The river stopped flowing.
Lyra gripped the side of the boat tightly. Ahead of them, a black-eyed young man stood on the water. His face was exactly the same as Elian’s, but his smile felt unfamiliar.
Elian raised his sword.
“Who are you?”
The young man didn’t answer. He only looked at Lyra.
“You’re still carrying that petal,” he said. “Even though I already asked you to burn it.”
Lyra’s throat felt dry. “I don’t know you.”
“You used to know me better than anyone.”
“Your name?” Lyra asked.
The young man’s smile widened.
“My name is Elian.”
The Elian inside the boat immediately stepped forward. “Don’t use my name.”
“That name doesn’t belong to you.”
The black-eyed young man’s gaze shifted to Elian. For a moment, the river water trembled. Elian’s face turned pale. He clutched his head, fighting through the pain.
Lyra quickly reached for his hand. “Elian, don’t listen to him.”
“Why?” the black-eyed young man whispered. “Are you afraid he’ll remember his real voice?”
The Black Petal in Lyra’s hand suddenly grew warm. An image appeared on its surface. It showed two young boys standing in the palace gardens.
They had the exact same face.
One of them held a white flower. The other held the Black Petal.
“The prince had a twin brother?” Lyra asked.
Elian stared at the image. His breathing grew labored.
“I never had a brother,” he said.
The young man standing on the water laughed softly. “That was the first lie they planted in your head.”
Suddenly, the river began to move. Their boat spun rapidly. Lyra nearly fell, but Elian pulled her into his arms.
“Hold on to me!” Elian shouted.
“I’m holding you.”
“Not you!”
Elian sounded utterly panicked. He looked at Lyra’s hand gripping his arm. Then he looked at Lyra’s face, as if he had just realized something terrifying.
“I lost you in this river once,” he said.
Lyra fell silent. “When?”
“I don’t know.”
“What happened?”
Elian closed his eyes. Fragments of memory appeared one after another.
He saw himself standing on the riverbank. Lyra was crying in front of him. The black-eyed young man stood between them.
“I can erase your pain,” the young man said.
“Don’t touch him!” Lyra screamed.
Then Elian saw Lyra push him into the water.
He jolted and opened his eyes.
“You were the one who pushed me,” he said.
Lyra stepped back. “That’s impossible.”
“But I saw it.”
“That petal can show false memories.”
The black-eyed young man raised one hand. The water beneath him turned into a mirror.
“Petals never lie,” he said. “The ones who create them are the liars.”
The water mirror showed Lyra’s face. But in its reflection, Lyra was dressed in white and holding a knife.
Elian stared at the reflection.
“So it’s true,” he said. “You killed me once.”
Lyra bit her lip. She wanted to deny it, but something inside her head had begun to stir. She saw a white room. A stone table. Elian’s motionless body.
Then she saw her own hand.
That hand wasn’t holding a knife to kill him.
It was taking the Black Petal from Elian’s chest.
Lyra jerked back.
“I didn’t kill you,” she said. “I took the petal from your body.”
“Why?”
“Because if that petal stayed inside your body, you would turn into him.”
Lyra pointed at the black-eyed young man.
The young man’s smile vanished.
“Don’t say anything more.”
For the first time, he sounded angry.
Elian looked at Lyra. “What do you mean?”
Lyra raised the Black Petal. “He isn’t your brother. He’s the part of your memories that was discarded. All your fear, anger, and hatred were gathered inside him.”
The black-eyed young man looked at Elian.
“And I did everything you didn’t dare to do.”
Elian shook his head. “I don’t believe you.”
“Then ask the girl you love.”
The young man looked at Lyra.
“Lyra, tell Elian who really killed him.”
The river suddenly fell silent.
The Black Petal in Lyra’s hand shattered into tiny fragments. From within it came Lyra’s own voice, weaker and filled with tears.
“Forgive me, Elian. I had to kill you once so you wouldn’t die forever.”
Elian stared at Lyra with an empty expression.
At the same time, a faint light appeared in his eyes. He began to remember something.
He remembered Lyra’s name.
He remembered the palace gardens.
He remembered their first kiss.
But as those memories returned, Lyra’s face in his mind began to fade.
Lyra realized it first.
“Elian,” she whispered.
Elian looked at her.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “Have we met before?”
The black-eyed young man smiled again.
“Now he’s forgotten you.”
Lyra held back her tears. She knew the mystery had just opened its first door. Behind the next one might lie the truth about the curse, the kingdom, and the reason she had once killed the person she loved most.
But before she could ask, Elian raised his sword at her.
“Don’t come any closer,” he said.
And for the first time, he spoke Lyra’s name as though it belonged to a stranger.