A calm voice spoke from the side of the boat, "Very well, we will tell you what happened here, but .... I think you should also tell us the other side of your story—the princess who was at the pinnacle of the Sixth Empire, and now is bound in the chains of a slave... Ali!!!!" Ali was the one who spoke, but Noor tried to stop him from asking.
Noor: "Ali, please, I don't think it's necessary for you to tell us her story."
As soon as Noor finished speaking, Ali turned to her with eyes so cold they seemed to freeze the air. He was strangely annoyed, and when he spoke, his words were cold and devoid of emotion: "Shut up." Noor was terrified like never before, despite all the hardships this girl had endured. Something was wrong. She didn't even understand the reason for his anger; she had simply expressed her opinion. This time, she tried to read his mind to understand what he was thinking, but as soon as she did, there was terror, destruction, darkness, darkness—a cold, bottomless mind.
[The scene was of Noor's spectral presence floating in Ali's dark mind. It reflected the space in which Noor's emotions floated, a space where everything was black from anywhere in the world, carrying a quantity of energy. Noor began to choke with terror. Her hands were trembling, and some of Foam came out of her mouth, but it was nothing amidst all the fear. A voice echoed in Noor's soul, "You, you again, barging into this place and not knowing your limits." The voice didn't sound like Ali's; it was a small child speaking. Suddenly, a red eye, like that of a hungry wolf, opened, and Noor couldn't bear it any longer and fainted from sheer terror]
Her brother caught her after seeing her stagger and realized she had seen Ali's other side. He whispered to himself, "Unfortunately, I didn't warn you more about messing with him so much, sister. It's my fault." Then he turned to Ali. "Hey, boy, are you calmed down?" Ali breathed a sigh of relief after regaining his composure and said, "I'm sorry for what I did. I couldn't control myself."
016 spoke, "It's best if you apologize to the girl when she wakes up, not just to her brother." Ali sighed. "Uh-huh, whatever." He turned to Luna, who was bewildered by everything that had happened in just a few minutes and how Noor had lost consciousness , Ali continued, "don't take it as me interfering in your royal family's or empire's affairs, but there might be a connection to the disaster and what happened to you. So I'm trying to understand your story, if you don't mind."
Luna spoke after she turned down, a look of regret and painful memories etched on her face: "I don't mind. You saved my life after all."
"Good, we've reached an agreement," Julius said, trying to lighten the mood. Then Ali began recounting all the events that had transpired, from the flood and his acquisition of the shelter they were now heading to, to Noor's and Julius's abilities, and the reason for Noor's loss of consciousness, which stemmed from reading Ali's emotions.
"Ah, now everything is clear from how she understood our family's language. I think that's why she was sad. I think she read my memories. Now I understand. If it truly was a miracle that I was transported in this container that saved me from death, then now I will tell you what happened to me."
Suzuki Luna
The princess was born at the height of the Sixth Empire's rise and was the first child of the reigning emperor. The people of the empire considered her a symbol of good fortune for the queen. Every birthday, she received unimaginable gifts, and the entire empire celebrated with her. It became like a holiday for them. She was very much loved by her grandfather, the greatest emperor the Sixth Empire had ever known. He raised her from the depths of despair to her current position. Her father then married a second wife for political reasons and became so preoccupied with work that he neglected his children and wives. He and his second wife had a son, who was considered the future prince and emperor. Everyone rejoiced at his birth, and some even began to worship him because he was born with the sun mark on his neck. However, under mysterious circumstances, when Luna was four years old, her mother was poisoned. Her grandfather was away from the empire, and her father was grieving the loss of his beloved and had become completely indifferent to her. The investigations revealed nothing, and it was assumed that the mother had poisoned herself. Then, the second wife appeared, claiming that her subordinates had seen Luna's mother buying a substance that resembled poison on the black market. They concluded that Luna's mother had committed suicide.
The young girl was unable to comprehend, and from that moment her life began to deteriorate. She began to feel something strange. The treatment the princess received was completely unbecoming of her. At the age of five, she was taken in a humiliating manner to the temple ruled by her aunt, as if the second wife was trying to expel her from the capital. However, at the temple, she received better attention and care from her aunt, who looked after her and spoiled her. But one night, a scream was heard from the aunt's room, and it became clear that she had been murdered. They found her aunt's throat slashed in a gruesome manner.
From that moment, life became increasingly harsh for Luna. She returned to the imperial palace and was treated with contempt by everyone, even the servants, who were all new. Then, on her half-brother's seventh birthday, news spread of the emperor's suicide. He had been consumed by despair and grief over the loss of the love of his life, and the rumors said that he was now trying to join his wife in the afterlife, so he took his own life. Thus, the throne passed directly to the prince.
