(Sia's Chamber — Night)
The lady-in-waiting stood stiff beside the bed… watching her queen collapse onto the mattress as if all strength had been drained from her body.
"Your Majesty… are you unwell?" she asked softly.
Sia turned her face away.
"I am fine…" But her voice trembled.
The lady-in-waiting hesitated.
"Forgive me… but Your Majesty does not look well. What troubles you?"
Sia slowly pressed her palm over her chest.
"My heart… it feels heavy. And it will remain heavy… until I tell him everything."
"Him… do you mean His Majesty?"
Sia nodded.
"Yes… I did not get the chance to speak to him."
The lady-in-waiting lowered her head.
"His Majesty has just stepped out of his chamber. I saw him leaving… If Your Majesty wishes, you may go now."
Sia shot up from the bed as if struck by lightning. Without another word… she rushed out.
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(Palace Front Hall)
The vast marble hall stood silent beneath the dim torches.
At its center… Eyan stood with a paper in his hand, his sharp eyes scanning every detail upon it.
He spoke coldly to the knight beside him.
"What of the man?"
The knight bowed deeply.
"He was executed on the spot, as Your Majesty commanded."
Eyan gave a short nod.
"Good."
Just then… footsteps echoed.
Sia appeared in the middle of the hall… breath uneven… eyes filled with determination and fear.
The Royal knights instantly bowed.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
"Greetings," she replied faintly.
Eyan handed the paper to the knight.
"Spread this throughout all of Velmoria. Make an announcement — whoever gives information… may ask anything from me."
Sia's eyes slowly moved to the paper.
Her own portrait stared back at her.
Green dress and red cloak
gold blonde hair...Blue eyes.
Her heartbeat began to thunder.
"Your Majesty…" she called out sharply.
Eyan turned.
"Yes, Lady Sia. Do you require something?"
Her fingers trembled.
"The woman you are searching for… I know where she is."
Eyan's entire face lit with sudden hope.
"You know? Then tell me quickly… You do not understand… she is my wi—"
"It is me."
Silence.
The hope shattered.
Sia met his eyes.
"The thief woman… the one you met in the forest… was me."
Eyan's expression darkened.
"No. That was not you. Do not lie. It was my wife."
Sia swallowed her fear. "I ate the ring of Lady Rose's husband… You forced me to vomit it out."
His breathing grew heavier. "From where did you get the dress?"
"I stole it from Your Majesty's chamber. You may check… it is still there. Covered in mud… from when you forced me into the pit."
Something inside him snapped.
"You… Entered my chamber?"
His voice dropped.
Dangerously quiet.
"If it was you…"
His jaw clenched violently.
"…then the woman I kissed was—"
"It was me," she whispered. "You mistook me for your wife, because of her dress."
Silence.
Eyan staggered back a step as shame and fury crushed him at once.
"Mistook… you? Impossible… How could I make such a mistake…?"
Tears streamed down Sia's face.
"I apologise…"
Eyan's hand shot forward and grabbed her throat.
"Apologise?"
His fingers tightened.
"You apologise?" he repeated… voice shaking with fury. "Do you even understand what you have done?!"
He shoved her down.
"DROP TO YOUR KNEES." He Order Sharply.
She fell on to her knees instantly.
The sound of her knees hitting the marble echoed.
Eyan drew his sword.
SHING—
His sword came out with a violent sound.
The blade trembled in his grip… not from weakness… but from the force of his anger.
"I should cut you down where you kneel."
The knights rushed forward.
"Your Majesty… please calm yourself!"
He pressed the blade against her neck.
Her skin dented under the pressure.
A thin line of blood appeared.
"I searched for her like a madman!" he roared. "I believed she had returned to me!"
His voice broke… then hardened again.
"And you… you were playing dress-up in her memories?!"
Sia closed her eyes… accepting death.
Eyan raised the sword—
CLANG—!
Magic chains shot forward and wrapped around the blade.
"EYAN… STOP!" Luca's voice thundered.
Eyan's grip tightened with fury.
Luca turned sharply to the knights. "What are you doing?! Hold His Majesty!"
They obeyed immediately.
"Let me go!" Eyan struggled like a beast caught in iron. "I will kill her!"
His chest rose and fell violently.
"Because of her…" his voice turned hoarse… raw. "I betrayed My Eva."
The confession tore out of him.
"I swore… I swore to her, I would never touch another woman."
His eyes burned.
"But I did." He laughed bitterly. "I became the very man I despised."
Sia sobbed. "Please forgive me…"
"GET OUT!" he roared.
"Get out before I forget you are a woman and finish what I started!"
She looked at him through tears.
