Chapter 12

Morning rose slowly over the western dunes, casting long shadows across the Pyramid of Ten Desires.

But Zephyr's mind was far from restful.

Three words echoed in his thoughts like a curse:

"Trace her name."

He sat at the edge of the shattered sacred pool, fragments of black glass reflecting not his face — but glimpses of an ancient war, a veiled queen, and a crying child with his eyes.

He wasn't just cursed.

He was bound to her — someone erased from history.

And now… the past wanted him back.

Clue One:

Clarissa led him into the hidden chamber beneath the pyramid.

"We sealed this room after I felt it stirring during the storm," she said, lifting a heavy curtain of flamecloth.

Inside was a vault — untouched for centuries. The air was thick with divine heat.

At its center, wrapped in molten silk, was an ancient scroll — sealed with a burning kiss mark.

Zephyr reached out.

The system flared.

[You have discovered 1 of 3 Clues to the Eleventh Queen's Name]

Clue Acquired: The Scarlet Scroll

Description: "A letter of farewell. Signed by flame, sealed in sorrow."

Status: Locked until read with the Queen it was meant for.

Zephyr turned to Clarissa.

"She's not the one. This was… meant for someone else."

Clarissa nodded slowly.

"Then the scroll will remain locked… until your next bond."

Clue Two

Later that day, Serika burst into the throne hall, blade half-drawn and eyes sharp.

"A beast tribe envoy arrived. From the western ruins. They brought this."

She tossed a bundle of silver roots onto the floor. Within it… a living map, shaped like a woman's face with no eyes.

Zephyr recognized it instantly.

"Virellia," he said. "This is tied to her ice lineage. But there's more underneath."

Together with Virellia, they activated the root-map. It pulsed and revealed a location deep in the Twisted Moon Forest, a place where time itself was said to bend around forgotten pain.

A note appeared beneath it:

> "Where the moon weeps, the Queen once slept.

Her name still grows in trees that remember her tears."

Clue Three

At dusk, Lyssandra sat alone in the sacred baths, scrubbing at her shoulder.

That's when she saw it.

A mark — once invisible — now glowing beneath her skin: an ancient rune, written in a language only gods knew.

Zephyr entered, summoned by instinct.

She turned toward him, vulnerable for once.

"I… think I've carried a piece of her all this time. Look."

The moment he touched the rune, a shockwave spread through the water.

[3rd Clue Unlocked: The Branded Name]

Status: Sealed. Requires sacrifice to be revealed.

Linked Memory: The Wedding of the Eleventh Queen

Risk: Emotional feedback and identity destabilization

Zephyr gritted his teeth.

"To get her name… I have to lose a piece of myself."

System Update(Ding)

Clues Acquired: 3/3

Scarlet Scroll [Bound to Future Queen]

Forest Memory [Unlocks next region]

Branded Rune [Requires Sacrifice]

Main Quest Unlocked: "Speak the Eleventh Queen's Name"

Reward: Truth of the Curse + Final Ascension Tier

Penalty: Memory Loss / Harem Instability

Note: Once her name is spoken… she awakens

The Twisted Moon Forest was not marked on any map.

It moved.

Sometimes it appeared near ruins, sometimes in valleys where no light touched. It was said to bloom only during mourning moons — nights when the sky wept in silence for forgotten love.

That night, the moon bled pale blue.

Zephyr and Virellia, the Ice Queen of the North, stood before the forest's edge, where the trees curved unnaturally like reaching arms, and frost bloomed alongside thorns.

"This place feels… old," Virellia murmured.

Zephyr nodded. "Older than the gods who cursed me."

Inside the forest, the air shifted with every step.

Each tree held faces in its bark — some smiling, some weeping, some screaming.

Virellia summoned a layer of frost under their feet to keep the roots from grabbing them.

"Do you think she's watching us?" she asked.

Zephyr didn't answer.

Because he knew.

She was.

Every step brought visions — not from the present, but from his past life:

A hand in his.

A veil of crimson petals.

A voice saying, "Say my name… even if the world forgets."

In the center of the glade, surrounded by ten stone thrones, stood a single silver tree — its bark like glass, and its leaves whispering secrets in languages long dead.

Etched into its trunk was a single word:

"Azeriah."

Zephyr staggered.

The world tilted.

A surge of power, lust, and longing tore through his chest.

Virellia gasped. "That name… it's like I've always known it. Like… it was pulled from under my skin."

The tree split open — a doorway forming.

> System Alert:

❖ You have spoken the Eleventh Queen's name: Azeriah

❖ Hidden Class Fragment Unlocked

❖ Lust Ascension Tier: [Godseed Flame] – Awakened

❖ New Passive Skill: [Queen's Memory Bond]

❖ Final Harem Slot: Activated

❖ Azeriah's Tomb: Accessible

Zephyr stepped into the tree's heart — and was pulled into a memory.

He stood on black marble, in a throne room where roses bloomed through corpses.

There she was — Azeriah, in a red veil, her eyes gold and cruel and sad all at once.

"You spoke it," she whispered.

"My name. After lifetimes."

She walked toward him, her hand cold against his chest.

"Now I remember you. Do you remember… why you betrayed me?"

Zephyr's lips trembled.

"I… don't know yet."

Azeriah smiled softly.

"Then I'll wait. One more time."

System Update(Ding)

> The Eleventh Queen: Azeriah – Status: Dream-bound

❖ Final Queen Slot: Locked until Emotional Trial is passed

❖ System Perk: Lust Godseed – Your flame now affects divine minds

❖ Memory Recovery Progress: 4/11

❖ Warning: Azeriah's awakening will affect all current bonds

Back in the glade, Virellia watched him awaken.

"I saw her too," she said. "In my dreams. In my blood. I think… I knew her."

Zephyr held her hand tightly.

"She was the first… but she may be the last, too."

And deep within him, he felt it.

The curse wasn't just keeping him alive.

It was guiding him — back to where everything began.

Back to Azeriah.