- 3 minutes ago
My Heir Was In The Stable HD
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00:01I saved a slave whose tongue had been cut out.
00:04He looked about the same age as my son, but the flame mark on his neck was unmistakable.
00:09That bond belonged to House Valon alone.
00:11It was our bloodline, and ours only.
00:14My son, though, was with his father right now, celebrating his tenth birthday.
00:19I swallowed the blood rising in my throat and forced myself to think clearly.
00:23Then the sound of beatings came from the stable.
00:26And that flame mark drove into my chest like a curved blade.
00:32Beat him to death, you filthy little bastard!
00:34Stealing feed from the young master's purebred horse!
00:38A small figure lay curled on the ground, covered in foul-smelling mud.
00:43His mouth and nose were bleeding from the blows, but his eyes...
00:46His eyes were fierce, defiant, like he was ready to take everyone down with him.
00:53He looked exactly like my father in the heat of battle.
00:56When the killing rage took hold, my heart sank.
01:01Stop. Right now.
01:04One command.
01:05The years of war behind my voice dropped those single hands to their knees before they could think.
01:11My lady?
01:13They scrambled and crawled, collapsing at my feet.
01:18The mute slave seized the moment, loosened his bite, crawled back into the corner, and watched me with guarded eyes.
01:26I walked toward him, one step at a time.
01:29He couldn't have been more than ten, starved down to skin and bone.
01:33Beneath his thin rags, whip scars and frostbite wounds crisscrossed his entire body.
01:38Old injuries buried under new ones.
01:42Ten years.
01:44Had he been sleeping and eating in this stable with the animals for ten years?
01:48My hand trembled as I reached out to touch his head.
01:51He swapped it away like a startled wild thing and exposed a dark red birthmark.
01:57Shaped like a flame.
01:59The bloodline mark of House Valon.
02:04The Valon bloodline runs hot in the vein.
02:07That mark looks like living fire.
02:10Lucas, the son I'd raised for ten years, didn't have it.
02:13I always thought he took after his father, Julian.
02:18The truth had been right in front of me the whole time.
02:21My own flesh and blood, dumped in a stable.
02:24Living alongside animals for ten years.
02:28I pulled off my cloak and wrapped it around him, filth and stench be damned, and held him tight.
02:34He went surage for a moment.
02:36Perhaps it was the first warmth he'd ever felt.
02:39The ferocity in his eyes dimmed, just slightly.
02:43Don't be afraid.
02:45Come with me.
02:47I didn't take him to the main wing.
02:50Instead, I brought him to my private vault.
02:52The one where I kept my personal assets.
02:56The one only I knew about.
02:59I gave him a name.
03:01Kale.
03:02Kale Valon.
03:03I am the only daughter of Duke Roland Valon.
03:06Years ago, I set aside my armor.
03:09Brought with me a vast fortune in dowry.
03:12And married down.
03:13To a lowborn scholar named Julia Ashfield.
03:17I spent years pulling him up by his bootstaps.
03:21Until he sat in the highest seat in the kingdom.
03:24Royal Chancellor.
03:25Everyone said the Chancellor was devoted and lovingly henpeckered.
03:29Our son, Lucas, was accomplished in both letters and arms.
03:33The king himself had named him heir.
03:36Today was Lucas' 10th birthday.
03:38The estate was packed with guests.
03:41I reached out to check the back of his neck, but he instinctively pulled away.
03:46And ran straight into the arms of Lillian, the healer.
03:49She was Julian's childhood friend from the same village, taken in after her family fell on hard times.
03:55The day I gave birth, I'd lost consciousness from a difficult labor.
04:00Lillian, as the attending healer, had moved freely in and out of the delivery room.
04:05Julian had waited anxiously outside.
04:08When I came to, they placed a wrinkled newborn in my arms and told me it was my son.
04:16Julian was standing beside Lillian now, straightening the hairpin on her head as if no one else existed.
04:22His eyes were soft in a way I had never once seen in ten years of marriage.
04:28I looked at Lucas, at his almond-shaped eyes, identical to Lillian's, and the hand resting on my sword hilt
04:35began to shake.
04:37During that labor, I had fallen unconscious for three full days.
04:42No reason given.
04:44No explanation ever offered.
04:47Julian, my dear devoted husband.
04:51What exactly did you swap out?
04:56Mama, I want that one!
04:58Lucas was pointing at the birthday cake, but he wasn't talking to me.
05:01He was talking to Lillian.
05:03She shot me a timid glance, then said softly,
05:06Young master, your lady mother is right here.
05:09Mind your manners.
05:10She said, mind your manners.
05:12But her hands were already cutting the cake and lifting it to his lips.
05:16Lucas swallowed it in one bite and beamed.
05:19Lillian's the only one who actually cares about me.
05:22Not like some people, always forcing me to train with the sword.
05:25Some people, I was his mother.
05:29To give him a fighting chance among the nobility, I had hired the finest tutors money could buy for both
05:35scholarship and combat and driven him hard day and night.
05:40And this was what I'd become to him, a grievance.
05:43Julian laughed and smoothed things over.
05:45He's still young.
05:47Kids say things.
05:49Don't take it to heart, darling.
05:50As he spoke, he casually reached over and smoothed out a crease on Lillian's collar.
05:54Practiced.
05:55Effortless.
05:56Like he'd done it a thousand times.
05:58A sharp-eyed guest nearby made a joke of it.
