CHAPTER 236: _SOME MYSTERIES ARE BETTER UNSOLVED

Kyren’s POV

*****

"Are you trying to play games, Amara?" He frowned at her revelation. "How is Elian the result of your experiments if they took place centuries ago? There’s no way you’ve continued them in recent decades..."

He took a step forward, his aura threatening. "I would’ve known if that were the case. Unless—"

"I don’t need to explain anything to you, child." She interrupted, her tone eerily calm. "I’ve given you my message. If I were you, I’d personally release the omega to me."

Kyren’s fingers twitched beside him. The wind increased in pace, sending leaves and dust blowing through the garden maze.

"Good thing you aren’t me then." His voice was sharp and final, his chin rising with defiance. "Elian Ashford, my mate, will never be given up to you or your Dark Hand."

Amara arched a brow, lips twitching with amusement. "You think you have a choice in this, Kyren? Tell me the truth... You’ve felt the shift in him." Her head tilted knowingly. "Haven’t you?"

His jaw tightened, rage burning in his chest.

Amara laughed, a soft sigh leaving her lips. "His true nature will start awakening soon. The first catalyst was his mate’s bond with you three. Next was that same bond strengthening."

As she spoke, the shadows around her began shifting, becoming thicker and drawing closer to her like a cloak. Her hair and hooded cloak whipped around her.

And her smirk? Ever present.

"When his true nature becomes too much to bear... You’ll be the one to find me." She finally whispered, her voice lingering in the air like a promise as the shadows swallowed her.

The clouds above darkened, wind fastening as she disappeared. Like she was never there to begin with.

Kyren stood still, his body tense. Her words echoed through his mind, a clear warning. But other than that, for a brief moment... He felt something at the thought of seeing his mother.

After so many centuries.

"She’s got something bigger than the Dark Hand behind her." He shook his head, his mind focusing on something she said. "But what?"

Standing here asking questions into the wind wasn’t going to help in any way.

So he needed to act quickly.

"Farrell." He dialled his commander, turning toward the exit of the garden maze.

The clouds were still dark, his mother’s presence looming over the weather like a vengeful spirit.

"My Lord. Did something happen?" Farrell questioned with concern. "You hung up so abruptly during our discussion. I thought—"

"I’m fine." He cut him off, speaking into the small bracelet wrapped around his wrist. "What was the last thing we talked about?"

Farrell paused for a moment, probably thinking of how weird Kyren was acting. But the lad knew better than to pry or ask further questions.

"We were discussing plans for our attack on one of Arcadia’s southern cities. Runecrest." Farrell revealed. "Are you having second thoughts, my Lord? Or—"

"No." The Rogue king turned a corner, getting closer to leaving the maze. "Still prepare our troops to launch an attack there. But at the same time, look out for the following..."

His eyes rose to the dark clouds which were finally dispersing, the sunlight peeking through. Like the weather was teasing Moon Haven City.

Kyren knew it wasn’t the weather—but rather a certain traitorous witch.

"... I want excavations done on the central cities of the Dark Lands. Including the capital."

The Dark Lands capital. Noctreth.

It was built in an ancient crater with towering obsidian mountains. All signs that something had crashed in that spot millennia or even aeons ago.

Something like the divine crystal Amara and Garrick experimented with and Arcadia was after.

"On second thoughts... Keep the excavations focused on the capital city." Kyren remarked.

"Uh... Okay, sir. But what are we searching for?"

He finally got out of the maze, the sun piercing his skin more intensely now that the hedges were no longer an obstruction.

"An energy source." Kyren kept his response vague. "Make sure it’s kept secret. Even from the civilians. If you find something, let me know immediately."

A few guards patrolled the perimeter—but they all kept their eyes away from Kyren, lowering their heads. Some managed a soft greeting while others murmured something about ’death’.

How charming.

"Understood, my lord." Farrell blurted. "Anything else?"

Indeed.

Kyren glanced back at the guards he walked past, his expression stoic. When he brought his eyes back to the palace, he whispered. "Try your best to gather info on the Arcadian leadership. Especially the High Matron."

"B–But sir—"

"No questions, Farrel. You should know better than that." He shut him up. "I’ll remain in Lunaria till further notice. Follow my instructions to the fullest and keep me updated if anything new comes up."

With that, he hung up.

His mother and the Dark Hand really did have their eyes on Elian all along. He had suspected for a while... But now he knew.

