The name Shinimoon hung in the air like a curse.
Pine lowered his cane completely now, though he didn't sheath it. Not yet.
He stared at the girl as if seeing a ghost wearing human skin.
Volow stood between them, heart pounding, eyes flicking from Pine to the girl and back.
"Pine…" he whispered. "The prophecy… my mother… the ring… just tell me what's happening."
Pine pressed a hand over his forehead.
"Volow… there are things I hoped you would never have to learn. Not this early."
The girl stepped closer.
"He must," she said. "The King has already decided his fate. Ignorance will kill him faster than truth."
Pine shot her a glare, but he didn't argue.
Volow's hand moved instinctively to the ring resting on his chest — the ring that pine handled him.
Its center glowed faintly.
Not bright.
But alive.
Pine's eyes sharpened.
"It's glowing again… without you using it. That's not good."
Volow frowned. "why is this ring glowing? Really."
"It glows," the girl said, "because the ring recognizes danger. It's reacting to what hunts you."
Volow's stomach twisted.
"What hunts me?"
Both Pine and the girl stayed silent.
Only the chilly breeze answered.
After a long moment, Pine sank onto a fallen tree stump.
He looked older.
Heavier.
As if the truth itself weighed him down.
"Volow… the ring you're wearing is not just a normal ring. It's not from the surface. Not from the Mantle. Not from the Crustfolk."
He pointed at it with his cane.
"That ring is forbidden. Ancient. Lost before our… worlds… even formed proper nations."
The girl nodded slowly.
"Only one royal bloodline was ever allowed to carry it."
Volow's heart kicked in his chest.
"Royal? Like… the Solum King?"
"No," Pine said sharply.
His voice dropped.
"Older. Much older."
The girl added quietly:
"The First Sovereigns. The ones who ruled all layers — Crust, Mantle, and Solum — before our lands fractured."
Volow blinked rapidly.
"I—I don't understand. What does this have to do with me?"
Pine closed his eyes.
"Everything. Everything, Volow."
The girl approached him slowly, cautiously.
"A long time ago… before the King of Solum seized power… the underground spoke of a future child.
A child will be born who would carry a sealed ring passed down by a hidden bloodline.
A child the King could never allow to grow."
Volow's skin prickled.
"And I'm… that child?"
Neither Pine nor the girl denied it.
Volow stepped back.
"What does the ring even do?"
Pine shook his head.
"We don't fully know. It's sealed — the true power inside it is locked away."
The girl added:
"Only when the right time comes, the seal will break"
Volow swallowed.
"And when it breaks?"
The girl lowered her gaze.
"No one knows. That's why the King is terrified of you."
Suddenly, Pine stiffened.
His cane twitched.
The girl inhaled sharply, eyes flicking toward the treetops.
Volow felt it too — a pulse in the air.
Not pressure…
but presence.
Pine's expression hardened.
"They're here."
Volow froze. "Hunters? Already?!"
"No," Pine muttered. "Worse. Scouts."
The girl's face darkened.
"They report directly to the Solum King. If one escapes, the King will know your exact location."
Pine rose to his feet, cane gleaming with Veil energy.
"Volow, listen carefully. You can't reveal what you learned from me. Not yet. You fight only if forced."
Volow nodded, chest tight.
"What about you?"
Pine smirked — but it was thin, forced.
"I'll handle them."
As Pine stepped forward, preparing for the confrontation, the girl suddenly grabbed Volow's wrist.
"Stay behind me."
"What? But Pine said—"
"I am not a Shinimoon anymore," she whispered, "but I was trained like one.
Scouts do not aim to kill.
They aim to capture."
Volow felt a chill.
The girl leaned closer.
"If they take you… no one will ever see you again."
Her eyes were fierce.
Not calm.
Not resigned.
Alive.
"But why protect me so much?" Volow asked.
She paused.
And answered with a truth she had never spoken aloud:
"Because your mother saved my life…
and because her last message was for me to save yours."
Volow's breath hitched.
"My… mother left a message?"
The girl nodded.
"I will tell you. But not now. Not with death in the trees."
Pine's cane glowed brighter.
Branches trembled.
Something moved in the shadows.
The girl released Volow's wrist and stepped in front of him.
Pine lowered his stance, voice steady.
"Volow… stay back."
Volow stepped forward instead, jaw tight.
"No. I'm not running anymore."
The scouts had arrived.