"Decalane and Kagan Luna," Sylvia said.0

… Sylvia's words stirred up a torrent of memories, flowing through my mind like scenes from an old film. They were fragments of the past I had never known, and could never have imagined.0

"My son, she was never meant to be your partner."2

Decalane's voice sent a shiver through me, the emotions rippling outward like waves on a calm lake, tightening in my chest. It was the same surge that had once driven Deculein to fury.0

But I knew it would pass, like every other storm before it. No matter how powerful, the past had no hold over who I had become. As both Deculein and Kim Woo-Jin, I was made to withstand such trials.2

Sylvia went on, "But you thought it was Iliade’s doing. That’s why you sent the Letter of Fortune to my mother."0

Deculein had sent the letter back to Iliade, hoping it would somehow save his fiancée, but it was hopeless. Cielia was already fading away, her strength slipping from her grasp as the sickness in her blood took its toll.2

I admitted, "Indeed, I did."0

Sylvia asked, “So why didn’t you ever mention it to Epherene?”0

Kagan Luna, Deculein's former assistant and Epherene's father, came to mind as memories of our time together resurfaced, one by one. It felt like another step in my gradual merging with Deculein.0

"Decalane judged her unworthy as my partner and instructed Kagan to deliver the letter," I stated.0

I would accept these memories as Kim Woo-Jin, not as Deculein. The past grudges were buried, and I had no desire to bring them back to life.0

"But I cannot speak to whether Kagan...0