CHAPTER FOURTEEN - BONDS

“You smoke?” Kazuo offered a cigarette. He had one lit between his lips. They were at a small playground, the faint laughter of children drifting through the air.

Guy shook his head at the offer and looked away gloomily. Hands covering his face, he exhaled a long, shaky sigh. “She must hate me.”

“Mika talks about Luyas every night,” Kazuo said. “About you. Your sister, Luna. Her family. She never stopped caring, even after everything. But you—” He took a slow drag, the ember glowing faintly. “You nearly ruined it today. Even then…” Smoke curled into the cold air. “I doubt she hates you still.”

Guy’s hands fell away. “All I wanted was to protect her. Take her to Eden. Give her the peaceful life she deserves and make up for the things I couldn’t protect before.”

“You’re not wrong for wanting that,” Kazuo said quietly. “But protection without trust isn’t love. It’s control.”

“You think I wanted this? That I wanted to control her?” Guy’s voice broke. “I begged my father to spare her—to not abandon her should anything unpleasant happen. But he said some fires need to die to save the forest.”

Kazuo gave a short laugh, low and tired. “Sounds like you’re the one who needs saving.”

Silence settled between them, heavy but not hostile.

Guy rubbed his temples, the weight of guilt bowing his head. “Maybe I don’t deserve forgiveness.”

Kazuo regarded him quietly, the dying ember of his cigarette casting a dim orange glow across his face. “You don’t earn forgiveness,” he said at last. “You just earn the right to try again.”

Guy’s eyes lifted, faint hope flickering in their tired blue. “And if I fail again?”

Kazuo took a slow drag, exhaled smoke that drifted like mist between them. “Then you stand back up. That’s what it means to protect someone. Not to cage them from the world—just to be there when they need you most.”

The wind carried the sound of children laughing, distant and fragile against the soft hum of the evening. The sun bled into the horizon, gilding the playground in fading gold. A swing creaked lazily, moving with no one on it.

Guy’s shoulders slackened. He rose slowly, brushing dust from his cloak. “You’re… a strange man, Kazuo.”

“Been called worse,” Kazuo murmured, snuffing out his cigarette beneath his boot. His tone gentled, threaded with something wistful. “Come on. The others will start thinking we’ve killed each other.”

They began walking back toward the inn, footsteps crunching softly against the gravel path. The light was almost gone now, the streetlamps flickering awake.

For a moment, they walked in silence—two men weighed by different sins, bound by one truth neither could escape.

Kazuo’s voice finally broke the quiet. “You care about her deeply. That’s clear. But love that tries to erase her choices will only turn her heart against you.”

Guy’s jaw tightened. “Then what would you do?”

Kazuo glanced at him, eyes soft beneath the fading light. “Walk beside her. Even if she never looks back.”

***

Eventually, they stood and returned to where Mika and Shinji waited. But before they could regroup fully, a panicked shout rang out.

“Kazuo! Guy!”

Mika sprinted toward them, Shinji close behind. “The Knights of Luyas,” she gasped. “They’re at the East Gate. They’re asking around... for me.”

Guy paled. “I swear—I didn’t know.”

“Really?” Shinji growled.

“I swear on my mother’s soul. I would never betray Mika!”

“Then explain this.”

Guy paused, then inhaled sharply. “It could be because of that…” He recounted what Commandant Grants had told him about the threatening letter received from the Spirits’ Army. “I assume Father’s grown paranoid that the same incident which befell Andania might happen to Luyas. Needless to say, he’s ordered his best Knights to find and capture you—by will or by force.”

“In any case, what are we going to do with those pompous Knights? Their numbers are increasing. Soon they’ll be guarding every exit,” Kazuo muttered, keeping a close watch on the streets below.

“If we stay here any longer, they’ll catch wind of us. There’s a mountain route at the southern exit from when we first arrived. Let’s head there.”

“Guy, you’ll come too!” Mika insisted.

“Won’t it be more of a risk if he comes with us?” Kazuo asked, concern edging his voice. “Besides, they couldn’t possibly harm a Lord’s son now, could they?”

“I understand your concerns. Just as you said, those Knights won’t dare harm a Lord’s son and Captain-rank like myself. However, if the orders come directly from my father to obtain information by any means necessary, then they will not hesitate. The least they won’t do is kill me.”

“That’s nasty,” Kazuo muttered. “Well, I don’t have anything against you coming. The more the merrier.”

“Just a moment before we depart.” Guy stepped forward and faced Shinji. “There is something I’d like to make clear.”

“We don’t have time for this,” Kazuo argued.

Shinji crossed his arms. “Out with it.”

“Lord Shinji Karou of the White Wolf Clan,” Guy said solemnly. “While we may not trust each other or see things eye to eye, I haven’t forgotten what your Clan did to my family. However, for the sake of Mika, I’m willing to set things aside—until we find a suitable time to settle this privately. That means keeping us both alive during this journey.”

“If you’re done talking, we need to move. Now. But if you step out of line…” Shinji’s gloves hid the raw, blistered skin beneath — a side effect of channelling too much chi.

“I won’t,” Guy vowed.

With that, they vanished into the crowd, the weight of choice pressing on every step they took.

***

Far from the mortal dusk, beneath storm-lit skies and the rotting splendour of Zágan Castle, another storm began to stir.

