Malrik hadn't sent her a single message since showing up last night—so why these two now? And judging from the tone, they must've been written before he met her. Could there have been a delay in the lightcore transmission? Maybe these were old messages only just arriving? But that made no sense—her lightcore had been working perfectly fine. She turned the messages toward Silas and Lucien. "What do you two make of this? Why would he suddenly send me these?" Silas studied the messages, and a thought struck him. "Could it be that Malrik's covering all his bases?" Lucien and Emma both looked at him. "What do you mean?" Silas said, "He's been here only a short while, but he's desperate to bond with you, Emy. So he's set me up on day one to make himself look good—but what if I didn't fall for it? He probably realized he might've been too hasty and risked exposure. So, he might've planned a backup story."Silas turned to Lucien. "Do you remember that soldier a couple of years ago? The male who angered his huntress, and when she tried to dissolve their match, he claimed it wasn't him who'd upset her but his twin brother?" Lucien did remember. The case had reached his desk, and he'd personally ordered it investigated. "At first, the huntress believed him. But later, one of her mates uncovered the truth—he didn't have a twin at all. It was a lie he'd made up to save his own skin." Emma's jaw dropped in disbelief. What is this live-action soap opera drama?! "So you're saying," she asked, "this Malrik might try to pull the same trick on me?" Silas shrugged. He couldn't be sure, but the thought amused him. "How about we test him?" "How?" Emma asked. He grinned. "Simple. Just ask him straight out if he has a brother." Lucien nodded in agreement. "Yes, ask directly. Let's see how he reacts." Emma quickly typed out a message and hit send. 'Malrik, do you have a younger brother?'Far away, aboard a speeding airship bound for the Central Planet, Malrik sat staring at his lightcore, waiting nervously for Emma's reply. He knew he'd taken far too long to contact his matched huntress. She was bound to be upset—maybe she wouldn't even answer him. Then—ding! His lightcore chimed, and her name popped up. Reading her message, he froze. Then his brows furrowed sharply. How did Ms. Tibarn know about my brother? That reckless fool hadn't done something stupid while I was gone, has he? He immediately typed back. 'I do have a younger brother named Merlin. But because we're twins, and twin births are considered inauspicious among the Enchanter Clan, all records of him were hidden. Our clan never speaks of his existence.' It was true—among Enchanters, twin births were seen as omens of misfortune. The younger twin was deemed a shadow, unacknowledged, and destined to live unseen. They were not killed, but they were erased—trained to serve in darkness, never recognized by name. Malrik had known of his brother's existence since childhood. Once he learned that Merlin had literally been raised to be his "shadow," he'd felt a lingering guilt ever since.Merlin had spent years trying to prove himself to the clan, desperate to replace Malrik and become heir. But Malrik had never wanted that fight. That was why he'd stayed off-world all these years—to avoid conflict. He knew his brother too well—brooding, jealous, ruthless, willing to do anything to get what he wanted. If he's done something to offend my huntress… Malrik quickly sent another message. 'Ms. Tibarn, if Merlin has done anything to anger you, please punish him however you see fit. I'm your suitor, your beast, and I won't defend him.' Silas gave a low whistle at the sight of Malrik's reply. "Huh, his tricks are as sloppy as his fake charm." Lucien turned to Emma. "Emma, it's true that the Enchanter Clan does have old tales about twins being unlucky. But Malrik—" "Say no more." Emma opened the Beastmate System interface, her expression calm but cold. With a single tap, she dissolved the match. "Whether that brother of his is real or not doesn't matter. Anyone who dares try to trick Silas into using something like that on me doesn't deserve to stay."