Diana Of Alcotta (Yrsoreth Chronicles 1)

52 ♔ Room 17 Encounters

❈
❈
❈

Xander knew, that more than wrong, what he did was unforgivable. Although his intentions of finally meeting Feliziia and asking Devanti questions were harmless, the result was a disaster.

The girl is Kirien's daughter—his sister not by the red in their veins, but bound by suffering and a dream.

All he wanted was to ask Devanti about his connection to Diana, and he'll decide from there. Then things went out of control.

Now, the pandemonium escalated on an imperial scale, yet it was not what mattered to him.

Diana's hatred towards him swirled in his head.

"What have you done?!" she asked him that morning.

Despite living in the palace, the woman with black hair felt like continents apart.

He never did right.

And probably, the only time he could do right is to let her go.

Could he even? Xander laughed, Norvillon Duchy's official declaration of independence stared back at him. Devanti Norvillon's rage could be felt through his signature that almost ripped the document.

He could never appease the man who lost a wife, and now, almost lost a daughter. He had no choice but to grant North independence to avoid war. Kirien would have mourned in the afterlife if she knew, and if Diana chose to side with the North...

His forced chuckles ceased.

What would he do then?

The answer never came to him, as he was disrupted by a coded knock that meant an emergency report. "Come in."

A knight entered and declared what has transpired in the port. The other guards, the ones Diana was not aware of was able to follow her while one reported back to him. With urgency and stealth, they tracked her to an inn in Peduha slums named Fidel's Haven, in which a little shake would probably collapse.

The snoring receptionist who finally woke up to finish his bottle of alcohol had a parade of different emotions within seconds: Happiness when three men with black yet expensive looking cloaks entered. Anger when these cloaked men traversed the halls to the rooms without saying a word. And lastly, fear, when the third man pointed a sword at him and commanded "Silence."

Thus, Xander and the other guard marched to Room 17.

He had always known that Diana is smart and calculated. She only does things that compromise her position if she's been cornered without a choice—like how she saved the Alcotta Isles from debt and drinking poison to gain the former queen's trust. And now, she even tied the port master and fled.

She's desperate. He knew that, and it must be related to the letter she received this morning.

But what Xander could not understand was why he was looking at a younger version of himself. Why the same dagger he gifted Diana years ago was pointed at him by a boy.

It was the scene that greeted him when they barged into the room.

"Mother, may I kill him?"

Mother. Xander looked at Diana, with so many questions, but the latter just closed her eyes shut in defeat. "I..." One word and her tears had already fallen. "I..."

The boy had the same red eyes, glaring at him. The only difference between them was the black hair. But it was the same expression Xander had seen in the mirror when he was young. The same confusion when he stared at the boy, who also realized that he was pointing a dagger at an older version of himself.

"He's mine." Those were the words that left the emperor's mouth. He did not mind the mixture of emotions on his face. "He's mine, isn't he?"

"No," Diana answered.

He stepped closer to the boy, who was still pointing the dagger at him and shielding Diana with his small body. More than desperation to have a connection with Diana, the child itself was enough proof.

"We didn't." It was what she said before. "And if we did, I'd...kill the thing. I could not take care of another burden. A child out of prostitution is just laughable, don't you think so, Your Highness?"

"Liar. He's mine. He's my son."

Diana covered the child's ears with her hands, shielding him from the words. "You didn't want him."

Xander faltered. The boy who was ferocious earlier became confused unable to hear anything. Yet, his hold of the dagger was still aiming for Xander to protect his mother.

"You never wanted him. Alec is mine alone."

Another conversation with Diana resurfaced in Xander's memory.

"How about you, Your Highness? If you had a child, what would you do?"

"Would it be better if the child didn't exist at all?" He answered her back then within a heartbeat that his opinion was as clear as glass. "No matter what the status, bastards are still treated as mistakes. So it would have been better if they are never born."

Her sacrifices bore fruit and she carried their son alone.

"...I... But he's ours. He's half of you, how can I... "

Slowly, he kneeled, too close for Alec's dagger to reach near Xander's face. Xander gripped the blade to coax the dagger down, but Alec's hold was firm that it wounded Xander's palm despite the less force. Still, the emperor smiled. "I would have given then the world to him."

Like a madman, he chuckled while tears streaked on his face.

A son.

A son he never knew.

A son with Diana.

He doesn't deserve such a miracle, but he's thankful and willing to mend the wrongs.

However, his laughter faltered, followed by Diana's gasped and the clang of the dagger that slipped from Alec's hands.

There were three things that Xander knew at the moment.

One, the shock on Diana and the boy's face.

Two, the pain of the sword radiating from his back to his chest.

And three, the man who planned the trap, Devanti Norvillon behind him, whispering the wrath of the North:

"An eye for an eye, Alexander."

❈
❈
❈

Two chapters left... maybe.

Since I'm planning to have my own physical copy of this, might as well ask others.

What do you think about a book version? Special chapters and artsy-fartsy included stuff if ever. 🤔

Ellena Odde ❤