[It feels like an excuse. For all the horrific things his brother did... what hurts the most is that he never knew. About any of it. Not even his own niece!]

And in so doing... he cut away my own flesh and blood.

[His voice is a whisper, but there's more than simple defeat in him; simmering beneath for so long but now coming to the surface is an undeniable anger. It first manifests as a hardness to his tone, a stiffness to his shoulders. He shakes his head.]

I can see now my own brother did not trust me. Did not think I would do what was right and still love him despite everything—never gave me the chance to prove that I could. The others only made certain that the damage was complete, maintaining the bars that kept me chained to my miserable solitude.

[Van Zieks remembers the dream where he was shackled to a false memory. However it was brought on, the violence within was merely a reflection of the harm those lies had caused—through others and himself. He will never deny his own role, his own faults, but for not one of them to reach out... Genshin. Lady Baskerville. Mikotoba and Sholmes.]

Did they think me a naive fool? ... A heartless demon?