CHAPTER 9 – THE LIE THAT CREATED A KING
Elisa returned to the palace just before dawn.
She found Adrian standing in the archive chamber surrounded by torn scrolls.
"They took my birth records."
She placed the map on the table.
"I think I know why."
The two compared every surviving document.
Hours passed.
Then one elderly librarian brought out a forgotten chest sealed for over two hundred years.
Inside rested a letter written by Queen Isabella herself.
It had never been opened.
Adrian carefully unfolded the fragile parchment.
The room fell silent.
The queen's words changed history forever.
"If my son ever reads this... forgive me.
The child the kingdom knows as Prince Adrian was not born of the royal bloodline.
The true heir died moments after birth.
To save the kingdom from the curse, I exchanged my son with a newborn orphan whose parents had perished during the plague.
I prayed that by breaking the bloodline, one day the darkness would finally end."
Adrian stared at the letter.
"I..."
"...I'm not the king by blood."
Elisa slowly realized the truth.
"Then the curse never followed you because of your blood."
"It followed you..."
"...because you wore the crown."
At that exact moment...
The great doors of the throne room exploded inward.
The mysterious rider in black stepped inside.
Behind him marched hundreds of masked followers.
Every guard who stood in their way fell within seconds.
The stranger removed his hood.
Gasps echoed through the hall.
His face...
Was identical to Adrian's.
Only older.
His eyes were completely black.
He smiled.
"The queen saved one child..."
"...but she forgot about the other."
Adrian whispered,
"Who are you?"
The stranger bowed mockingly.
"I am Prince Lucien."
"The son history erased."
"The last true heir of the cursed bloodline."
He slowly drew a black sword from its sheath.
"And today..."
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"I'm taking back my kingdom."
TO BE CONTINUED...
