The rain lashed the palace with relentless fury, thunder growling like a beast trapped in the sky. Lights dotted the many windows of the place, while shadows moved in the dark.
A world of beauty and elegance at morning, a land of blood and shadows at night.
Not caring about any of that, Ryan slipped through the hidden passage Seraphina had told him about earlier, the narrow stone corridor damp and cool against his skin.
I wonder why she called for me. Her cryptic summons—"come to my room at night, it's about yesterday"—echoed in his head once, driving him through the dark. Maybe she found some clue about the assasination attempt.
Procrastinating about it all, he emerged behind a wooden wall and pushed it open, appearing in Seraphina's bed chamber.
A single lantern flickered on her desk, casting long shadows over weapon racks and a plethora of scattered bookshelves.
Seraphina stood by the window, her red hair a wild tangle down her back, silver eyes glinting as lightning split the night. She wore a loose nightgown, leaning against the window while reading a book with serious attention.
To her, the dim lighting was not an issue.
She looks so different from mother, but looks quite similar to me.
If he remembered right, her hair and eye color had changed when she awakened her Class.
"You're late," she said, not turning. "Why?"
"Blame the rain." Ryan stepped closer, shaking off the dampness clinging to him. The hidden tunnels had been partially flooded.
Seraphina's grip on her book tightened. She said without looking at him: "Leaving that aside—you're a damn fool, Ryan. Slipping Barbezz and buying slaves is one thing, but kissing Eleanor? Are you begging to be executed?"
Eleanor was after all the King's woman. The woman of the strongest human alive. The woman of a Rune 80 being!
By kissing her, Ryan was being incredibly reckless.
Though, of course, Eleanor herself would never dare to reveal it. It was a dirty secret for both parties.
Ryan rubbed his nose.
It was a calculated risk, alright!? If he wouldn't be punished, what is the problem with breaking the law?
Feeling a bit smug and ignoring her reprimands, he admired his own looks in her mirror.
"What's so urgent, anyway? You dragged me through secret tunnels just to scold me? Or did you just want to see me?"
Seraphina turned then, and seeing her, his breath caught on his throat. Her face was flushed, not from exertion but something deeper—anger, maybe, or pain.
A fresh bruise darkened her jaw, and her left hand flexed, blood dripping.
"You are injured!" Ryan immediately rushed to her side. "Is this another training injury? Why didn't you go to mom?"
"The assasination yesterday," she said, ignoring his worry. "We found something about it."
He raised an eyebrow, clutching her soft yet rough hand.
"Did that something cause this injury?"
She did not answer but continued. "Mother invited the Divine Investigator by letter and he helped us track the mana remnants in your room." She paused, letting him process that. Then, continued: "What attacked you yesterday was not a human, but a fiend. An owl, to be exact."
"An owl?"
"It was not a normal owl, of course. It was A Beast Tamer's familiar. The thing had a Skill that could let it bypass solid material, as in it could walk through the wall.
"It entered your room through the wall from outside, injured your head, then opened the window and left by flight."
"… No wonder the guards were useless."
Seraphina shook her head, looking out into the storms with her silver eyes. "Not only the guards, the palace itself should have defensive mechanisms against such an attack but they failed. So this obviously had insider involvement."
"Sera, you seem to be a bit too worried—"
She clutched his hand.
Ryan looked at her, really looked.
Her bold figure, always so confident and preoccupied, seemed a bit—terrified.
"Yesterday, I suddenly felt my heart clench," she said.
"...Why?"
"When you almost died, I… felt it physically. I didn't know the reason then, but now I do. The feeling was disgusting. Almost like a piece of me got carved out."
"..." Ryan was silent.
That was quite…
"You don't get it!" she hissed, pulling him close and hitting his forehead with hers. "We're twins, you idiot."
Their breath mingled and feeling her warmth, he instinctively wrapped his hand around her waist.
She continued. "I went to the library and read about that sensation today. Apparently, twins can feel it when their counterpart is in trouble—the better I become as a mage, the clearer this sensation will become as well.
"You should also have it in theory.
"But if possible, I don't want to feel it ever again. But with how silly you are being, my efforts feel worthless."
Ryan's smirk slowly faded.
He'd never seen Sera like this—raw, unguarded. Her strength, her prodigy armor, stripped away. It was true indeed.
He might have been all chummy with Eleanor this morning, but if he was right, that woman had truly wanted to kill him. If she wanted him dead, it was simply rational to assume that Eleanor wanted his mother and sister dead as well.
Ryan might have considered it a joke, but to his enemies, it was far from a joke.
"Well," he said with a strained smile. "Isn't it good that nothing happened?"
She let out a slow breath, ghosting her lips over his. He stood still, holding her close. For a while, they just remained like that, their hearts beating in tandem.
He gulped.
Then, nodding, she pushed him away. "As long as you get what I mean."
Just like that, her usual boldness snapped back into place.
This was the usual Seraphina Armedius.
The prodigy. His bold sister.
"Follow me." She beckoned.
Ryan followed.
Seraphina approached the mirror and drew a strange symbol on its surface with her finger. It rippled like water before she stepped into the mirror itself without hesitation. Ryan paused for half a second—then followed.
On the other side, he emerged into a dark room, dimly lit by ghostly blue lanterns.
The air was thick with the metallic scent of blood.
At the center of the room, bound to a pole by thick chains, was a man—his body covered in deep cuts, metal hooks digging into his flesh.
"The heck is this?" He walked in front of his sister, asking in shock: "Who is this guy?"
Seraphina smiled. "He is the one who dared to assassinate you—a Rune 18 Beast Tamer. I went and caught him earlier."
Ryan's face changed. Then, he noticed the wall to his left. There, stuck to the wall, was a large owl, barely alive.
Its blood pooled on the floor.
His gaze shifted back to look at the blood in Seraphina's hand.
Was she wounded by these two?
"It's not my blood," she said with a smirk.
Fuck, so damn cool.
Then, he turned to look at the assasin. It felt surreal. This person, looking weak and tortured, had tried to kill him.
This was probably a mass murderer standing in front of him.
In a sense, he really did kill me.
But now, the person was tortured, probably blackmailed till he told everything he knew.
"So, what now?" Ryan asked uncomfortably.
Seraphina walked forward and slowly wrapped a hand around his shoulder.
He looked at her face, now so close he saw the intensity in her silver eyes.
"I want you to kill him, Ryan."