The basement was quiet, disturbed only by the occasional soft rustle of turning pages.
Thalia stood beside the table, her eyes fixed on the illustration of the obsidian ring in the old book.
From the shape of the dark stone to the details carved into the band, it looked almost identical to the ring on her finger.
Calling it a coincidence would have been difficult, especially after everything that had happened the previous night.
What Thalia hadn’t expected was to find records of the Obsidian Throne among the things her father had left behind.
If her father had known about the ring, had he also known about the covenant her mother had made with the Underworld nineteen years ago?
With that thought in mind, Thalia looked at Ivan.
“When did you find this book?”
Ivan still had one hand resting on the edge of the table.
He looked up at her.
“After Father left.”
“That long ago?”
“Yes.”
Thalia frowned slightly.
“Then why did you never tell me about it?”
Ivan was silent for a moment before answering.
“Because there are many things in here that even I don’t understand.
Besides, when Father left these things behind, he specifically told me not to let you come into contact with them until we knew what they really were.”
Thalia had been turning a page, but her hand stopped.
“Not to let me come into contact with them?”
“More specifically, he didn’t want you coming into contact with anything related to the Underworld.”
That only confused her further.
If their father had truly wanted her to stay away from all of this, why had he preserved the records so carefully and hidden them in the basement of the gallery?
Thalia lowered her eyes and carefully turned another page.
The paper had grown brittle with age, and the edges showed clear signs of wear.
The handwriting wasn’t consistent either.
Some of the ink had faded to a pale brown, while other entries looked noticeably newer, as though different people had added to the book over many years.
After studying the pages for a while, Thalia quickly noticed the difference.
“Father didn’t write all of this.”
“Of course not.”
Ivan moved beside her and turned back several pages.
“This book has been in the Leandros family for many years.
Father was only the last person to keep it.”
Thalia looked at him in surprise.
“So these records were passed down through the family?”
“Most likely.”
Ivan pointed to one of the pages.
“Look here.”
Thalia followed his finger.
A massive gate had been drawn in the center of the yellowed page, with a tall stone pillar standing on either side.
Several lines of ancient writing surrounded the illustration.
Much of the text had faded, but Thalia had studied ancient languages with both her father and Ivan, so she could still make out part of it.
“The living must not cross…
the dead must not return…”
Her voice gradually faded as she reached the end.
The last few words were too damaged to read.
She tilted the page slightly and tried looking at it from several angles, but it made no difference.
“What does the rest say?”
“I don’t know either.”
Ivan shook his head.
“This section is too badly damaged.
I’ve tried more than once, but I’ve never been able to make out anything beyond what you just read.”
Thalia didn’t press the matter and continued turning the pages.
The further she read, the more familiar the contents became.
The black river.
Pomegranate flowers.
The throne.
Even the enormous stone gate she had seen with her own eyes the previous night appeared in the old records.
The book, however, offered no detailed explanation of what the Underworld actually was.
Most of the information was scattered and incomplete.
Some entries consisted of only a few sentences, while others contained nothing more than a drawing.
The more Thalia read, the stranger it felt.
“When you first saw all this, you never wondered if any of it might be real?”
Ivan leaned against the table and gave her a slightly helpless look.
“If you’d seen this book before yesterday, would you have believed it?”
Thalia considered the question seriously.
Probably not.
The Leandros family owned plenty of ancient texts, many of which contained stories about gods, spirits, death, and forgotten rituals.
If she hadn’t visited the Obsidian Palace herself, she probably would have treated this book as another collection of old legends.
“Fair enough.”
She glanced at the ring on her finger.
“I don’t really have the option of not believing it now.”
Ivan’s eyes also moved to the ring, and he didn’t disagree.
They continued through the book.
A short while later, Thalia noticed a familiar style of handwriting on one of the pages and immediately stopped.
“Wait.”
This entry was clearly much newer than the ones before it.
Although the paper had yellowed with age, the ink remained remarkably clear.
Thalia recognized the handwriting almost at once.
“This is Father’s.”
Ivan nodded.
“Yes.”
When they were children, their father had personally taught them how to read ancient scripts.
Thalia had seen his notes countless times over the years, so there was no mistaking his handwriting.
Her movements became more careful as she pulled the book slightly closer.
There wasn’t much written in her father’s hand.
Most of his notes seemed to organize and explain the older records, with a few of his own observations added between them.
Thalia read through the lines until one sentence caught her attention.
Obsidian is not merely ornamental.
It serves as a vessel for the covenant.
Her gaze stopped there.
Almost without thinking, she raised her left hand and looked at the ring.
Ivan had clearly noticed the same sentence.
Their eyes met briefly, but neither of them spoke.
Thalia continued reading.
Once a covenant is completed, the ring will remain with the one bound by it.
Unless the covenant is broken, it cannot be removed by force.
“So that’s why.”
Thalia lightly turned the ring around her finger.
Since waking in the Underworld, she had tried more than once to remove it, but no matter how hard she pulled, it refused to come off.
