My mother never spoke of her past.
Queen Lira of House Elowyn—beloved consort of the Iron King, revered by the people for her beauty and serenity. To the world, she was a graceful monarch, a healer, a divine heart made flesh.
But magic doesn't lie.
And my system had just unearthed a secret buried deep within my soul.
[New Trait Unlocked: Aetherblood Inheritance – Fragmented]
[Memory Echo Detected – Source: Queen Lira]
[Do you wish to unlock the memory fragment? Y/N]
I hesitated for less than a second.
"Yes."
The world fell away.
I stood in a memory—not mine, but hers.
It was night. A ruined temple beneath twin eclipses. Arcs of blue lightning tore through the sky. Soldiers in black robes lay dead in heaps. In the center of a broken seal, Queen Lira—younger, fiercer, soaked in blood—chanted words in an ancient, alien tongue.
Behind her floated a swirling gate, rippling like a vertical lake of stars.
A dimensional rift.
"I'll seal it," she gasped, holding the fractured aether crystal to her chest. "Even if I forget… Even if he never knows…"
The scene shifted. She turned toward someone—me, in infant form, cradled in a magical cocoon woven of golden leaves.
"My son," she whispered, "when the stars scream again, do not trust the council. Do not awaken the Nexus Gate until you are ready…"
The memory fragmented.
I gasped, lurching upright in bed.
Sweat drenched my nightclothes. My mana pulse throbbed wildly—raw and unstable.
[Memory Integration Complete.]
[New Skill Acquired: Dimensional Seal – Incomplete Prototype]
[Aether Affinity: +1]
[Hidden Progress: Nexus Gate Tracker – 1% Synced]
My mother had sealed away a dimensional threat.
And forgotten.
Someone—or something—had made her forget. Perhaps even the King himself. It would explain the whispers of "will" Elrin had spoken of. A terrifying force that could repress even bloodline memory.
But now that power lived in me.
And someone knew.
The following morning, the Queen visited my chambers. Her presence was rare—she preferred solitude, walking among ancient groves or consulting the wind-priests in their high tower.
But today she sat beside me, brushing my hair back gently.
"You're growing fast," she said softly.
I watched her eyes. Azure flecked with silver.
"You look at me," she murmured, "like you already understand too much."
"I do," I whispered back.
She froze.
The silence between us stretched. Then her hand trembled slightly as she held my face.
"…Did you see it?" she asked, almost inaudibly.
"Yes."
Tears welled in her eyes, and for a moment—just a moment—she was not a queen.
She was a terrified mother who remembered what she should have forgotten.
"I don't know how long we have," she whispered. "But promise me… you'll be ready when it returns."
"I will," I said. "But I need knowledge. Forbidden knowledge. From the Tower. From the Vaults. From beyond this kingdom."
She studied me long and hard.
Then nodded once.
"I'll open the first lock."
That night, a secret door appeared in my chamber—just beneath the floorboards. A carved sigil of a phoenix intertwined with an obsidian serpent. The seal of the Elowyn bloodline.
[Access Granted: Lira's Hidden Sanctum]
[New Zone Unlocked – Archive of Stars]
Within it lay artifacts, spells, and relics banned by the High Circle. Notes in Elvish, Draconic, and dimensional code. Schematics far more advanced than anything this kingdom had ever dared create.
And at the center, floating in a crystal orb of stasis—the other half of the Aether Crystal my mother once held.
The key to the Nexus Gate.
I spent the next few weeks in silence.
Studying.
Copying.
Learning.
Laying the groundwork.
Outside, the palace bustled with spring festivals, diplomatic visits, and smiling tutors who thought they were preparing me for court.
But beneath it all…
I was preparing for a war across worlds.