A Shocking Revelation

Jovis and Noir stared at each other for a long time, neither backing down. Finally, Solis stepped in and tugged Noir close to him.

Jovis chuckled and helped himself to a strawberry from a nearby fruit-platter.

"It's good to see both of you getting along so well," Jovis told them. "In fact, it makes things easier for me now."

Solis and Noir frowned.

"What do you mean?" Solis asked.

Jovis picked up another strawberry. "These are nice," he murmured. "Did you grow them in your own garden?"

"Yes," Noir said. "I'll give you a basket when you leave."

Jovis burst out laughing. "Are you bribing me into leaving?" he asked.

Noir didn't deny it.

Jovis shook his head. "I suppose I had it coming sooner or later," he murmured. "But Prince Noir, please believe me when I say that I had no intention of letting Solis die at my mother's hands. I just thought that it would be easier for me to monitor her if I collaborated with her – I was the only one she would consider in any case; Martis and Luna maybe foolish and annoying, but they aren't insidious enough for long-term things like these."

Both Solis and Noir were surprised to hear Jovis addressing Noir as "Prince Noir". But Noir didn't deny it, and Solis decided to let Noir take the lead on this matter. If other people wanted to conclude that Noir was a mysterious (and possibly illegitimate) royal child of some contemporary monarch, it was their business, not his or Noir's. As far as they were concerned, they had no intention of revealing Noir's origins to anyone.

Instead, Solis narrowed his eyes as he recalled something else altogether. "Were you the one who pulled me out of the car crash?" he asked Jovis flatly.

Jovis's eyes widened in shock. "You actually remember that?"

Solis shook his head. "I have a vague impression that someone pulled out of the wreckage before it exploded, that's all," he said.

"That's still quite impressive, given the state you were in," Jovis murmured. "You really are his reincarnation…"

"Whose reincarnation?" Noir demanded.

Jovis raised an eyebrow. "Surely you must have guessed it by now, Prince Noir?" he asked. "Isn't he the spitting image of Tygr?"

Noir leapt from his seat and before anyone knew what was happening, Noir had hauled up Jovis by the throat and lifted him up in the air.

"How do you know my Master's name?!" Noir hissed dangerously.

Jovis, who was being choked, gestured wildly, indicating that he was unable to speak.

Noir let him go and the man immediately dropped on the ground, coughing.

Solis pulled Noir into his arms and hugged him tightly, hiding his trembling form from Jovis's eyes.

Jovis was too busy coughing on the floor and trying to get his breath back to notice them anyway.

However, seeing Noir so shaken up made Solis anxious, and a familiar pain started radiating from his chest. He ignored his own discomfort resolutely and started rubbing soothing circles on Noir's back instinctively.

When Jovis finally stopped coughing and gasping for air, he looked up at Solis and Noir ruefully. "Haven't you gotten Tygr's memories yet?" he asked Solis. "I thought Prince Noir is so protective of you because and you are so attached to him because Tygr's memories have awakened."

Solis fixed his raptor gaze on his duplicitous half-brother. "Who are you and how do you know all this?" he asked. "And why should we believe you anyway?"

Jovis was so shocked that his mouth hung open. "You mean you haven't awakened Tygr's memories yet…? And you still managed to fall in love with Prince Noir all over again…?" he asked incredulously.

Noir finally stopped shaking and raised his head from Solis's shoulder.

"What do you mean?" he demanded.

Jovis stared at them for a long time and then sighed heavily. "You really don't remember, do you?" he murmured. "I'm Lev."

"Impossible!" Noir cried. Lev was another demi-god, and his Master's half-brother as well.

Jovis smiled wryly. "Tygr probably hid it all from you, didn't he?" he asked Noir. "You were prophesised to die at twenty one – he took you to a temple once when you were about seven, I think, for a divination, but it was this prophecy that came out in the end – that you would be a bright star loved by the citizens, but your life would end at twenty one, claimed by your family members."

Noir wobbled and Solis pulled him closer.

"Tygr was determined to find a solution to this – after all, you were his one and only beloved disciple, and he loved you dearly – his love wasn't like this sweet romance you two have going on right now; it was all-encompassing – he loved you as a father, brother, friend, husband, everything!" Jovis said and shook his head ruefully. "You were probably too young to notice."

"…And then…?" Noir asked, his voice unsteady.

"Tygr couldn't find a solution, naturally," Jovis said flatly. "So he exchanged his remaining lifespan to open a space-time portal at the time of your death in your original world, and that portal was supposed to bring you to his own reincarnation, whenever and wherever that might be. Ideally, your arrival should have triggered Solis into awakening his demi-god powers – but he seems to be a mortal even now, so there's probably more to the matter than Tygr told me. I was simply supposed to watch over his reincarnation until you arrived."

Noir grit his teeth. "Why should I believe you?" he demanded.

Jovis shrugged. "I don't really have any reason to lie to you," he replied. "Besides, I did protect Solis when I needed to – otherwise, with my vicious mother, do you think he would have been able to live for so long?"

Noir frowned. "If you're really a demi-god, you can easily control a mortal woman," he pointed out. "And if your idea of watching over Solis was to keep letting him get nearly killed by other people all the time – then you're the most incompetent person I've ever seen."

Jovis burst out laughing.