The shadows that lived in him answered first — flaring to life, crackling around his boots, whispering for blood. I felt it deep in my bones.
Then his voice, low and sharp like a blade unsheathed.
“I trusted you.”
“I know,” I whispered.
“I’ll get her back,” he said. “And if you ever touch her fate again—”
“I won’t.”
Rheon finally met my eyes — and it felt like staring into a dying star.
“I don’t need your help,” he hissed. “But if you really want to make this right, then you better be ready to bleed for it.”
I nodded.
Because I already had.
--------???--------
The fire cracked in the center of the cave, throwing fractured light across the stone walls and across the faces of those I had once called my family — and the ones I’d just betrayed.
Yuna sat with her arms tightly crossed, her gaze burning holes into me. Minji stood by the entrance, her hand pressed to her side, still healing, still watching me like I might shatter again. Rheon… Rheon hadn’t spoken a word since I told him the truth.
But it was time.
“I owe you all the full story,” I said, breaking the silence. My voice was low, controlled — but I could feel the weight of it pressing into every syllable.
“Seori is not the daughter of the Demon King.”
Yuna’s brows furrowed.
“Then what is she?”
“She’s the daughter of the Demon Queen. The current one.” I hesitated. “But she is not Rheon’s mother.”
Yuna’s face paled.
“Wait… does that mean…?”
“No,” I said quickly, firmly. “Rheon and Seori are not siblings.”
I turned to Rheon then, locking eyes with him.
“Your mother died giving birth to you. You were raised by the previous queen until she was murdered. The woman sitting on the throne now — she rose in the chaos. Seori is hers. But her father...”
Minji stepped closer.
“The archangel. I saw something about that on a page before the guild burned it.”
I nodded.
“Yes. Her blood is celestial and infernal. The King wants to use her to break the veil. To control both realms.”
Yuna’s lips parted.
“So they’ll force her to destroy the world… for peace?”
