The stone door trembled once more.
The sound of footsteps from beyond the corridor drew closer. They weren't hurried, nor did they sound like someone coming to attack. It was that very calmness that made the atmosphere inside the Throne Room even more oppressive.
Elara looked at Adrian. The man's expression had changed the moment the voice rang out. His hand still gripped his sword, but there was no fear in his eyes. Something far deeper was there—the shock of someone who had just heard a voice from the past that should never have been able to return.
“Who is he?” Elara asked.
Adrian remained silent.
Seraphine looked at him sadly. “You still can't tell her?”
“I want to be sure.”
“Even after a hundred years, you're still far too cautious.”
Kael raised his sword. “I don't care who he is. If he can open the tomb seal, we need to get out of here.”
“No,” Seraphine replied.
Kael looked at her.
“If you leave now, he'll get what he wants.”
“What?”
Seraphine looked at Elara.
“He wants to take Elara to the place where the seal was first created.”
A shiver ran down the back of Elara's neck. “Where?”
“The old palace.”
Adrian finally spoke. “The palace that burned down?”
Seraphine nodded.
“There are still underground chambers beneath the ruins. That's where it all began.”
Another boom rang out, louder this time. Cracks spread across the stone door. Adrian immediately pulled Elara behind him.
“Then we'll leave through another route.”
Seraphine shook her head. “There is no other way out.”
Kael looked around the room. “There has to be.”
“No.”
Seraphine pointed to the floor beneath the throne.
“This place was built for one purpose. If someone enters through the main door, the entire room locks down.”
Kael approached the stone throne and examined it.
“Then we have to open the seal from the inside.”
Seraphine gave a faint smile. “Not you.”
Her gaze fell on Elara. “Her.”
Elara immediately shook her head. “Why is it always me?”
“Because only your blood can open the way.”
Adrian shot Seraphine a sharp look. “And what happens if she does?”
Seraphine didn't answer right away. “She'll see everything.”
Elara stared at her. “Everything what?”
“The night I died.”
The room suddenly fell silent. Adrian looked at Seraphine.
“You want her to see it?”
“She has to see it.”
“Why?”
“Because all this time, you've been searching for the person who killed me.”
Seraphine sighed. “When the question you should have been asking is why I had to die.”
Before Adrian could answer, the crack in the stone door widened. A hand emerged through the gap. Elara stepped back.
Seraphine said at once, “Now.”
Elara looked at the throne. “What do I do?”
“Place your hand on the emblem beneath it.”
Adrian stopped her immediately. “Don't.”
Elara looked at him. “If we don't, whoever's outside will get in.”
“I'll deal with him.”
“And if you lose?”
Adrian fell silent.
Elara gently pulled her hand away. “This time, let me do something.”
Adrian stared at her for a long moment before finally letting go.
Elara walked toward the stone throne.
At its base was a carving of a black rose, almost completely buried beneath dust. She knelt and pressed her palm against the emblem.
Nothing happened.
Elara frowned. “It isn't working.”
“Use your blood,” Seraphine said.
Adrian turned at once. “No.”
Seraphine raised an eyebrow. “Are you afraid?”
“I won't let her get hurt.”
“Elara doesn't have to be hurt,” Kael said. He drew a small dagger from his belt and nicked his own fingertip. “Vale blood runs through her veins. We only need to awaken the seal.”
Seraphine shook her head. “It won't be enough.”
“Then what will?”
“She has to do it herself.”
Elara looked at her hand.
She drew a deep breath, then used the tip of the pendant around her neck to make a small cut in her palm. A drop of blood fell directly onto the rose emblem.
The room trembled at once. Adrian moved closer. “Elara!”
White light burst from beneath the throne. Golden lines spread across the tomb walls, moving like living veins. Then the floor in front of them split apart, revealing a staircase descending into darkness.
But that wasn't all that happened. Elara suddenly clutched her head. Memories slammed into her mind. This time, they weren't vague.
She was in a palace. Not as Elara, but as Seraphine.
She wore a white gown with a crown on her head. Standing before her was Adrian, far younger than he was now.
But someone stood between them. A man in black robes. Elara recognized the serpent emblem on his chest. The man smiled.
“Your Majesty, the time has come.”
Seraphine, in the memory, looked at Adrian. “Don't trust him.”
Adrian looked confused. “What do you mean?”
The man in black robes laughed. “You still don't understand.”
He raised his hand. Flames suddenly erupted throughout the hall.
Seraphine screamed. “Adrian!”
The young king drew his sword. But the man in black robes had already vanished. Elara watched herself run toward a door. Adrian chased after her.
“Seraphine!”
She stopped. Turned around. Adrian's face was filled with fear.
“Trust me.”
Seraphine was crying. “I trust you.”
Then someone stabbed Seraphine from behind.
Elara jerked back. The memory ended. She returned to the Throne Room, gasping for breath. Adrian immediately caught her by the shoulders.
“What did you see?”
Elara looked at him. “It wasn't you.”
“What?”
“You weren't the one who killed Seraphine.”
Adrian froze. Elara pointed toward the stone door. “That man.”
Seraphine nodded slowly. “Now you remember him.”
“Who is he?”
Seraphine didn't answer, because the stone door finally collapsed. Dust filled the corridor. A man's figure emerged from the fog.
He wore black royal robes. His hair was streaked with gray, but his face still looked strong. Fastened to his chest was the same serpent emblem Elara had seen in her memory.
Adrian immediately raised his sword. “Impossible.”
The man smiled. “It's been a long time, Adrian.”
Elara stared at his face. She knew that man. Not from her memories. Not from her dreams. From her present life.
He was the man the entire kingdom had trusted all this time. King Adrian's highest adviser. Lord Darius.
Adrian stared at him with eyes blazing with fury. “Darius.”
Darius smiled. “Your Majesty.”
Kael raised his sword. “You?”
Darius looked at Kael. “Prince Valmere. You're still alive, too.”
“You killed Seraphine.”
“No.”
Darius slowly shook his head. “I only made sure the plan that had already begun continued.”
Adrian stepped forward. “For a hundred years, I considered you an ally of my family.”
“And you weren't wrong.”
Darius smiled. “I am your family's ally.”
“Then why?”
“Because your family were the guardians of the seal.” Darius looked at Elara. “But House Vale is the key.”
Seraphine stood behind Elara. “And you still want her.”
“Not her.”
Darius smiled. “I want what's inside her.”
A chill spread through Elara's body. “What?”
Darius raised his hand. “The Dark King.”
Adrian moved at once, but Darius spoke a word that made the curse symbol on Adrian's arm flare brightly.
Adrian dropped to one knee.
“Elara!”
Seraphine quickly pulled Elara back.
Darius laughed. “You think that curse belongs to you, Adrian?” He looked at the king. “It was mine from the beginning.”
Adrian gritted his teeth. “Liar.”
“No.”
Darius pointed to the symbol on Adrian's arm. “I made it.”
Elara looked at Adrian.
Then Darius said something that made Elara's entire world seem to collapse.
“And I was the one who made you be reborn, Elara.”
Seraphine went still. Adrian raised his head.
Darius smiled. “Because without you...” He looked at Elara. “...the final seal would never open.”