Leo sat near the table, holding his mobile phone tightly in his hands. He was looking at the old photograph of his mother standing beside Thomas. The dark night felt long, but Leo could not sleep for one second.He looked at his mother's face, tracing her smile with his eyes. Thomas sat across from him in silence. The man could hear his son breathing in the quiet room."Father, I have been staring at this picture all night," Leo said. "You told me my mother was just a poor girl from a village. But this woman in the picture is wearing royal silk that costs more than a city."Thomas bowed his head down, his voice shaking with sadness as he was speaking. "I had to tell you that simple story to keep you alive, my son. If I told you the truth back then, you would have asked questions that could get you killed.""So she was not a village girl at all," Leo said, his eyes narrowing in the room. "She was part of the imperial palace, was she not?" "Yes, she was connected to the big Imperial fami

Leo stood silently in the dark archive room, holding the small bloody piece of paper in his right hand. The red ink burned into his eyes as he read the terrifying words over and over again. He realized in that quiet moment that his secret identity was no longer safe from his enemies.He crushed the bloody parchment inside his fist and stepped over the dead assassin lying on the stone floor. He slipped out through the back door of the building, blending into the dark shadows of the alley. Ethan was waiting near a brick wall, his face pale with worry as Leo walked up."Young Master, did you find what you were looking for inside the vault?" Ethan asked in an urgent whisper. "I heard a strange noise from the side corridor and I was ready to rush in to help you." Ethan looked closely at Leo's dark eyes, sensing the cold aura surrounding his leader."An assassin was waiting inside the vault to kill whoever tried to read the files," Leo said calmly. "He knew how my mother fought, and he left

Leo walked down the quiet road toward his family house, his heart filled with a rare sense of peace. He stepped onto the wooden steps, fully expecting his little sister Lily to run out and greet him with a happy hug.He pushed the front door open gently, but the small house was completely quiet and dark inside. There was no sound of joyful laughter or light footsteps running across the floorboards to meet him. In the living room, his blind father Thomas was sitting in his armchair, fast asleep with his head resting on his chest.Leo walked quietly past his father, making sure not to wake the tired old man from his peaceful sleep. He walked down the narrow hallway toward the back of the house, heading directly toward Lily's bedroom door. The door was standing slightly open, leaving the dark interior of her room completely visible from the hallway.Leo stood still in the doorway, his eyes scanning every single corner of the room with fast precision. The small glass window was locked tigh

"Look closely at the background behind Lily on that video monitor right now, Ethan!" Leo ordered in a sharp, urgent voice. "Tell me where she is!"Ethan quickly pulled out his handheld scanner and pointed it toward the flickering screen attached to the tree branch. "Young Master, look at those wet stone walls and the old water pipes running along the ceiling behind her chair.""That is an ancient underground drainage vault," Leo said, his eyes narrowing as he traced the digital signal. "The tracking signal is coming from right beneath the oldest part of the city.""Young Master, that entire underground area is far outside official city jurisdiction!" Ethan warned, his face turning pale with dark worry. "The law enforcement officers never go down into those old tunnels, and it is controlled by dark criminal factions.""I do not care who controls those dark tunnels," Leo replied in an icy tone. "I am going down there alone right now, and I will not summon our royal forces.""If you go al

"Are you connected to the Imperial royalty, Leo?" Victoria asked directly as she stepped into the dimly lit study room. She looked straight into his dark eyes, her voice filled with serious curiosity and quiet concern.Leo turned his face away toward the dark window, keeping his lips pressed tightly together in total silence. He refused to answer her bold question, refusing to confirm or deny the massive secret hanging over them."Your absolute secrecy is starting to endanger every single person around you, Leo!" Victoria said, her soft voice rising with intense emotion. "We cannot fight an invisible enemy in the dark if you keep hiding the truth from those trying to help you.""If you know my true identity, it will make you a prime target for the cruelest killers in this entire empire," Leo said softly, turning back to face her with a deeply worried look in his dark eyes. "I am keeping quiet because I want to protect your life from those dark shadows.""I am already a target, Leo, whe