"Before I leave… may I see His Highness once?"
"See my son?" His gaze turned murderous. "You will not even cast your shadow near him."
"I will leave… I promise… just once—" She cried.
He grabbed her arm brutally and dragged her.
Aranel rushed forward.
"Brother! She is a Queen!...you can't do that"
"She is NOTHING!" Eyan thundered.
"This marriage ended the moment she stepped into my chamber. She is a thief wearing a crown."
Luca pulled Aranel back.
"Stay out of this."
Eyan dragged Sia to the palace steps… then threw her down. She crashed onto the stone.
Pain shot through her palms.
"Leave Velmoria," he said coldly. "If I see you again… I will not hesitate."
The palace doors slammed shut behind him.
BOOOOM.
Sia remained there… shaking… abandoned under the night sky.
__________________________________
(Palace Hall — Night)
The palace doors slammed shut behind her with a thunderous BOOOOM.
For a long moment… Eyan stood there.
Breathing heavily. His chest rose and fell like he had just fought a war. Slowly… he closed his eyes.
His forehead dropped against the cold wood of the door. His hand trembled.
Luca's voice came quietly from behind.
"Eyan… do not hate yourself for this now."
Eyan's eyes snapped open.
Sharp.
Wild.
The next second he pushed the doors open again and strode forward with long furious steps — almost running.
Toward Empress Eva's Garden.
-----------------------------------------
(Eyan's Chamber)
Leo's lashes fluttered. He woke to silence. He was tucked neatly under the sheets… alone.
"Father…" he called.
No answer.
The door opened slightly and a knight stepped forward.
"Your Highness… His Majesty is in the hall."
Leo rubbed his eyes sleepily and climbed down from the bed.
He walked toward the window. The night sky stared back.
"It is night… How long was I sleeping?"
"You have been asleep since last night, Your Highness, you had a fever."
Leo blinked. "Since yesterday… that is too long…"
Then suddenly—
His small eyes widened.
A lone figure was walking away from the palace gates.
Sia.
"Mother…?" His heart skipped. "Where is she going alone…"
He rushed out before anyone could stop him.
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(Empress Eva's Garden)
The iron gate creaked open.
Eyan stepped forward. But his foot froze mid-air. His gaze fell upon the grave.
Eva's grave.
The world around him faded. The memory returned.
That kiss.
Warm.
Soft.
Wrong.
His lips began to tremble violently.
Shame clawed through him like fire.
His knees gave way. He collapsed at the threshold. Then slowly… painfully… he bent forward until his forehead touched the cold stone floor.
"I failed you Eva…" His voice cracked. "I am not worthy of your love…."
He stayed bowed like that… unmoving… as if begging forgiveness from the dead.
Then—
Small hurried footsteps.
"FATHER!"
Leo ran straight toward him.
Behind him Luca and Aranel followed in panic.
"Leo! Do Not Run — You Are Still Sick!" Luca shouted.
Leo reached him first. He shook Eyan's shoulder desperately.
"Father… why did you send mother away… Bring her back…"
Eyan slowly lifted his head. His eyes were red.
"Why did you leave your room? Go back and rest."
Leo shook his head stubbornly. "Bring mother back."
Something inside Eyan snapped.
"She is NOT your mother!"
Leo flinched.
Eyan pointed toward the grave.
"Your mother is there. The woman who gave you life… not that thief!"
Leo burst into tears. "I want my mother back!"
"STOP CRYING!" Eyan roared.
"You are an ungrateful child! How can you give your mother's place to just anyone?!"
Leo clung to his father's sleeve, tears streaming down his small face.
"She's mother… I want her"
Eyan's jaw tightened.
His chest rose sharply as anger and pain twisted inside him.
"You want a mother?"
He pointed toward Aranel without even looking at her.
"Then call her mother. She's your mother's closest friend. When I lay unconscious for six months, she was the one who cared for you. From today onward, stop calling her 'Aunty'. Call her 'Mother'."
Leo shook his head violently.
"No… I want my mother."
Eyan's restraint snapped.
He grabbed Leo by the shoulders.
"Leo you always asked me how your mother died… Do you want to know the truth now?"
"Eyan, stop!...Don't tell him" Luca stepped forward quickly. "He's just a child."
"He is not a child!" Eyan shouted, his voice echoing through the garden. "He needs to know! He needs to know that he was the reason his mother—"
Luca rushed forward and clamped his hand over Eyan's mouth.
"You're angry. Don't say something you'll regret for the rest of your life!"
Eyan ripped Luca's hand away.
"Let me speak!" he roared. "Let him hate himself too… just like I hate myself."
He gripped Leo again, his hands trembling.
