Free Web NovelCHAPTER 34 — ECHOES OF A FORGOTTEN CROWN
The crystal door remained closed.
Seven keyholes shimmered across its surface.
Only the first glowed with soft golden light.
Vespera reached out instinctively.
The moment her fingertips brushed the crystal, ripples spread across the entire doorway.
Ancient runes illuminated one after another.
Then they faded.
ACCESS DENIED
ROYAL AUTHORITY INCOMPLETE
The chamber fell silent.
Kragga scratched the back of her head.
"So..."
"We need six more."
"It appears so," Lirael replied.
"I was hoping for a simpler answer."
Darius stepped toward the door.
"I've seen this before."
Everyone looked at him.
"It was called the Sovereign's Vault."
"The greatest secrets of the First Era were hidden behind it."
Sylvana frowned.
"What kind of secrets?"
Darius' expression darkened.
"The kind kingdoms start wars over."
Vespera turned away from the vault.
"We're not opening it today."
Kragga looked surprised.
"You're leaving?"
"We have one key."
"We need seven."
She smiled.
"And I don't intend to spend weeks staring at a locked door."
Even Darius chuckled quietly.
"A wise decision."
Instead of heading for the exit, Lirael wandered deeper into the archive.
"Wait."
"There's something else."
She brushed centuries of dust from a stone shelf.
Behind it lay a hidden passage.
The air beyond was warmer.
Unlike the grand archive, this corridor felt... personal.
Portraits lined the walls.
Kings.
Queens.
Generals.
Scholars.
Humans and monsters stood side by side in every painting.
Not as enemies.
As allies.
Sylvana stopped before one faded portrait.
An elegant woman wearing emerald robes smiled gently beside a horned minotaur child.
"The artist captured happiness," Sylvana whispered.
"It feels... real."
"It was," Darius answered.
"The First Era wasn't perfect."
"But neither was it built on hatred."
At the end of the hallway stood a circular chamber.
In its center rested a crystal pedestal.
Unlike the Royal Key, it held no treasure.
Only a worn leather journal.
The cover bore the same serpent-and-crown emblem.
The System activated.
────────────────────────
Historical Artifact Found
The First Sovereign's Journal
Condition:
Excellent
Translation Available
Reading Recommended
────────────────────────
Vespera carefully opened the journal.
The ink looked impossibly fresh.
As if it had been written only yesterday.
The first page read:
"If you are reading this..."
"Then history has failed."
Everyone exchanged uneasy glances.
She continued.
The world you inherited is not the world we built.
We dreamed of an age where every race could stand beneath the same sky.
The System was created to protect that dream—not to chain it.
If only one race remains to tell history... then history has become a lie.
Silence filled the chamber.
Lirael slowly closed her eyes.
"My people..."
"We've been teaching a different history."
"So have the orcs," Kragga admitted.
"The minotaurs too," Darius added.
Sylvana looked around the room.
"They erased an entire civilization."
As Vespera turned another page...
A folded map slipped free.
It landed gently on the floor.
Darius picked it up.
His eyes widened.
"This..."
"This is impossible."
"What is it?" Vespera asked.
"The locations."
He spread the map across a nearby table.
Seven symbols had been marked across the continent.
Each matched one of the seven empty keyholes on the Sovereign's Vault.
"The Royal Keys."
Lirael whispered.
"They're scattered across the world."
The System confirmed it.
────────────────────────
Main Quest Updated
Legacy of the Sovereigns
Objective:
Recover the Seven Royal Keys.
Current Progress:
1 / 7
Known Location Unlocked:
The Sunken Citadel
Estimated Distance:
Fourteen Days
Unknown Guardians Detected
────────────────────────
Before anyone could celebrate... freewebnσvel.cøm
The journal began glowing.
Words appeared that hadn't been visible before.
"Trust carefully."
"The greatest enemy of the First Era did not attack from outside."
"It smiled."
"It advised."
"And when the kingdoms finally realized the truth..."
"The crown had already fallen."
The glowing words disappeared.
A heavy silence settled over the group.
"Betrayal..." Vespera murmured.
"The Eternal Sentinel warned us."
Darius nodded grimly.
"And now the journal has confirmed it."
As they prepared to leave the hidden chamber, none of them noticed a tiny crystal orb mounted high within the ceiling.
Its surface flickered once.
Then dimmed.
Hundreds of miles away...
Inside a cathedral of white marble...
The orb awakened in the hands of a hooded priest.
He smiled as images of Vespera and her companions shimmered across its surface.
"So..."
"The heir has finally appeared."
He extinguished the vision with a wave of his hand.
"Inform the Archbishop."
"The game has begun."
End of Chapter 34
