Chapter 15: The Devil Lineage

Location: Seoul – Underground Ricci Safehouse

Time: 01:27 AM (KST)

Yuna Kim sat in the dimly lit room, the sterile scent of antiseptic still lingering from when Min-Jae had dressed the fresh bruise on her ribs. The silence was unbearable. The hum of electronics around her did little to quiet the storm building in her chest.

The photo her mother beside a man with Ricci eyes lay on the table like a wound ripped open. That man wasn't just anyone. He was Alessandro Ricci. Lucien's father.

Her hand trembled slightly as she reached for the encrypted dossier Min-Jae had left behind. There was more files containing medical scans, genetic markers, flagged anomalies in her bloodline. Every page told her the same thing: she wasn't just connected to the Syndicate. She was born of it.

The knock on the door was soft. Lucien stepped in.

His eyes met hers, but neither spoke.

"I ran your genome against the Ricci medical archives," she finally said. "I'm not just a target. I'm family."

Lucien's jaw clenched. "I didn't want you to find out like this."

Yuna stood, tossing the documents toward him. "Then how? Between kisses? Between the secrets and the half-truths you fed me?"

He stepped closer, the calm in his voice a razor-thin mask. "I kept it from you because this truth breaks people, Yuna. And you're the only person I couldn't afford to break."

She exhaled shakily. "You think you get to decide what I can handle?"

"No," he said quietly. "I think I get to protect you. That's all I've ever wanted."

"But I'm not yours to protect," she replied.

There was a long pause. Lucien looked away. "You're right. You're not mine. But you're part of this now whether you want to be or not."

Location: Vatican Ruins The Argent Circle Subterranean Lab

Aleksei Drevin stood before a wall of screens as Gabriel Ricci approached.

"She knows now," Gabriel said. "About Alessandro. About Project Phoenix. She's unraveling faster than you predicted."

"Good," Aleksei replied without turning. "Let her rage. Let her doubt. She'll move recklessly and recklessness breeds chaos."

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. "Lucien won't let her fall."

"That's the point," Aleksei murmured. "He'll try to save her. And in doing so, he'll expose every untraceable thread he's ever kept hidden."

He tapped the screen. Yuna's file opened now tagged "K-Alpha." Her biometrics, psychological profile, and combat footage from the Incheon docks played in sync.

"She's more than just a weapon now," Aleksei said. "She's our wedge into the Ricci heart."

Gabriel said nothing, but his gaze drifted to the serum vials beside them pale blue with the symbol of a phoenix etched on their lids.

"She's not just Ricci blood," Aleksei whispered. "She's proof that we can design loyalty. Loyalty bred through pain, memory, and DNA."

Location: Seoul – Ricci HQ War Room

Lucien stood in front of the digital command board. Maps flickered with red beacons each one marking a recent Sable incursion across Europe and Asia. Kazuo Shin was alive. Drevin had surfaced. And someone inside the Ricci syndicate was feeding them intel.

"It's Gabriel," Min-Jae said from across the room. "Confirmed. We decrypted an outbound transmission from the Vatican ruins. He's not just working with Drevin he's funding the relaunch of Phoenix."

Lucien's expression darkened. "And Yuna?"

"She hasn't left the safehouse," Min-Jae replied. "But she knows. All of it."

Lucien closed his eyes briefly. "Then the next move won't come from us. It'll come from her."

He turned to the rest of the room Ricci Korea's elite: Ryu Takahashi, head of digital warfare; Ariella Cho, intel handler; and Enzo, the silent enforcer whose loyalty Lucien had once bought with the truth of his sister's death.

"We protect Yuna at all costs," Lucien said. "But we don't stop her. Let her find her own answers. She has to see what Gabriel and Drevin plan for herself."

"And if they come for her?" Enzo asked.

Lucien's voice was steel. "Then we burn them all."

Location: Seoul – Yuna's Apartment (Ricci Surveillance Unit Monitored)

Yuna stood by the window, watching the city flicker to life. She hadn't slept. Every breath felt heavier, as if her lungs no longer belonged to her. A knock at the door startled her.

It was Ariella.

"I thought you were one of Lucien's shadows," Yuna said bitterly.

"I'm yours tonight," Ariella replied calmly. "He said you'd need someone who understands."

Yuna arched a brow. "Understands what? The feeling of being a pawn?"

"No," Ariella said, stepping inside. "The feeling of being the detonator."

She handed Yuna a dossier.

"What's this?" Yuna asked.

"Your mother's final assignment before she disappeared. She wasn't just a civilian. She was Ricci Intelligence. Embedded. Deep cover. And when she got pregnant, she vanished from both sides."

Yuna's hands trembled as she opened the file. Names. Dates. Places. Her mother had been chased by Ricci operatives for nearly a year before disappearing off the grid.

"She wanted to protect you," Ariella said. "And Lucien… he's been protecting the truth."

Yuna's chest ached.

She had spent her entire life believing she was just a girl with talent and tenacity. Now she knew the truth: she was the offspring of a war. A weapon and a legacy rolled into one.

She turned to Ariella. "Take me to the archives."

Ariella paused. "Lucien won't approve."

Yuna's voice was cold. Clear. "I'm not asking for permission."

Location: Seoul – Ricci Archives Vault (3 Floors Below HQ)

The biometric locks opened with a hiss. Inside, shelves of data drives, files, and relics from Ricci's bloodied history lined the walls. Yuna moved with purpose, scanning until she found it: Operation Sangreal.

Inside were the last audio recordings of her mother's field reports.

She pressed play.

"They think they can control what's in my blood. But it's not theirs to use. If my daughter finds this… don't let them turn her into a cage for another man's empire."

The recording ended.

Yuna's hand closed into a fist. Her mother hadn't run because she was weak. She had run because she refused to let her daughter become the perfect weapon.

Behind her, Lucien's voice broke the silence.

"I knew you'd come here."

Yuna didn't turn.

"I'm not going to stop," she said. "I need to know everything. About Phoenix. About why they want me. About what's inside me."

Lucien stepped beside her.

"Then let's find out together," he said. "No lies. No control. Just the truth."

Yuna looked at him really looked. For the first time, she saw not the king of shadows, but a man shaped by loss, power, and silence.

The ice between them didn't melt, but it cracked. Enough.

Outside, the alarms blared. A breach.

Lucien's phone lit up.

Code Red: Sable operatives in the perimeter. Objective unknown. Target likely Yuna Kim.

Lucien turned to her.

"They're here."

Yuna's lips curled slightly. "Good. Let's see what Phoenix really created."