That night, the second wife passed by Luna's room, where she was being held captive with her half-brother. She opened the door and, as usual, threw food at Luna, who looked thin as bones. She said rudely, "Today is my son's birthday. Don't you have any present for him?" Luna turned to her, sparks of anger flashing in her eyes, but she was surprised by something: the prince looked sad, and one of his eyes was filled with tears. The malicious wife continued, "Heh, of course I don't expect anything from you, you useless thing. You'll never be able to give him the present I gave him today." She leaned close to Luna's ear and said, "Today I have given my son the throne that will rule the entire empire. I think you understand what I mean." Luna froze in terror at the look on her face, but in a fit of rage, she bit off her ear.
Then Luna spat out the end of the ear she had cut off, while the second wife screamed in pain and anger, "Aaaaaaagh, damn you, you savage!"
The wife was terrified by Luna's expression, and then, overcome with anger, she began cursing her, calling her a "cursed child ." "You savage! You're truly unfit to be a princess!" Then she fled with her son, her mother's death looming large.
The reason she had waited until then was that she wanted to show her all the suffering she hadn't inflicted on her own mother, who had died so quickly.
She had always treated her like a vessel for her anger, but today she had reached her breaking point and vowed to kill her tomorrow.
But Something unexpected happened ........ in the middle of the night, Luna heard the door of the room begin to open. Luna prepared to attack, but it was her brother, disguised.
He showed her his face, though she had never trusted him. He explained that he needed her to hurry if she wanted to survive and begged her to trust him just this once.
He led her through a hidden tunnel beneath the palace, and finally, she managed to escape that hell. Her brother had arranged a new identity for her and a place at a prestigious school in the west of the country.
When the moment of parting arrived, the prince began to weep, crying, "I'm sorry that Mother did all those bad things to you. I'm truly sorry." His tears revealed that he still The little boy quickly got Luna and hugged her younger brother, saying, "Thank you. I promise I'll save you from that crazy woman's trap."
So she decided to flee to the Orthodox school in the west of the country to disappear from sight and continue her studies there with a false identity.
Then the second wife began to tarnish Princess Luna's image, claiming that she was the source of bad luck. Every time someone loved her, misfortune befell them, like the grandfather who disappeared and never returned.
She also claimed that her mother died, then her aunt died when she moved there, and then upon her return, her father died. She said Luna had fled without even attending her father's funeral or her brother's wedding.
She accused Luna of stealing a large sum of money from the treasury, which turned out to be Luna's own theft. A large bounty was placed on her head.
After many events, she was discovered at the school and arrested. She then met the aunt again, who looked at her with disgust but said that instead of killing her, she announced to the people that she had executed her.
However, the truth was that she had been planning to sell her on the black market, as the blood of the Suzuki clan is rare, and being a princess would certainly be a great gain. All of this... The prince who became the new emperor ...
He's not here, because at the international conference, and after it was transferred to the black market, what happened, happened, and here I am.
Vander Ali
"So..."
Luna said, "So what?"
He replied, "Don't you feel a desire for revenge?"
She paused for a moment, then tears began to well up in her eyes. "Am I even capable of revenge?" The lump in her throat was evident in her voice.
Ali shouted at her, his eyes filled with determination, looking directly into hers. "Listen, girl, in this world there are the strong and the weak. You choose whether to be the predator or the prey. If you choose not to seek revenge, it will haunt you and everyone you love. And what if you want to reward us? Didn't you say anything about your grandfather?"
She paused, then spoke, moved by the confidence in Ali's eyes. "Um, my aunt said... when I was at the temple, if I could find my grandfather, all our problems would be solved. I hoped to find him and..."
"And now? You're hesitant. I don't sense any firm intention, girl. Tell me, prey or predator? Just answer." Ali's words were a powerful motivator, drawing Luna out of her shell and filling her with a warmth and hope she had never known before. For the first time, she felt someone she could trust. She answered, "P...Pr.....Predator." "What?! I can't hear you! Say it with more confidence!" "I'M A PREDATOR!!!!" Luna's scream echoed across the vast expanse of water, like a long-suppressed cry finally released from her chest.
But she immediately fainted.
016 said her body was severely deficient in nutrients, that she likely hadn't eaten for two days, and that she simply needed some rest.
Then, after settling Luna down beside Noor, Ali sat down next to Julius and 016. "Perhaps some of the clues have become clear," he said. Julius, surprised, replied, "Really? I was so captivated by her story that I forgot the point was to connect the events to a catastrophe.
But what have you deduced?" "Speak, 016," Ali continued. "I think the first clue is that the emperor of the Sixth Empire, the Empire of the Sun or Fire, was in an important meeting outside his country." "Yes, that's the first clue," Ali added. "The second is..."