The letter slipped from James's hand and fell to the floor. The Black Tiger Clan's most fearless warrior sank to his knees. His massive body trembled. "What have I done?"
James clutched his head in his hands, his voice choking in his throat. "Rexon... Kevin... Alex... they were suffering from the pain of their mothers' loss, just like me. And I... I believed Arthur's tricks and hated my own brothers? I turned my swords on them?"
The flood of guilt and regret transformed into an uncontrollable, violent rage in the blink of an eye. James's eyes flashed red. He picked up his heavy sword from the ground, and a terrifying roar erupted from his spine.
"Arthur!" James's veins swelled in his throat. "That scoundrel killed our mothers and made us fight! I'll go right now and behead him! And... and I'll kneel before my brothers. I'll fall at Rexon's, Kevin's, and Alex's feet and apologise for every sin I've committed, for every bad behaviour I've ever committed. Even if they kill me, I—"
James dashed blindly toward the door, but before he could cross the threshold, Genia stood before him like a rock. She placed both her hands on James's broad chest and pushed him back with all her might.
"Stop, James!" Genia's shrill voice echoed throughout the armoury.
"Get out, Genia! Let me go!" James roared, his breath blazing like a furnace.
"If you leave now, you'll be making a spectacle not of your mother's death, but of the triumph of that conspiracy!" Genia said, looking straight into his eyes.
James froze, the tip of his sword touching the ground. "What do you mean?"
"This letter from your mother is incomplete, James," Genia explained in a low but very serious voice. "Your mother clearly stated that the White Tiger Clan couldn't have done all this alone. Behind this entire conspiracy is a traitor hiding within the walls of our own clan! The same traitor who, along with white tiger clan, poisoned your mother, then killed Rexon's mother, Gia, and Mara."
Genia took a step forward. "If you ran out in anger right now, apologising to your brothers, or rushing to attack Arthur, that traitor would immediately become alert. He would understand that his centuries-old secret has been revealed. He would either gather his shadows and hide in the darkness again, or he would use someone else as a pawn and escape. And then... you would never know who really stabbed your own mother in the back."
James's hand trembled. Genia's words had cooled his boiling blood. He realised that a single wrong move in anger would forever unleash the true devil, who was probably still standing very close to them, smiling. The heavy sword hilt slipped from James's hand. The sharp sound of the iron hitting the floor echoed throughout the armoury, and then a deep silence fell. Every word Genia spoke had extinguished the fire of his blind vengeance, filling him with a terrifying unease.
James held his face with both hands. The pride of a warrior had completely vanished from his face. When he raised his head again, his eyes held only the helplessness of a lost man.
"Then...what do we do now, Genia?" James's voice was breaking from within. "If that traitor exists within my own clan, if my brothers are coming to kill me, and Arthur has made us all dance like puppets...then what is the way out of this bloody maze? You tell me, and I will do it."
Genia took a deep breath. She signalled the armoury guards to leave.
When the heavy doors closed and only the two of them remained, Genia looked into James's eyes. There was no time left to hide any truth.
"To understand all this, you must first know my truth, James," Genia said, placing her hand on her chest, where Gia's green crystal still glowed faintly. "I am not from this Beast World. I come from another world, another time." James eyes widened in disbelief, but he said nothing.
"My soul was pulled from that world and placed in this body," Genia said in a casual yet serious tone. "And it wasn't just me who knew this... Kevin and Alex both know this truth. That's why they didn't see me as just another mate, but as their clan's greatest treasure. I was brought here for a purpose, James."
Genia went on to explain how, before the water of forgetfulness took effect, she had met the spiritual images of Alex's mother, Gia and Kevin's mother, Mara.
"The reflections of Gia and Mara personally appeared before me and entrusted me with their share of the truth and this crystal," Genia said, showing me the crystal. "They told me that I hold the key to stopping the war raging between the four brothers in this world. I even learned that I am connected to 'Andromeda,' the ancient protector of the Beast World—the same Guardian you've all heard legends about since childhood. However..."
A confused look crossed Genia's face, "...I'm still not entirely sure if I truly am that Guardian or if this is just some elaborate illusion. But one thing is absolutely true—the spirits of Gia and Mara were guiding me."
