"Mate?" Genia repeated the word, confusion still laced in her voice. "Am I... are we really mates?"
"Yes, Genia," James said, weaving a clever lie. "You're from the Rabbit Clan, and the Rabbit Clan handed you over to my elder brother, Rexon, the clan's leader, to give him an heir. But you didn't agree, and you escaped. Then you and I met in the forest, and I brought you with me to the Black Tiger Clan's territory. Gradually, we fell in love and chose each other as our mates. But last night, Rexon's men attacked you, hoping to take you back to him. That's why you fell into this ditch. I risked my life to save you from those spies and bring you here. You've forgotten everything because of the head injury, but you don't need to worry. As long as I'm with you, no one can touch you."
Genia looked at James's face. Even though she had lost her memory, deep inside her heart, James's words stirred a slight uneasiness. She didn't know why she felt like trusting this stranger standing before her. Still, James seemed to be her only support in this unfamiliar and frightening world, so she slowly nodded and trusted him.
A triumphant smile spread across James's face. He had taken the first step toward imprisoning Genia forever in the golden cage of his palace.
Far away from this icy valley, the atmosphere in the Black Tiger Clan's main stronghold was like a smouldering volcano. Rexon paced his large room. Just then, his commander entered, panting, and sank to his knees, trembling with fear. "Chief... I have some very bad news."
"What's the news? Tell me clearly!" Rexon roared. "Chief, the girl we laid a trap for in the trench has disappeared again. Our spies who attacked and went down to capture her were found bloodied. It seems some very powerful warrior attacked them and took the girl with him. The entire bottom of the trench is empty. There is neither the girl nor any trace of her."
Rexon's anger reached its peak. He kicked a heavy table nearby and threw it away. "Impossible! That girl is not a shadow who vanishes into thin air again and again! Who in this empire dares to deceive my soldiers?"
Rexon was going mad with rage, but even this most cunning chieftain of the empire had no idea that the girl was currently safe, not somewhere else but in his own territory, with his own most calm and mysterious brother, James.
James had executed the entire rescue operation so meticulously that none of the tribe's spies had even noticed.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere of anxiety and tension was at its peak in Alex's palace. Kevin and Alex hadn't slept a wink since returning empty-handed from the trench. Kevin's tears had dried up, replaced by a silent sense of guilt.
"We can't sit idle, Alex," Kevin said, gripping his sword. "Genia can't be alone in that ditch. If someone has taken her, we must find her."
Alex nodded seriously at Kevin's words. Without wasting any time, he dispatched several squads of his palace's most loyal and best spies in all directions. He deployed spies around the borders of the Snake Clan, the Eagle Clan, and even the Black Tiger Clan to find any trace of Genia.
Days passed, but Alex's spies found no trace of Genia anywhere. The borders between the tribes were silent. They wandered everywhere, but none of the spies had the courage or the thought to reach the snowy, sheltered peaks of James's Winter Palace.
Kevin and Alex's pain and anxiety deepened with each passing day. Three corners of the same clan were currently burning in search of the same girl, and James sat in his palace, preparing to make that ancient and beautiful secret his own.
Amidst all this, nestled on the highest and narrowest hills in the Beast World, stood the secret and vast fortress of the White Tiger Clan. Inside the fortress, in a dark, spacious chamber, sat a young man clad in a white tiger skin. His eyes held a vicious, cold glint. It was none other than Arthur, the cunning leader of the White Tiger Clan. As gentle and calm as he appeared, Arthur was a ruthless and cunning strategist within.
Just then, the secret door to the room opened, and the same four impersonators who had entered the trench disguised as Black Tiger Clan spies entered, limping and panting.
All four immediately knelt before Arthur's throne. "Chief..." their leader said, bowing his head, "Our plan backfired. Before we could hide the girl safely, a terrible disaster struck."
Arthur patted the table with his fingers and asked coldly, "What do you mean? Did Rexon suspect you guys? Or did Kevin and Alex save him? I told you to execute this plan very carefully so that no one suspects you! Then how did you mess it up?"
"No, Chief," the detective said nervously. "None of those three were there. But Prince James appeared out of nowhere at that very moment. He's very powerful, Chief. He single-handedly defeated all four of us and took the girl with him to his snowy realm. None of us could stop him from taking her."