06:01The chancellor really is generous.
06:03That's quite the attention for a household employee.
06:06Julian didn't even blink.
06:08We're from the same village.
06:09Of course I look out for her.
06:11How amusing.
06:13Looked out for her so well their son got her exact eyes.
06:17Lucas picked up the first slice of birthday cake.
06:20He didn't give it to me, the woman who'd carried him for nine months.
06:25He didn't give it to Julian either.
06:27He took it carefully with both hands and handed it to Lillian.
06:32Lillian's always been delicate.
06:33She needs the best piece.
06:35It'll do her good.
06:37Lillian put on her most flustered, grateful expression.
06:40But the corner of her eye slid toward me, sharp with something that looked very much like a dare.
06:48Oh, this isn't really proper, is it?
06:50Lucas announced loudly.
06:52In this house, what I say goes.
06:55Right, Dad?
07:02Of course.
07:03It's your birthday.
07:05You're the boss today.
07:09What a happy family.
07:13The crystal glass in my hand gave a sharp crack and shattered.
07:16Dread wine ran through my fingers and dripped onto my skirt.
07:20The room went silent.
07:21A flicker of panic crossed Julian's eyes before he frowned.
07:25What are you doing?
07:26It's a celebration.
07:27Blood on a day like this is a terrible omen.
07:29I dropped the broken glass stone and wiped my hand with a silk cloth.
07:36Slipped.
07:38I'm going to change.
07:40Carry on.
07:40As I turned to leave, I heard Lucas mutter under his breath.
07:44Such a kill, Locke.
07:46Always walking around with that face.
07:48I didn't break stride.
07:51I am Elara Valon, commander of the Valon Legion.
07:55My tears are for soldiers who die in battle.
07:58They will never for domestic affairs.
08:00I didn't go to my chambers.
08:01I went around to the stone terrace in the rear courtyard.
08:04Julian's favorite spot.
08:07Sure enough, footsteps came hurrying in not long after.
08:12Dad, when's that old witch gonna die already?
08:15Soon.
08:17Once I get my hands on the Valon Legion command seal,
08:20I'll send her to meet her maker.
08:22Lillian's voice came next, honeyed and trembling.
08:25Julian, I'm scared.
08:26That woman kills without blinking.
08:28What if she finds out?
08:31Finds out?
08:32She's just a woman who potters around the kitchen all day.
08:35She's got nothing left of the soldier she used to be.
08:37Kale is such a good boy.
08:39One day, the Valon region will be all yours,
08:42and so will every inch of Ashford estate.
08:45Lillian kissed Lucas.
08:47My sweet boy.
08:48Ten years of calling that woman your mother.
08:50I'm sorry you had to go through that.
08:52Lucas spit in disgust.
08:54I never wanted to call her that anyway.
08:57She always smells like the stable.
08:59It's revolting.
09:01She's not even in your league, mum.
09:03I pressed my back against the stone wall.
09:06The pain in my knuckles was bone deep.
09:10Ten years.
09:12Every last day of it, a lie.
09:16The man sharing my bed.
09:18An animal wearing a human face.
09:21The sun I poured myself into raising.
09:24A creature just waiting for the right moment to bite.
09:28House Valon has served this kingdom with loyalty for generations,
09:31and we had been used as a stepping stone for this filth to climb on.
09:36I didn't step out from behind that wall.
09:39The way I stood now,
09:40no military authority, no evidence.
09:44Storming out would only tip my hand.
09:48A Lada Valon does not go into battle unprepared.
09:54When I returned to the main wing,
09:57Julian was waiting with a cup of sobering tonic.
10:01He looked up with warm concern the moment he saw me.
10:05Darling, where did you go?
10:07I've been looking everywhere for you.
10:08I made this myself.
10:10Drink it while it's hot.
10:11I didn't touch it.
10:15Settling into my seat and adjusting my sleeve, I said.
10:21Julian, I was wandering in the garden just now,
10:24and something came to my mind.
10:26Julian kept his smile.
10:28Oh?
10:29What's that?
10:30Lillian's not getting any younger.
10:32It isn't quite right for her to go on living here indefinitely.
10:36People will gossip.
10:37As lady of this house,
10:39it's my duty to find her a suitable match.
10:43Julian's expression shifted.
10:46Lillian's hasn't been well.
10:47The physician said she can't handle too much stress.
10:51A marriage right now might not be-
10:52All the more reason to lift her spirits.
10:55I've already found someone.
10:57The butcher's son on the east side of town.
11:00Built like an owl.
11:02Her family runs a butcher shop she'd eat well every single day.
11:07He'll have her looking plump and healthy in no time.
11:10The color drenned from Julian's face.
11:12That butcher's son was a notorious drunk.
11:16Three dead wives,
11:18all beaten to death in a stooner.
11:20That's completely out of the question.
11:23Lillian comes from a decent family.
11:24She can't marry a butcher.
11:26I looked at him evenly.
11:29Oh, she thinks a butcher is beneath her.
11:33You were a penniless scholar when I married you.
11:36I didn't complain.
11:40Julian's speechless.
11:42Besides, her parents are gone.
11:44I'm her sister-in-law.
11:46As her sister-in-law and the lady here,
11:49I'm the one responsible for her future.
11:52This is my call to make.
11:55I didn't give him room to argue.
11:58The wedding carriage comes tomorrow morning.
