"Mother"
As I step into the temple, a voice greets me—not with welcome, but with a desperate shout.
"Mother, please, listen to me! Give me Lualing, and I'll free Blade. He'll have the life he's always wanted—away from all of this!"
A woman is screaming at Azalea. But it doesn't feel like a public argument. It feels... personal. Like a family matter.
Because—because she called Azalea Mother.
Even in the middle of her despair, there's something hauntingly strange about her appearance.
Her long, wavy black hair gleams unnaturally bright against her shoulders—it almost looks like black fire.
Her russet dress clings to snow-pale skin, and every step she takes in her black heels hits the temple floor with the rhythm of a war drum.
She's beautiful, but not in a human way. Something about her seems hurt, fragile. Her red lips tremble, and all ten of her fingertips are black—blackened as if beaten, bruised by something unspoken.
Glaring at this living portrait, I'm certain anyone who lays eyes on her would fall to their knees.
She is... majestic.
There are four people in the room before I arrive:
Azalea.
The majestic woman who called her mother.
Another woman.
A man.
And then there's me—standing at the entrance, completely unsure of what to do. Awkward. Out of place.
If Kaluu were here, I wouldn't be so lost.
But he didn't come with me.
He said he "had to work."
Liar.
It's Sunday.
"Give Lualing to you?" Azalea's voice cuts through the tension. "For what? So you can use him as a lab rat? He'll break. Just like Blade."
She sounds a little desperate. But even so, her composure as Guardian remains unshaken—still as a calm pond.
Until the moment a stone drops into the water.
And that stone… is me.
Because the moment she finishes speaking, our eyes meet.
Her face turns pale—like she's seen a ghost.
"Bamba," she breathes.
That whisper is enough to draw all eyes to me.
I step forward slowly.
"Greetings, Guardian," I say, bowing slightly. "My apologies for making you worry."
I hate formalities, but I had to show respect.
This is the temple.
And she is the Head of it.
Before I can rise from my bow, she pulls me into a hug so tight I can barely breathe.
"I thought I lost you," she whispers, her voice cracking. "I'm sorry—I shouldn't have let you go. When Lualing told me the current in Sitt Town River would carry you into AquaBeast territory, I panicked. I even ordered the Temple Force to search for you. But after the whole night… nothing. I'm sorry, Bamba. I was selfish."
I gently pat her back.
"How's Blade?" I ask, keeping my voice low.
"He received the blood transfusion. The surgery was successful, but he's still in the hospital. And Lualing... we have to awaken him—"
"Leave."
The voice cuts between us like a blade.
It's the majestic woman—the one who called Azalea "Mother."
She stares straight into my eyes, her tone as sharp and commanding as a general's.
"Leave the temple. Now."
"Stay, Bamba," Azalea replies, softly but firmly.
"It's a national matter," the woman raises her voice.
"That's exactly why she should stay," Azalea snaps, louder.
The tension between them thickens—like the air itself could explode at any second.
"I will stay," I say, meeting the woman's gaze without flinching.
Why should I be afraid of a stranger?
Yes, her presence nearly brought me to my knees.
Yes, her voice makes me want to obey every word.
But that's not the point.
Azalea is the Guardian.
And I will only listen to her.
That's when the other woman—silent until now—finally speaks.
"Mind your language," she says. "You're in the presence of the Heir."