Hearing this, a look of anger appeared on Arthur's face, which instantly turned into a deep, wicked laugh. He laughed out loud, "James? My simple, foolish friend James? So he's finally gotten involved!"
In reality, Arthur had been James's most loyal and faithful friend to the entire Beast World. James trusted him blindly and shared everything with him. But James was completely unaware that Arthur was his biggest and most hidden enemy, taking advantage of his trust.
Arthur's enmity wasn't new. He had been constantly instigating James against his three other brothers—Rexon, Kevin, and Alex—since childhood. He constantly whispered into James's ears that his three brothers considered him weak, denied him his due, and wanted to remove him from their path.
Arthur's cunning mind was behind every minor misunderstanding and fight between the brothers. His sole objective was to destroy these four powerful brothers by pitting them against each other, so that the Black Tiger Clan would be completely disintegrated and Rohit could establish his sole rule over its ashes.
Arthur rose from his throne and gazed at the mountain peaks stretching out the window. He mentally formulated a new plan to turn the tables.
"Excellent..." Arthur muttered. "The girl Rexon is chasing like crazy, and whose loss is making Alex and Kevin burn inside, is currently lying on James's bed. James must be thinking he's saved an innocent life, but he doesn't know he's brought death to his own brothers. But there's something special about that girl that all four brothers are after like crazy."
He turned to his spies and, looking them straight in the eye, said, "Now our task has become even easier. I just have to go to James and whisper a new poison into his ears. I will convince him that his brothers are about to attack him. Meanwhile, I will secretly inform Rexon that his estate is with James. When Rexon leads his entire army and invades James's territory, Kevin and James will not sit idle. All four brothers will shed each other's blood, and at the end of this battle, only I will be victorious."
Arthur's cruel laughter echoed through the dark room of the White Tiger Clan.
While James's territory was known for its impenetrable security, James himself wasn't feeling completely safe mentally at the moment. As he watched the snow fall outside the palace window, his sharp and strategic mind was caught in a deep dilemma.
Captivated by Genia's beauty, he had lied to her about being her "mate," but he was no ordinary or foolish prince. When he had rescued Genia from those four impersonators, he had heard something very dangerous from them: "Our job is to make the four brothers fight each other."
This thought deeply ingrained itself in James's mind. He couldn't sleep the rest of the night. He thought, his hand on the sheath of his sword, "Rexon is cruel by nature, Kevin is emotional, and Alex is a man of principle. There have always been differences between us four brothers, but are these differences simply due to our natures? Or is there a shadow behind the scenes deliberately making us thirst for each other's blood?"
James realised that someone was behind this conspiracy. Someone who wanted to make these brothers fight each other. "But who is that person who wants to make us brothers fight each other? And what will he gain by doing so?"
This question kept coming to James's mind. To this day, he had wanted to eliminate his own brothers and become the leader of the Black Tiger Clan, as he believed all three of them were selfish and self-serving. He immediately summoned three of his most loyal, chosen, and shadow-like spies to his private room. He instructed his men in a stern and serious tone, "Go to the part of the trench where the encounter took place last night. Follow the blood trail of those injured impersonators or the direction they fled. I must find out which clan those wearing the masks of the Black Tiger Clan actually belonged to and who their true leader is. But remember..."
James narrowed his eyes. "No one in or outside the palace should know about this investigation. Not even my brothers Kevin, Alex, and Rexon's spies should know we're looking for something."
The spies silently bowed their heads and disappeared into the darkness outside the window like shadows. James breathed a sigh of relief, but he was completely unaware that the shadow he was searching for was his own best friend, Rohit.
On the other hand, Genia was living in the most luxurious and warm room of James's palace, but her mind was restless like a bird trapped in a cage. The palace maids took care of her every comfort, providing her with the finest silk clothes and delicious food, yet she still felt a strange emptiness. Whenever she looked at the snow falling outside the window, her heart would pound. She constantly felt as if she was forgetting something very important—some message, some face, more important than this snowy palace.
The green crystal Gia had given her, hidden deep within her chest, constantly vibrated uncomfortably in James's presence, as if trying to shake Genia's slumbering consciousness and force her to reveal the truth. But despite much insistence, Genia couldn't remember anything.