Free Web NovelChapter 526: Chapter 526
Morana drew in a slow breath.
She began carefully, "I was the only child of Duke Leomaris Silhara, Patriarch of House Silhara."
Ragnar’s eyes narrowed slightly but he said nothing.
"My father was a good man," she continued, as past grief resurfaced. "Too trusting perhaps, but good. House Silhara was powerful then. One of the seven great ducal houses. But my uncle wanted that power for himself. And one night, he murdered my father for it."
And she, being her father’s sole heir, soon became her uncle’s next target.
Blinded by greed and ambition, he could not bear the thought of the dukedom passing to her. With the aid of ruthless mercenaries and a dark spell weaver skilled in forbidden magic, he orchestrated her downfall. They siphoned away every ounce of her power, stripping her of the very essence that made her who she was. The process had been agonizing, like having her soul torn apart piece by piece, until she was left feeling like nothing more than an empty shell of the woman she had once been.
After her uncle was finished with her, he had her locked away like a prisoner while he seized her father’s title for himself and declared himself patriarch of House Silhara.
The torment she endured under him nearly broke her completely.
She barely managed to escape Innermost with her life, fleeing under the cover of darkness with nothing to her name. For survival, she was forced to abandon everything she had ever known and seek refuge in Lamora, where she would have to live as a nobody.
There, she was no longer the daughter of a duke.
No longer an heir. No longer powerful.
She became just another face swallowed by the streets of the kingdom.
The adjustment was brutal. Morana had grown up surrounded by luxury and servants, yet suddenly she found herself starving, exhausted, and struggling to survive each passing day. There were nights she slept in abandoned corners with an empty stomach, nights where she wondered if death would have been kinder than the life she had been reduced to.
Eventually, after enduring countless hardships, she managed to secure work within the royal palace. At first, she had been relieved beyond measure. The palace seemed like the safest place she could possibly hide. She knew that her uncle’s loyalists were still searching tirelessly for her, determined to drag her back to Innermost, but surely they would never dare search within the royal palace itself.
For the first time in years, she allowed herself to believe she had finally found sanctuary.
But it did not take long for her to realize that the palace was not the refuge she had hoped for.
Though she no longer had to fear her uncle within those walls, she quickly discovered that new dangers awaited her there. Those dangers came in the form of a lecherous Lamorian king whose desires knew no bounds, and his cunning, manipulative queen who ruled the palace with cruelty hidden beneath graceful smiles.
Morana soon learned that surviving within the palace required walking an impossibly thin tightrope. Every glance, every word, every action had to be carefully measured. One wrong move could destroy her.
But in the end, the odds had always been stacked against her.
She eventually found herself pregnant with the king’s child, and once the queen discovered the truth, Morana was forced to flee again, this time hunted by the queen’s forces.
The months she spent in hiding afterward were among the darkest periods of her life. She had never felt so utterly powerless. She was constantly afraid, constantly moving, constantly looking over her shoulder. Every sound made her heart race with terror. She had no home, no allies, and no certainty that she would survive long enough to give birth.
Yet despite everything, when she finally brought her son into the world and held him in her arms for the first time, all of her fear faded beneath an overwhelming wave of love.
The moment she looked down at his tiny face, something inside her changed completely. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
She loved him more fiercely than she had ever loved anything in her entire life.
But more than love, she felt responsibility.
She could not allow her son to grow up the way she had been forced to live, hiding like prey, constantly running from shadows. Ragnar deserved safety. He deserved comfort. He deserved a future far greater than the miserable life she could currently offer him.
So, as she cradled him against her chest, she made herself a vow.
She would reclaim everything that had been stolen from her.
She would take back her powers.
She would reclaim her dukedom and she would build a life worthy of her son.
She had never intended to abandon Ragnar forever. She was only supposed to be gone for a short while, a few months at most, and she had whispered countless promises to him before leaving him behind in Lamora. She promised that she would come back for him. That she would return stronger. That she would give him the life he deserved.
But reclaiming her birthright required restoring her stolen powers, and for that, she needed help.
Desperate and blinded by the need for revenge, Morana struck a bargain with another duke.
It was a decision she would come to regret for the rest of her life.
The duke aided her in overthrowing her uncle and reclaiming House Silhara, but his motives had never been noble. He had no genuine desire to see her succeed. Instead, he saw her desperation and vulnerability as an opportunity to tighten chains around her neck.
Morana had agreed that if he helped her reclaim her dukedom, then she and House Silhara would forever be indebted to him.
But bargains between demons were never simple agreements. They were soul-binding. Once the bargain was sealed, there was no escaping it.
After her victory over her uncle, it did not take long for the duke to come and collect what he believed he was owed. What he demanded was not wealth, nor land, nor political favor. freewebnoveℓ.com
He demanded her utter subservience.
