The sound of his steps echoed through the golden carpet beneath him, each stride sinking into its plush surface, as Sirius strode forward along the golden corridor of his royal palace.

His walk was graceful, full of confidence only a prince of an empire could afford to bear, a confidence steeped in centuries of legacy.

His face bore a slight smile, an amused one even, as if he had just witnessed the greatest joke known to mankind. And in a sense, he actually had.

Sirius suppressed a laugh.

"Did you see that?" he asked, seemingly to no one. But the moment his words boomed against the aureate walls, space itself wobbled and rippled as a being appeared out of nowhere, striding forward alongside him with elegance.

It was Luna, his ever-loyal servant. And his lover.

"Princess Sora has grown up," she commented, a faint smile playing on her lips.

"Grown up to the point she actually dared to threaten me. If that's what grown up is, then that's a bad one, darling." He shook his head in slight disbelief.

He hadn't thought Sora would retaliate. He thought she would just rage, send him some curses he would receive with a smiling face to make her even angrier.

Then, after getting what he wanted, he would blow her a kiss, wink at her playfully, and leave her alone to curse the world.

It had always been like that between them.

Sirius liked to make his sister angry. She was so easy to anger, after all.

But today… today was different. Sora was indeed angry, but she used her anger in a very different manner.

She had changed. Something had changed her. And the fact he didn't know what had changed her to this degree was gnawing at his heart like worms devouring a fruit from within.

He didn't like it.

"What will you do now, master?" Luna asked, noticing the faint frown etching lines in her master's otherwise perfect face.

'Even like this, he is still so beautiful.' she thought. She was a lost cause.

"What else?" he scoffed.

"She agreed to use the Fake Truth artifact to see if she was lying or not. She even went to father and mother, asking them to release her dear guard if she was indeed truthful." His voice held a distinct note of perplexity.

Did she really not know Kaden Warborn?

Sirius couldn't believe that. He was sure of his deduction.

His sister knew him. As for the question of how? That was another matter he would eventually solve.

But first…

"Let's go. Mother and father must be waiting for us," he said to Luna. They increased their speed, their steps harmonizing against the gilded floor.

"Master… did you touch him?" Luna suddenly asked.

Sirius shook his head slightly.

"I do like to make my sister angry. But I don't want her to hate me, do I?" he answered with a smirk.

Luna smiled softly alongside him.

Her Sirius was really not bad. He just had a goal. And for that goal, he was ready to go against his sister. Not because he hated her.

Not because he wanted to get rid of her.

But not only because that was his dream. His goal. The reason his life had any meaning. And honestly, it was like there was any other choices.

Because now he knew.

Sirius was not an idiot. His mother's act of not telling anything to father made him question, made him doubt, made him wonder.

And what he thought was nothing good.

From now on, it was no longer a matter between siblings, a struggle for the throne.

It was a matter between Sun and Moon.

It was a matter of who would rule the empire.

Would the Sun continue its prideful rule? Or would the Moon, this time, take over the Sun?

Sirius didn't know what his sister was ready to lose for this battle she had no choice but to take part in, but he knew.

Oh, he knew it very damn well.

He unconsciously clenched his fists tightly as thoughts flickered inside his mind like sparks from molten iron.

"Darling, remind me to go meet the Fireborns. I either need their allegiance to me or…" He left his words hanging.

"Understood, master."

And so they strode forward toward the meeting room, where the test would be conducted.

It was done easily. The results left everyone surprised and shocked.

They asked if Sora knew a Kaden Warborn.

But she didn't know any Kaden Warborn.

Let's not forget, Sora had never asked Kaden his name. In their house, they spoke of him by saying brother of Dain.

So in the end, her pride in not asking Kaden for his name saved her.

How utterly ridiculous.

…

Darklore — The Nest.

Kaden didn't know what to do.

No, he actually did. But the issue was that doing what he wanted to do would cause issues beyond what he could possibly manage.

He wanted to save these children. He wanted to get out of this damned room that reeked of hypocrisy and blow the whole building up.

After all, he was good at blowing things up, apparently. Just blood smeared on the walls and a simple mutter of explode and all hell would break loose.

But Vaela didn't let him do what he wanted. Simply because…

"You will die, Kaden," Vaela said, standing in front of the door, her words low and hushed as if not wanting to be heard.

She was blocking the way.

Kaden's brow knitted together. "So what? You want me to leave these children here in this hell and go back to my house as if nothing happened?" He asked, feeling sick to his stomach for even thinking of that.

"I love to kill, but I am not that heartless, Vae."

He was no hero. But even he had a limit.

How could he see children, who were supposed to look at life with wonder and joy, still unaware of the world's cruelty, be here?

Abducted. Brainwashed. Trained to be something they were never meant to be.

Trained to be emotionless killers. Trained to be betrayers. Denied families, friends, and companions. Denied the two most important things in this damned world.

Emotions and free will.

Kaden prided himself on being pragmatic. But these types of situations… he certainly couldn't condone them.

"Move, or I will shout and whoever is behind will come," he said, making Vaela's face twist with difficulty.

He was being childish. He knew.

"It's not the time yet, my dear. The Nest here is not only one location, there are multiple of them all around the territory of Waverith, and even some far away.

"I do not know all of them, but what I can tell you is that each one is protected by two Grandmasters and a handful of emotionless assassins with no care for their lives."

She approached Kaden, pulling him into a tight hug. He wanted to struggle, but he was a mere Intermediate.

"I know you are strong, special even, but if you destroy only this center, the others will be reinforced and might even change location. Things would become more difficult then."

She took hold of his chin and raised his head so they could stare at each other.

Kaden's eyes were filled with unwillingness.

She smiled. It was a strange smile. A smile that hid her guilty feelings for being part of this family, and for stopping her friend from saving these pitiful children. But…

"The Cerveau are like a hydra, my dear." She caressed his cheek lovingly.

Kaden bit his lips.

"If you want to kill them for good, you have to strike all their heads at the same time." She leaned her face until their breathing danced together sensually.

"Do you understand me? All together. At the same time. With not a shred of mercy."

"You are still weak. Go be a Master first. We will then raise the strength of our organization, and only then… only then will we strike this poisonous snake and kill it."

Kaden fell silent. He didn't speak immediately, only looked into Vaela's deep neon eyes.

He sighed, a sick feeling twisting in his gut. But he swallowed it.

He turned and walked toward the runic teleportation formation.

"Do they have any way to track you down?" he asked, voice flat.

"They do."

"Would being in a dungeon help hide you?" he asked again, stopping just above the runic formation.

Vaela tilted her head, confused at why this particular question, but still she answered.

"Yes. A dungeon would help. It's a different space, after all. They cannot track me there."

Kaden let out a small, humorless smile.

"Perfect. It just so happens that I own a dungeon."

—End of chapter 228—

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