The letter arrived in the dead of night, slipped under Seraphina's door without sound or footprint.
Its parchment was rough, the seal marked not with ink or wax, but a pressed fingerprint scorched in ash.
Inside, only one sentence:
"The Queen's daughter lives."
---
> System Alert: Subplot Triggered – "Heir of Ashes" (Active)
New Lead: Visit the orphanage in North Hollow — whispers of a girl who burns without fire.
---
Seraphina read the message thrice. She held it over a candle and watched it curl to smoke.
Behind her, Kaelrith stirred from sleep.
"What now?" he muttered.
She turned, slipping on her cloak. "A ghost. Possibly a princess."
"I thought ghosts were your job."
"They are. Which is why I'm going alone."
Kaelrith frowned. "You're not."
---
North Hollow was a crumbling relic of the past—once a noble borough, now a rotting maze of forgotten stone and desperate eyes. The orphanage sat at its center, quiet and cold.
A matron met them at the iron gate. Her eyes flicked to Kaelrith's sword, then to Seraphina's gloves.
"No visitors," she said.
Seraphina smiled coldly. "We're not visitors. We're answers."
Inside, the children huddled in shadows. Thin. Dirty. But one stood out.
A girl—ten, maybe eleven. Pale gold hair. Fire-colored eyes.
And a presence that made Seraphina's skin prickle.
"Liliana," whispered one of the children. "Don't touch her. She's cursed."
---
> Skill Check: Empathic Perception Lv.1
Detecting magical aura: Confirmed. Child has unstable, suppressed bloodline magic.
Signature Match: 72% – Royal Family Lineage (Ancestral Fire Trait).
---
Seraphina knelt in front of the girl.
"What's your name?"
The girl stared back. "They call me Ashling."
"Do you know who your parents were?"
She shrugged. "I just remember heat. And a lullaby in a language no one speaks anymore."
Kaelrith stood behind her, silent but tense.
"She's the Queen's," Seraphina said softly. "Hidden. Forgotten. And burning from the inside."
---
> System Prompt: Decision Required
Option 1: Smuggle Liliana to Blackspire and train her as leverage.
Option 2: Leave her hidden and use her existence as a political threat.
Option 3: Return her to the Queen (High-risk, unknown effect).
Time Limit: 24 hours (In-Game Time)
---
Back at Blackspire Keep, Seraphina stood at the window as rain fell over the northern cliffs.
"She's powerful," Kaelrith said. "Untrained. Dangerous."
"She's a child."
"She's a weapon."
Seraphina clenched her fists. "So was I. And no one saved me either."
He looked at her then—not as a general, but as something darker. Deeper.
"You're going to protect her."
"I'm going to teach her," Seraphina said. "If this kingdom burns, she'll know how to light the first match."
---
> System Update: Liliana Added to Party (Disguised Role: Ward)
Subplot: "Ashling's Fire" – Active
Unlock: Bloodline Magic Affinity (Fire-Based Enhancements Unlocked)
---
That night, Seraphina tucked Liliana into a bed beneath her own roof. The child didn't speak. Just clutched an old stuffed wolf and stared at the shadows.
Seraphina brushed her hair gently.
"Do you want to be a queen someday?"
Liliana shook her head. "No."
"What then?"
The girl's voice was soft.
"I want to be strong. So no one can throw me away again."
Seraphina felt something shatter—old, buried, fragile—inside her.
"Then I'll make you stronger than all of them."