“Valoria originally belonged to the Stone Covenant.”
The first rulers were not simply kings.
They were bound to the Guardians.
Each Guardian recognized one bloodline.
Not obedience.
Recognition.
A living key.
When the old dynasty disappeared, the Guardians fell silent.
Centuries later, Aldric’s ancestors took the throne.
The official histories were rewritten.
Elias remembered the golden giant kneeling.
“Queen Elara was from the old bloodline.”
“Yes.”
“And her son…”
Serah stopped.
“You.”
Elias shook his head.
“No.”
“I saw the mark on your shoulder.”
“What mark?”
Serah pointed.
Elias pulled aside his torn collar.
A pale shape near his collarbone.
He had always thought it a birthmark.
A circle surrounding three lines.
Serah’s face confirmed everything.
“The Crown Seal.”
Elias stepped back.
“No.”
Serah did not move.
“My name is Elias.”
“Yes.”
“I carry boxes.”
“Yes.”
“I sleep under a bakery.”
“I know.”
“I’m not a prince.”
Serah’s voice softened.
“Those things describe what happened to you.”
She looked toward Mount Arken.
“Not what you are.”
Elias became angry.
“Where was everyone?”
Serah stared.
“What?”
“If I was a prince.”
His voice broke.
“Where were you?”
The question hit harder than any accusation.
Serah looked down.
“I failed.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Aldric discovered the queen’s plan.”
“What plan?”
“To reveal your bloodline publicly when you were born.”
Serah swallowed.
“He ordered the child killed.”
Elias went still.
“I took you from the palace.”
“And my mother?”
“Stayed.”
“Why?”
“To buy time.”
Elias understood before Serah said more.
“She died.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Serah’s eyes filled.
“Aldric.”
The boy turned away.
He did not cry.
Not immediately.
He had never had a mother to mourn before.
Now grief arrived for a woman he could not remember.
That felt unfair.
Serah continued.
“I brought you to a family east of the city.”
“What family?”
“Bakers.”
Elias turned.
The abandoned baker’s shop.
“Yes.”
“They promised to hide you.”
“What happened?”
“Plague.”
He remembered.
Not the people.
Only fever.
A woman’s hands.
Then nothing.
“You survived.”
Serah’s voice cracked.
“I thought you died too.”
“Did you look?”
“For years.”
“And you never found me?”
“No.”
Elias laughed bitterly.
“I was beside the palace.”