Meanwhile, in the basement of James's palace, the story had taken a different turn. The energy of Gia's green crystal had now reached its peak.
The dam of memories blocked in Genia's mind broke in an instant. The flames, blood-soaked swords, someone's scream, and two faces—'Kevin' and 'Alex'—were no longer blurred, but appeared before her eyes crystal clear. She remembered who she was, where she came from, and what James had done to her.
Genia's breathing suddenly returned to normal. Her body, groaning with pain, calmed. She slowly opened her eyes.
James breathed a sigh of relief and, smiling, tried to touch her cheek, "Genia, are you okay..."
But Genia swatted his hand away.
James froze in place. Genia's eyes no longer held the innocence, the playfulness, and the blind love that had been there just a few hours earlier. Her eyes now held a deep, understanding, and chillingly cold glint.
She got up from the bed and, looking James straight in the eyes, spoke in a voice that shook James to his very soul, "You betrayed me, Jmaes. You took away my life, my identity, by making me drink the 'water of oblivion.'"
The ground beneath James's feet slipped. He realized that the fear that had haunted him for so long had come true. The memories of Genia had returned, and she was no longer his innocent friend.
The air seemed to have frozen completely between the cold, stony walls of the basement.
In the pale light of the torches, Genia's face looked as stiff and lifeless as a marble statue. The eyes that until a few moments ago had sparkled with only love and mischief for Jmaes now held only an icy stillness and a sharp glint of hatred.
"Genia... listen to me—" James reached out with trembling palms to grab her shoulders. There was a helplessness and agony in her voice that this fierce warrior of the Black Tiger Clan had never felt in his life.
"Step back, James!" Genia's voice wasn't loud, but in the silence, its edge was sharper than a drawn sword.
James's advancing steps froze.
"You said you were my protector," Genia placed a hand on her chest, where Gia's green crystal had now calmed, gathering all its energy. "You made me believe that my existence was limited to your love, your arms, and the walls of this palace. And I... like a helpless puppet, kept smiling in the false world you created! You poisoned me with oblivion, stripping me of my identity... turning me into a living corpse!"
"I saved you, Genia!" James's voice was filled with both frustration and helplessness. He clenched his fists, "Who knows where those spies would have taken you. Who knows what they would have done to you. Maybe they would have torn you apart! Those same Kevin and Alex were after you just because of your beauty. What was even Rexon going to do to you? I gave you a new life, where you wouldn't have to suffer the pain of the bloody wounds of your past!"
"That wasn't life, it was a golden cage!" Genia said, staring him straight in the eyes. There was no tremor in her voice, only a chilling truth, "And you kept the key to that cage hidden beneath your greed. You took away my past not because you wanted to save me, but because you knew that if I remembered everything... I would never have been your mate. You committed the most despicable deception in the name of love."
James was about to collapse on his knees. All his pride, all his strength had been shattered by Genia's harsh words. "Genia, whatever I did, I did it out of fear of losing you... Punish me as you wish, but don't remove me from your life..."
"Punishment?" A cold, merciless smile appeared on Genia's face. "Punishment is given to the weak, James. Traitors are only erased from our lives. My memories are with me now, and I will decide what my fate will be."
Meanwhile, in the Black Tiger Clan's main stronghold, the atmosphere was tense and ominous. The main court, built of massive stones, was lit by the blazing flames of torches.
On a high throne carved from black stone sat Rexon, the leader of the Black Tiger Clan. His massive figure, an old, bloody scar on his face, and the ravenous glint of a hungry beast in his eyes were enough to make anyone tremble. On either side of him stood the clan's most ferocious warriors, armed with weapons.
Just then, the heavy iron main gate creaked open. Noya entered through the narrow passageway of the court. Her face betrayed neither panic nor fear of death. Her clothes were still covered in the dust of the dense forest and a few splashes of fresh blood from Arthur's slain messenger. She stepped forward boldly and stopped directly in front of the chieftain's throne.
Rexon asked in his deep, thunderous voice, "Noya, mate of Arthur, chieftain of the White Tiger Clan... dare you cross our clan's border? Did Arthur have to send his mate here to beg for his life?"
A wicked, determined smile appeared on Noya's face. She bowed her head slightly, but her eyes remained fixed on Rexon's. "I'm not here to beg, Cheif Rexon... I'm here to hand you the truth you've been yearning for for months," Noya said in a calm, yet venomous tone.
Rexon's eyebrows furrowed, "What truth?"
"The same girl... whom you, Kevin, and Alex have been frantically searching for all over the world," Noya said, emphasizing each word. "She's not far away. She's living within the boundaries of your own clan, in the palace of your own younger brother, James, as his mate."
