As Elina kept pushing for the truth, Alia's patience finally snapped. The aristocratic mask she had worn for years shattered. She slammed her glass onto the floor, shards of crystal flying in every direction.
Alia towered over Elina, her 6'2" frame vibrating with a suppressed, primal energy. She let out a deafening scream that seemed to shake the very foundations of the library.
Alia: (Screaming at the top of her lungs) "ENOUGH! You want to know my age? Then listen—my age right now is YOUR age! I am not a single day older than you, Elina!"
The sheer force of Alia's confession left Elina paralyzed. Her breath hitched, and a wave of pure shock washed over her. She had expected Alia to be young, but to be her exact peer? It was beyond her wildest imagination.
Elina: (Stammering) "What... what did you say? You and I... are the same age?"
Elina's hands began to tremble uncontrollably. The leather-bound diary—the weapon she thought would give her power—slipped from her fingers and thudded onto the floor.
Alia: "Yes! I am your age. Victor is barely two or three years older than you. Grandfather married us off when we were mere children. When Isrovona was born, I was still learning the ways of the world. For twenty years, we have deceived the entire planet. We play 'Mother and Father' because people only fear the old and experienced!"
Alia reached down, picked up the diary, and tore the pages into shreds right in front of Elina's face.
Alia: "Now tell me, Elina... can you play the role I have played? Can you treat a man your own age as your 'son' to keep an empire alive? You don't have the strength to carry this burden." Godmother suddenly looked like a fragile child. She collapsed into an oak chair, burying her face in her hands as tears streamed down her cheeks.
Alia: (Sobbing) "Everyone thinks I am strong, a mystical being... but no one knows how our childhood was stolen. Yes, we were married young, but we were kept apart. It was a cruel family tradition—sacrificing our lives for the purity of the bloodline."
She looked up, her mascara smudged by her tears.
Alia: "Those records you saw—where I was listed as 22 and Victor as 29—they were all LIES! Grandfather forged them so Russia wouldn't laugh at us. We were children forced to shoulder the weight of a bloody empire. I didn't even know what life was when Isrovona was born. I was never allowed to be a 'mother'; I was only allowed to be a ruler."
Alia cried out in agony, looking at Elina with desperate eyes.
Alia: "I am not a witch, Elina. I am just a girl whose childhood was burned to build this throne. Now tell me... do you still want to destroy me with this truth?"The heavy, stagnant air in the library suddenly vibrated with a chilling silence. Alia's sobbing hadn't stopped, but a new tone emerged from her cries—a melody that was both demonic and tragic. She wiped her tears and looked at Elina with a smile that sent an icy shiver down Elina's spine.
Alia stood up slowly. Her towering 6'2" frame no longer looked like that of a broken woman, but like a grandmaster of a deadly chess game.
Alia: (Laughing through her tears) "Elina... did you really think the history of this lineage was just a simple mafia story? There are secrets here far more dangerous than Urban darker than anything you can imagine. From rebirth to the battle against time everything is woven into this bloodline. But do you know what this truth is? Do you know what my tears actually are?"
Alia leaned in close, her tear-streaked face inches from Elina's, whispering in a low, terrifyingly calm voice:
Alia: "This is a Mind Game. A perfect Masterpiece. A plot that puts the greatest thriller cinema to shame. Everything you've witnessed over these 251 chapters—the conspiracies, the romance, the hatred, the hidden ages—it was all a game to distract and dismantle you. I could have ended you in a second, but I wanted to crush you mentally."
Alia turned back toward the window with a look of absolute divine satisfaction.
Alia: "The story ends here. You will never find the beginning or the end of this mystery. Whether I am 22 or 32, a mother or a witch this duality will haunt you for the rest of your life. Go now, Elina. Today's game is over."
Elina stood paralyzed. It felt as if she wasn't standing before a human being made of flesh and blood, but before the ultimate antagonist of an epic novel. Alia's tears, her confession was it all just a calculated move to break her spirit?
Without uttering another word, Elina stepped over the shredded pieces of the diary on the floor and walked slowly toward her room. In her ears, the echo of Alia's haunting laugh continued to ring.
Behind her, Alia stood alone, muttering to herself, "After 251 chapters, this history finally closes... but the next beginning will be far more terrifying."As the heavy library doors slammed shut behind Alia, a bone-chilling silence filled the room. Elina stood paralyzed, unable to move even an inch. Her entire body began to tremble violently. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead, and her heart raced so fast she felt it might burst.
She looked down at the shredded remains of the diary—the weapon she thought would grant her victory. Now, they were just worthless scraps of paper. Alia's final words echoed in her ears like a curse: "My age is your age... this is a mind game!"
Elina: (Whispering to herself) "Is she truly my peer? Or is this another trap? Am I fighting a human, or a phantom?"