12:05The next day,
12:07music and fan fang out across Ashford Estate
12:09at the crack of dawn.
12:11A red bridal carriage rolled directly up to Lillian's door.
12:16Lillian went white as a sheet
12:18and fainted.
12:20Or pretended to.
12:22Lucas came charging out
12:23and shoved the driver aside.
12:25Get out!
12:26All of you, get out!
12:30You're evil!
12:31You're just jealous of Lillian.
12:32I won't let you do this to her!
12:34I looked at that face.
12:35A face that shared not a drop of my blood
12:37and felt the last flicker of feeling inside me go dark.
12:41I'm doing this for her own good.
12:43Every woman marries eventually.
12:46Does she plan to spend the rest of her life
12:47at Ashford Estate as an old maid?
12:50Are old maids better than marrying a butcher?
12:53Lillian is damned!
12:54Enough!
12:55Lillian came rushing in
12:57and cracked a hard slap across Lucas's face.
13:01That surprised me.
13:03Lillian actually struck his own precious boy.
13:07So that was it.
13:08He was afraid Lucas would let something slip.
13:10Lillian turned to me with an apologetic smile.
13:13Darling, the boy doesn't know better.
13:14But this really is too sudden.
13:16Lillian just fainted.
13:18The physician says she can't be startled.
13:19Couldn't we put this off a little?
13:20I looked at the three of them.
13:23Banding together, holding each other up.
13:25Fine.
13:26Then I'd make them suffer slowly.
13:28Let them feel every inch of it.
13:31Since she's ill,
13:32she should rest properly.
13:34Seal off Lillian's quarters.
13:36No one goes in or out for her good.
13:39She needs complete quiet.
13:41And since she's so weak,
13:42keep her simple diet,
13:44no more rich food.
13:45From now on,
13:47she'll eat nothing but plain porridge and bread.
13:49Lillian had just come around.
13:51When she heard that,
13:52she nearly fainted again.
13:53I looked at the three of them,
13:55huddled together,
13:56holding each other up.
13:57You're sick!
13:58You're trying to starve her to death!
14:00It wasn't a hard kick,
14:01but it was the last one I would ever allow.
14:03I slapped him across the face.
14:05Hard.
14:07Lucas stood there,
14:08stunned,
14:09hand pressed to his cheek,
14:11staring at me like he couldn't believe
14:13what had just happened.
14:14Ten years.
14:15I had never once raised my voice at him,
14:17never my hand.
14:19Until now.
14:22Bring me the house road.
14:24The steward crept forward,
14:26trembling,
14:27and held out an oil-soaked leather strap.
14:32Alara!
14:33Have you lost your mind?
14:34He's ten years old!
14:36You'll kill him with that thing!
14:39You're telling me he's ten years old?
14:47Ten years old.
14:48And already challenging me,
14:51shouting abuse at his elders.
14:53No respect at all.
14:54If I don't act now,
14:56he'll burn this estate down tomorrow.
14:58I am the lady of this house.
15:00I have every right
15:01to discipline my son!
15:03Ah!
15:05When it was done,
15:06I dropped the blooded strap on the floor.
15:11Take the young master to his study.
15:13He's confined until he's copied
15:14the sacred texts one hundred times.
15:16He doesn't eat until it's finished.
15:21After dealing with that mess,
15:23I felt surprisingly refreshed.
15:28Late that night,
15:29I slipped away from everyone
15:30and made my way down
15:31to the private vault.
15:35Kale was inside,
15:37using a wooden stick
15:38to practice strikes
15:39against the shadows on the wall.
15:41The form was rough,
15:42but every movement
15:43carried a reckless ferocity.
15:45It was the kind of drive
15:46that didn't care
15:47if it lived or died.
15:49When he saw me,
15:50he immediately tucked
15:51the stick behind him
15:52and pressed back into the corner,
15:53watching me.
15:55I set down a fine bottle of medicine
15:57and a pork chustle,
15:59roasted until the fat ran golden.
16:03Eat.
16:04He stared at the food.
16:06His throat moved.
16:08But he didn't reach for it.
16:09I tore off a piece
16:10and ate it in front of him.
16:12That was all it took.
16:14He launched himself at it
16:16and ate like he was trying
16:17to make up for every missed meal
16:18at once.
16:19When he finished,
16:20he looked up at me.
16:22Some of the warreness
16:23had left his eyes.
16:26I picked up the wooden stick
16:27and settled into a proper
16:28opening stance.
16:29Do you want revenge?
16:33I didn't treat him like a child.
16:35I treated him like a soldier.
16:36Do you want to grind
16:37every last person
16:38who ever stepped on you
16:39into the dirt beneath your feet?
16:40Cal couldn't speak,
16:41but the fire that blazed up
16:43in his eyes
16:43nearly leaped out of him.
16:45He nodded hard once.
16:47I took his hands
16:48and adjusted his grip,
16:50corrected his posture.
16:51From this day forward,
16:53you are House Valen's wolf.
16:55You learn to hide your fangs
16:56until the moment you can close them
16:58around your enemy's throat.
17:00Meanwhile, Julian dropped
17:01to his knees
17:02outside Lillian's sealed quarters
17:04and begged.
17:06I let him suffer a while,
17:08then played along.
17:10I released Lillian.
17:12But I demoted her
17:13to my personal handmaid.
17:15Her first duty,
17:17washing my feet.
17:20And while I was at it,
17:22I took back full control
17:24of the entire estate.
