Ian's breath catches in his throat, a cold shiver crawling up his spine as the figure steps closer, their cloak billowing like smoke. The room feels colder, heavier, as if the walls themselves are closing in on him.
"You still do not understand, do you, Prince?" The figure's voice is like the scraping of steel against stone, cold and unyielding.
Ian's eyes snap toward the courtesan, whose hand still clutches the pendant. His mind races, the pieces of the puzzle finally beginning to fall into place, though they are far more terrifying than he had ever imagined.
The courtesan lifts her head, her eyes filled with a deep sadness. "I am a descendant of the Agriche family," she says, her voice trembling but steady. "A fallen noble house."
Ian's heart skips a beat. The Agriche name… It is one that had been erased from the kingdom's history, whispered only in the shadows. A once-powerful family, now nothing more than a forgotten ghost of the past.
"Your mother," the courtesan continues, "was the Empress. She was framed for treason by a woman who sought to become queen—a woman who feared the power that your mother held. The King, your father, was convinced of her guilt, and in his paranoia, he murdered our entire family."
Ian's breath catches, his mind reeling.Even though he always knew that his father was not a decent man,he himself never expected that long ago his father—the mighty King, a 6-star Auramaster—who was a force beyond reckoning, would had killed his own wife, the Empress, and destroyed an entire noble house… It is too much to bear.
The courtesan's voice falters as she speaks of the horrors that followed. "The King—your father—was driven by fear. Fear of losing his power, of being vulnerable to those who could challenge him. He feared that someone, somewhere, would bring him down, so he struck first. The truth, Prince Ian, is that my family did nothing wrong."
"Your mother loved him more than anything," the courtesan whispers, her voice breaking. "She would have never betrayed him. She was devoted to the King. But in his madness, he saw enemies everywhere. He destroyed us all because of the lies spread by his second wife—the woman who wanted to sit upon the throne herself."
The room feels like it is spinning, and Ian staggers back, his mind struggling to process the truth. His father—so powerful, so feared—but he himself suffers from paranoia, driven to commit unspeakable atrocities.
The courtesan steps forward, her eyes locked onto Ian's, a quiet plea in her gaze. "I am the last of my family, Prince. The last of the Agriche bloodline. I survived only because I was hidden away… a child, too small to be noticed amidst the slaughter."
Ian looks at her, the storm of emotions inside him threatening to tear him apart. His mother's love, his father's paranoia, the lies that tore families apart—it is all too much. He feels as though the ground beneath him has shifted, and his world has turned upside down.
To bury his misdeed,the king killed everyone who was involved , including his knight.
"I am the last of the Agriche line, and now, I am the only one who holds the truth."