The Five Thrones and a Forgotten Crown

Chapter 7: The Five Thrones and a Forgotten Crown

A Name Erased from History

Years Ago — The Umbrael Estate

The fire burned low, casting a thin veil of orange across the chamber walls. Shadows danced like living things, flickering and twisting with every crackle of flame.

Noctis, no older than eight, sat nestled in his mother's lap. His hands, small and delicate, clutched a worn tome of Valterian history — the same book his mother read to him every night. But tonight was different. Tonight, Selene's voice carried a heaviness that Noctis could not yet understand.

Selene turned the page, revealing a lavish illustration of the Five Grand Houses — titanic pillars of power that upheld the Veylorn Empire. Their sigils burned vividly upon the parchment, each representing a bloodline older than the empire itself.

"Do you know why the empire has never fallen?" Selene asked softly.

Noctis shook his head.

Selene's finger traced the first crest, gold and flame intertwined — House Solaris.

"The Blood of the Sun," she murmured. "They are the Emperor's enforcers. Their flames do not merely burn — they consume the soul. Their voice commands absolute obedience. They are power made manifest."

Noctis's eyes widened. "Can they make anyone do what they say?"

"Almost." Selene's smile was cold. "But brute power without subtlety is a crutch. Remember that, Noctis. A man who rules by fear will one day be ruled by it."

She turned to the next crest — a roaring dragon crowned in fire, the sigil of House Drakos.

"The Blood of Dragons," she continued. "Strength made flesh. Their bodies harden like scales. Their fists can shatter stone. They are the sword of the empire."

Noctis leaned forward. "Are they the strongest?"

"In body, yes," Selene answered, but there was disdain in her tone. "But strength without cunning is the greatest weakness of all. A beast who relies solely on power is a beast destined for slaughter."

Her finger moved next to a crest of a pale moon shrouded in darkness — House Lunaris.

"The Blood of the Moon," she said softly. "Seers. Dreamwalkers. Prophets. They peer into the future and control the flow of knowledge. To cross them is to fight against fate itself."

Noctis shivered. "They sound terrifying."

Selene smiled faintly. "They are." Her voice darkened. "A Lunaris never acts without reason. If one ever smiles at you, it is because they have already seen the moment you will fall."

She turned the page to a crest of thorns wreathed in shadow — House Umbrael.

"Our house," Noctis murmured.

Selene's smile faltered. "Yes. The Blood of Shadows. Assassins. Spies. We exist to eliminate threats before they ever manifest."

Noctis hesitated. "Is that why Father never looks at me?"

Silence.

Selene's grip on the book tightened. "Your father measures strength through obedience and control. But you…" she brushed his silver hair from his eyes, her touch featherlight, "…you are not like Caelum."

Noctis swallowed hard. "Is that… bad?"

Selene smiled thinly. "No. It is dangerous."

The pages turned, and then — nothing.

A blank space. Empty parchment where a sixth house should have been. No crest. No name. No record.

Noctis blinked. "Why is there nothing here?"

Selene froze. Her hand lingered just above the empty page, her knuckles turning white. The fire crackled behind her, its light no longer warm — but hollow and harsh.

"Noctis," she said softly, her voice almost brittle, "listen to me very carefully."

The boy turned his wide silver eyes to his mother.

"There was once a sixth house. A house so powerful… so feared… that the empire had them erased from existence."

Noctis leaned forward, his heart racing. "Why?"

Selene exhaled, her gaze darkening. "Because their gift was too dangerous. The house that once ruled perception itself. The bloodline that could weave illusions into the very minds of men and turn enemies into allies without drawing a blade. We were not conquerors. We were the silent hand that orchestrated empires."

"…Then why have I never heard of them?"

Selene's bitter smile cut like glass.

"Because the Imperial Dynasty destroyed them."

Noctis stilled.

"They did not command fire or steel or prophecy. Instead… they could control what you believed was real. They could alter your memory, twist your thoughts, make you see allies as enemies and enemies as friends."

Noctis's breath hitched. "That's… terrifying."

Selene nodded. "Yes. And that is why they were destroyed."

"…What were they called?"

Selene hesitated. Then, very softly, she whispered:

"House Erevar."

The room turned cold.

Noctis swallowed. "But… if they were so powerful, why didn't they fight back?"

Selene's gaze sharpened — and for the briefest moment, Noctis swore the shadows in the room stirred unnaturally.

"They didn't need to fight," she answered. "They could have made the entire empire destroy itself. But they made one fatal mistake."

"…What was it?"

Selene leaned forward, her voice like poisoned silk.

"They let the empire realize what they were."

A suffocating silence followed.

The silence lingered too long, heavy and suffocating, like a noose around the room's throat. Noctis could feel it — a crack in his mother's carefully constructed composure.

"…Why did they let the empire realize what they were?" he asked, his voice quiet but insistent.

Selene hesitated, her gaze lost in the flickering flames. Then, softly, she answered.

"Because they believed they were untouchable."

Noctis frowned. "But if they could control minds… why didn't they simply make the Emperor forget about them?"

Selene smiled bitterly. "Because control is not as absolute as it seems, my love. To weave a lie, one must first understand the truth — and the truth of an empire is far too vast for even Erevar to fully grasp."

