Moonwell Estate – Grand Hall
The moment Princess Maika stepped foot into the Moonwell Estate, the very walls seemed to flinch.
Magic pulsed in the air, thick and alert—recognizing her presence like an old creature roused from slumber. The chandeliers above flickered as if uncertain whether to illuminate or bow in reverence. The floor beneath her heels gleamed like a mirror, yet even the polished marble could not outshine the ancient power wrapped around her like a second skin.
Every step she took was silk and steel.
Her aura—elegant, oppressive, commanding—swept through the hall like a storm cloaked in velvet.
Then she stopped.
Maika's crimson eyes narrowed, the quiet shift in her expression enough to freeze the servants mid-breath. A sudden prickling spread across her skin. It wasn't just the wards reacting.
No… this was deeper. Older.
She inhaled—not with her lungs, but with her magic. The estate's air was thick with enchantments. Fertility spells. Concealment sigils. Weaving threads from the forbidden tongue.
And beneath them… thumped a heartbeat.
Faint. Fragile. Yet impossibly strong.
Her own power recoiled in recognition.
> A Nexus heartbeat.
Her voice rang out like silk drawn over a blade.
> "Call the Matriarch. Now."
No one dared disobey. Robes fluttered and shoes clicked urgently as the hall emptied in a heartbeat.
Moments later, the Matriarch arrived, her emerald robes and strands of pearls unable to hide the tightness in her jaw.
"Princess Maika," she greeted with a careful bow. "What an unexpected honor—"
Maika lifted a hand. Her gaze alone silenced the room.
> "There is a child here," she said, voice low, yet edged in steel. "Unborn. Conceived with a fertility spell drawn from the black root. That spell is forbidden without the consent of both parties."
The Matriarch's polished composure cracked, just slightly.
> "The child," Maika continued, stepping forward, "carries my son's blood. His legacy. His power."
Her crimson gaze burned. "Someone under your roof has violated him."
The Matriarch swallowed hard, then lifted a trembling hand.
> "Summon the young witches. All of them."
Within minutes, a line of Moonwell women stood beneath the golden arches of the hall—cloaked in shame, fear, and uncertainty. Among them was her. The one Maika already knew.
Lysandra.
Her pale face and wide eyes gave her away before she ever spoke.
Maika didn't blink.
> "You," she said, her voice laced with ancient judgment. "It's you."
Lysandra gasped. Her hand flew instinctively to her belly, as if the child inside could shield her from what was coming.
"I didn't know!" she stammered. "I didn't know he was your son! I thought—he was just a man. A charming doctor at the bar. I never imagined he was—Caveen."
The Matriarch's lips parted in shock. "Lysandra…"
Lysandra's voice cracked, growing desperate.
"I just wanted a child. One of my own. I didn't want a husband. I didn't want to be bartered in the bride pool like some cursed heirloom!"
Tears streaked her cheeks, but Maika didn't move.
"I used a spell," Lysandra confessed. "Yes. But it was meant to be harmless. A moment of love. I thought I was stealing a night—not a bloodline!"
> Silence fell like snow—soft and suffocating.
Then Maika stepped forward, and the weight of her magic pressed into Lysandra's chest like an iron hand.
> "You used enchantment," Maika said coldly. "You stole his body. His will. You violated the most sacred bond of power—consent. And worse…"
Her gaze flicked down to Lysandra's womb.
> "You carry a child who may destroy the balance of every elite bloodline."
Lysandra's lips trembled. "I didn't mean to—"
"You mean to say you didn't know," the Matriarch cut in, her voice sharp with fury. "But ignorance is not innocence."
She turned to Maika. "What shall we do? A child like this… it shouldn't be possible. The aura I sensed—it was ancient. Wild. Untamable."
Maika's cloak flared as she turned, her every movement a blend of grace and threat.
> "I will speak to my son," she said, her voice a whisper that echoed like thunder. "But understand this—if harm comes to that child… if this estate dares to hide her, use her, or shape her for your own ends…"
Her eyes burned red as fire.
> "I will awaken what remains of the Carellos inside me. And the Council will not stop what follows."
The Matriarch froze. "You… wouldn't…"
Maika smiled. Slowly. Coldly.
> "I would. And you know I can."
Then she turned and swept out of the hall, leaving in her wake a silence that screamed.
Lysandra stood alone now. Shaking. Her hand still cradled the faint swell beneath her gown.
> She had thought this was her choice.
> She had thought this child was her future.
But now…
Now she understood.
> She was carrying not just a child…
> She was carrying a storm.
And that storm bore the blood of a Nexus.
Of a Carello.
Of a legacy the world had buried—and would now tremble to see reborn.