*POKE!
"I taught you since childhood not to be like a normal girl. But you’re so stubborn!" She lightly poked Perlend’s forehead with hesitation, but Perlend only closed her eyes, expecting to be slapped.
However, Queen Pyramia was a loving mother and couldn’t repeatedly slap her. Her first slap was rely a result of her shock and grief.
"You should have just told us you were getting married; our situation wouldn’t be this dire now, and your father wouldn’t have taken your disappearance so hard," Pyramia insisted.
"I love Xerxez... And I knew you would separate us if I told you about this back then. The truth is, I also waited for an opportunity to tell you that I left to be with Xerxez, but my worries held back, and even in my condition, I couldn’t admit the truth to him either."
"What did that man feed you that you were blinded by love?" Queen Pyramia’s question echoed in the princess’s sad room. "I can’t believe I had a child who thinks like you!" Queen Pyramia glanced at Perlend’s skin, which was covered in boils, like ripe grapes.
"I don’t think I’ll last long in this world, please forgive , Mama." Perlend forced herself to remain calm as she endured the throbbing pain in her muscles and bones, as if gnawed by termites.
"The Phoenix’s curse is now before . Perlend, don’t leave ." The queen pleaded, but she knew no one could escape the curse.
Queen Pyramia paused, seeing her daughter’s condition worsen. Perlend’s breaths were shallow, and she seed devoid of strong emotion. Pyramia’s heart was no longer filled with anger, but with pity, as the truth struck her: death seed to be at the door, ready to take Perlend due to the Phoenix’s curse.
"Your return is enough for to forgive you. If your father were still alive, he would forgive you too. Whatever you’ve done, we would forgive and love you." Perlend embraced Queen Pyramia, and her face, which had seed untouched by sunlight, brightened.
"Thank you, Mama," Perlend replied. "Here is the baby, who will continue the Phoenix’s bloodline, a mont I know you also yearned for." A trace of joy appeared on Perlend’s face, infecting the queen as well. "If my life is the path for the Phoenix lineage to continue, then I am ready to give birth to the baby, the fruit of my true love for Xerxez."
"My child, I would rather the Phoenix bloodline end than see you suffer." Pyramia’s chin sagged when she heard Perlend’s answer, even though the queen genuinely envied those who had grandchildren. But every ti the queen thought of the curse on her ancestral lineage, it felt like a needle piercing her heart.
"However, there’s nothing we can do now, since the baby is already here." She gently took the baby from Perlend’s arms, like a cat. The baby’s angelic face wiped away her grieving heart.
"Pyramus," Perlend said, making sure her voice wasn’t hoarse as she spoke the baby’s na. "We nad him Pyramus." Perlend lay on the bed, exhausted. She again felt the soft touch of the fabric, the flower-soft bed, and its lasting Sakura scent.
Queen Pyramia knew that if Phoenix blood married non-Phoenix blood, their child would inherit the curse.
According to the elders of Peronica, the curse was a disease that spread throughout the body; however, it had no cure. And the condition would worsen when the cursed person gave birth, completely weakening their body like a flower that would eventually wilt.
"Pyramus is so handso! The child inherited Peronica’s complexion." Queen Pyramia looked at Perlend’s pale, closed eyes, her hair falling onto the bed like dry flower petals, yet her beauty remained.
"Pyramus has your face, Perlend." Queen Pyramia also shed tears of joy, but then realized Perlend was already asleep from exhaustion.
Suddenly, Queen Pyramia heard knocking on the doors of the other chambers. She heard her na being called, so she answered,
"Co in!" Three soldiers of Peronica, clad in rose-colored armor, rushed to the princess’s room, entered the doorway, and stopped upon seeing the queen holding a baby.
"Your Majesty, we have sothing to report to you—whose baby is that?" said Terron, a soldier whose hair stood up because he loved to get attention from won.
"Tell quickly, because I have sothing more important for you to do right now." The baby was awake, and Queen Pyramia was delighted to see the baby’s lively movents.