17:27To make them completely drop
17:29their guard,
17:30I began to flatter
17:32and coddle them.
17:33I deliberately let Lucas
17:35steal the strategic manuscripts
17:37my father had left behind,
17:38so he could run
17:39to his worthless father
17:40and take credit.
17:42Then I dismissed
17:43the strict swordmustry instructor
17:45and replaced him
17:46with a pack of fanning,
17:47idle rich boys
17:48as study companions
17:49and let Lucas throw himself
17:51into gambling dens
17:52and let his training rot.
17:53At the same time,
17:55I took Kael out
17:56to a valley beyond the city
17:57and ran him through hell.
18:01He didn't flinch
18:02from pain,
18:03blood
18:03or injury.
18:05Weighted runs,
18:07barehanded fights
18:08against wild wolves.
18:09He endured it,
18:10all of it without complaint.
18:12Within a single month,
18:13he could draw
18:14a 300-pound warbun.
18:17And he had completely
18:18grasped the essence
18:19of the Valen family
18:20spear style.
18:23Watching him train
18:24sweat pouring down
18:25his face,
18:26I knew with absolute
18:28certainty,
18:30this is the true
18:31bloodline of House Valen.
18:36Then came the day
18:37of the Royal Autumn Hunt.
18:39This year's hunt
18:40carried particular weight,
18:42because after 10 years
18:43holding the northern border,
18:44my father,
18:46Duke Roland Valen,
18:47had finally returned
18:48in triumph.
18:51This hunt was my father's
18:53way of testing the mettle
18:54of the capital's noble sons,
18:55and he'd arranged
18:56every detail himself.
18:58Julian had a fine set
18:59of chainmail
18:59custom forged for Lucas,
19:01sparing no expense,
19:02so the boy could make
19:03an impression
19:03on his grandfather.
19:05Lucas rode out
19:06on his purebred horse
19:07at the head of the procession,
19:09chin in the air.
19:10Lillian was supposed
19:11to be a handmaid,
19:12but Julian had quietly
19:14smugged her along,
19:15dressed as a traveling healer.
19:17I brought only one person,
19:19Kale.
19:20He wore a black iron mask
19:22and an ordinary guard's
19:23uniform tucked
19:24into my escort detail.
19:26He looked completely
19:27unremarkable.
19:28When we reached
19:28the hunting grounds,
19:29the noble sons
19:30were already sharpening
19:31their nerves
19:32and their blades.
19:33Up on the platform,
19:34my father stood
19:34in full military dress.
19:36His hair had gone white,
19:37but the force in him
19:38had not dimmed.
19:39His gaze swept the field
19:40like a hawk's.
19:41Today,
19:41the man who brings down
19:43the white-marked
19:43Winver takes
19:45my warblade,
19:46companion of thirty years,
19:47and I will grant him
19:48one wish.
19:49Whatever he asks.
19:51The crowd erupted.
19:53That tiger was the apex
19:54predator of the hunting grounds,
19:56and Bane was the symbol
19:58of the Valon Legion itself.
19:59Lucas' eyes lit up.
20:01Dad, that tiger's mine.
20:02If Grandfather gives me
20:03the blade,
20:04nobody in the Valon region
20:05will dare to question
20:06and dismiss me again.
20:07Go.
20:08Show your Grandfather
20:09what you can do.
20:10I've already arranged
20:11men to shadow you
20:12and make sure
20:13you come out on top.
20:14The horn sounded.
20:16A hundred horses
20:17exploded from the line
20:18and thundered into the trees.
20:22Lucas charged into the forest
20:24at the head
20:25of a small army of escorts.
20:26He had no idea
20:27that I'd already had
20:28bait laid inside that forest.
20:30Bait dreamt
20:31in the exact cologne
20:32Lucas always wore,
20:34the same scent
20:35that drives tigers
20:36into a frenzy.
20:37I glanced back at Kale.
20:41He gave a small nod,
20:43peeled away from the main group,
20:45and disappeared silently
20:46into the far edge
20:47of the tree line.
20:48The game begins.
20:56The sounds came quickly,
20:58animal shouts tearing
21:00from the trees,
21:01followed by shouts of panic.
21:02The tiger!
21:03It's enormous!
21:04Run!
21:05It's gone mad!
21:09Every last one
21:10of the pampered young nobles
21:11who'd been riding
21:11at Lucas's back
21:12took one look
21:13at the real thing
21:13and scattered
21:14like startled birds.
21:15Lucas was swept off course
21:16in the chaos.
21:17His purebred horse
21:18reared in terror
21:19and bolted.
21:20Help!
21:20Dad!
21:21Somebody help me!
21:22The white marked tiger
21:23burst from the undergrowth,
21:24eyes burning red,
21:25launching itself
21:25straight at Lucas, the cologne. It had locked on. Lucas's horse buckled at the front legs and sent
21:31him tumbling into a mud pit. That fine custom chain art, worth a small fortune, now pinned him
21:36to the ground like a shell he couldn't shed. Lucas's eyes rolled back. A dark stain spread
21:40across the front of his trousers. The tiger's jaws were closing in on his throat. Then, at the last
21:45possible moment, a dark shape dropped from the teatops. Kale locked his legs around the animal's
21:49ribcage like iron clamps, one hand pressing down on the tiger's skull, the other gripping the
21:53splintered shaft of a broken spear. The tiger thrashed and bucked, trying to throw him. Kale
21:58didn't move. He found the throat, the one spot where the great cat had no defense, thud, the sound of
22:04steel pletting flesh. The broken spear drove deep. Blood sprayed across the boy's black clothing in a
22:09wide arc. The tiger let out one last desperate cry, and then the massive body crashed to the ground and
22:14went still. Kale rose from the carcass. His spine was straight as a rounce. Up on the platform, my
22:19father's pupils shrank to points. His whole body was shaking.