Within the hidden depths of the royal grounds lay a soundproof chamber, a forgotten vault known only to a select few within the Spirit court. Once used for clandestine war councils, it now served a single, silent purpose — the relentless training of Prince Makai.

Muffled thuds echoed like war drums. Battered dummies lined the corners, their wooden limbs shattered and burned. In the centre stood Makai — bare-chested, breath ragged, sweat streaking his skin like rain on obsidian. His long maroon hair, tied high, clung to his back. His knuckles split and bled against the straw dummies that bore his fury.

For days, he had not slept. His reunion with Mika — his twin, his lost reflection — had left him hollow. She hadn’t recognised him. Not a flicker. Not even a heartbeat of memory. His stepmother, the Queen had laughed, mockingly.

Each punch became a vow. Each breath, a curse.

At last, his strength gave way. He dropped to his knees, pressing his palms to the cold stone, chest heaving. Silence pressed in.

Then —

Knock. Knock.

The door creaked open. A familiar scent of mint and iron drifted in.

Leo entered, silver-haired and sharp-eyed, clad in ornate chevalier armour. “There you are, Your Highness,” he said evenly. “I should’ve known to look here first.”

Makai didn’t look up. “What do you want?”

Leo crossed his arms. “And here I was hoping for a warmer welcome from the prince whose messes I clean up.”

Makai gave a low, humourless laugh. “Then you should’ve come with me. You’d have seen her face. Reza almost looked afraid.”

“Almost?”

“She masked it well,” Makai said. “But I saw it.”

Leo glanced toward the door. “Let’s talk somewhere safer. The walls here have ears.”

They moved through hidden corridors until they reached a manor beyond the rose gardens — Makai’s childhood refuge, now sealed with layers of spell work. Lavender and dust lingered in the cool air.

Lighting a candelabra, Makai muttered, “A hassle. All this for a conversation.”

“Her Majesty grows restless,” Leo said. “She’s assigned a new force to you ⎯ ‘The Orders.’ Mercenaries in the guise of bodyguards. Bloodthirsty. Loyal to coin. Eyes where she cannot be.”

Makai scoffed. “Bodyguards? She hasn’t left her throne in years.”

“Rather, she can’t, even if she wished to, due to the curse,” Leo said evenly. “Moreover, this isn’t about your protection ⎯ it’s surveillance. Her suspicions about you grow stronger.” He murmured.

Makai fell silent, his jaw tight. “She didn’t recognise me. Ten years apart, and I was nothing but a stranger in her eyes.”

“It’s been a long time since you last met, Prince,” Leo said softly.

“We’re twins. She should recognise her own flesh and blood!” His voice cracked, raw with grief.

Makai began to pace, passing beneath an old portrait of their father. The candlelight warped his reflection across the glass — twisted, broken, burning.

“If Reza hadn’t begun this madness ⎯ this desire to invade the Human Realm ⎯ I wouldn’t have sought her out. Not after that night.” His mind whispered, recalling her words: There’s nothing left for us there, brother.

Makai’s throat tightened. “I loathe her, Leo. Reza. For what she’s done. My father’s dream ⎯ his legacy ⎯ reduced to ash, like the cities his mercy once spared. But I cannot forgive Mika either, for abandoning me.”

Leo’s gaze lowered, recalling the night when Reza made her declaration.

“The humans have grown weak,” Reza’s voice had filled the grand hall, cold and commanding. “The time has finally come for us to expand our conquest.”

“You would break the Fifty Years Peace Treaty with the humans—a treaty my father forged with honour—for greed?”

“How very disappointing,” she had sneered. “I didn’t expect the Spirit Prince to be so cowardly. Here I thought you’d be the most suitable to lead the invasion army.” Then, softly: “Coward.”

Makai gritted his teeth, knuckles white. Her word still burned. Now, in the quiet refuge of rebellion, his eyes hardened. If he couldn’t stop Reza from achieving her conquest, then there was only one way to end it—once and for all.

By right, the throne should have passed to the Princess after the King’s death. But with her presumed dead after the kidnapping, it went instead to Reza. The senators had once pressured her to bear an heir with the late King, yet she never did—a rare mercy for which Makai was almost grateful.

“Your Highness.” Leo’s voice drew him back. He dropped to one knee. “Whatever path you choose from here onwards, this humble knight swears I will stand by your side. If you wish to fight for the sake of the throne, I’ll fight alongside you. Were it not for the late King’s kindness, I would not stand here as I am today. Thus, to repay my debt to Ferid and honour our friendship, I pledge my loyalty and service to you—and you alone.”

Makai’s gaze softened, then steeled again. “There’s something else. I met a man in the Human Realm—Shinji Karou, Lord of the White Wolf Clan.”

Leo’s tone sharpened. “You want him investigated.”

“Every detail. I want no shadows between us.”

Leo nodded. “And ‘The Orders’?”

Makai smiled thinly. “Let’s see where their loyalty truly lies.”

Leo returned his grin. “Shall we see how far the Queen’s shadow reaches?”

Makai’s emerald eyes glinted.

In the hidden chamber of the rebel prince, war wasn’t declared with steel but with silence, strategy, and secrets — and secrets, as they both knew, cut deeper than blades.