The morning arrived, slow and heavy, as though the sun itself had hesitated to rise.
I woke up tangled in the soft sheets of the royal bed, though I couldn't remember when I'd returned from the balcony. A dull ache lingered in my limbs, but it was nothing compared to the storm spinning in my chest. My fingers reached for my forehead,the wound was bandaged. The maids must have helped again.
But it wasn't the bruises that troubled me. It was the weight of something unknown stirring inside me. Like an invisible thread had been tied to my bones, yanking me toward something I couldn't name.
The moment I sat up, the door opened.
Kate entered quietly with a tray of hot soup, tea, and a few fruits. Her eyes lit up when she saw me.
"You're awake early," she said.
I gave a weak smile. "Couldn't sleep long."
Kate set the tray down and sat beside me like a sister would. "Peace said you barely flinched in your sleep last night. She thought mi lord had cast a spell on you."
I raised a brow. "Can he do that?"
Kate grinned. "Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised anymore."
I laughed, just a little, then reached for the tea. I sipped it slowly, letting the warmth trickle into the pit of my chest.
"Kate," I whispered after a while. "That thing you said yesterday... about the forbidden spirits... Do you think it's real?"
She hesitated, then nodded slowly. "I do. But only because I've heard mi lord speak to the court about the 'shifts' in energy. Some of the spells witches were using recently... they shouldn't have been possible. Not without a powerful source waking beneath us."
"You think that's me?"
"I think... someone believes it is," she said gently. "And now, so do I."
I gripped the cup tighter.
"If I'm really the key to all this... I don't want it," I said. "I didn't ask for it."
Kate reached for my hand. "None of us get to choose how the world sees us, mi lady. But you can choose how you face it."
A knock interrupted us.
Kate stood quickly. "Come in."
Leonard stepped in.
His clothes were different,a dark leather cloak draped over his shoulders, a thick strap across his chest, like he had been preparing for something. Or someone.
"Can I speak with her?" he asked Kate.
Kate bowed and gave me a look of reassurance before slipping out.
He shut the door behind her and walked toward me, but stopped short of the bed.
"I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke," he said.
"It's fine," I murmured.
Silence hung thick between us before I broke it.
"Leonard," I said, "do you know who I am?"
His eyes flicked up.
"You're Lisa," he said. "My wife."
"You know that's not what I mean."
He walked over slowly and sat in the chair beside the bed.
"I started suspecting something the first night," he admitted. "When you touched the window and it opened on its own... that kind of energy,it's not human. Not completely."
"I thought it was coincidence."
"It wasn't." His voice dropped. "Lisa, your blood is different. Cecilia wasn't wrong about that. The witches had been searching for someone like you for centuries."
I swallowed hard. "But... what am I then? Not human? A witch?"
He shook his head. "No. You're not a witch. And you're not like me either. You're... something new. Or rather... something very old."
I stared at him.
"There was once a woman," he began, his voice quiet but firm. "Her name was Elaria. She was born from the union of an ancient spirit and a human. Her power was beyond comprehension, so she was hunted by both witches and vampires. They feared her. She could bend time, speak to the dead, heal wounds with a breath."
My mouth parted. "What happened to her?"
"She was betrayed," Leonard said, eyes dark. "Killed in her sleep by her own kind. But before she died, she cursed the ones who wronged her. And she left behind a prophecy that her bloodline would rise again. Stronger. Hidden."
I felt cold all of a sudden. "You think I'm her descendant."
"I don't think, Lisa. I know."
My fingers trembled against the cup. "But how? My parents... they're just humans. Nobles."
He sighed. "Sometimes, blood skips. Sometimes, powers stay dormant until triggered."
I remembered the glowing light. The ease with which the window responded to me. The way I felt like something inside me had woken up that day.
A terrifying thought crossed my mind.
"What if the witches are right?" I said. "What if I am the key to the forbidden spirits? What if I open that gate just by existing?"
Leonard stood and paced the room. "Then we have to make sure no one ever forces you to use that power. The witches, the rogue vampires... anyone."
"But how do we do that?"
He turned to me slowly. "We train you."
My heart skipped. "Train me?"
"I won't let you be helpless again. You almost died, Lisa." His voice cracked. "You almost died because I wasn't there. Because I didn't tell you the truth sooner."
"But... what if I hurt someone?"
"Then hurt me," he said. "But learn. Because if you don't, they'll take you again and next time, they'll kill you before I even reach you."
His eyes burned red again, but this time, I didn't flinch.
I nodded.
"Alright," I said. "Teach me."
⸻
Later that evening, I stood in the castle's lower chamber a cold, stone-walled room that felt like a forgotten vault. There were old weapons on the walls, strange runes on the floor, and torches that glowed with a blue flame.
"Magic responds to emotion," Leonard said, standing behind me. "Fear, love, rage... it's not about chanting words. It's about harnessing what's already inside."
I closed my eyes.
What was inside me?
Pain.
Fear.
Loneliness.
And... something else. Something warm. Something fierce.
When I opened my eyes, the runes beneath my feet shimmered.
Leonard's lips curled into the faintest smile. "You're already doing it."
A shock of energy rushed through me.
Maybe I didn't know who I truly was yet.
But I was ready to find out.
Even if it meant facing the forbidden spirits myself.
Even if it meant... I wasn't just human anymore.