Chapter 395: The Truth Beneath the Crown

The silence in the dungeon was thick enough to suffocate. Liora took a step toward Ibrahim’s cell, pressing her hands against the cold iron as tears began to stream down her cheeks.

"Father...?" whispered Liora, her voice cracking. "They told me you died in the border war when I was a girl. They told me the invaders slaughtered you..."

Ibrahim let out a laugh and coughed, revealing worn teeth before fixing his gaze on the girl.

"A convenient story, isn’t it, my little Liora?" said Ibrahim, dragging his chains as he tried to push onto his knees. "Your mother couldn’t allow the people to know the truth. She couldn’t let anyone know that she, alongside her sister... the Serpent Queen, ambushed and poisoned me to seize the throne."

"Shut your mouth, old man!" roared the Fox Queen from her cell, thrashing in rage against the stone walls. "You were weakening the clan! Your peaceful alliances were turning us into easy prey! I did what was necessary to save our people!"

"Save the people?" chimed in Alexander, taking a step forward with a cold smirk. "Or satisfy your craving for absolute power. And let me guess... when the Serpent Queen saw that you kept the pie for yourself without sharing, she preferred to align with the Spider Queen to teach you a lesson and lock you in this cell."

The Fox Queen shut her mouth, grinding her teeth in fury.

Liora backed away, staring at her mother with horror and heartbreak. Every piece of the puzzle fit: Alexander’s insistence on not trusting her aunt, her mother’s cold demeanor, the lies she had grown up with. Her world had shattered.

"All this time..." whispered Liora, covering her face with her hands. "All this time I fought for a dynasty built on betrayals and lies."

Alexander walked over to Liora and patted her on the head, forcing her to look up at him.

"I told you, brat," said Alexander in a calm voice. "In royalty, there are no heroes or saints—only predators fighting over the biggest piece of meat."

The hybrid turned his head and locked his crimson eyes on Ibrahim.

"Alright, old man," continued Alexander, crossing his arms. "If I break you out of that cell and put that crown back on your head, what do you have to offer me in return?"

Ibrahim let out a dry laugh, a harsh sound that ended in a cough echoing against the stone walls.

"Offer you something?" said Ibrahim, letting his head drop in exhaustion. "I am a broken old man, kid. I have nothing to offer you. My troops lie in their graves, and I am a pile of broken bones barely breathing."

Alexander frowned, studying the emaciated prisoner.

"If I break you out, can you heal yourself with blood magic or an elixir?" asked Alexander.

"No..." answered Ibrahim. "This bitch made sure to destroy me. She tore the tendons from my limbs, snapped my spine, and gouged out my eyes so I would never see the sunlight again. I recognize Liora through my fox senses, but there is nothing left of me that can fight or rule."

Liora broke down. The weight of her father’s words struck her like a blow; she clutched her head and collapsed to her knees onto the floor, bursting into sobs.

"How could you?!" screamed Liora through her tears, glaring at her mother with eyes overflowing with rage. "How could you do this to your husband?! To my father?! You are a monster!"

The Fox Queen didn’t answer. She hung her head in silence, clenching her jaw as the shadows of the bars concealed her face.

Liora’s scream seemed to awaken the rest of the prisoners down the hall. From the shadows of adjacent cells, mummified figures began thrashing their chains, spitting laughter and curses toward the royal cell.

"Damn you!" spat one of the imprisoned nobles. "Look where you ended up! Alone and chained like a rabid dog!"

"Piece of shit queen!" shouted another, laughing. "Disgusting tyrant! You ruled with blood, and now you rot in the hole you locked us in!"

The clatter of chains, laughter, and screams filled the subterranean gallery, crushing the remaining shards of the sovereign’s pride.

The Fox Queen raised her head. A golden aura exploded around her, making the stone walls groan as black chains showered sparks into the dark. Her glare burned with fury, smothering the room’s racket.

"Shut up, you bastards!" roared the sovereign, her voice echoing like thunder through the dungeon. "You know why you’re in here! You’re traitors who sold out our clan and sided with our enemies during the war!"

The imprisoned nobles recoiled into the shadows of their cells, cowed by the queen’s outburst. The sovereign whipped her head toward the adjacent cell, locking a look of hatred onto her husband’s emaciated form.

"And you... you useless piece of shit!" spat the Fox Queen, trembling with rage as she rattled her chains. "You talk now that you’re chained up. You play the victim in front of our daughter, but back when you were abusing me and your concubines, when you raped the women of your allies just to satisfy your sick pleasure... you weren’t squealing like a coward! You are a useless, spineless bastard!"

Silence fell over the dungeon, broken only by the sovereign’s breathing. Ibrahim didn’t answer; he let his head hang against his chest, letting out a low chuckle that confirmed every word.

Liora remained frozen on the floor, staring between her parents with horrified eyes, feeling the weight of the truth destroy whatever was left of the family she thought she knew.

Alexander, watching the whole circus while leaning against the wall, let out a whistle and wore a cold smirk.

"Well, well..." Alexander muttered, crossing his arms. "What a heartwarming family reunion. But unfortunately, brat, we need to get out of here as soon as possible, so you need to make a decision right now."

Liora slowly lifted her head, her yellow eyes completely hollow and stripped of any remaining light, and whispered in a broken voice:

"Help me..."