______
Lucina
"D-DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!"
The words tore out of me before I could stop them. My back hit cold stone, my heels scraping uselessly as I shrank away. My hands flew up, palms trembling, as though they could somehow stop what was standing before me.
She was beautiful.
Terrifyingly so.
The woman in the red dress shimmered beneath the dim light, her presence bending the air itself. Every step she took made my chest constrict, my heart slamming wildly, like a trapped bird beating itself bloody against its cage.
She moved closer anyway.
Slow. Deliberate.
The hem of her opulent gown whispered against the floor, a sound far too soft for the dread it carried.
"I know the Baron's wife treated you very badly," she murmured.
Her voice was silk—but silk wrapped around a blade.
I flinched when she lifted her hand. My breath hitched, my body reacting before my mind could catch up.
"But I killed her," she continued casually, as if discussing the weather. "So you don't have to worry about her anymore."
The world tilted.
Her fingers drifted toward my face. I jerked away instinctively.
FLINCH.
"It's time we made some new memories here."
Her smile curved slowly—hungry, possessive.
Panic flooded my veins. My thoughts tangled, desperation sharpening my tongue.
"W-why would I do that with a monster like you…?!"
For just a moment, she looked hurt.
The expression was almost convincing—almost human.
"A monster?" she echoed softly.
Then it shattered.
Cold amusement replaced it, her lips stretching into something deeply wrong.
"That would make you a monster as well," she hissed, eyes gleaming as her smile widened unnaturally.
"Since you're my daughter."
The word struck me like a blow to the chest.
"Daughter…?"
The air fled my lungs. My knees nearly buckled.
She laughed—low, rich, satisfied.
"It seems Andrea hasn't told you anything." Her gaze roamed over me as though claiming ownership.
"I gave birth to you, Lucina."
No.
No, no, no—
"I gave birth to you, Lucina," she repeated, savoring every syllable, letting it echo inside me.
"At least he gave you a lovely name."
Her hand rose again—gentle this time. Too gentle.
STROKE.
My scalp crawled as her fingers brushed through my hair.
"You grew up to be as lovely and beautiful as the moon," she crooned. "Your namesake."
Revulsion surged violently. My vision blurred as tears spilled over.
"I can't be… your daughter…!" I whispered, shaking my head, denial tearing through me like a lifeline.
It had to be a lie. It had to be.
"It doesn't matter how hard you deny it," she said coolly, stepping back.
"Blood is thicker than water."
My throat burned as I forced the words out.
"What… are you planning to do with me?"
Fear clawed upward, but something else rose with it—desperation.
Hakan's face flashed before me.
"If you hurt me," I gasped, "Hakan won't let you get away with it!"
Her eyes sharpened instantly.
"Hakan?" she repeated, voice laced with disdain.
"Do you really think he loves you?"
The doubt slid in like poison.
"Hakan rescued me," I insisted, clutching my chest as a sudden, brutal pain flared.
"He saved me from hell—he's my—"
A violent THROB tore through my core.
"UGH!"
I doubled over, breath ripping from my lungs. My body trembled uncontrollably, the pain spreading in sickening waves.
"Do you really think he loves you?" she pressed, circling me like a predator sensing weakness.
"He's nothing but a plunderer who kidnapped you and dragged you to the Tawar Kingdom."
An image surfaced—Hakan's arms around me, his expression unreadable in shadow.
"You're wrong," I whispered, clinging desperately to the warmth of his eyes, the gentleness of his touch.
"He only pretended," she said mercilessly. "So he could win you."
Her hand landed on my shoulder.
TAP.
The contact felt unbearable.
"Do you think he'll still love you…"
She leaned close, breath brushing my ear.
"…if you can't give birth to a Draconian child?"
The world went silent.
My heart stuttered.
"What… do you mean…?"
Before the terror could fully register, pain exploded through me.
A flash of red.
A violent, searing STAB—
"ARGH!"
Light burst from my body, blinding, overwhelming. My scream tore free as my muscles convulsed violently, my breath shattering into broken gasps.
HUFF. HUFF.
Something was being ripped away.
She stared in awe, eyes alight.
"This is… holy power."
A SNICKER escaped her lips.
"Andrea must have worked very hard to purify your shifter blood."
Andrea—
"That must be why he was asleep for so long."
The name echoed through the haze as my vision swam.
By Andrea… the Cardinal…?
A dark cloud coiled around her as she seized my hand.
TAP.
The glow intensified, pouring out of me mercilessly. I couldn't even scream anymore.
When it ended, I collapsed.
GASP.
She sat beside me, radiant with triumph.
"You must be in terrible pain now," she murmured, wiping blood from her hand.
"You might even die."
Fear wrapped around me like ice.
"But you must give birth to your child."
STROKE. STROKE.
"I've waited so long to take your child's heart."
"With your holy power…" her smile sharpened.
"…I might even be able to kill your husband."
Hakan.
The thought ignited a final spark inside me.
"This won't…" I rasped. "End the way you want…"
My strength failed.
SLUMP.
She scoffed.
"Everything has gone according to plan."
Her heel struck the floor.
SLAM.
I lay there—drained, broken, the white light gone—
and the horrifying truth echoed endlessly in the silence:
I was nothing more than a vessel.
And my child… was her weapon.
---
Pain tore through me without warning.
A sharp, merciless force drove into my side, hidden beneath the elegant folds of her crimson dress. For a heartbeat, I didn't understand what had happened—then agony exploded through my body.
"ARGH!"
