Thorne placed a cigar in his hand, rolled it between his fingers for a moment, then lit it with a flick. Smoke curled upward as he took a slow drag, the ember glowing faintly at the tip.
His gaze settled back on us.
Then he started.
"You remember the Seven Households I just told you about?"
He didn't wait for us to answer. "They come from a very distant past. Only the ones leading them now—or those under their protections—know the full truth. And now, you two do too."
"You remember Edward's dad? The strongest lord out of all the households? Yeah, well… Edward killed him. Then he declared himself the lord of all the households."
A pause. Just the faint sound of the cigar burning.
"And the moment he became lord, he changed everything. He made a new system that completely demolished the old household structure. He Said the world shouldn't be ruled by a few bloodlines hiding behind power. Said, 'Everyone deserves a chance.'"
"So he opened up the power. Let ordinary people—they called them —outsiders—have access. Yeah, we still call them outsiders," he added with a smirk. "What an outsylish word."
"But what that idiot Edward created was this annoying titles for each household new system Seven families. Each protected by 14 guardians. And one person to act as the lord's aid, a vice leader"
"He called them: the Fourteen Stars, the Moon, and the Sun."
"They're still around now. Just as powerful as back then. Doing whatever they want in the name of the mafia."
Thorne flicked some ash off the cigar and leaned forward.
"And your family—the one you're gonna inherit—used to be Edward Blackwood's. From ten thousand years ago… up until two years ago, strongest family then and up until seven years ago when he disappeaed"
He looked straight at me.
"It's called the Crimson Hand."
We both stared at Thorne in silence.
He pointed his cigar at us, that lazy curl of smoke drifting between us like a barrier we didn't know how to cross.
None of us moved, nor knew what to say.
Eventually, I broke the silence.
"...That was... seriously cringe."
Letisha nodded beside me like we were in silent telepathy.
Thorne leaned back and barked out a laugh.
"Hahahaha—right?! I know, right? What a mess. Oh—by the way."
He tapped the side of his temple with the cigar.
"I'm a Sun myself, ugh"
There was a beat of complete stillness.
Then—
"YOU'RE ONE OF THE LORDS?!"
We both shouted at the same time, practically jumping to our feet.
Thorne shot us a look — sharp, unimpressed.
"Brats. Do I not look powerful enough to be one of the Lords?
We flinched.
"I mean..." I glanced at Letisha. "You look more like a gang leader but—"
"Actually, yeah. You do kinda look like one of the Lords, now that I think about it," Letisha said, shrugging. "Trouble just suits you."
"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, agreeing fast.
Thorne looked mildly sour about it, eyes narrowing just a little. But after a second, he sighed and let it slide.
"…Anyway," he continued, dragging slowly on his cigar. "The reason we need you kids now—"
His voice lowered, like it carried weight.
"—is because the Crimson Hand is about to be taken over… by the Black Raven Household."
"The Black Raven Household," Thorne said darkly, "is the weakest among the Seven. But don't let that fool you. Their aim was never power through strength. Their goal was these, even today's attack was the ravens."
He pointed at the two boxes on the table.
"These are the rings for the successors of Crimson Hand. The Stars. Edward left them behind—and you two are his only blood left. He had no children, no siblings. We all thought he'd lead forever... especially with his ability."
Thorne paused, jaw tightening.
"Edward could control life span. He could've lived ten lifetimes. But two years ago... he just died. Vanished. No ashes. No trace. At first, we believed the Ravens killed him in rebellion—but then we found the letter."
He took a breath, bitter.
"He said he simply didn't want to live anymore. That idiot. He left everything to me with a line: Thorne will take care of it. Just like that. No warning. Now I'm stuck here, guarding these rings while the Ravens try to storm Crimson Castle in Italy."
Me and Letisha both slumped a little, exhaustion washing over us.
Then Letisha suddenly yelled, "THAT FOOL!"
I sighed and covered my eyes with one hand. "Let me apologize on behalf of my irresponsible uncle. And for what you've had to go through... even being targeted like this."
Thorne laughed. "No need. I didn't expect any better from him anyway."
He stood, brushing ash from his coat. "Now that you know everything, I want you two to take the rings and see for yourselves."
He stretched out both arms—offering one box to me and one to Letisha.
Letisha's eyes lit up. She opened her box immediately.
I kept staring at mine. The box was a plain brown, but its center was carved in shimmering gold, a beautiful "C.H." etched across it. I pressed in on the sides—and slowly, the lid began to open.
But before I could see anything—
I turned.
Letisha was collapsed on the sofa.
"What—?!" I shouted, but my voice cut off. The room blurred. Dizzy.
My knees gave out, and everything went dark.
...
Two bodies lay passed out in the room.
The air was thick with cigar smoke. The only one still standing was a man with white-gray hair, staring at the unconscious siblings in silence.
From outside the door, a voice called out.
"Sir, we've handled everything. Area's cleared. What are your orders?"
The voice belonged to one of Thorne's subordinates—but he didn't dare open the door, too afraid of the presence inside.
Thorne exhaled slowly, the end of his cigar glowing.
"Prepare to leave for House Caspian."
"Yes, sir.