Did this mean they knew about Elian’s system? Or his rebirth? Or the fact that he was touched by the moon goddess herself?

Moon blessed. Ascension protocol.

The words repeated themselves in his head like a curse as he walked through the long, empty corridors of the Lunarian palace.

The crystal lights along the walls flickered.

Portraits of past Alpha Kings stared down at him — sharp eyes, proud jaws, and crowns heavy with burden.

Each one seemed to mock him as he passed. He wasn’t one of them, and he didn’t care to be.

But there was something almost haunting about their gaze. Like they were watching him search for answers they already knew.

Kyren stopped when he reached the great hall at the far end. It was quieter here. Dust motes floated through a shaft of light that fell from a stained-glass dome above, scattering faint hues of gold and blue across the floor.

He hadn’t intended to come this way. His feet had simply led him.

That was when a soft voice drifted across the room.

"Kyren."

Elowen.

The Luna Queen stepped out from one of the side halls, her silver gown trailing like mist, the faint shimmer of her crown catching the light. Her face was still composed, though grief lingered faintly in her eyes.

He hadn’t spoken to her properly since last night.

"Your Majesty," he greeted with a shallow bow.

"You don’t have to call me that," she said with a faint smile. "Not anymore. We’re... family after all."

"Old habits," he replied, his tone casual but his mind already spinning.

She crossed her arms loosely, studying him. "You look troubled. Is the war with Arcadia weighing on you?"

He gave a low hum. "Among other things."

For a while, silence. Just the whisper of the wind sneaking through the arched windows.

Then Kyren stepped toward one of the murals — a vast painting depicting the late Alpha King in all his pride, standing beside Elowen.

"He looks almost alive," Kyren murmured. "You must miss him gravely.’

Her expression softened, her fingers brushing the frame of the painting. "More than you can imagine. Though, I’ve learned that grief becomes... quieter with time. Not lighter, just quieter."

He glanced sideways at her. "I wouldn’t know. The ones I’ve lost never stay buried long enough to grieve properly."

That earned him a small, bittersweet chuckle.

"You sound like him," she said. "He used to say the same thing. Arian believed death was a temporary inconvenience."

Kyren smirked faintly, though his attention sharpened as she stepped closer. Now was his moment to pry.

"Speaking of your husband," he began, tone carefully neutral, "I heard rumours that it was during one of his hunts that he... found someone unusual."

Elowen’s brow lifted slightly. "Unusual?"

"A child," Kyren said smoothly. "An orphan he brought back to the palace. I came across the story in one of the records."

Her expression changed, ever so slightly. Suspicion. Her lips parted, then pressed together again. "Why do you ask about that now?"

Kyren shrugged, feigning disinterest. "Curiosity. I like to know how my mate ended up serving royalty before I ever met him."

The air shifted then — subtle, but she noticed the way he’d said ’my mate’.

Elowen studied him for a long moment before sighing. "That was years ago."

Kyren remained quiet, waiting.

She finally nodded to the mural. "He had gone hunting near the borders — a forest close to the Dark Lands, though I told him not to. When he returned, he wasn’t alone. There was a boy with him. Five years old, maybe younger. Alone, filthy, frightened."

Kyren’s eyes darkened. "No parents?"

"None," she replied softly. "No traces of anyone around him. My husband said the forest had been eerily silent. No bodies, no scent trails. Just the boy."

A pause.

"He thought the child had wandered too far from home or had been abandoned. We took him in, intending to find his family... but no one ever came forward."

Kyren looked away, pretending to study another mural. Inside, his thoughts churned.

A child appears near the Dark Lands. Alone. No trace of origin. A perfect age to be someone released, not born.

Elowen continued, "He worked as a servant at first. Quiet boy, polite. But there was something strange about him. I was never able to put my finger on it and thought it was my imagination then."

Kyren’s fingers twitched beside him.

He swallowed down the sharp rise of realisation and turned to her again. "You never questioned where he came from?"

Her gaze flicked to his. "Of course I did. But some mysteries, I’ve learned, are better left unsolved."

Kyren forced a small smile. "And yet, here I am... digging them up."

"That you are," she said, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Why? What does his past have to do with anything?"

He was about to lie, to twist her answer into something harmless — when something flickered at the corner of his vision.

For a brief second, the mural behind Elowen shimmered. The late Alpha’s painted eyes glowed faintly red, causing a cold shiver to run down Kyren’s spine.