22:23That technique, that's the Valens reversal. Our lost spear form. I thought it was gone forever.
22:30Kale reached up and pulled the black iron mask from his face. Beneath it was a sharp, composed face.
22:36The brow, the jaw, the set of his eyes, carved from the same mold as my father in his youth.
22:41Unmistakable. My father forgot himself entirely. He leaped down from the platform and crossed the field
22:47in long strides, eyes wide and unbelieving. The resemblance. It's extraordinary. This boy.
22:57He looked straight at me. Elara. Who is this child?
23:05I stepped forward and tore open the worn cloth at Kale's shoulder. A dark red flyam-shaped birthmark
23:10blazed into view before every eye on that field. The bloodline mark of House Valen. Passed down
23:15through generations. No one outside the true Valen bloodline could ever carry it. The hunting grounds,
23:20quiet just moments before, exploded into chaos. The nobles and quarters packed around the edges
23:24leaned into each other, whispering, pointing. Then Julian pushed through the crowd. How dare you bear
23:29yourself before the king. Cover yourself at once before you cause offense to his majesty.
23:35I lifted my foot and kicked him straight into the mud at the edge of the field.
23:40I didn't spare him a glance. I turned, faced the king seated on the high platform and my father,
23:45whose whole body was trembling, and dropped to both knees. Ten years ago, I nearly died bringing
23:49his child into this world, all for Julian Ashford's sake. And yet this man, this pillar of false
23:55virtue had been plotting against me from the very beginning. I raised my hand and pointed directly
24:00at Lillian, who had been cowering behind a wall of guards, shaking. He conspired with his childhood
24:04friend, this healer Lillian, to secretly swap the bastard child they conceived together into my bed,
24:10while my own son, my flesh and blood, the only true heir of House Valen, was thrown without mercy
24:14into the estate stables. Drew Kale in front of me and pushed up both his sleeves. The boy's lean arms
24:19were
24:19a map of damage, whip scars, burn marks, and years of layered wounds, old ones buried beneath new ones,
24:23not a single patch of unmarked skin. For ten full years, my child slept and ate alongside the animals.
24:29He ate animal mixed with blood. He has been beaten and cursed without end. Even the lowest servants on
24:36that estate grind him under feet. The gathered nobles erupted in uproar. Those quarters who had
24:42spent years calling Julian a brother, praising his grace and refinement. Every last one of them now
24:46wore an expression of undisguised horror. Julian, waist deep in mud, found some last savage reserve of
24:51spiders' death closed in around him. He clawed his way out on all fours and jebbed a finger at me,
24:56voice cracking with fury. Alara Valen, you faithless, scheming witch! You want to hold
25:00on to the estate's assets so badly that you drag some unknown urchilin off, pass him off as Valen
25:05blood! He didn't bother wipe the fill from his face. He flung himself at the platform, pounding his
25:10forehead against the ground. Your Majesty, I beg you to see the truth! Lillian and I are innocent,
25:14we have never once crossed a line! This bastard is obviously the spawn of this woman's own affair,
25:19conceived behind my back with another man. Now she's afraid I'll expose her and cast her out,
25:25so she's turning it around and dragging my name through the mud!
25:29I let him finish. Then I gave a cold laugh. I humbly request that His Majesty summon the Royal
25:34Physician to administer the bloodline reagent, here, in front of everyone. The reagent properties
25:38are absolute. It will not bind unless the blood is that of a true parent and child. Not even close
25:42chin can fool it. The moment Julian heard the words bloodline reagent, the colour left his face
25:47entirely. He stumbled backward. Absurd! This is sorcery! It proves nothing! I refuse!
25:54You don't get to refuse. Two Royal Guards stepped forward like walls of iron and locked down Julian's
25:59shoulders. The Royal Physician came forward at a brisk pace. White cerium bowl in hand,
26:04silver needle glinting, my blood, then Kale's. Both fell into the clear reagent, one drop after another.
26:10The two drops moved through the liquid, drifting, circling, seeking, and then merged completely
26:15into a single, full, perfect bead. They merged! They actually merged!
26:22King slammed his fist against the throne. Julian Ashfield! You treacherous, lying snake!
26:29What do you have to say for yourself now? Seize them! Both of them! Now!
26:35The Royal Guards drew their blades, cold steel catching the light, pressing towards Julian's
26:40throat. Lillian, who had spent the whole time hiding at the back of the crowd playing the victim,
26:45went completely to pieces. She threw herself at Julian on hands and knees, grabbing his legs.
26:50Julian, say something! You're the Royal Chancellor! Do something! Tell His Majesty everything we did, we did for
26:56our future! For our child! Julian looked down at her like she was something that had crawled out of a
27:00grave.
27:01To save his own neck and his official title, he had no use for old affection. He drew his foot
27:06back
27:06and drove it into her without hesitation. Get off me, you poison woman!
