The Final Confession
The empire slept peacefully.
From the highest tower of Astravellia Palace, thousands of golden lights stretched across the capital like stars scattered upon the earth. Laughter echoed from distant taverns. Merchants finished their business beneath moonlit streets. Guards patrolled the walls with confidence.
Everything appeared normal.
Everything appeared safe.
King Aldric stood alone by the window of his private study.
He envied them.
The people sleeping peacefully below.
The people who still believed tomorrow would come.
A cold breeze slipped through the room despite the closed windows.
The candlelight flickered.
The shadows shifted.
Watching.
Waiting.
The king turned away and approached his desk.
There, resting upon polished oak, lay a leather-bound journal.
Empty pages.
Untold truths.
The final burden of a dying man.
Slowly, he sat.
The weight of the crown felt heavier tonight.
Not because it was made of gold.
But because of the blood hidden beneath it.
He opened the journal.
For a long moment, he simply stared at the blank page.
Then he began to write.
———————————————————————————
To the one who finds these pages,
If you are reading this, then fate has reached the end I feared.
History will remember me as a king.
It may even remember me kindly.
History is often generous to the dead.
The truth is not.
———————————————————————————
Thunder rumbled somewhere beyond the horizon.
The king paused.
His gaze drifted toward a glass case standing against the far wall.
Inside rested an ancient scroll.
Time had yellowed its edges.
The ink had faded.
Yet the words remained.
The First Prophecy.
Older than Astravellia.
Older than the Seven Kingdoms.
Older than every crown that had ever ruled these lands.
A warning left behind by someone history had forgotten.
A warning nobody understood.
Until it was too late.
The king lowered his eyes.
VOCÊ ESTÁ LENDO
The Seventh Crown
Fantasia"If you are reading this, then I have already failed." Centuries ago, a king made a choice that doomed his bloodline. A forgotten prophecy spoke of betrayal, an innocent soul, and seven generations cursed to pay the price of a single mistake. To del...
