Within a fraction of a second, the interrogation room echoed with a sharp, metallic ring. The guards thrust their spears and honed blades forward, pinning them directly against Nazar's neck.
The King of Everleaf turned toward Prince Vairo, his eyes widening with a mixture of sheer astonishment and brewing suspicion upon hearing the thunderous cry that had escaped the prince's throat. The King asked in a cautious, commanding tone: — "Is she truly... your sister? The Princess of Nairon?"
Vairo took a heavy, labored breath, his eyes locked onto the battered figure before them. He answered dryly: — "Yes... it is her."
With a swift, authoritative gesture of the King's hand, the blades retreated. He motioned for his guards to lower their weapons immediately. In that precise moment, Vairo took long, hurried strides toward his sister. A volatile mix of suppressed fury and terrifying dread for her safety consumed him. He spoke in a harsh, biting tone, desperately trying to mask the tremor in his voice: — "What on earth brought you here, Nazar? Have we not had enough of your schemes? Of the traps and ploys you dug for Dalirina at every turn? Have you come to finish what you started?"
Nazar was as pale as death itself. Her lips were cracked, and her body trembled violently under the crushing weight of her journey and psychological exhaustion. She looked up at her brother, her frail form unable to bear the gravity of his reproachful gaze. She whispered in a broken, barely audible voice: — "I... I am sorry..."
Before she could even finish the word, her knees buckled beneath her. She collapsed to the floor, bursting into bitter, unrestrained weeping—a torrent of hot tears she had suppressed through the pitch-black nights and desolate roads of her escape.
Recognizing with his political acumen that the air had grown heavy with a familial anguish that belonged to them alone, the King of Everleaf cast a low glance at Vairo and said: — "I shall leave you now." He signaled to his guards and cleared the hall entirely, shutting the heavy doors behind him to grant them privacy.
The echo of Nazar's sobbing continued to reverberate through the dimly lit chamber. She buried her face in her hands, which were stained with the dust of the road, and wept through her tears: — "I thought I was going to lose you both... I am sorry, so sorry for everything I did! Jealousy blinded me... nothing but pure jealousy!"
She caught her breath with great effort, looking up at her brother with eyes crimson from crying: — "I love you, Vairo... My entire life, I believed our destinies were bound together, and that Dalirina would steal you away from me. That is why I hated her. But I was wrong... completely wrong. Your destiny belongs with her; the two of you are meant for each other. I should have been your shield and your sanctuary. You are my siblings, my friends, the companions of my life whom I cannot live without. I... I love Dalirina, and I was so incredibly foolish to hurt her the way I did!"
Vairo felt as though a wall of ice was melting within his chest. His manufactured harshness dissolved. He stepped forward with the aching heart of a brother, gently lifting her from the cold floor by her hands, and pulled her into a fierce, protective embrace. All of Princess Nazar's royal pride shattered within her brother's arms, and she cried as she never had before, casting the heavy burdens of her guilt far behind her.
At that critical juncture, the chamber doors burst open. Dalirina rushed in, her chest heaving as she gasped for air, having just heard from the servants' whispers that Nazar had been captured.
Dalirina cried out in a panicked voice: — "I heard Nazar is here! What happened—"
The words died in her throat as she saw Nazar drowned in tears against Vairo's chest. Believing for a terrifying second that some great harm had befallen her, Dalirina took a few hesitant steps forward. But suddenly, Nazar broke away and lunged toward Dalirina, throwing her arms around her with desperate force, sobbing uncontrollably: — "Forgive me... Please forgive me, Dalirina! I am so sorry for everything I did to you. I truly love you... please, forgive me!"
Dalirina's body went rigid for a few seconds from the sheer shock, but the deep, foundational roots of their old friendship and the years they had spent together as sisters overrode everything else. Feeling her own tears cascading down her cheeks against her will, she tightened her embrace around Nazar and wept with her, saying: — "I love you too, Nazar... I missed you so much!"
Once the emotional storm subsided, the three of them moved to a quiet, private chamber within the palace suite. They sat around a circular wooden table, sipping warm tea to soothe their frayed nerves, as Nazar began to recount the grim realities of Nairon.
Nazar spoke, her tone regaining a sharp gravity: — "The kingdom is turning completely upside down. The moment word spread about the miraculous appearance of the Sacred Tree and everyone confirmed that you, Dalirina, are the rightful heir to the 'Frees' bloodline, the fragile alliances shattered instantly. The Prince of Air and the Ice King have abandoned my father, the military pact is broken, and everyone now views the King with deep suspicion because he tried to hide your location to protect you. The kingdoms are mobilizing their armies to hunt you down... but that is not the worst of it."
Nazar paused for a moment, an unmistakable dread flashing in her eyes as she continued: — "Before I escaped, I overheard something strange that made me shudder to my very bones. The Head Maid was speaking with my father in his private chambers, and she told him that Dalirina is not merely a runaway servant, but the Queen of Dragons, Fairies, and Humans alike... But what truly terrified my father was when she said: (If the Kingdom of Darkness and Shadows learns of this matter, exactly what happened in the past will repeat itself... and the entire world will be utterly destroyed just as it was before). "
Dalirina grew deathly pale, pulling her hands to her chest in alarm: — "The Kingdom of Shadows? The Head Maid never told me a single thing about this!" Vairo chimed in, the furrow between his brows deepening: — "Nor have I ever read of such legends in the archives of Nairon."
Dalirina continued, desperately recalling cryptic words spoken to her long ago: — "I remember the Head Maid once saying that the Immortal Bloodline are the only ones who witnessed the ancient destruction of the Freesia Kingdom... Perhaps we will find our answers or a solution with them."
Nazar nodded in urgent agreement, her voice laced with pressing anxiety: — "Then why don't you go there immediately? Dalirina, the moment the other kingdoms discover your location and the full extent of your power, they will show no mercy. They are forming an alliance right now to execute you and eradicate this power before it fully awakens! This is the real reason I traveled all this way and risked my life—to reach you and warn you."
Deeply moved, Dalirina threw herself toward Nazar once more, embracing her as a new wave of tears spilled over: — "I thought we would never speak again... I thought you truly hated me, and that you would never forgive me for leaving." Nazar wept, gently stroking her back: — "It was I who was wrong... I am so sorry."
Then, Nazar turned toward her brother Vairo, looking at him with a pure, repentant gaze. With a faint smile woven through her tears, she extended her hand, inviting him back into their warmth. The three of them intertwined in a tight, familial embrace, marking the end of an era of jealousy, and the birth of a true alliance to face the impending darkness.
resolve to face the storm together.