The court fell silent. A terrible storm of savagery and disbelief swept across Rexon's face. His eyes blazed like red embers. He gripped the handle of his throne so tightly that the stone cracked.
"James...?" Rexon's voice turned into a terrifying growl.
Noya's smile deepened. Her first roll had hit the mark. Now both Arthur and James's doom was certain, and the Black Tiger Clan's place on this throne had begun to be established.
The cracks in Rexon's throne handle were enough to reveal the terrifying lava boiling within him. The warriors in the entire court were left breathless. The news of James's betrayal had directly challenged the chieftain's ego.
Sensing the delicacy of the situation, Noya transformed the venom in her eyes into helplessness and tears in the blink of an eye. She wore a mask of a helpless, broken woman that could deceive anyone. Her shoulders trembled slightly, and she took two faltering steps toward Rexon's throne.
"James didn't just betray you, Cheif..." Noya's voice quivered with pain. Tears welled up in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. "He... and my own mate Arthur, he betrayed us both."
Rexon fixed his fierce gaze on Noya's wet face. "Arthur? What does he have to do with all this?"
"Arthur already knew everything about that girl, Aditi," Noya sobbed, placing a hand on her chest as if her heart had been torn apart. "As a mate, I gave him my life, my loyalty, everything. But he... he rejected me for that stranger! He's decided to incite a war between James and you, to kill you both by making you fight each other, and then to make that girl his queen and throw me out of the clan."
Noya knelt on the floor. She raised her head slightly, allowing Rexon to clearly see her graceful neck and the false veil of innocence in the torchlight.
In the animal world, powerful males were always bound by a primal instinct to protect weaker females, and Noya was attacking that very weakness.
"I am a helpless mate, Cheif Rexon," Noya said delicately and softly, her eyes staring directly into Rexon's fierce gaze. "Arthur sent his secret assassins after me to eliminate me. I somehow managed to escape with my life and reach you. Because I knew that in the entire jungle, only the Cheif of the Black Tiger Clan was the man with the power and justice to shelter me and teach those traitors a lesson."
The blind savagery in Rexon's eyes slowly faded into a deep, thoughtful glint. He rose from the throne and began descending with heavy steps.
Coming very close to Noya, he bent down and lifted her chin with his large, rough fingers.
"You've chosen the right place, Noya," Rexon's voice was like a growl, but it now held a distinct sense of authority towards Noya. "No male in the world dares touch a female who seeks refuge with the leader of the Black Tigers. I will cut off Arthur's head myself and throw it at your feet... And as for my brother James, he will pay for his betrayal with the ashes of his clan."
Noya lowered her eyelids at Rexon's touch, but a wicked and devious smile appeared on the part of her face obscured by the torchlight. Her bet had paid off. She had laid the first brick of her place in Rexon's heart.
Meanwhile, silence hung over James's palace like a heavy shroud.
Genia yanked open the heavy iron door of the basement and emerged.
Following behind, James, frantically trying to keep pace with her. His face bore none of the dignity of a prince of the tribe; only a defeated, frightened lover appeared.
"Genia, listen to me! Where are you going? Death is guarding every corner outside!" James called helplessly, but this time he didn't dare touch her.
Genia didn't even look back. Her steps were firm and swift. "It's better to face death outside than to stay in this palace of your deception for a moment longer, james. Don't dare follow me, or I'll kill myself!"
Her sharp words froze James's feet like nails. He helplessly watched her walk into the darkness of the corridor.
James paused near a desolate, high window in the palace. Outside, the icy wind blew through her disheveled hair. Her heart pounded, but it was more due to a sudden awakening of realization than anger. She placed a hand on her chest, where Gia's green crystal now radiated a quiet but persistent warmth.
As the veil of memories lifted, a thought flashed through Geina's mind like lightning. Alex's mother—Gia... Her last words, blurred by the waters of forgetfulness, were now as clear as water. She had shared a secret with Genia while handing her this crystal. She had said that James's mother held the only way to end this bloody power struggle in the Beast World.
james's mother—who had mysteriously disappeared years earlier, a victim of clan intrigue—had left a secret message in the most secret part of the Black Tiger Clan's palace. A message that not only concealed Genia's true purpose in this world, but also revealed the dark truths of the four clans.
Genia looked at the massive, ancient walls of the palace. "So this wasn't just a coincidence..." Genia thought to herself, her fists clenched. "Fate, though with James's deceit, had dragged me to the place I was destined to be. James thought he was making me his prisoner, but destiny had something else in store."
She took a deep breath and controlled her anger. Now was not the time to weaken or simply hate James. She had to access James's mother's secret message before Rexon, Kevin, and Alex arrived. Finding the secret message hidden in the palace was going to be the biggest battle of Genia's life.