Chapter 4

I knew Elder Zhao. He was a deeply respected leader in the High Council.

Years ago, right after my father’s first infidelity, Elder Zhao had privately offered my mother an escape. He was a gentle, dignified man who had always treated her with profound respect.

Tonight, he played the absolute villain.

Elder Zhao slammed his crystal goblet onto the table, shattering the base.

He pointed a trembling, supposedly drunken finger straight at Vera.

"If the King's new favorite cannot be bothered to share a toast with the Council, then my clan's military pact ends tonight," he slurred loudly. "Pour the Strong Spirit Wine!"

The hall went dead quiet. Strong Spirit Wine was thick, acidic, and notoriously potent.

My father’s face tightened. He stepped in front of Vera, shielding her as she whimpered into his chest. "Elder Zhao, you overstep," Sinhel warned, his voice dangerously low. "Vera is carrying the royal heir. She cannot touch alcohol."

Without a single moment of hesitation, my father turned to his other side. He grabbed my mother by the wrist and yanked her forward.

"My Covenant Wife will drink with you," Sinhel announced. "She is the finest beauty in our realm, is she not? She is the perfect host."

I bolted from my seat. I threw myself between them, grabbing my father’s arm. "No! You can't!" I screamed. "She has the Blood Corruption! The Strong Spirit Wine will trigger the curse! It will kill her!"

The nobles gasped. Whispers erupted across the tables.

My father’s grabbed me by the collar and shoved me aside so hard I crashed into a heavy brass candlestick.

"Enough of these pathetic lies!" he roared, pointing down at me. "Lokui, is this what you teach the child? To scream about fake, terminal curses just to ruin a banquet? Pick up the glass!"

A group of sycophantic nobles quickly surrounded my mother, laughing and pouring the dark, bubbling wine.

She stood there, completely numb, her dress hanging off her frail frame. She didn't fight back. She just picked up the heavy goblet and began to drink.

Glass after glass.

I looked through the crowd at Elder Zhao. He was shouting demands, acting the part of the arrogant warlord flawlessly. But I saw his hands shaking. He wasn't drunk. He was watching the woman he admired drink liquid fire, and it was tearing him apart.

Then came the breaking point.

My mother stopped moving. She choked. She doubled over and violently vomited a massive puddle of thick, pitch-black blood across the polished marble floor.

My father froze. For a fraction of a second, raw terror cracked his arrogant facade. He lunged forward. "Lokui?"

"Ah! My belly!" Vera suddenly shrieked. She collapsed against a pillar, clutching her stomach and panting heavily. "My Lord... the baby... the blood smell is making me faint!"

Sinhel stopped dead in his tracks. He looked at my mother, who was suffocating on her own black blood on the floor. Then he looked at Vera.

He made his choice.

He abandoned his dying wife, turning around to scoop Vera securely into his arms. "Get my carriage!" he yelled to the guards. "Covenant Castle isn’t far from here. I’ll take you there to rest now."

My mother pushed herself up from the puddle of black blood. She crawled forward and grabbed the ankle of his boot. "No," she rasped, her voice torn and bloody. "Not there. Sinhel, please. That castle is the altar of our Soul Pact. I forbid you from bringing her into our sanctuary."

Father tried to coax her at first, lowering his voice as if gentleness could erase what he had done. But Mother would not yield.

As they continued their journey all the way to the Covenant Castle, Vera’s moans became increasingly loud and noticeable.

Father was so angry that he even slapped Mom:“Are you crazy? It’s just a house after all!”

“Since you think it’s more important than my son, then you can just die miserably in this house!”"he spat.

He shoved her violently inside the pitch-black antechamber.

"Cool your jealousy in here!" he shouted. He slammed the massive doors shut, dragged the iron deadbolt across, and locked her inside.

Ten minutes later, I used my private royal override key. The heavy seal clicked open.

Elder Zhao, the Royal Enchanter, the Guard Captain, and I immediately rushed into the dark antechamber.

She was slumped against the cold stone wall. She was covered in her own blood, her breathing shallow and ragged. The curse was rapidly consuming her heart. But when she looked up, her eyes were razor-sharp.

"Quickly," she ordered, coughing up another dark clot. "We don't have much time."

They immediately moved into action.

My mother pointed at the ceiling above the grand staircase. "Enchanter, set the primary spatial glyph there. When Sinhel takes Vera directly into our master bed tonight, I want my corpse to drop from the vaulted ceiling right between them."

The Enchanter didn't argue. She nodded, her hands glowing with ancient magic as she carved the invisible runes into the stone.

"Captain," my mother turned to the loyal guard. "Lock every window from the inside. Scratch the wooden frames. Make sure there is physical evidence that I begged for help, banged on the glass, and was completely trapped."

"Consider it done, my Queen," the Captain said, his voice breaking.

"Elder Zhao," she whispered. The powerful man knelt beside her, tears openly streaming down his face. "Ensure Vera’s fake pregnancy runes look completely authentic to the state examiners. Sinhel must believe he lost everything because of his own stupidity."

"I will personally oversee the diagnostic bureau," Elder Zhao swore heavily.

Finally, she looked at me. Her trembling hand reached into her blood-soaked gown. She pulled out a small, obsidian vial and pressed it into my palm. It was the Bloodline Block Elixir.

"Put this in his water tomorrow, Alice," she instructed, her grip surprisingly strong. "He permanently severed my survival tonight. You make sure his bloodline is permanently severed tomorrow. He must have only one heir, and that person must be you…"

I gripped the glass vial so tight my knuckles turned white. "I will handle it, Mom."

She smiled softly. It was the first genuine smile I had seen in years. She dragged her broken body away from the wall, crawling step by step toward the grand skylight in the center of the hall. The pale moonlight washed over her.

She pulled out a clear vial—the Sleeping Elixir.

She didn't hesitate. She tipped her head back and drank the whole thing.

Her body slumped gracefully onto the velvet rug beneath the glass. She looked at me one last time.

"I love you so much, Alice. Win this war."

Her chest stopped moving. Her eyes closed. She was gone.

The Enchanter, the Guard Captain, and the terrifying Elder Zhao dropped to their knees and wept over her body.

Only I didn’t cry.

I watched helplessly as my mother carefully prepared for her death. My tears had already dried up.

I sat alone in the dark corner of the massive empty hall, staring out the window.

I looked at the blood-sunflowers in the courtyard.

That heavy magical blizzard caused the blood-sunflowers to wither earlier than usual.

I sat there for hours, perfectly still, letting the biting cold seep into my bones.

Right at midnight, the heavy iron knocker on the front gate echoed through the silent castle.

He was back.