Only a few minutes earlier—

  Renjiro and Rikuya lay beneath the thick blankets of their bedroom, the candlelight casting a warm glow across the walls. They were pressed close together, sharing the quiet intimacy of the night, the world beyond the mansion momentarily forgotten.

  Renjiro chuckled softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

  “It looks like Kaoru is going to get a little sister or brother.”

  Rikuya sighed and lightly tapped his chest.

  “Stop it, dear,” she said gently.

  “It takes more than that to make another baby.”

  Before Renjiro could reply—

  BOOM.

  A loud crash echoed from downstairs.

  The warmth vanished instantly.

  Renjiro sat upright. “What is happening at this time?”

  “It’s late at night!”

  They hurriedly dressed and rushed out of the room, hearts pounding as they descended the stairs.

  The moment they reached the ground floor—

  They froze.

  A bandaged man stood in the hall, his posture twisted and predatory. Blades glinted in his hands, their edges shimmering with a sickly hue.

  The man turned slowly, eyes gleaming beneath the wrappings.

  “Well, well…”

  “Looks like the prey has come to me!”

  “OI! LOOK ABOVE YOU!”

  Seraphine Orion’s voice rang through the hall.

  Vines burst from the ceiling, dropping two wooden swords straight into Akitsu Shouga’s hands.

  He caught them instinctively.

  “Run away!” Akitsu shouted.

  “Go back upstairs!”

  Renjiro didn’t hesitate.

  They turned and ran.

  They sprinted up the stairs, panic clawing at their lungs. Halfway down the corridor, they spotted Liora walking toward them, confusion etched across her face.

  “Liora-san!” Rikuya cried.

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  “You need to come with us—now!”

  “What’s happening, ma’am?” Liora asked, alarmed.

  “No time to explain,” Renjiro snapped.

  “We need to hide!”

  They rushed to Kaoru’s room.

  Renjiro threw the door open—

  And his breath caught.

  Kaoru lay on the floor, unmoving.

  A small puddle of tears glistened beside her.

  “Kaoru!!”

  Rikuya dropped to her knees and shook her gently.

  Kaoru stirred, her eyes fluttering open.

  “…What’s happening?”

  Rikuya exhaled sharply, relief flooding her voice.

  “We thought you were dead!”

  “There’s no time!” Renjiro barked.

  “We need to barricade the door!”

  He dragged the bedside table across the floor and slammed it against the entrance.

  “Don’t just stand there—help me!”

  They grabbed anything they could—chairs, boxes, a wardrobe—stacking them against the door as the mansion trembled with distant destruction.

  The bandaged man dashed toward Akitsu.

  Akitsu swung the wooden swords, but the man twisted past them effortlessly and bolted down the hall.

  “Hurry up!!” Seraphine Orion shouted as vines erupted from the floor.

  The man didn’t slow.

  He snapped the vines apart with brute force and kept running.

  “Get back here!” Akitsu yelled, chasing him.

  The man smashed through the first door he saw—the drawing room—then carved through the walls with toxin-coated blades, tearing his way into the next room.

  Akitsu burst in just in time to see him enter the master bedroom.

  The intruder glanced around.

  Nothing valuable.

  He turned—

  And Akitsu stood in the doorway.

  “You’re persistent!” the man snarled.

  “Thanks for the compliment,” Akitsu replied calmly.

  “Why not give up?”

  “If I run,” the man hissed,

  “my boss will kill me personally for failing.”

  “So you’re a crook after all,” Akitsu said.

  “I wonder how you ended up like this.”

  The man snapped.

  “WHY YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SH—!”

  He lunged forward.

  Akitsu parried—but the wooden blade melted, dissolving under the toxin.

  He jumped back.

  “Orion! I need another weapon!”

  “On it!”

  Vines twisted overhead, forming a long, spiked vine whip that dropped into Akitsu’s hands.

  He swung it without hesitation.

  The man laughed.

  “Your tricks are useless! I’ll slice through it!”

  Before the whip connected—

  CRASH.

  The door exploded off its hinges.

  It slammed into the man, sending him flying across the room.

  Akitsu turned—

  A young man stood in the doorway.

  White hair.

  Red eyes.

  Crimson yoroi armor.

  At his waist rested a katana in a white sheath, red roses painted along its length, a strip of red cloth tied neatly around it.

  “I am Kael Ardent,” the man declared.

  “And I am here to save this noble family’s residents. There is no nee—”

  He stopped.

  His eyes locked onto Akitsu.

  “…It’s you.”

  “You’re the one I saw at the royal ball a few months ago!”

  “Huh?” Akitsu snapped.

  “I don’t know who you are, but if you’re here to save people, do your job instead of talking!”

  Kael’s gaze sharpened.

  “Where is the villain?”

  Akitsu pointed flatly.

  “He’s under the door you just sent flying.”

  The man groaned and kicked the door aside, forcing himself upright.

  “Ugh… it has to be you.”

  “Please do not resist,” Kael said, resting his hand on his katana.

  “There is no need for casualties.”

  “Tch… damn it,” the man whispered.

  “Looks like I need to retreat.”

  He charged.

  Kael unsheathed his katana in a blur.

  Steel flashed.

  The man barely avoided the strikes, suffering shallow cuts before breaking into a sprint.

  Kael chased him—

  Then suddenly stopped.

  A vine had wrapped around his ankle.

  He ripped free and ran again.

  Akitsu followed close behind.

  The man smashed through a window and leapt into the darkness outside.

  Kael reached the window—

  Nothing.

  Gone.

  “He got away,” Kael said calmly.

  Akitsu ran up behind him.

  Without warning—

  Kael spun and raised his katana, the blade stopping inches from Akitsu’s throat.

  The room went silent.