My scream echoed violently as a blinding FLASH erupted from my chest, white light bursting outward like a dying star. My vision fractured. My lungs burned as I struggled to breathe.
HUFF—HUFF—
Each breath felt stolen.
My knees buckled as something vital was ripped away from me—dragged out with brutal intent. My limbs convulsed, trembling helplessly as the glow poured from my body against my will.
Her eyes widened in ecstasy.
"This is… HOLY POWER!" she shrieked, her voice trembling with awe and hunger.
She laughed—a chilling, distorted sound—and clasped her hands together as if in prayer.
"Andrea must've worked so hard to purify your shifter blood."
Andrea.
The name struck like a bell inside my skull.
The Cardinal…? Why would he—
Dark energy spiraled around her, thick and suffocating. She tilted her head, studying me as though I were nothing more than a vessel that had finally been cracked open.
"I wasn't planning on stealing your holy power," she said almost thoughtfully.
Then she grabbed my hand.
TAP.
The pain intensified instantly.
The light surged violently, pouring into her as the GLOOOW grew brighter, hotter—tearing through me until my scream collapsed into a voiceless gasp. My body betrayed me, sagging as the last of my strength drained away.
I fell backward, hitting the floor in a dull thud.
GASP.
The world dimmed.
She wiped the blood from her fingers with careless precision.
WIPE. WIPE.
"You must be in terrible pain now," she said softly, mock sympathy coating every word. "You might even die."
She leaned closer, her hair brushing against my cheek.
STROKE. STROKE.
The tenderness made my skin crawl.
"But you must give birth to your child," she whispered. Her smile curved into something monstrous.
"I've waited all this time to take your child's heart."
The words crushed the air from my chest.
"With your holy power…" she continued, gazing upward as if envisioning a grand future soaked in blood,
"…if I obtain the blood of a Draconian child, I might even be able to kill your husband."
Hakan.
His name anchored me to the world.
I forced my lips to move, my voice scraping out through shattered breath.
"This won't… end the way you want it to…"
HUFF.
"Hakan's… going to—"
The darkness surged faster than I could fight it.
My strength vanished.
SLUMP.
Her laughter was distant now.
"Everything has gone according to plan until now."
A heavy SLAM echoed through the chamber—her heel striking the floor—followed by the fading whisper of fabric as she walked away.
I lay motionless, eyes fixed on the faint SPARKLE of the pendant resting against my chest, the last thing tethering me to consciousness.
The Rescue
(Lucina's Perspective)
Time lost its meaning.
Days—or perhaps only hours—blurred together in a haze of pain and silence. Then, faintly, a sound pierced the fog.
A carriage.
Its wheels screeched sharply as it came to a halt outside the fortress.
SCREEECH.
Footsteps followed—heavy, urgent.
STEP. STEP.
Voices drifted through the doors.
"It's so quiet. The doors aren't even locked."
Another voice answered, calm yet alert. "You're right."
"I can't feel Marissa's energy at all. She might not be here."
The first voice hardened with impatience.
"While you stand there worrying, I'm going inside to look for Lucina."
My heart stirred.
The door creaked open.
CREEAAAK.
Footsteps rushed inside.
STEP—STEP.
Then—
"LUCINA…?"
The sound of his voice cut through everything.
And then he saw me.
"LUCINA! THERE YOU ARE!"
Armor clattered as he dropped to his knees beside me. The impact vibrated through the floor—and through my chest.
I tried to move. To answer him.
He was here.
The Search and Discovery
(Hakan's Perspective)
The silence of the fortress was wrong.
The carriage screeched to a halt behind us, and I was already moving before it fully stopped. Gravel crunched beneath my boots as I jumped down.
STEP. STEP.
"It's too quiet," the Prince said, his hand hovering near the door. "And it's not locked."
I felt it too—that gnawing sense of dread twisting my gut.
"I can't feel Marissa's energy," he added. "She might not be here."
I didn't wait.
"While you stand there worrying, I'm going inside to look for Lucina."
The door yielded with a soft CREAK, and we rushed in.
"Lucina!" I shouted.
Then I saw her.
She was crumpled on the floor, pale and unmoving. Blood stained her white dress.
The world narrowed.
"LUCINA! THERE YOU ARE!"
I ran to her, dropping heavily to my knees, lifting her fragile body into my arms. She felt too light. Too cold.
The Prince knelt beside me. "Wake up, Lucina."
I examined her desperately, my hands shaking.
"This isn't good," I muttered.
"What?" the Prince asked.
A sick realization formed as he gently pulled aside the torn fabric near her abdomen.
SLIDE.
"…Don't tell me," I whispered, horror flooding my veins. "Were we too late—?!"
"She's alive," he said quickly, checking her pulse.
But his eyes betrayed him.
"…Marissa's already taken her child and escaped."
Rage ignited—cold and consuming.
No words could describe it.
"Let's focus on saving Lucina first," the Prince said firmly.
The Healing
I held her hand tightly as the Prince placed his own over hers.
Holy light blossomed between his palms—pure, brilliant.
GLOW.
A sudden FLASH filled the chamber.
Her fingers twitched.
TWITCH.
Then her eyes fluttered open.
BLINK.
They found mine.
"Hakan…?"
The sound of my name shattered something inside me.
I leaned closer—
But the Prince straightened, his voice tight with urgency.
"Hakan…?"
He looked away.
My heart pounded violently.
I turned to him, dread curling in my chest.
"Your Eminence…?"
I waited.