Inside the royal palace of the Avaloria Empire…

In a luxurious room draped with fine curtains and soft light, Charlotte lay on her bed, blankets tangled around her. Her eyelashes fluttered, and slowly, her eyes opened.

A dull ache throbbed in her head.

She glanced around in confusion. She was in her room.

"What am I doing here…?" she murmured. "I remember going to the meeting room with Alex and the others…"

Fragments began to surface—voices, pressure, emotions spiraling out of control.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, sitting up. "So I lost control, huh…" she whispered.

The door to her room burst open with a bang.

Queen Regina stormed in.

Her face twisted the moment she saw Charlotte awake. "You," Regina hissed. "You whore. Because of you and that bitch mother of yours, this is the second time I've lost my rightful place."

She strode forward, grabbed Charlotte by the collar, and yanked her closer. "How many times, huh? How many times must your mother and you do this to me?"

Her eyes burned with hatred. "First your mother stole my husband from me. And now that damn boyfriend of yours has taken what rightfully belonged to my children and me."

Charlotte just smiled at her.

"Wow," she said softly. "That expression on your face… it's been a really long time since I've seen it. And you know what? No matter how many times I see it… it'll never be enough."

Then she started laughing.

Loud, unrestrained, almost delighted laughter poured out of her.

Regina's face went beet red.

She raised her left hand—

The slap cracked across Charlotte's cheek, snapping her head to the side. A bright red mark bloomed on her skin.

But Charlotte kept laughing.

"How dare you laugh in my face!" Regina screamed. "How dare you, filthy blood!"

She slapped her again.

And again.

Palm after palm, the sound echoed around the room, but the smile on Charlotte's face refused to disappear. The laughter eventually faded, but her smirk remained—mocking, uncowed.

Finally, Regina stopped, chest heaving, teeth grinding.

A strange, unhinged smile twisted her lips. "Do you know," she said, voice dripping with venom, "that your mother also used to smile like that?"

Charlotte's laughter cut off.

Her smile vanished.

Regina's own smile widened in satisfaction.

"That woman," Regina continued, "pretending to help others. Pretending to care about Edward. All she was really doing was trying to take my place away from me."

She paced slowly, words growing sharper. "Because of her, Edward started ignoring me. Because of her fake kindness, everyone thought she was better than me. But they didn't see the truth like I did."

Her eyes gleamed with madness. "All she ever wanted was to push me and my children out of the way. No one else saw it. But I did."

She pointed a finger at Charlotte. "And then she gave birth to another one just like her. You."

Regina's voice turned cold. "But the gods saw it too. When the Pope of the Holy Empire first saw you, he told Edward on the spot that you were a bad omen for the royal family. A disaster in the making."

Charlotte stared at her silently, eyes darkening.

"So," Regina said, "to protect my family, I did what was necessary."

Her lips curled into a smile. "First, I took care of that lying bitch you call mother."

Charlotte's fingers dug into the bedsheet.

"Do you know how I killed her?" Regina asked.

Charlotte's gaze grew even darker, but she said nothing.

Regina's eyes glittered. "Poison," she said. "The poison of a corrupted basilisk."

"The most horrifying poison in the world. Once you drink it, there's almost no cure. It rots you from the inside first… slowly… then spreads to the outside. Your flesh. Your organs. Your skin. Until your whole body becomes a slow, agonizing corpse."

She leaned in closer, watching Charlotte's face.

"That must've been quite a sight for you, wasn't it?" Regina whispered, smiling. "Watching her die right in front of your eyes."

Regina's smile twisted further. "I was going to do the same thing to you, you know. But after your mother's death, Edward became too vigilant. Always keeping tabs on me. Keeping you under the Shadow Guards' protection, twenty-four hours a day."

She scoffed. "He really loved you, didn't he?"

Her eyes glinted with cruel pleasure. "And you know what? I'm glad that bastard is gone. He died a lonely death—fitting for him. He deserved it."

She tilted her head. "Too bad he's not here to protect you anymore."

The words had barely left her mouth when the door opened again.

Several figures stepped into Charlotte's room—armored elites, each radiating the aura of a Master (peak)-rank. Their presence thickened the air, closing off every escape route.

Among them stood Prince Joseph.

He looked at Charlotte with cold eyes. "Because of you, Char, that bastard took the throne from me. So you brought this on yourself. And that boyfriend of yours isn't here right now to protect you either."

Charlotte's eyes lowered, her bangs casting a shadow over them. Her voice came out low and steady. "If you say one more word about Mother and Father… I'll kill you. Right here. Right now."

Regina instinctively took a half-step back.

For a brief moment, she remembered—blood on the floor, a young Charlotte losing control, a suffocating killing intent that had almost snuffed her out. The day the "bad omen" had nearly ended her life.

But then she smirked. 'She's still weak. That kind of chance will never come again,' she told herself.

Charlotte drew in a breath.

"Hey," she said aloud, as if speaking to someone only she could hear. "I know you're still there. If you can hear me… give me your power."

Her fingers trembled, but her eyes were resolute. "I know whatever Alex did… he didn't erase you completely. So give me strength, damn it."

Regina frowned, unease prickling at the back of her mind. Charlotte's tone, her focus—something was off.

"Kill her," Regina snapped.

In an instant, the Master-rank guards moved.

They blurred forward, weapons drawn, murderous intent filling the room.

Charlotte's hair began to darken again, white strands bleeding into deep purple. Her eyes shifted, something dangerous surfacing from beneath the calm.

She raised her hand slightly.

"Spectral Phasewalk"

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A/N:

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