"Do you know what we have in common?" Eyan said hoarsely. "My mother died because of me… and your mother died because of you."
Leo's crying turned into broken sobs.
"I Apologise… Father…"
Tears streamed down Eyan's face.
"Yes… you should apologize," he said bitterly. "But not to me. Apologize to your mother. She chose your life over her own."
He pointed toward Eva's grave.
"Show some respect for her sacrifice."
Then Eyan grabbed Luca's arm and forced him down beside Leo.
"Look at your uncle," he said harshly. "His parents died when he was five. Then he lost the woman who raised him again… Did he cry and beg for another mother?"
Luca's eyes filled with tears.
"Eyan… stop bringing up the past."
But Eyan's voice broke with despair.
"I wish…"
The words left his mouth before he could stop them.
"I wish you had never been born."
The sentence struck the air like lightning.
Luca's fist flew forward and slammed into Eyan's face.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" he shouted. "STOP IT RIGHT NOW!"
Leo burst into uncontrollable tears. Aranel rushed forward and pulled the child into her arms, holding him tightly.
She looked at Eyan with pain in her eyes.
"Brother… if Eva were here, she would be very disappointed in you."
Eyan stood there, unmoving, his face wet with tears. His gaze slowly shifted toward Eva's grave.
His voice was hollow.
"I already disappointed her…"
Leo's small body trembled in Aranel's arms. His sobs slowly turned into broken words.
"Father… I was having a nightmare… I saw the war…"
Eyan's head snapped toward him.
"War?"
His eyes immediately moved to Luca. "How does he know about that? Did you tell him?"
Luca shook his head firmly.
"No. He suffered a magical backlash. He used too much healing power on you. In that state… he was dragged into his deepest and saddest memories."
Eyan's face darkened. He stepped closer to Leo.
"What else did you see?"
Leo sniffed, trying to breathe through his tears.
"I saw… a man hitting Mother…"
Eyan's eyes widened violently.
Velco.
The name echoed like thunder inside his mind.
Leo continued weakly.
"I also saw Mother dying… You were crying beside her… and there was a child too… he was crying…"
Confusion flickered across Eyan's face.
He grabbed Leo's shoulders urgently.
"That was you. How can you see yourself."
Leo shook his head slowly.
"No… it was not me. I was somewhere else… and there was a woman beside me."
Both Eyan and Luca stiffened.
"Leo (8 years old)…?" they called together.
Leo swallowed.
"No...she called me… 'Zeradros.'"
Silence fell like a blade.
Aranel's grip on the child tightened.
Eyan and Luca exchanged a stunned look.
They had never spoken that name in front of him.
Not once.
Eyan's voice came out low… strained.
"She called you Zeradros… What else did she say? What did you talk about?"
Leo wiped his wet cheeks.
"I was crying… I kept calling for 'Mother'. Then that woman asked me… if I had any wish."
Eyan repeated the word like it was poison.
"A wish…"
Leo nodded.
"She said… she would grant it. But I had to give her a sacrifice."
Fear crept into Luca's eyes.
Eyan's throat went dry.
"Did you make the wish?"
Leo looked at him.
"Yes."
Eyan felt his heart stop.
"What… did you wish for?"
Leo's lips trembled.
"I wished… for Mother's life."
The world spun.
Realisation struck Eyan like lightning.
He slowly turned toward Luca.
"You told me Leo (8 years old) returned to his world… Was that a lie?"
Luca's face drained of colour.
"No… I swear I did not lie. No one saw him wake from that deep sleep… no one saw him leave."
Eyan's vision blurred with tears.
"That means… my little boy sacrificed his own life… for his mother…"
He cupped Leo's face with shaking hands.
"Did that woman grant your wish?"
Leo nodded faintly.
"Yes… But there was a condition."
Eyan leaned closer urgently.
"What condition?"
Leo squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remember. "I… I could not hear it…"
Luca exhaled slowly.
"If what Leo is saying is true… then Sister-in-law is alive."
Hope and terror clashed inside Eyan's chest.
"You told me you could not find her body… five and a half years ago… when she fell into the river."
His voice trembled.
"It was because she was alive…"
Leo suddenly looked up.
"Five and a half years ago… in the river?"
Eyan froze.
"But Father… you told me Mother died five years ago."
Silence.
Then Eyan spoke quietly.
"No. I lied. Your mother died five and a half years ago…After she died she fell into the river when I was bringing her back home."
"River…" Leo whispered.
His mind began racing.
Memories… fragments… voices.
Then suddenly—
"Mother Sia said… she was beside the river five and a half years ago too."
.
.
.
To be continued—