The room felt suddenly heavier. The quiet crackle of the hearthfire seemed louder in the stillness.
Ian looked at her, eyes narrowed. "Then what happened to the empress? You said she disappeared seventy years ago. Why?"
The queen's expression darkened slightly, her lips pressing together before she answered.
"No one knows exactly. After the uproar over her daughter's pregnancy, the empress withdrew from public affairs. For months, she was barely seen. Then, one day… she vanished. Along with the infant."
"Vanished?" Ian echoed. "How does someone that powerful just vanish?"
"She left no trace. No trail. Not even her closest advisors knew where she went. Some believed she used powerful magic to flee this world entirely. Others say she hid herself somewhere deep within the lands, protected by wards even our most skilled magi couldn't breach."
"And no one ever found her?"
The queen shook her head. "Not in seventy years. And after a time, people stopped searching. The empress became legend. Her story twisted, forgotten, feared. All that remained were the laws she helped shape, including the law that condemns redheads to death."
Ian stared into the fire, silent for a long moment.
"My grandmother… was the most powerful woman in this world. And she gave it all up… for my mother."
The queen looked at him, voice low. "She's your great grandmother."
Ian swallowed hard. The truth was almost too much to bear, but it was real, and it was his.
He was not just a redhead born into misfortune, he was the rightful heir to a powerful empire.
"What about my grandmother… what happened to her after she gave birth to my mother?" Ian asked at last, his voice strained. His eyes were fixed on the queen, as though desperate to peel away the veil of history she held. "I want to know everything."
The queen lowered her gaze, her tone soft but steady. "Shortly after the empress disappeared with her child… she vanished completely as well. Out of shame, perhaps. Out of fear. No one can say for certain. But that was the end of your bloodline on the throne." She paused, watching the firelight flicker across Ian's troubled face. "That is the truth."
Ian leaned forward, searching her expression. "She's still alive? My grandmother?"
The queen slowly shook her head. "We don't know. Nobody has seen her ever since, not a trace. If not for you… I would never have believed the empress' line still lived. I would not even know she succeeded in keeping the child alive."
Ian's breath came heavy as his hand reached for the nearest bottle on the table. Without a word, he pulled out the stopper, lifted it to his lips, and drank deep. The sharp sting of wine filled his chest, but it did little to quiet the storm rising inside him. He lowered the bottle only to drink again, desperate for some anchor against the weight of what he had learned.
The queen rose from her chair and moved to his side. For the first time since their meeting, her voice softened with something almost tender. She laid a hand upon his shoulder, her touch steady, reassuring. "I know it is much to take in, my lord," she murmured. "But it is the truth. Whether we wish it or not, this is the legacy that has found you."
Ian tilted his head back, swallowing hard. The wine burned in his throat as he steadied himself. Finally, he turned to her, eyes glinting with the firelight. "Are you obligated… to obey me?" His words were slow, careful, but edged with something fierce beneath them.
The queen's lips curved into the faintest of smiles, though her eyes carried no jest. She gave a single nod. "Yes."
"Why?" Ian pressed.
She held his gaze. "Because I and a few other Diva Queens who still believe in the imperial bloodline… we have sworn to see it restored. To see you placed back upon the throne. We will do everything in our power to raise you up." Her words rang with conviction, yet her expression dimmed as she finished.
Her hand slipped from his shoulder, fingers curling back to her side. She looked away for a moment, then back again with a quiet heaviness. "But…" she added, voice low, almost troubled, "I worry. Your red hair is a mark we cannot hide. It is both your right and your curse. And I wonder…" Her eyes lingered on him, searching. "…if the madness is still in you."