Elina felt as if the very walls of the palace were closing in to swallow her. She realized Alia hadn't struck her physically, but she had dismantled her mind so completely that Elina was now terrified of her own shadow.
She fled the library, running through the dark corridors, feeling Alia's haunting laughter following her. Reaching her room, she bolted the door and collapsed onto the floor in a heap.
At the end of these 251 chapters, Elina finally understood to defeat Godmother Alia was impossible, and to try to know her was a death sentence for the soul. While Elina trembled in her room, Victor sat in his study, taking a long drag from his cigar. Alia entered, She sat directly in Victor's lap, grabbing his tie and yanking him close.
Alia: "How was the show, Lord Victor? Your daughter-in-law is currently terrified of her own shadow."
Victor smirked, blowing smoke into her face as he gripped her waist. "You are a mastermind, Alia. This Mafia Game is won in the mind before it's won in the streets."
Alia pulled his tie tighter, their breath mingling. Their passion was fueled by the thrill of victory and the mysterious energy of their bloodline. In that room, there were no rules only the raw, primal connection of two rulers who owned the world. Three days had passed since that night of psychological warfare and dark passion. The atmosphere in the Romanov palace had shifted from a storm to a deceptive, eerie calm. Elina, still trembling from Alia's "Masterpiece" mind game, had retreated into a shell of silence, while Isrovona tried to maintain his pride as the young prince.But the calm was shattered on the third morning. Elina stood in the center of the grand hall, her face pale, clutching her stomach. Alia descended the marble staircase, her 6'2" frame draped in royal black silk, looking as youthful and radiant as a woman in her early twenties.
Alia: (Her voice echoing with authority) "You've been avoiding the dining table for three days, Elina. Is the 'Mother's' presence too heavy for you, or is there another reason?"
Elina looked up, her eyes wide with a mix of fear and a new, desperate kind of leverage.
Elina: "I... I'm not just carrying your secrets anymore, Alia. I'm carrying the future of this bloodline. I am three months pregnant."
The silence that followed was deafening. Isrovona, standing by the balcony, froze. Victor, who was stepping out of his study, halted in his tracks.
Alia: (Walking slowly toward her, a predatory smile forming) "Three months? You've only been married to my son for a few weeks. That means this 'future' you speak of... didn't start with Isrovona."
Alia grabbed Elina's chin, forcing her to look into her cold, piercing eyes.
Alia: "A child born of a lie in a house built on secrets. How poetic. You think this baby is your shield? In this family, a child is either a weapon or a sacrifice."
Isrovona rushed forward, his face turning red with shame and anger. "Mother, don't! If she is pregnant, that child is mine to protect!"
Alia: (Laughing coldly) "Protect it then, little Prince. But remember if I am only your age, then this 'grandchild' is practically my sibling in the eyes of time. Let's see if this baby survives the Romanov Game." Alia didn't scream. She didn't strike. Instead, she began to walk in a slow, predatory circle around the couple, the clicking of her heels on the marble floor sounding like a ticking time bomb.
Alia: (Her voice a haunting, melodic whisper) "So... the prince has been busy. While I was building empires and Victor was painting Russia red with the blood of our enemies, you were playing 'house' in the shadows."
She stopped directly in front of Isrovona. Despite his height, he seemed to shrink under her emerald-cold gaze.
Isrovona: "Mother, it was the only way! I knew you and Father would never let me choose my own queen. I had to make sure our union was unbreakable. The baby... the baby makes it official."
Alia: (Laughing, a dry, hollow sound) "Official? In this house, nothing is official until I say so. You think a three-month-old fetus is a shield? You've just handed me a hostage, Isrovona. A hostage that belongs to my bloodline."
Victor stepped forward, the smoke from his cigar swirling like a storm cloud. He placed a heavy hand on Isrovona's shoulder, his grip tight enough to bruise.
Victor: "You've grown bold, boy. But boldness without permission is treason. Alia, what is the sentence for treason in the Romanov house?"
Alia looked at Elina's trembling form, then back at her son. A cruel, calculated plan began to form in her mind.
Alia: "The sentence is isolation. Elina, from this moment on, you are no longer a guest or a wife. You are a 'vessel' for the Romanov heir. You will be moved to the high tower. No sunlight, no Isrovona, and only the food I provide. If you want this child to breathe its first breath, you will obey my every command."
Elina: (Choking back a sob) "You can't do this! I'm three months along! I need..."
Alia: (Leaning in, her face inches from Elina's) "You need to survive me. And Isrovona? Since you're so eager to be a father, you'll start by proving you're a soldier. Victor, take him to the Siberian docks. Let's see if he can survive the winter while his 'queen' rots in my tower."
Isrovona tried to protest, but Victor's guards were already there, grabbing his arms. Alia watched with a cold, triumphant smile as they were torn apart.