Elara was still standing on the balcony when Adrian looked up at her from the castle courtyard. The arrow that had nearly struck her was still in the king’s hand, while the golden light surrounding his body slowly faded away. The Avelorian soldiers looked just as shocked. No one understood what had just happened, but Elara knew one thing: for the first time, Adrian’s curse had not hurt her. It had protected her instead.
“Come down!” Adrian shouted.
Elara immediately turned and ran down the stairs. The moment she reached the courtyard, she hurried straight to Adrian.
“Are you hurt?”
Adrian looked at his palm. The wound from the arrow had left only a small scratch, but his eyes were fixed on the curse symbol on his arm, which now looked different. Part of the black mark had turned into golden lines.
“I don’t know,” he replied.
“Was the arrow poisoned?”
“That’s not what worries me.”
Adrian looked at Elara. “When the arrow was heading toward you, my curse changed.”
Elara fell silent.
Prince Kael, who was still outside the gate, let out a quiet laugh.
“Do you understand now, Adrian?”
Adrian lifted his head. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything.”
Kael dismounted and walked a few steps closer to the gate. “The person who fired that arrow wasn’t one of my men.”
The soldiers immediately glanced at one another.
Adrian frowned. “Then who was it?”
Kael pointed toward one of the towers to the east. “Find your archer.”
Adrian signaled the guards. Several soldiers immediately ran toward the tower.
A short while later, they returned with a man in a black robe. He struggled, but they eventually forced him to his knees before Adrian.
The man wore no Valmere emblem. Around his neck was a mark shaped like a snake coiled around a crown.
Adrian’s expression changed at once. “Take him to the dungeons.”
The man merely laughed. “You’re too late, Your Majesty.”
Adrian crouched in front of him. “For what?”
“To save your kingdom.” The man looked at Elara. “Because that woman has already broken the seal.”
Elara felt her body tense. “What seal?”
The man smiled.
“The seal holding back someone who should already be dead.”
Adrian rose immediately. “Who?”
The man didn’t answer. Instead, he bit down on something hidden between his teeth. A few seconds later, his body went limp.
“Your Majesty!”
Adrian turned to the royal healer. “Examine him.”
But before the healer could approach, the man had stopped moving.
Kael looked at Adrian from beyond the gate. “Do you believe me now that I’m not your enemy?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
“Open the gate,” Kael said.
The soldiers were startled. “Your Majesty?”
Adrian stared at Kael for several moments, then said, “Open it.”
The gate slowly opened. The Valmere forces did not enter to attack. Instead, they lowered their weapons and stopped in the outer courtyard.
Kael walked toward Adrian. “I didn’t come to wage war.”
“Then why did you come?”
“To warn you.” Kael looked at Elara. “The person truly behind all of this has already made a move.”
Elara frowned. “Who?”
Kael pulled an ancient scroll from inside his robe. “This was found in our ancestors’ tomb.”
He handed it to Adrian.
Adrian unrolled it. The writing had almost faded, but one sentence was still clearly legible.
“When Vale blood returns to the same body, the Veyr seal will break.”
Elara stared at the words.
“The same body?”
Kael nodded. “Seraphine wasn’t truly reborn as you.”
Elara fell silent. “Then what does that mean?”
“Her soul.” Kael pointed at Elara. “Her soul chose your body.”
Adrian stared sharply at Kael. “How do you know?”
“Because my family kept records of that curse long before your kingdom was founded.”
Kael paused. “And because our ancestors once made a pact with Seraphine.”
Elara looked at him. “What kind of pact?”
“If Seraphine ever returned, Valmere was to help end the Veyr curse.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened. “Then why did you ask me to hand Elara over?”
“Because we still don’t know whether she’s truly Seraphine or merely the body being used to awaken something far more dangerous.”
Elara fell silent. His words stirred a new fear inside her. All this time, she had believed she was Elara Vale.
Now she wasn’t even sure whether all her memories truly belonged to her.
Adrian saw the change in her expression. “Elara.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine.”
“I don’t even know who I am.”
Adrian was about to answer, but suddenly Elara clutched her head. A sharp pain stabbed through her temples.
In an instant, the castle courtyard vanished from her sight. She saw a hall—the same hall from her earlier memory. But this time, there were no flames. No war. Only her and Adrian.
Seraphine stood before Adrian in a white gown. Her face was streaked with tears.
“If you kill me tonight,” she said, “you have to promise me one thing.”
The Adrian in her memory clasped both her hands.
“I won’t kill you.”
“You have to.”
“I can’t.”
“You have to, Adrian.”
Seraphine smiled sadly. “If I stay alive, they’ll get the seal.”
Adrian shook his head. “I’ll find another way.”
“There’s no time.”
Seraphine stepped closer and rested her forehead against Adrian’s chest. “I love you.”
Adrian closed his eyes. “I love you too.”
Elara jerked. The memory changed. The hall doors opened. Soldiers poured in. Someone shouted.
“Now!”
Adrian raised his sword. Seraphine smiled at him.
“Don’t forget me.”
The sword moved.
Elara opened her eyes, breathing hard. She was in Adrian’s arms.
“Elara!” Adrian’s voice was panicked.
Elara looked at his face. Tears were streaming down her cheeks before she even realized she was crying.
“You didn’t kill her.”
Adrian froze. “What?”
“You didn’t kill Seraphine because you hated her.”
Elara gripped Adrian’s clothes. “She asked you to do it.”
Adrian stared at her, his face pale. “What did you see?”
“She told you to kill her.”
Kael, standing not far away, immediately tensed.
“Impossible.”
Elara turned to him. “Why?”
Kael shook his head. “Because according to Valmere’s records, Seraphine was killed by Adrian while resisting.”
Elara wiped away her tears. “Your records are wrong.”
“How could you know that?”
“Because I saw it.”
Kael fell silent.
Adrian was still staring at Elara. For a few moments, he said nothing. Then he slowly asked,
“Do you remember what happened after that?”
Elara shook her head. “No.”
Adrian lowered his face. “Then something is still missing.”
Suddenly, a bell rang from the tower. Once. Twice. Three times.
A guard ran toward them. “Your Majesty!”
“What is it?”
“The burial chamber of House Vale…” The guard looked terrified. “Its seal has opened again.”
Adrian turned at once. “Seal off the entire area.”
“We can’t, Your Majesty.”
“Why not?”
The guard swallowed hard. “Because someone has already come out.”
Elara felt her body go rigid. “Who?”
The guard looked at her. “A woman.”
“What does she look like?”
“Long black hair. A white dress.”
Elara and Adrian exchanged a look.
But the guard wasn’t finished. “And she’s carrying a crown.”
Kael immediately drew his sword. “Seraphine.”
Elara shook her head. “No.”
“How do you know?”
Elara looked toward the forest as the voice that had appeared in her mind earlier sounded again.
“Don’t be afraid.”
Then the voice changed into a whisper that made her blood run cold.
“Adrian isn’t the one you should fear.”
“I’m the one you should fear.”
Elara froze. She looked at Adrian. “I know who came out of the tomb.”
“Who?”
Elara slowly answered, “A woman with the same face as mine.”
Adrian tightened his grip on his sword. “Lyra?”
Elara shook her head. “No.”
She stared into the darkening forest. “Seraphine.”
And for the first time since they had met, Adrian looked truly afraid.