James stood there stunned, listening. The girl he wanted to hide from the world by making her just his mate; her existence was linked to the fate of the entire world.
"Now listen to me carefully," Genia said, coming closer to James.
"Your mother Nina's reflection did not appear here in this room. The reflections of Gia and Mara appeared where they breathed their last. This simply means that Nina did not die in this palace, or in this area! The letter we found was hidden here just before she disappeared."
Genia's voice grew more serious. "If we want to know the traitor's true name and reach the last link in this conspiracy, we must first find Nina's reflection. And we'll only find her reflection where her body ended up. James, you must search your memories... When your mother disappeared, where did you last hear any sign of her, any news of her? Because until we find her reflection, we won't get her full message... nor will the traitor's face be revealed."
The silence and darkness of years past once again floated before James's eyes.
Genia's words had stirred up the wound in his heart that he had kept locked away in the deepest recesses of his memories. He sat on the floor, holding his head, his brows furrowed, his breathing heavy.
"James, remember..." Genia pressed, placing a hand on his shoulder, her voice hurried yet strangely soft. "Any clue, any last word, any last place... If we don't reach that place, Nina's image will remain silent forever."
James closed his eyes tightly. His massive frame trembled with a slight shiver. Slowly, an old, terrifying scene began to clear on his face.
"It was the night of the full moon..." James's voice turned to a low, broken whisper. "The atmosphere within the clan had become very tense. Mother had been restless for days, as if she could hear the sound of death all around her. That night... I last saw her quietly leaving the back guard room of the palace."
Genia asked breathlessly, "Where was she going?"
"I followed them," James's fists began to scrape the floor. "They headed toward the northernmost border of our Black Tiger territory—where the 'Black Valley' begins. The desolate region that separates our border and the barren swamps of the White Tiger Clan. There's a centuries-old ruin called the 'blood rock'. I saw Mother waiting for someone near that rock."
James's throat choked; he opened his eyes and looked at Genia—his eyes still reflected the same tiny, frightened child who had hidden behind that rock years ago.
"Then suddenly the fog thickened," James continued. "I heard the sound of horses' hooves and an unknown shadow. Mother suddenly turned and looked toward the bush where I was hiding. She didn't call out to me, just signalled me to run away. There was immense terror in her eyes. Before I could run toward her, a hail of poisonous magical arrows erupted, and the entire area was filled with blue smoke. When the smoke cleared... there was no one there. Neither Mother nor any attacker. Only on that black rock lay Mother's wrist amulet, soaked in blood. No one has seen a trace of her since."
James took a deep, anxious breath and, looking directly into Genia's eyes, asked: "I last saw my mother disappear on the blood-stone of that dark valley, Genia. But what will that prove after all these years? Do you think my mother's reflection will still be alive in that cursed valley after all these years? And even if her reflection is found there... how will it lead us to the traitor mentioned in that letter?"
"Tell me the way to that dark valley, James," Genia's voice no longer held any hesitation or fear, but rather a determination that seemed impossible to break.
James jerked his head up. "What are you saying? That place is the Well of Death! I wouldn't have left you there alone—"
"James, listen to me carefully," Genia interrupted him, taking a step forward. She placed her hand on Gia's green crystal, which still glowed faintly on her chest. "It's no coincidence that my soul was brought here from the other world. Even after their deaths, those four mothers have collectively entrusted me with the task of saving their children from this fire of hatred. I have seen the reflections of Gia and Mara with my own eyes, felt their pain. They have entrusted me with the responsibility of uniting you four brothers. If Gia and Mara's reflections can wait for me, then I'm sure Nina's reflection and the final secret of her disappearance are also waiting for me in the Black Valley."
A strange conflict flashed through James's eyes. He felt utterly torn between the last vestige of his mother and Genia's safety. He picked up his sword from the ground and said firmly, "If that's the case, I will accompany you to that dark valley. I can't leave you and my mother's reflection alone in that cursed place."
"No," Genia immediately stopped him, extending her hand. "You can't come with me. I'll go there alone."