27:11Lillian hit the ground, coughing blood. Julian threw himself at the platform,
27:15banging his head on the ground. Your Majesty! I have been wronged! I swear it on my life! It was
27:21her,
27:22this viper! She planned every last bit of it! The switching of the children, the whole conspiracy,
27:26it was her scheme from start to finish! I was deceived! I'm a victim in this too, Your Majesty,
27:31I swear it! Lillian lay in the mud, staring up at him with eyes that couldn't process what they were
27:35seeing. The man who had sworn the world to her not an hour-er was now pushing her toward a
27:40grave with
27:40both hands. She clutched her chest. A long, broken sound clawed it way out of her throat,
27:45somewhere between a laugh and a scream. A victim? Julian Ashfield, you ungrateful,
27:51backstabbing dog! Lillian came completely undone. She dragged herself half upright from the mud on
27:55one arm and screamed at them. Your Majesty! I have crimes to report against Julian Ashfield!
28:01Over the past ten years, he used his position as royal chancellor to embezzle military funds from
28:05the northern border, 200,000 gold coins in total! He also rigged the noble selection
28:10process selling recommendations to the highest bidder! Every ledger and every piece of evidence
28:15is hidden behind the third secret panel behind the display cabinet in his study! Julian's face
28:21contorted in pure panic. He lunged at her like a man possessed, hands scratching to cover her mouth.
28:26Shut up, you stupid woman! I will kill you!
28:30The king surged to his feet on the high platform, fury shaking the air. Commander of the Royal Hard,
28:36take your men and tear Ashvisate apart! I want those ledgeries found if you have to dig up the
28:41foundations! I watched those two, the pair who had made my life a living nightmare, tear each other
28:46apart in the mud like ravid animals. I reached into my coat and drew out a rolled sheet of parchment,
28:51already sealed with the House Valencrest. I flicked it up with one hand. It struck Julian's ashy face and
28:56fell. Read it carefully, Julian Ashfield. Every word. That is a decree of disillusion. Our marriage
29:03is over. From this moment, you are no longer an ally of House Valen. You're nothing. A stray dog that
29:09the whole world wants dead. Less than half an hour later, the commander of the Royal Guard came
29:13calloping back to the hunting grounds. A thick stack of ledgers and letters was laid before the king.
29:18The king had barely turned three pages before the fury on his face threatened to set the entire field
29:22delight. A fine royal chancellor indeed. By royal decree, Julian Ashfield is stripped of every title
29:28and office effective immediately. His assets are to be seized in full. All those complicit are to be
29:34punished without exception. Under the king's thundering order, the guards dragged all three
29:39of them into the darkness of the royal dungeon's death row to await judgment. Stripped of the deep
29:44purple robes that had marked him as royal chancellor, Julian now wore a reeking, filthy prison uniform. The
29:49dungeon saw no daylight. Rats and cockroaches moved freely through the rotting straw. When feeding
29:53time came, the jailer tossed half a stale hardened loaf through the iron bars like throwing scraps to
29:57a dog. Back off! That's mine! The man who had once embodied scholarly refortment now lunged like a
30:02starving animal. He drove his foot into Lillian's stomach and clutched the stale bread to his chest.
30:06Lillian's legs were already broken. That kick tore a gush of blood from her mouth. And Lucas,
30:10rather than help his own birth mother, threw himself at Julian and sunk his teeth into his arm,
30:13trying to wrench the bread away. Dad, please! I'm starving! Just one bite! Please! Get away from me!
30:19Useless waste! Ten years I fed you and for what? Julian backhanded Lucas across the cell. The loving
30:24father. The devoted family. All of it stripped away by half a mouldy loaf. The dungeon took its toll on
30:30Julian in other ways too. Political enemies he had crushed under his boot over the years had bribed the
30:34guards. And every day brought fresh humiliations. Drinking from buckets. Performing like an animal on
30:40command. The fall from the heights to this had shattered something in him beyond repair.
30:44Hilara Vallin, you poisonous witch. Even if I come back as a ghost, even if I have to sell my
30:49soul,
30:50I will bring your entire family down with me into the grave!
30:56That very night, a shadow disguised as a meal delivery guard moved silently to Julian's cell door.
31:01My lord chancellor, it's good to see you're still breathing. The figure kept his voice low and
31:05pushed up his sleeve, revealed the wolf's head tattoo of the northern border tribes. Julian's eyes
31:10went sharp. He knew that mark. This was one of the tribal spies he had secretly dealt with years
31:15ago, back when he'd been skimming the northern border's military funds.
31:1810,000 northern troops are massed and ready at the border. Our chieftain has made his terms clear.
31:24All he needs is the city defence layout of the royal capital, the one you kept hidden from your time
31:30in
31:30office. All you gotta do is use your guys inside the dungeon, have them open the gates, and we hit
31:35the
31:35city together. When it's done and the city falls, you receive half the territory. We crown you the
31:40one and only non-royal king this land has ever seen. The hunger for power, and the hatred for me.
