Lina lay unconscious on the cold floor, her breaths shallow but steady.
Rhea knelt beside her, still shaken by what had just happened.
Adrian stood frozen, staring at the place where the false mark had burned and vanished.
His eyes were haunted… almost tortured.
Rhea placed a shaky hand on his arm.
"Adrian… What are you thinking?"
He didn't answer.
His jaw tightened.
His breaths grew slower—controlled—but hiding a storm underneath.
Finally, he spoke.
"The curse has never done this before," he murmured. "Never faked a mark. Never threatened through another."
Rhea swallowed. "Why now?"
Adrian turned to her.
"Because it knows I'm close to breaking it."
Her heart skipped a beat.
"You can break it?"
Adrian hesitated… then nodded once.
"Yes. But the cost is—"
He stopped mid-sentence, as if the words physically hurt him.
Rhea stepped in front of him, refusing to let him avoid her gaze.
"What cost, Adrian?"
His eyes softened with the weight of a man carrying a burden too heavy for one soul.
"My life," he whispered.
Rhea felt the floor drop beneath her.
No.
No.
No.
"You can't say that," she breathed. "You can't say it like it's nothing."
Adrian brushed a thumb gently along her trembling cheek.
"For me, your life matters more than mine."
Rhea grabbed his wrist. "You don't get to choose that for me."
He leaned closer, his forehead touching hers.
"I already did."
Rhea's pulse hammered in her throat.
Why did those words feel both terrifying and devastatingly intimate?
Before she could reply, a sudden crash echoed from deeper inside the forbidden wing.
Adrian instantly stood, shielding her behind him.
"That came from the ritual chamber," he said darkly.
Rhea frowned.
"What ritual chamber?"
Adrian didn't answer.
Instead, he reached into the inner pocket of his coat and pulled out a silver key—ancient, blackened by centuries, and carved with symbols she didn't recognize.
Rhea's breath caught.
"What's that?"
"The key to the Knight bloodline's ancestral room," Adrian said.
"The place where the curse was born."
Rhea felt a chill crawl up her spine.
"You've been hiding this from me."
Adrian didn't deny it.
"You weren't ready," he said softly.
"And the truth in that room… it changes everything."
He offered his hand.
"Do you trust me enough to see it?"
Rhea hesitated.
She shouldn't trust him.
Not with the curse.
Not with his secrets.
Not with her life.
But her hand… still moved toward his.
Because despite the danger, despite the lies, despite the curse…
Adrian was the only place that felt safe.
She placed her hand in his.
"I trust you," she whispered. "But I want the truth. All of it."
For a heartbeat, Adrian closed his eyes—as if her trust was both a blessing and a wound.
Then he squeezed her hand gently.
"Then stay close."
They walked deeper into the forbidden wing.
The air grew colder.
The walls were carved with faded symbols.
The floor had cracks filled with dried black stains.
Rhea whispered, "This place feels… alive."
Adrian nodded grimly.
"It is."
They reached a tall iron door—carved with runes glowing faint red.
Adrian inserted the key.
The iron pulsed like a heartbeat.
Rhea stepped closer, fascinated and afraid.
"What are those symbols?"
Adrian rested a hand on the door.
"They are seals," he said. "Placed by the first Knight ancestor… the one who angered the spirit."
Rhea exhaled shakily.
"So the curse began with him?"
"No." Adrian turned toward her slowly.
"The curse began with the woman he loved."
Rhea's heart thudded painfully.
Before she could process that, the door groaned and slid open.
Dust swirled.
Cold air poured out like a sigh.
Inside—
A stone pedestal stood in the center of a circular room.
Above it hung a portrait—ruined by time yet still visible.
A woman.
Dark hair. Sharp eyes. A faint, familiar birthmark on her collarbone.
Rhea stepped back, whispering:
"That's… the same mark I have."
Adrian looked at her with something like sorrow.
"That woman is the reason the curse exists."
He paused.
"She was your ancestor."
Rhea's breath caught painfully.
"What?"
Adrian nodded.
"The curse didn't choose you randomly, Rhea."
"It chose you because the blood running in your veins… belongs to the same woman who died for this curse centuries ago."
The room spun.
Rhea placed a hand against the wall to steady herself.
"My family… is tied to the curse?"
"Yes." Adrian's voice softened.
"You were born into this fate long before you knew my name."
Rhea swallowed.
"So this curse… It's not just yours."
He hesitated.
Then nodded once.
"It's ours."
Before Rhea could respond, the candles lining the walls flickered violently.
The portrait's eyes bled dark tears.
And the ghost's voice whispered through the chamber:
"You found the truth…
Now face the consequence."
The door slammed shut behind them.
The curse had awakened.
And it wasn't going to let them leave alive.