She turned back toward the empty page, her voice sharpening. "They could rewrite memories, yes — but the more complex the manipulation, the greater the strain. Changing one man's mind was trivial. But an entire empire?" She scoffed. "Impossible. Eventually, the threads of illusion would unravel… and when they did, the wrath of the Empire came like a flood."

Noctis swallowed. "…So they lost?"

Selene's hand hovered above the blank space. "No. They did not lose."

"…But they don't exist anymore."

A long, bitter silence. Then, without looking at him, she spoke.

"The Empire did not kill House Erevar, Noctis. It merely buried it."

Noctis's heart stammered. "…How?"

Selene turned slowly, her silver eyes gleaming like a wolf's. "The Empire did not dare to confront House Erevar directly. They were too afraid. So instead… they turned the other Great Houses against them. Lunaris feared the manipulation of fate. Drakos feared their strength could be unraveled without a blade being drawn. Solaris feared the crumbling of obedience and divine law."

She smiled cruelly. "The Empire did not kill House Erevar — they made the other thrones do it for them."

Noctis's breath caught. "…They turned the entire empire against them?"

Selene nodded. "With enough fear, even gods can be slain."

Silence hung once more before Noctis spoke. "And they never fought back?"

Selene exhaled. "They did. But not with steel or fire."

"…Then how?"

Her voice turned to ice. "They made them doubt."

Noctis's skin prickled.

"House Erevar did not draw swords. They did not march armies. Instead, they planted seeds of uncertainty. Solaris captains began questioning their orders. Drakos generals hesitated in battle. Lunaris seers foresaw victories that never came to pass — and slowly, the Empire began to fracture from within."

Noctis swallowed thickly. "But… it didn't work?"

Selene's hand clenched. "It almost did. But the Empire realized their mistake. They gathered every High House, every soldier, and launched a final purge. They burned Erevar's stronghold to the ground and executed anyone bearing the bloodline."

Noctis's stomach twisted. "…All of them?"

Selene's hand trembled, her voice cracking. "…Not all."

Noctis's breath caught.

Selene exhaled slowly, rising from the chair.

"Promise me something, Noctis."

"…Yes?"

"If you are ever surrounded by those who wield strength, fire, or prophecy… never confront them with force."

"…Then what should I do?"

Selene smiled — but it was not a mother's smile. It was cold. Calculating. Ancient.

"You make them doubt their own strength. Twist their minds. Turn their allies into enemies. When they kneel before you, believing they have won…"

Her hand brushed through his silver hair, her touch like ice.

"…remind them that victory was never theirs. It was always yours."

Noctis swallowed thickly. "…Yes, Mother."

Selene hesitated only once before leaving. Her hand lingered on the blank page — the ghost of House Erevar — and her voice, barely audible, carried a truth Noctis would not understand until years later.

"They think the bloodline is gone," she whispered.

But it was not.

And in that moment, Selene looked down at her son — the last living descendant of House Erevar — and knew she had already begun shaping him into something far more dangerous than an assassin.

She was teaching him how to unmake empires.

With a smile as cold as the void, Selene turned.

"Goodnight, my love."

And long before Noctis ever discovered the truth — his mother had already begun turning him into the architect of the empire's downfall.

"A memory."

Noctis muttered gasping.

Looking towards the sky where the moon hung high, spilling pale silver through the towering windows of the Umbrael estate. Noctis, now fourteen, stood in the dim library, his hands trembling as they hovered over the old tome of Valterian history. The same tome his mother had read to him as a child.

His breath came shallow as his mind raced, fragments of memory colliding.

"There was once a sixth Grand House."

"A house so feared it was erased from history."

"Because their power was too dangerous... too uncontrollable."

Noctis's pulse quickened. He remembered the way his mother's hand had trembled that night — when she spoke of House Erevar. The sharpness in her gaze when she told him never to confront power with power. The cold, calculating way she said: "Turn their strength into weakness."

And now, years later, he finally understood.

"She was teaching me."

The revelation hit him like ice water. Selene hadn't merely told him stories; she had planted the doctrine of House Erevar into his very mind. Every lesson about perception, control, and subtlety — they were not lessons of survival. They were lessons of dominance.

His stomach twisted.

"Make them doubt their own strength."

"Turn their allies into enemies."

"Remind them victory was never theirs."

Noctis staggered back, his heart hammering. She was preparing me. From the beginning. She never intended for me to serve House Umbrael — she was grooming me to inherit the will of House Erevar.

His throat tightened as a darker realization clawed at his mind.

"And she never told me outright… because she knew the empire would kill me if they suspected."

But she had left the lessons — hidden in stories, in history books, in cold smiles when his father rebuked him. Every time she brushed his hair back and said, "You are not like Caelum" — she hadn't meant it as comfort. She had meant it as confirmation.

He was never meant to follow House Umbrael's legacy.

He was meant to reclaim House Erevar's crown.

A sharp breath escaped him. His hands curled into fists, his gaze darkening.

"She was shaping me into a weapon. Into an heir."

And Noctis, for the first time, realized his mother had never once loved House Umbrael — she had only married his father to protect what little remained of her bloodline.

Him.

"I'm not the son of House Umbrael."

His pulse thrummed violently in his ears.

"I'm the last heir of House Erevar."

And his mother had always known.

A cold, vicious smile crept across Noctis's face as his trembling subsided. His mother had not told him to survive — she had told him how to conquer.

And now, he finally understood.

"I will not serve. I will rule."