"Hoosh...hosss...oy! Our Pyramus is awake." The queen simply gestured for them to report imdiately when she saw the three of them speechless.
"We caught a woman behind the palace, but she said she’s from Thallerion and is Princess Perlend’s maid." The soldier, Qun Lun, deepened his voice slightly when he ntioned the princess’s na, as he knew the queen was still grieving, especially after the recent funeral ceremony.
"We were surprised by her answer, because it’s long been believed that the Princess of Peronica is dead," Qun Lun added, holding a scroll. His beard was well-grood, and his voice was deep. "She insisted she was Princess Perlend’s maid in Thallerion. Doubtful, we temporarily imprisoned her until you decide to release her." They decided to imprison the woman because who would believe she was the princess’s maid when everyone believed Perlend was dead, making her story suspicious.
"She also carried ashes; we think they might be the ashes of her loved one, brought here to Peronica," replied the third soldier. He was not tall but stout; he was Delvin. Queen Pyramia saw Delvin’s swollen eyes.
"Release the maid from Thallerion... And announce to all of Peronica—my daughter is alive, and she has a son!" the queen commanded. "Tell those arrogant ministers, those families planning to replace my rule, tell them: ’Perlend’s son is the next heir of my lineage.’"
"The Princess of Peronica is alive?!!!" Delvin exclaid, his eyes lighting up with excitent and joy upon hearing the truth that the princess was alive.
But the other two soldiers’ eyes widened upon hearing the queen’s words. "Is that the princess sleeping on the bed?" Terron asked, looking for Perlend.
They couldn’t make out Perlend’s face because it was covered by her hair. The queen simply nodded, looking seriously at the soldiers who swallowed hard in shock.
"The Phoenix’s curse is truly sad," said the stout soldier, Delvin, almost in tears at the tragic fate that befell the princess due to the curse.
Delvin used to escort Perlend to city events, so Perlend’s suffering pained him. "Does this an that child is Perlend’s?" Delvin asked, realizing the reason for the curse.
"Also, inform them: Perlend’s husband is the King of Thallerion, Xerxez—an ally of Peronica."
"Imdiately, Your Majesty, we will obey your command," said Qun Lun, the most reliable of Pyramia’s soldiers in gathering news within the country of Peronica.
"Wait a mont, I want to see the ashes the maid carried with Perlend," Pyramia told her soldiers. "If possible, take them to Grandma Sentheria for examination."
******
This part was the phoenix clan believed the new chosen one was born.
He is Pyramus Herzthroven, son of Xerxez who was a king of Thallerion that marry a pwronican girl, who was believed a commoner but at the end of the story,she was a daughter of queen pyramia. Many believed, she was dead after she’s gone fie so many days. Then, after 10 months returned with the unsealed cursed her body was weakening with sick, skin disorders, and her color was fading ...her hair turn to white like drained by the force of phoenix curse.
When she returned ho, all the clan was astonished but bore a hope for all the phoenix clan ,as a chosen one was delivered. They hope to end the curse, but the child is still a baby. They considered it a legacy .
"But if the prince is trapped behind their barrier," Armageddon rumbled, voice like rolling boulders, "then this is an opportunity. We must devour spirit—gather it until our essence is full. Only then can the prophecy be forged for our clan: one among us will grow beyond asure, a colossus of scale and stone." He raised his head, eyes glittering with savage hunger. "Imagine it—towering like a mountain. Who would dare stand against a titan of our blood? Kings would bow, armies would fracture beneath our weight. It will be glorious."
A feverish murmur swept through the gathered flock. Scales rippled, claws dug into the loam, and low hisses of anticipation filled the night. Each throat swallowed hard at the thought of power so absolute it erased fear itself.
"Now move!" Armageddon snapped, claws slashing the air. "Find their hiding place. Break the barrier—shatter it like an egg—and bring the spirit within."
The lizards answered with a unified roar, a sound that scraped the sky and set the earth trembling. They scattered into the darkness, tongues flicking, senses sharpened to a razor edge—hunting, prowling, certain that the dawn would belong to their masters.
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