31:45The two of them together consumed whatever was left of Julian's reason. He bit open his
31:49finger and drew the contact signal onto a strip of cloth. The next day, during the exercise hour,
31:53Lillian smashed her drinking bowl and picked up a shard of sharp ceramic. Without hesitation,
31:56she dragged it across her own face, deep enough to reach bone, the features she had always been so proud
32:00of. She threw herself on the ground, rolling and waning and laughing, performing a convincing breakdown to pull the
32:05off on broken legs. Using what remained of her charm and a promise of gold hidden outside the city,
32:10she seduced a greedy, lutherish guard into carrying Julian's message to his remaining contacts in the
32:14capital. She believed she was earning her way out, buying her survival. What she didn't know was that
32:18from the moment I threw down that desolation jeet, the royal dungeon had been ringed, inside and out,
32:24with my own operatives. That treasonous letter was on my desk, intact, within half an hour of leaving
32:29the cell. I traced the bloodstains on the letter with my fingertip, a cold smile curling at the corner of
32:33my
32:33teeth. A non-royal king, huh? Sending in the wolves. Bold move. I dropped the letter into the burning coal
32:39bosie and watched it catch. Since he wants to play, I'll see the game through to the end. Let that
32:46guard go.
32:47I want to draw them all out into the open and cut them out at the root.
32:53Three nights later, the royal dungeon caught fire. The blaze came from nowhere and spread fast,
33:01swallowing half the prison in minutes. Under cover of the chaos, with the northern spy team moving
33:06silently through the smoke, the door to Julian's gas was eased open. Julian, take me with you! You
33:11promised me you said I'd be your queen! Lucas was beside her, choking on the smoke, both fists
33:15knotted in Julian's coat. Both of you, get off me, you're dead weight! Something flickered through
33:20Julian's eyes. Cold, final, decided. He kicked Lillian into the burning timber without looking down. Then he
33:26planted his boot on his own son's spine and used the boy as a step to vault himself over the
33:30flames.
33:33Julian, rot in hell! Lillian's streak tore through the fire behind him. Julian didn't look back. He
33:40vanished into the dark. He ran without stopping, slipping back into the city and making for a
33:44hidden abandoned chapel on the outskirts of the capital. Behind the altar base, buried under a layer
33:49of dust and stone, he dropped to his knees and clawed at the earth with bare hands until he pulled
33:53free the city defense layout. The northern border assassin commander and the garrison military
33:58traitors Julian had bought with gold and promised titles were already waiting inside. They sealed
34:02their pact in blood. Tonight, they would break open the royal capital. Back at the dungeon, the prison
34:08fire was brought under control by the royal guard. Lillian was still breathing, barely, scorched beyond
34:14recognition. Lucas encrushed under a falling bame during the stampede. Both legs gone, he would never walk
34:20again. The warden interrogated them through the night. Faced with their own executions,
34:25that mother and son came completely apart. I know where he hid the money for the rebellion!
34:28I know the contact codes! He's the traitor! I was forced in this, I swear! At the same time,
34:34across the city, the royal council chamber blazed with candlelight. Your majesty, I have a request.
34:40Deploy 80% of the capital's city guard to the outer districts immediately. Leave 500 royal guard
34:44soldiers to hold the palace. That is all we need. The king was quiet for a long moment. He looked
34:49at me
34:49steadily. Then, without a second's hesitation, he brought his palm down hard on the table.
34:53Granted, tonight I place this kingdom, its people, its walls, and my own life entirely in your hands,
35:00General Vallon. It was a devastatingly dangerous gamblet. An empty city laid out like fate.
35:06A deliberate illusion constructed to draw the rebels into a killing ground. I needed Julian to
35:11believe that layout was accurate. I needed him certain the palace was exposed and poorly defended,
35:16hungry enough and desperate enough to walk straight into the trap.
35:21The night was moonless. The air tasted like blood. Julian had put on black armor. He carried a sword
35:29and walked at the front. Behind him, over a thousand northern assassins and Turnged garrison soldiers.
35:34They moved along the routes marked on the layout. The resistance they met was almost nothing. A few
35:37scattered guards easily cut through. They walked into the inner palace grounds without breaking stride.
35:41Julian stepped over the bodies without slowing down. The throne room plaza opened up ahead of him.
35:46The seat of absolute power, right there, almost close enough to touch. Julian threw his head back
35:51and laughed at the empty sky. The sound was raw and unhinged.
35:55Elara Vallon, get out here and die. This is the end of your whole family. I'm going to take your
36:00head
36:00off myself and hang it on the city wall for everyone to see. You? Is that so? In the next
36:04instant,
36:05every torch on every white marble palace wall ignited at once. Thousands of flames snapping to life
36:09in a single breath. Julian's head snapped back. There I stood. Silver battle armor,
36:13the Vallon warblade bane, gripped in my hand. At the very top of the steps before the throne room
36:16doors. And beside me, stacked along every tier of Palawal above and behind, the 10,000 cavalry of
36:20the Vallon legion who had been waiting in silence for hours. Countless archers with bows drawn full.
36:25Every arrowhead fixed on a target in the plaza below. It was a net with no exit. Julian looked around
36:30at his men. Hunters who had a prey and one brat boy in the next. The sword fell from his
36:35hand and rang against the stone.
36:38Julian Ashfield, I told you once before, House Vallon does not go into battle unprepared.
36:43I look down at him the way you look at something rotting on the ground. That layout you thought
36:47was your winning card? I threw it to you. It was bait. Strike! Bane swept down. The battle cry that
36:54answered it shucked the palace to its foundations. The Northerns and rebel soldiers, for all their
36:57reputation, were nothing in front of a real steel tide. They were ground apart in the time it takes a
37:01stick of incense to burn. Julian came apart completely. He could see it was finished. Eyes wild. He
37:06snatched a sword from the ground and seized a court attendant by the throat. One last human shield.