Now she finally knew it wasn’t because the ring was simply stuck.
Her father had recorded the reason years ago.
It also meant that Acheron had been telling the truth about this part of the covenant.
Thalia lingered on the sentence for another moment before turning the page.
The next section, however, ended abruptly.
Several pages had clearly been torn out, leaving only narrow strips of paper near the binding.
Thalia touched one of the ragged edges, her brows slowly drawing together.
“Why are pages missing?”
“They were already gone when I first found the book.”
Ivan looked down at the torn section.
“You didn’t remove them?”
“Of course not.”
Thalia examined the uneven edges.
The pages didn’t look as though they had simply fallen out with age.
Someone appeared to have deliberately torn them from the book, but far too much time had passed to tell who had done it or why.
With no answer available, she didn’t dwell on it and moved on to the next page.
The later records were even more scattered than the earlier ones.
Most were lists of ancient terms her father had organized, along with brief notes concerning obsidian, the black river, and pomegranate flowers.
It wasn’t until they were nearing the second half of the book that Thalia found another complete entry written by her father.
This one was only a few lines long.
She leaned closer and read quietly.
“If a descendant of the Leandros family should encounter the obsidian wedding ring again, do not rush to destroy it, and do not attempt to remove it by force…”
Thalia paused and glanced down at her hand.
She had certainly spent enough time trying to do exactly that.
Ivan looked at her.
Thalia immediately defended herself.
“I didn’t know.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Your face did.”
Ivan gave her a resigned look and turned his attention back to the book.
Thalia gave a quiet huff before continuing.
Only one sentence remained.
First determine why the covenant has appeared again.
The small trace of amusement on her face slowly faded.
Her father had clearly known that the obsidian wedding ring existed.
More than that, his words made it sound as though he had considered the possibility that one day the ring might appear again on a descendant of the Leandros family.
If that was true, why had he never told her?
Thalia stared at the sentence for a moment before speaking.
“Ivan, did Father ever tell you anything about what happened when I was born?”
Ivan thought carefully.
“Very little.”
“What about Mother?”
“About the same.”
Thalia wasn’t surprised.
For as long as she could remember, no one in the family had spoken much about the time surrounding her birth.
She had asked about it several times when she was younger, but the answer had always been simple: she had been born weak, had fallen seriously ill, and eventually recovered.
Now it was becoming obvious that there had been far more to the story.
Thalia looked down at her father’s notes, her thoughts growing complicated.
For nineteen years, she had believed she was simply a little different from other people.
She could occasionally hear voices left behind in objects connected to the dead, but that was all.
She had never imagined that her ability might be tied to a secret her family had preserved for generations.
And she certainly hadn’t expected that her parents might have known about it all along.
Seeing her fall silent, Ivan reached over and pulled the book slightly toward himself.
“Don’t think about it too much right now.”
Thalia looked up at him.
Her eyes landed on the dark circles beneath his eyes, and one eyebrow rose.
“That doesn’t sound very convincing coming from you.”
Ivan paused.
“Why?”
“You spent the whole night looking for me without sleeping, and now you’re telling me not to think too much?”
“Those are two different things.”
“How?”
“You were missing.”
He said it as though the answer were obvious.
Thalia found herself with nothing to say.
Eventually, she gave in with a small nod.
“All right.
This one was my fault.”
After a brief pause, she added, “I won’t disappear without saying anything again.”
Ivan looked at her.
“You’d better not.”
Thalia couldn’t help smiling.
The mood that had grown heavy while they were reading the records finally eased a little.
Ivan closed the book.
“Let’s go upstairs and get something to eat.”
Thalia was still reluctant to leave.
“I haven’t finished reading.”
“It’s been sitting here for years.
It isn’t going to run away while you eat breakfast.”
He had a point.
Thalia had barely eaten anything since the previous night.
She had been too focused on the records to notice before, but now that she had relaxed a little, she realized how hungry she was.
She reached out to help him put the book away.
The instant her fingertips touched the leather cover, a faint warmth spread through the obsidian ring on her fourth finger.
Thalia’s hand stopped.
The sensation lasted only a moment.
Before she could properly check it, the ring had already turned cold again.
Ivan noticed her pause.
“What is it?”
Thalia looked down at her hand.
The ring appeared completely normal.
“Nothing.
I thought it felt warm for a second.”
Ivan looked at the ring as well.
“And now?”
“Nothing.”
Since it had lasted for only an instant, neither of them gave it much more thought.
Ivan returned the book to the cabinet and carefully locked the door.
Once everything was secured, he and Thalia left the basement together.
Before climbing the stone steps, Thalia couldn’t help looking back at the hidden room deep beneath the antiquities gallery.
Her father’s records hadn’t truly answered her questions, but they had at least confirmed one thing.
The connection between the Leandros family and the Underworld went back much further than she had ever imagined.
And the covenant made nineteen years ago was clearly not something that involved only her and Acheron.
As for what her parents had kept from her, and why the obsidian wedding ring had chosen this moment to appear again, those were answers she would have to uncover one by one.