Chapter 303: The Truth of the Umbral Moon
Rachel exhaled through her nose, steadying herself before she spoke again. There was no more hiding. Not here. Not now.
"You all already know who my grandfather is," she said, voice quieter now. "At least, the parts most people aren’t supposed to."
Lily gave a slow nod, her expression unreadable. "Head of the Umbral Moon Organization. And the largest hospital in the city. Two faces. One man."
Rachel gave a small, humorless smile. "He always said the best lies are the ones you can show people in daylight."
Leo’s brow furrowed as he glanced between them. "Wait... so this wasn’t just some underground gang or black-ops crew?"
"No," Luna said softly. "It’s a hidden dynasty. Deep roots. Long reach. Ties to the government. The elite. The kind of group that doesn’t show up in files or news. But they’re always there."
"They have their hands in medicine, intelligence, private security, and politics," Adam added, arms crossed. "Assassins with a medical degree. Scientists with kill orders. They don’t just clean messes. They erase them."
Rachel didn’t flinch at Adam’s words. She just nodded.
"Publicly, my grandfather is a medical saint. Philanthropist. Surgeon. Hospital director. But behind closed doors, he’s the head of a clan that’s been perfecting the art of control for generations. Control through health. Through knowledge. Through fear."
Greg looked between them, clearly unsettled. "And you’re the princess of this little hidden empire."
Rachel gave Greg a glance that was surprisingly gentle despite the weight of everything she had just admitted.
"Yes," she said. "I am the princess of that little hidden empire."
Greg blinked at her bluntness while Rachel turned her attention to Leo. There was something almost nostalgic in her gaze now.
"I was doing my medical training when I met you," she said. "You were sick. Really sick. Hooked up to machines and barely talking. But you were always listening. Even when you looked like you were going to fade away."
Leo’s mouth parted slightly, but no words came. His ears twitched as the realization started to take root. A memory stirred at the back of his mind.
Rachel smiled. "You were in one of the specialty wings. Isolated. Monitored constantly. I wasn’t supposed to even talk to you at first. But I started sneaking in between rotations. You probably don’t remember."
Leo’s eyes widened.
"Oh my god," he muttered. "You were one of the nurses. The one with the happy face badge."
Rachel laughed, her voice light but a little breathless. "Took you long enough."
"You used to bring me jello cups I wasn’t supposed to have," Leo said slowly, the memory fully forming now. "And you used to make those dumb impressions to cheer me up."
"I did," Rachel said, grinning. "And every time I made you laugh, the head nurse would scold me for ’wasting valuable recovery time.’"
"I thought I hallucinated you," Leo said, still stunned. "I had fevers so often... I never thought you were real."
"Well," Rachel said, placing a hand on her hip. "Sorry to disappoint. I’m very real. Just had a few secrets tucked under the scrubs."
The tension in the room cracked slightly with that laugh. It wasn’t gone, not even close, but for a moment, the weight of betrayal and suspicion gave way to something warmer. Something familiar.
And Leo, still trying to piece everything together, couldn’t help but shake his head and let out a dry chuckle.
"I can’t believe it was you," he said.
Rachel looked at him, a little softer now. "Neither can I. But I’m glad it was."
She then turned to face everyone else as she continued her story.
"So when my grandfather assigned me on protection duty, I was originally against it, I was a mess who thought killing something would make me feel better. After all, I just thought my favourite patient had died..."
She glanced at Leo before starting to grin "Yet when I heard it was Leo I was gonna protect, I was all for it, especially if it meant getting back at the assholes who turned him into a gunea pig."
Everyone’s faces turned a little complicated as not a single one of them had escaped some form of mutation happening to them, whether it be scales, claws, ears, tails or wings.
Rachel let her words hang in the air for a beat before letting her gaze sweep across the others.
"I know I kept things from all of you," she said. "But if we ever find out who created this game... who decided to play god with people’s lives... I swear to you, I’ll kick their ass. Not just for Leo’s sake, but for all of ours."
There was a silence after that. The kind of silence that wasn’t awkward at first, just loaded with the weight of what she had just said.
Then it became awkward.
The kind of silence where no one was sure how to follow up a threat of vengeance that came from someone who usually spent her time cracking jokes and stealing snacks.
It was Aria who finally broke it.
"Is it just me," she said, tilting her head slightly, "or is serious Rachel really weird?"
Rachel blinked, caught off guard.
"She needs to go back to being a goofball," Aria added, her voice playful but genuine.
"I second that," Penny said, already grinning.
"Definitely not used to her not being annoying," Adam said with a shrug.
"I liked the jello," Leo offered with a faint smirk.
Even Luna cracked a smile. "She does balance out the rest of us."
Rachel’s jaw dropped in mock shock. "You like when I’m annoying? Wow. Betrayal. Absolute betrayal from my own people."
That got a few chuckles.
She planted her hands on her hips, giving them all a mock glare. "Fine. You want the jester back, you got it. But just remember, you asked for this."
She let out a loud, exaggerated cackle and gave an over-the-top bow like she was on a theater stage, drawing out even more smiles from the group.
Whatever tension had been threatening to rip through them earlier seemed to crack and fall away like old stone. It didn’t vanish completely, but it shifted into something more manageable. They had heard her truth. They had seen who she really was.
And they still accepted her.
Rachel felt something warm press into her chest, something quiet and solid. Her bond with them hadn’t suffered because of her confession.
It had grown stronger.