undergoes the transition of power which can take years if not decades, but they are encouraged to choose a royal child, even though they may live decades longer. It's to ensure that in an event this adult's star suddenly fades away, there's a chosen one to take their place and the cycle isn't broken,"
"How do you know this?" Viktor whispered.
"My daughter is a potential," he announced. "As her Guardian, it's my role to ensure her safety."
"Guardian?" Neo asked. "Why do you say that instead of a parent?"
"Guardian and parent mean the same thing, Neo," Onyx pointed out.
"Not in my culture," Neo replied.
"He's right," Milo announced. "I'm her Guardian. Meaning, I was chosen to watch over her. She's not my biological daughter."
That was shocking, but then it made sense.
"Wait. Is that why you were basically kidnapped? Since you're the Guardian of your...princess, I guess?" I boldly asked.
He nodded. "Our specific kingdom is divided into multiple courts, which means we carry many heirs. We're sent down here to humble ourselves, but it's also because, after a decade or two, we could be potentially chosen for the legend I just explained. We call it the Wolf Outcasted Cycle. It's shared to those families of royalty who may be potentially chosen."
"Then...if you take your daughter back, won't she lose the opportunity?" Neo asked.
"There's a time limit," Milo announced. "If it's not awakened by then, it means someone else was chosen."
"Well, damn. This is...a lot," Saint admitted. "What would all of this have to do with the Vile Queen?"
"She could want the chair that we've hypothesized is going to Willow," Dimitris concluded. "As for this cycle, it could mean Willow may choose the next potential candidate."
"But what happens to the one who chose Willow?" Saint questioned. He looked deep in thought. "Like...what connection would this individual still have with the potentially chosen outcast?"
Milo raised his hand, and Dimitris arched his eyebrow at him.
"You don't need to raise your hand to speak, Milo," Dimitris stressed.
Milo simply nodded before stating, "The one who chooses the outcast holds a role because not only do they choose the Guardian who will be assigned to the child at birth to train the chosen outcast for the trials ahead, but more importantly, that higher being will bestow the child with a fated bond of their choosing."
"Fated...bond?" Onyx questioned. "If what you're saying is true and applied to Willow, it doesn't make sense. She has two royal bonds."
"I'm not talking about wolf bonds blessed by Mother Goddess," Milo revealed. "A fated bond is a magical connection between a Master and Disciple. The one chosen by the higher being is the 'Master' and the child assigned to him, the 'Disciple'. When the child reaches the ripe age and is going to ascend to the position of the higher being, the role is activated so that the assigned Master can teach the Disciple about those realms."
"Meaning..." Neo began but trailed off.
"If you apply this to Willow, the High Court being who sits upon this throne that's going to be vacant soon assigned her a Guardian at birth who would know of her destiny," he began as he looked around to ensure we were following.
"So, Roberto," Onyx suggested.
"That's her father, correct?" Milo clarified.
"Yes," Neo replied.
"Then he's the Guardian in this scenario. The High Court being would assign another individual to Willow so that when the possibility of her rising to the chair became clearer, the Master-Disciple bond of fate would activate. That's actually the hardest part of the process because the activation is rather chaotic in nature and draws attention. The bigger the catastrophe, the more powerful the fated bond. Finally, the roles will reverse once it's officially time for the chosen child to ascend to their role in the realms of the High Court, but again, that's decades later, when the Disciple will become the Master and their previous Master will become the Disciple."
He paused again before he added, "Most fated bonds in the books are married individuals."
"Willow isn't married yet," Saint pointed out.
Milo shook his head. "I mean, they're married because once the fated bond is activated, they're unable to go their separate ways."
"Damn," I whispered.
We were all quiet before a jolt of shock seemed to rush through the bond and give us mental zaps.
"Fuck!" we cursed, and all looked at Dimitris, whose eyes were wide.
"Dimitris?" Neo muttered in annoyance. "What the hell?"
Dimitris clearly wasn't paying attention, his eyes on one person in this room. We all followed his gaze until we looked