That morning, I meet with King Sinbad and all of his Eight Generals. I tell them everything, even the story behind the crescent-shaped mark on my face.

" I was born into an ancient clan that lived in a remote village. We were mostly cut off from the outside world because of the curse that we bore. Legend has it that this curse was passed down from one of our ancestors, and those who carried the curse would be born with a red crescent-shaped mark somewhere on their body."

I took a deep breath, slightly curling my bandaged hands.

"The curse was a special type of dark rukh. Those who had it could easily cast and worsen the effects of dark spells. Only a few people are born every generation with the curse. The rest of the clan was dedicated to isolating them from others. It just happened that my brother and I were the ones who were born with it."

Yamuraiha speaks up," The incident with the crystal yesterday...when we tried to see what type of rukh you had...that was the dark rukh?"

"Hai. That's why Al Thamen wanted me and my brother,"

"Is there any way to reverse this curse?" she asks.

"Well...the legend said that the bearer of the curse has to 'light their own way through their darkness'. If they did that, they not only free themselves from the curse, they also unlock another power. But so far, no one has been able to lift the curse."

A deafening silence settled in the room.

"We can't let our guards down. 'If we really wanted to kill the king, we must kill the man closest to him first.' Isn't that what Judal said?" asks King Sinbad.

"Hai," I reply.

"We'll prepare ourselves immediately. And (y/n)," the King of Sindria looks me in the eye. "We'll decide what to do with you after this is over."

I bow before him along with his Eight Generals before leaving to prepare for whatever Al Thamen has in store for the kingdom of Sindria.