37:11One last attempt to break through. Don't touch them! The command split the night air. Kyle dropped
37:16from above in silver light armor, fluid and fast as a hunting cat. The long spear in his hands moved
37:23like water finding its path, and then the Vallon reversal technique unrolled. The spear tipped screaming
37:27through the air. The spear found both of Julian's sword tendals and both of his heel tendals in a single
37:31arc.
37:32Julian's scream was animalistic. He folded and went down into the blood pooling beneath him.
37:36Cale set his boot on Julian's face. The king emerged from the throne room doors surrounded
37:40by hundreds of royal guard soldiers. He looked down at Julian, gasping, broken, face in the dirt.
37:45Julian Ashford, I strip you of the last dignity you have left as a man. By royal decree, this traitor
37:52is to be taken to the Royal Gate Execution Ground and put to death by a thousand cuts. His entire
37:57line
37:57exterminated. Three days later, the Royal Gate Execution Ground was packed so tightly, the crowd
38:02spilled into the surrounding streets. Word of Julia's treachery had spread through the capital. The
38:06people were not there to mourn. Rotten vegetables and garbage rained down on the platform from every
38:11direction. The Executioner's blade fell again and again, and Julian lasted three full days under the
38:16slow cutting before he finally stopped breathing. The blood that ran from the platform turned black
38:19and reeking. A wicked man left the world in pieces, with nothing to bury. In the dungeon, when word of
38:24Julian's death reached them, Lillian and Lewis lost whatever was left of their minds. The infected
38:29burns across Lillian's face and the wounds on her broken legs had gone semic, crawling with rot.
38:33She died in agony, starving, consumed from the outside in. Lucas, as a traitor's family member,
38:38was sentenced accordingly. Tendums cut, then discarded like refuse on the wasteland outside
38:42the city walls. In the dark of that night, a pack of half-starved wild dogs found him.
38:46There was nothing left to identify by morning. Evil had met its end. All debt were finally paid.
38:56Three days after the rebellion was crushed, the throne room stood in solemn ceremony. The king
39:02overruled the objections of every narrow-minded old courtman who dared raise a voice. He stepped
39:07down from the throne himself and placed the purple gold tiger steel, the symbol of supreme military
39:12command over the entire kingdom, into my open hands. Alara Valon, hear your title. House Valon has
39:19served this kingdom with unwavering loyalty across generations and has now saved the crown itself.
39:23By my decree, I name you Grand Duchess Protector of this realm, equal in rank to the three pillars
39:27of the court. You kneel to no one. Your servant receives this honor with gratitude.
39:33When I turned, I found Kale standing at the front of the military ranks. This boy, who had grown up
39:38eating filth in a stable, now stood in the silver armor of House Valon, straight and still, exactly where
39:43he belonged. I had already entered his name into the Valon bloodline record. He was formally recognized as the
39:48young master of the Valon legion. He looked at me. In those eyes, so much like my father's,
39:53a fire burned that nothing would ever put out. Ten years of shadow, swept clean in the light of this
39:59breaking dawn. I put on the deep red commander's cloak and climbed the steps to the top of the
40:04capital's command platform. The autumn wind moved hard, pulling at my hair. Below me, the Valon legion
40:10stretched ten miles beyond the city walls, blades and spears like a forest, the breath of ten thousand
40:14soldiers rising in the cold air. I thought back across those ten years, the suffocating back rooms,
40:18the laughable marriage, all of it. Nothing. A pebble on the long road of Alara Valon's life. To hell with
40:23playing the dutiful wife. To hell with obedience and submission. I drew gain slowly from its sheath and
40:29raised it toward the sky. From this day forward, this vast land and every soldier who rides, this is where
40:34I belong.
40:37Less than two weeks after Julian's execution, after Lillian and Lucas met their end, the chancellor's
40:42mansion plaque had already come down. In its place, three gilded characters hung above the gate. Valon
40:47Manar. When the sunlight hit the gold, it was almost blinding. My handmaid Ivy stepped close and lowered
40:52her voice. My lady, the audit of the household staff is complete. Sixteen servants remain who are loyal to
40:58Julian and Lillian. Five of them are still quietly passing information to Ashford's distant relatives,
41:02keeping tabs on the manor. A cold edge moved through my eye. I should have expected it. Julian
41:07had spent ten years building his network inside this house. You don't cut out roots like that
41:12overnight. The worst poison in a household war was never the open blade. It was the rat hiding in
41:16the corridor, waiting for the moment to gnaw through the foundations. Who's leading them? One of Lillian's
41:23former personal maids. She's been assigned to sweep the rear courtyard. She's been meeting regularly with
41:27Julian's distant cousin Marcus, took money from him, and apparently made promises to avenge
41:32the Chancellor when the chance comes. Kale stepped forward. He picked up the charcoal pen from the
41:36table and pressed two words onto the paper in firm, deliberate strokes. Every line cut through to the
41:41other side. Not a trace of hesitation. Nothing like a child of ten. I reached over and set my hand
41:47on
41:47his shoulder. Something in my chest tightened, then hardened back into resolve. The ten years of
41:51beatings and hunger and humiliation he had survived in that stable were not something I could simply let
41:55pass. But I would not let him drown in hatred either. And I would not let his hands carry more
41:59blood than
41:59they needed to. Not yet. Marcus is small. Someone bigger is moving him. We cast the net wide.
42:07And let them step into it themselves.
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