The more Julian explained, the more confused the people present became, with the sole exception of Felix Tate. They were all members of the elite class. Their daily entertainment mostly revolved around wealthy pursuits, fine dining, or gambling. They rarely indulged in peculiar hobbies like reading fiction as Julian did. However, that did not mean they were entirely ignorant of concepts such as time travel or rebirth.

After all, there was no shortage of such tropes in movies and television shows.

But knowing about them did not mean they would apply those concepts to this particular situation. This matter was simply too illogical; who could possibly believe it?

Yet, there was one person whose face grew increasingly grim, and that was Felix Tate. Naturally, he was not entertaining thoughts of rebirth or transmigrations. He was thinking about an experiment that the government had previously investigated in secret, which ultimately reached a dead end because CORE had concealed it far too meticulously.

"You..."

"I think I know what you want to ask." Julian interrupted Felix Tate’s words: "But as I said, there are many things I no longer remember. However, I can confirm this with you: it is true that Julian, I mean the former Julian, participated in a kind of experiment involving the extraction of human brainwaves and memories. But everything started to go off the rails from the moment he chose to commit suicide."

"The reason I refer to the past Julian as him is that I myself cannot be certain whether I am him or not. But ever since I opened my eyes in the hospital, I have felt like someone who abruptly inherited a fragmented portion of his past memories. I even ask myself whether he is Julian, or if I am Julian, or if we are the exact same person. Or perhaps I am some other entity entirely, drawn in by the gravitational pull of that experiment."

"I truly do not know. It is just that the moment I opened my eyes in the hospital room, I found myself possessing an additional set of memories. Which ones are real and which ones are fake, I simply cannot distinguish. The only thing I can be absolutely certain of is that the one with the weak and cowardly personality is already dead, with no chance of ever coming back. I can also be certain of one other thing..."

Speaking up to this point, Julian turned around and looked directly into Ethan Caldwell’s eyes: "The one who met you, married you, and slept in the same bed with you, has always been me."

Julian paused for a moment, then, as if whispering to seek reassurance, asked: "So, are you afraid of me?".

Thinking about the scenario where the person sharing one’s bed openly admits to seemingly possessing the memories of two different people, with a personality that changes so drastically, a normal person would undoubtedly be terrified. It sounded as though one were living next to a schizophrenic, never knowing when they might go mad, turn around and stab you with a knife, only to blame it on their alternate personality.

But that would apply to anyone else, not Ethan Caldwell. He merely tightened his embrace around the person sitting in his lap, asking once more as if to solidify his own confirmation: "From the very beginning to the end, it has only been you?"

The phrase from the beginning to the end in Ethan Caldwell’s question referred strictly to their relationship. It spanned from the moment he met Ethan Caldwell that night, right up to the present.

Julian nodded, asking in return: "Did you ever feel like there was someone else?"

Ethan Caldwell shook his head. The personalities of the two Julians were truly vastly different. Peviously, he had thought that Julian was merely pretending. Ethan Caldwell had even secretly praised him for being quite adept at acting, disguising himself so perfectly that even during their very first encounter, he himself had been thoroughly deceived.

Before all this, or more accurately, before Julian committed suicide, Ethan had met this person. It was merely a one-sided observation. After all, this was the person he was about to marry and bring home. Regardless of what the man looked like, Ethan needed to see him at least once. However, it could not be considered an official meeting. Ethan had simply arranged some free time to go and observe from a distance.

The Julian of that time was exactly as people often described him: gloomy, withdrawn, timid, and shrinking. There are several types of timidity. There is the kind that is as adorable as a little bunny, making people want to playfully bully them. Then there is the kind that merely exudes a cowardly aura, making people frown the moment they see it.

The Julian of that era belonged to the second category.

The Julian who officially met Ethan Caldwell belonged to the first.

At the time, Ethan assumed the man was putting on an act, but now, having heard the whole truth, he finally understood the profound difference. A person’s true nature and disposition are things that run deep in the blood and are etched into the bones. It is not something one can change simply by wishing to do so. The cowardice of Julian was forged through years of gradual accumulation. It manifested in every gesture and every action. Even a single glance was enough to radiate that timid cowardice.

But it was precisely because of this that it so perfectly highlighted the bashful demeanor and the pink-rimmed eyes, resembling a bullied little rabbit, of the latter Julian.

It turned out it was not an act at all, but rather because it had been replaced by an entirely different mindset. But regardless of what happened, he was still the person Ethan loved, wasn’t he?

Ethan Caldwell thought to himself, and then planted a feather-light kiss on Julian’s lips.

Had it not been for Kieran Talbot coughing as if he were about to hack his own throat out, and the tempestuous storm brewing on Felix Tate’s face, Ethan Caldwell might have very well pulled Julian into a deep, passionate kiss. Suddenly, he just wanted to reaffirm his presence. He was so terrified that the person in his arms might just vanish into thin air.

Thus, Ethan Caldwell tightened his grip, pressing Julian firmly against his chest, their fingers interlocking intimately. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

In truth, while listening to Julian speak, the brows of both Kieran Talbot and Louis York had been knitted tightly together. This information far exceeded any of their expectations. They had heard Felix Tate mention that brainwave experiment before, but it had merely been a passing mention. In reality, Felix had not had much exposure to it either, partly because it was highly classified information.

Now, seeing a subject who had participated in this experiment, even if it could not be considered a success, living carefree right here before them, they could not help but be utterly astonished.

It was just that looking at those two lovebirds being overly affectionate suddenly made their eyes hurt.

As for Julian, he felt remarkably at ease. This small fraction of newly recovered memories happened to bail him out perfectly.

It was true that Julian had lied about the reason for his presence here, but the fact that the previous Julian had participated in CORE’s experiment was the absolute truth. Even the day of his suicide had been orchestrated by that organization, and marrying Ethan Caldwell was nothing more than a pretext to legitimize everything.

Naturally, according to his memories, he had absolutely no idea what organization he had signed up with for the experiment, much less did he know about CORE. He had simply been seduced by them, lured by their painted illusions of a better life.

Or perhaps it was because that Julian had become so desperately hopeless with this world that he finally clung to the sweet deceptions of those people, never anticipating that in the end, there would be absolutely nothing left.

Today’s conversation ultimately reached an impasse due to what Julian had confessed. However, the information he provided perfectly aligned with what Felix Tate knew, leaving Felix ultimately at a loss for how to handle the situation.

Felix knew that CORE consisted of a bunch of lunatics. They would disregard everything to achieve their goals. But if someone told him that there was truly a method in this world to extract a person’s memories and implant them into another’s body, he would refuse to believe it. Moreover, the information Julian provided was far too vague; the man himself could not even determine who the real Julian was.

Layers upon layers of overlapping memories created immense chaos, and consequently generated fractures within the memory itself.

This was Kieran Talbot’s explanation for why Julian could not clearly recall many things from the past.

In the end, the group could only let out heavy sighs, deciding to each return to their respective rooms and figure things out slowly.

Ethan Caldwell bid farewell to his three friends and then carried Julian back to their room. Yes, carried. The man, ever since Julian had revealed everything up to this very moment, kept holding onto him tightly, refusing to let go.

Knowing that Ethan’s heart was heavy with countless thoughts, Julian did not struggle; instead, he obediently wrapped his arms around the man’s neck, leaned against his broad chest, and allowed himself to be carried into the room.