The red light beneath the stone door grew brighter.
Ren stood perfectly still, his fingers wrapped tightly around the lantern. The voice had disappeared, but its echo seemed to remain inside the chamber.
Kazuki moved closer to him.
"Ren, don't touch the door."
Ren looked at him. "Why?"
"I don't know what is behind it."
"That hasn't stopped us before."
"This is different."
Ren glanced at the old book lying on the table. Its pages had stopped moving, but the final sentence was still visible.
THE ONE WHO HAS BEEN WATCHING YOU.
Ren swallowed.
"What if it's the person who sent us here?"
Kazuki's expression darkened. "Then we shouldn't give them what they want."
A low sound came from behind the wall.
Ren turned toward it.
Someone was breathing.
Not loudly.
Not heavily.
But close enough for him to hear.
"Kazuki…"
"I hear it."
The wall beside them trembled.
A thin crack appeared across the stone.
Ren stepped backward, pulling Kazuki with him.
The crack widened.
Dust fell onto the floor.
Then a section of the wall slowly moved aside, revealing another narrow passage.
There was no one there.
Only darkness.
Kazuki raised his hand, stopping Ren from moving forward.
"I'll go first."
Ren shook his head. "We're not separating."
Kazuki looked at him for a moment before nodding.
"Fine. Stay close."
They entered the passage together.
Unlike the previous corridor, this one was covered in mirrors.
Hundreds of them.
Some were cracked. Others were covered with dust.
Ren walked past the first mirror without looking at it.
Then he stopped.
His reflection hadn't moved.
Ren slowly turned around.
The reflection remained facing forward.
"Kazuki."
Kazuki looked at the mirror.
His expression immediately changed.
"Don't look at them."
"Why?"
"Because they're not reflections."
Ren looked again.
The image inside the mirror had changed.
He saw himself standing in the garden.
But the scene wasn't from that morning.
It was from years ago.
Ren was younger, standing beside his father.
His father was speaking to someone whose face couldn't be seen.
Ren stepped closer.
"What is this?"
Kazuki grabbed his shoulder.
"Ren, step away."
But Ren couldn't move.
The scene inside the mirror changed again.
This time, he saw Kazuki.
Kazuki was standing alone in a room surrounded by candles.
Someone was speaking to him.
The same voice they had heard behind the door.
Ren looked at Kazuki.
"You've been here before."
Kazuki's face went pale.
"No."
"You recognize this place."
"I said no."
Ren stared at him.
For the first time, there was fear in Kazuki's eyes.
Then the mirror shattered.
Ren flinched as pieces of glass fell across the floor.
Behind the broken mirror was a small metal box.
Kazuki crouched beside it.
There was a symbol on the lid.
The same rose surrounded by thorns.
Ren reached toward it.
"Wait."
Kazuki stopped him.
A folded piece of paper had been placed beneath the box.
Ren picked it up carefully.
His name was written on it.
He opened the paper.
There was only one sentence.
Your parents didn't hide the truth from you to protect you. They hid it because they were afraid of what you would become.
Ren stared at the words.
"What does that mean?"
Kazuki didn't answer.
Ren turned toward him.
"You know something."
Kazuki looked away.
"Kazuki."
"I don't know everything."
"But you know something."
Kazuki finally met his eyes.
"My family knew about you before we ever met."
Ren's expression hardened.
"What?"
"They knew who you were."
"Why?"
Kazuki hesitated.
"Because your blood isn't ordinary."
Before Ren could respond, a loud sound echoed through the passage.
The mirrors began cracking one after another.
Kazuki grabbed Ren's hand.
"We have to go."
"Where?"
"Anywhere but here."
They ran back toward the chamber.
Behind them, the mirrors shattered in a chain of violent cracks.
As they reached the stone door, Ren looked back.
For one brief second, he saw a figure standing at the end of the corridor.
Tall.
Motionless.
Watching them.
Then the darkness swallowed him.
Ren stopped.
"Kazuki."
Kazuki turned.
"What?"
Ren stared into the corridor.
"Someone was there."
Kazuki looked back.
The passage was empty.
But on the floor, beneath the broken mirrors, lay a single crimson rose.
Its petals were still wet.
And tied around its stem was a small silver key.