—"
"—Is no longer in this world? Is that really the truth, Dogma?"
"Hm...?"
Dogma, who had been about to spew more vitriol to break their hearts, fell silent. Hugo had suddenly shifted the focus of the conversation directly onto her.
Confused by his sudden change in tone, she stared at him as he continued.
"You're saying the Real Yugo Kurei was taken over by me and vanished... is that actually true?"
"Listen to you... trying so hard to make me out to be a liar just to escape your own guilt. Even though you are the Real Liar..."
"Yeah, you're right. I'm a massive liar," Hugo admitted. "Ever since I came to this world, in a situation where I was surrounded by enemies, I couldn't tell the truth to the one person who was my only ally. I don't intend to run from that. But I want to know—if you really know the truth, then tell me. Where did the Hugo Clay who was inside this body go? Say it."
"..."
Dogma caught her breath, momentarily overwhelmed by the intensity of Hugo’s resolute gaze.
She stared back in silence, and Hugo let out a sharp, short snort.
"Just as I thought. You don't actually know, do you? You don't know where the Real Yugo went—you don't even know if he's truly gone."
"What...?"
Fee turned to look at Dogma. Her expression twisted with irritation at the unexpected turn the conversation had taken. Hugo pressed his advantage.
"With a personality more rotten than sludge like yours, if the real Hugo had truly vanished, you’d be describing the details to us over and over again just to watch us suffer. The fact that you aren't tells me everything. You have no idea what happened to him, do you?"
"...That is nothing more than Wishful Thinking," Dogma spat. "You are simply trying to flee from your crimes."
"It's not that. I'm just believing in something."
"Believing? In what? The desperate hope that you aren't a Sinful Man who stole a boy's body?"
Hugo shook his head slowly. Staring straight at her with eyes full of conviction, he gave his answer.
"I'm believing in the man Fee believes in... I believe in Hugo Clay."