Maxine stared at Thea and said, “It was you who helped James kill the Emperor in the Capital. You were also the one who impersonated me, escorted James out of the Johnston residence, and dumped him at the Caden mansion's main entrance. The God-King Palace was, in fact, Thomas' creation.”

“Yes.” Thea did not try to deny any of it. “Grandfather did build the God-King Palace,” she said.

“Why did he take Tiara and Quincy away?” James asked.

“Grandfather said it wasn't safe for them to be following you because you have a lot of enemies around you. He also took them away for the time being to protect them so that you wouldn't be preoccupied,” Thea said.

James questioned once more, “Then why are you and Grandfather here?”

“Grandfather told me that we needed True Energy with extreme Yang energy to cultivate Moonlit Flowers on Cliffside's Edge, so he brought me along to look for it. But we didn't expect him to be ambushed and for us to be taken prisoner,” Thea responded.

“What?” Maxine ex