Chapter 12: The Truth Hidden in Blood

The library remained silent after Derek folded the message.

'She carries the Queen's blood.'

The words echoed through Kira's mind.

'What does that mean?' she asked quietly.

Magnus dismissed the guards before answering.

'Only members of the royal bloodline possess silver eyes like Queen Selene's.'

Kira instinctively touched her own hazel eyes.

'Mine aren't silver.'

'No,' Derek replied. 'But appearances can be deceiving.'

He walked toward one of the ancient bookshelves and removed a thick leather-bound volume.

'This book records every member of the Wolfe royal family for nearly four hundred years.'

He opened it carefully.

Each page contained portraits, birth records, and family seals.

Near the center, Kira saw Queen Selene's portrait once again.

Beneath it was a line that had been scratched out with a blade.

'Someone wanted this erased,' Kira whispered.

'Yes,' Derek said.

'Can it still be read?'

Magnus leaned closer.

'Only part of it.'

The faded sentence read:

'...the infant was taken before dawn...'

Nothing else remained.

Kira frowned.

'An infant?'

'If the record is accurate,' Derek said slowly, 'then Queen Selene gave birth shortly before she disappeared.'

'But everyone believes she died without children,' Magnus added.

'Exactly.'

The realization settled over the room.

If the erased record was true, someone had hidden the existence of a royal child.

Before anyone could speak again, a palace guard rushed inside.

'Your Majesty!'

'Speak.'

'The servant who was attacked in the western tower has regained consciousness.'

Derek immediately closed the family record.

'Take us to him.'

Moments later, they entered the royal infirmary.

The elderly servant lay weakly in bed, his forehead wrapped in bandages.

When he saw Derek, he struggled to sit upright.

'Forgive me, Your Majesty.'

'Tell me exactly what happened,' Derek ordered.

'I was cleaning the western tower when I heard voices upstairs.'

'Whose voices?'

'I couldn't recognize them.'

'Then what?'

'One of them said...'

The old servant hesitated, fear filling his eyes.

'Speak.'

'He said the Queen must never remember who she really is.'

Kira's heart skipped.

'Did you see their faces?'

'No, Your Majesty.'

'Someone struck me from behind before I could look.'

The room fell silent.

Derek exchanged another glance with Magnus.

This was no longer an ordinary assassination plot.

Someone believed Kira had forgotten her past.

Or perhaps...

Someone had made sure she never knew it.

That evening, Kira returned alone to the palace gardens.

She sat beneath the enormous Moon Tree, trying to make sense of everything.

Footsteps approached behind her.

She turned, expecting Derek.

Instead, she found an old palace gardener.

The elderly woman smiled kindly.

'I've been waiting many years to meet you,' she whispered.

Kira stood slowly.

'Do I know you?'

The old woman shook her head.

'No, little wolf.'

'But I knew your mother.'