"Blood is thicker than water… but even blood can rot."
The Vartis Family, like all houses blessed by the God of Weeping Stars, is split into two: the Main Family and the Branch Family.
But even the Main Family is fractured—divided into the Upper House and the Lower House.
The Upper House holds the true bloodline.
The Lower House holds the rest—cousins, distant relatives, forgotten limbs of a decaying tree.
Yet the Upper House rules… not because they are noble, but because of a secret they've guarded for centuries.
A tradition so foul that even the Branch Families whisper of it with trembling lips.
Intermarriage.
Brother to sister.
Purity over morality.
Pedigree over sanity.
Daughters of the Upper House are never allowed to marry outside the family. Their worth is measured like relics—potential determines their fate.
And the higher the potential, the more "honor" she has… to be bound to her own brother to birth the next "pure" heir.
It is this grotesque tradition that keeps their lineage potent—and their God satisfied.
The current head of the Vartis Family, King Mehobith, sits on the throne not because he is wise or just… but because his blood is the "purest" among them.
Beside him stands his wife, Merlina, a queen raised not by love but by obligation.
Together, they bore three children:
Nerissa.
Elon.
Liana.
Three heirs.
Three chains.
And three futures shaped by a history they never chose.