Chapter 10 The Bloodline Nobody Knew
Chapter 10
The Bloodline Nobody Knew
The screen went dark.
But the final words remained burned into Alexander's mind.
ORIGINAL IDENTITY: UNKNOWN.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Not Eleanor.
Not Father Benedict.
Not even Victor Hawthorne.
The underground chamber beneath the palace, a place that had hidden royal secrets for centuries, suddenly felt smaller than a prison cell.
Alexander stared at the blank screen.
His entire life...
His name.
His family.
His inheritance.
Everything he had believed about himself had become uncertain in a single moment.
"That is impossible."
The words finally escaped from Eleanor.
She stepped toward the screen.
"No."
"That cannot be true."
The hidden chamber speakers crackled.
The elderly woman appeared again.
She smiled calmly.
"Still protecting him, Eleanor."
"Even now."
Eleanor's face hardened.
"Who are you?"
The woman laughed softly.
"You really don't remember?"
A pause.
"I was there the night you ran."
Alexander looked at Eleanor.
"You know her?"
Eleanor's expression became painful.
"Yes."
"Her name is Catherine Vale."
Father Benedict immediately stepped backward.
"Catherine..."
The priest's voice trembled.
"I thought you died."
The woman smiled.
"Everyone did."
The Woman Who Changed History
Catherine Vale had once been one of the most trusted advisors of the royal family.
She wasn't a soldier.
She wasn't a politician.
She was a historian.
A woman who had spent decades studying the Sterling bloodline.
But according to Eleanor...
She had always been fascinated by one question.
A question nobody else dared ask.
"Who truly deserved the crown?"
Catherine looked directly at Alexander.
"You have spent years believing you were the heir of a powerful family."
"But you never wondered why."
Alexander remained silent.
She continued.
"Your grandfather chose you."
"Your father accepted you."
"The entire world accepted you."
"But nobody ever told you..."
"...why you were chosen."
Alexander clenched his fists.
"Stop speaking in riddles."
"Tell me the truth."
Catherine smiled.
"Good."
"Finally, you ask the right question."
The Child Without a Name
A new document appeared on the screen.
A hospital record.
Date:
Twenty years earlier.
Location:
A small private clinic.
Alexander stared.
The name on the record was different.
Male infant.
Parents: Unknown.
Transferred to Sterling Foundation protection.
His breathing slowed.
"No..."
Eleanor looked at him.
"Alexander..."
He turned.
"You knew?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"No."
"I didn't."
Catherine continued.
"Your parents died when you were young."
"But that wasn't the beginning of your story."
"The Sterling family found you."
"They raised you."
"They gave you their name."
Alexander looked at Eleanor.
"Why?"
She whispered:
"Because my father believed you were important."
Victor Hawthorne suddenly spoke.
"Wait."
Everyone turned.
Even he looked confused.
"Catherine..."
"You never told the Order this."
She smiled.
"Because the Order never understood what the Guardian Trust was protecting."
Victor narrowed his eyes.
"Explain."
Catherine looked toward Alexander.
"The Guardian Trust does not belong to a family."
"It belongs to a person."
The Final Guardian
Alexander stared.
"A person?"
Catherine nodded.
"The first king created a system that could never be controlled by blood alone."
"Every generation required a Guardian."
"Someone chosen not by birth..."
"But by character."
Father Benedict slowly understood.
"The original agreement..."
"Yes."
Catherine smiled.
"The royal bloodline protected the power."
"The Guardian protected the bloodline."
"They needed each other."
Alexander looked at Eleanor.
"Then Amelia..."
"She is the blood heir."
Eleanor nodded.
"And you..."
Catherine finished:
"You are the Guardian."
Silence.
The Missing Piece
Alexander remembered the hidden chamber.
The crown.
The journal.
The golden key.
Everything suddenly connected.
The twelfth hairpin didn't open the inheritance.
It opened the first step.
The Guardian and the blood heir were both required.
Amelia.
And Alexander.
"Then why hide my identity?"
Alexander asked.
Catherine's expression changed.
"Because someone tried to kill the Guardian before he was old enough to understand his role."
"Who?"
Catherine looked toward Victor.
Then toward the screen.
"The Black Crown."
Alexander frowned.
"But Michael worked for them."
"Yes."
"Then why didn't they kill me?"
Catherine smiled sadly.
"Because they didn't know who you were."
The Greatest Mistake
Michael's voice suddenly came through the speakers.
"You really thought I didn't know?"
Everyone froze.
A second screen activated.
Michael stood inside a massive underground vault.
Behind him were thousands of documents.
"I knew Alexander was connected."
"But I never knew how."
He laughed.
"That's the problem with old organizations."
"They become arrogant."
Michael looked directly at the camera.
"The Black Crown spent twenty-six years searching for Princess Eleanor's daughter."
"They ignored the boy standing beside them."
Alexander's expression darkened.
"Where is Lily?"
Michael smiled.
"Safe."
"At least for now."
The screen changed.
Lily sat inside the vault.
But unlike before...
She wasn't crying.
She was holding a book.
Alexander noticed.
"What's she reading?"
Michael looked amused.
"The first king's journal."
Alexander froze.
"How?"
"Because the child understands something none of you do."
The camera moved closer to Lily.
She looked directly at the screen.
"Mr. Alexander."
His heart tightened.
"Lily."
She smiled.
"My mommy told me something."
"What?"
She held up the book.
"She said..."
"The person who finds the truth must choose what to do with it."
Alexander swallowed.
"What does that mean?"
Lily looked down.
Then whispered:
"She said the crown doesn't belong to the strongest person."
"It belongs to the kindest one."
Nobody spoke.
Even Catherine became silent.
Because those words were not in any document.
Not in any royal record.
Not in any secret archive.
They were Eleanor's final lesson.
The Last Door
Michael stepped back from the camera.
"Come to the vault."
"Bring the golden key."
"Bring Eleanor."
"And bring yourself."
Alexander frowned.
"Why?"
Michael smiled.
"Because the final chamber can only open when the Guardian arrives."
The screen flickered.
A countdown appeared.
06:00:00
Six hours.
Then Michael's final message appeared.
The past will be revealed.
The future will be decided.
But only one family will survive the truth.
The screen went black.
Alexander stood in the ancient chamber beneath the palace.
He looked at Eleanor.
His aunt.
The woman who had returned from the dead.
Then at the hidden journal.
The evidence of a lifetime built on secrets.
Then he looked toward the palace above.
A place filled with ghosts.
A place where his entire life had been shaped.
He finally understood.
This was no longer about a lost princess.
No longer about stolen inheritance.
No longer about revenge.
It was about deciding whether the truth would destroy everything...
Or finally set everyone free.
Alexander picked up the golden key.
"We're going to the vault."
Eleanor nodded.
"And after we find Amelia?"
Alexander looked toward the darkness ahead.
"We bring her home."
Far away...
Inside the underground vault...
Michael watched the approaching convoy through security cameras.
Beside him stood Catherine Vale.
She looked worried for the first time.
"You should have told him sooner."
Michael smiled.
"No."
"He needed to become the Guardian without knowing."
Catherine looked at Lily.
The little girl was quietly reading the ancient journal.
"What happens if he refuses?"
Michael stared at the screen.
"Then the entire world changes."
Catherine whispered:
"And if he accepts?"
Michael's expression became cold.
May you like
"Then the last kingdom begins."
End of Chapter 10
