Thunder rumbled over the distant hills. The once-proud skies above the Carello estate had turned a permanent shade of bruised violet. Winds no longer sang—they growled. And the birds that used to nest atop the marble archways had long since abandoned the land.
The ground knew she was coming before any living soul did.
The soil darkened with every step she took. Flowers wilted at her passing, not in dread—but in reverence.
At the edge of the old stone road stood the Carello gates. Massive iron towers that once shone with the family crest of light and wisdom.
They burst open without a touch.
Corrine walked in.
She wore black, as deep and gleaming as a moonless sea. Her once-golden hair now flowed like liquid obsidian, her eyes rimmed with crimson. Veins of magic glowed faintly beneath her skin—a constellation of corruption and awakening power.
And her belly…
Slightly swollen, though not yet round, it pulsed with ancient energy. A heartbeat inside it did not match the rhythm of any mortal species.
A child was growing.
A child sired by Lucifer.
---
The Silent Estate
Servants who saw her fell to their knees—not in welcome, but in paralyzed awe. Some wept. Others fled.
Those who remained watched her ascend the marble steps with breathless terror.
The grand hall of the Carello Manor had once glowed with golden chandeliers and the laughter of nobles. Now, the chandeliers cracked overhead, swinging slowly without wind.
And at the end of the hall, in the Matriarch's seat carved from obsidian and bonewood, sat Brienne.
Crowned. Robed. Triumphant.
Until her eyes met her sister's.
The color drained from her face.
"You..." she whispered, rising to her feet. "You were supposed to be gone."
Corrine's lips curled slightly. "And you were supposed to be beloved."
Brienne's fists clenched. "You have no claim here. Calix is mine. The Carello throne is—"
"The Carello throne," Corrine interrupted, her voice like thunder under silk, "has already bent to me. Look outside, sister. The land knows who leads."
Brienne moved to speak again, but her words died on her tongue.
Because the very walls began to hum.
---
A deep red glow surged from Corrine's feet, veins of magic crawling like serpents along the floor. The manor trembled. Paintings fell from their frames. The great fireplace erupted in black fire.
"Wh-what are you doing?" Brienne gasped, stumbling back.
Corrine raised her hand.
The room obeyed.
Shadows bent toward her, coiling around her limbs like loyal dogs. Her hair lifted as wind circled her in a vortex of fire and ice. Her eyes—burning pits of void—locked onto Brienne's.
"You stole my love. Poisoned my name. Married a prince under the influence of filth."
"Calix chose me!" Brienne shrieked.
"He chose a spell," Corrine spat. "And when I screamed for justice, the world turned its back. So I turned to one who listened."
She placed her hand over her stomach. The glow beneath her skin pulsed brighter now, as though the child inside recognized its mother's fury.
"I carry the son of fire. The heir of night. My child will not rule a corner of the witches' realm... he will own it all."
"You're mad," Brienne whispered.
Corrine descended the dais, slowly, like a storm rolling across the land. "No. I'm awakened."
And then Brienne saw it—on her sister's back.
A mark. Carved by flame.
Lucifer's sigil.
---
The Dark Coronation
A heavy bell tolled somewhere far above. One of the old bells in the western tower, rusted shut for a century.
It had not rung for joy.
It had rung in warning.
All across the estate, the heads of old nobles turned toward the echoing sound.
And then, one by one, they dropped to their knees.
"Matriarch Corrine," whispered the oldest of them, Lady Myrella, trembling. "You… have returned."
Corrine turned her gaze toward her. The crimson in her eyes dimmed slightly. She gave a slight nod of approval.
"You are the last who remembers what true Carello power looked like," she said softly.
Brienne stumbled back as the entire assembly in the hall—guards, advisors, witches, old bloodlines—bowed to her twin.
"No," Brienne whimpered. "No, I earned this! I took the vow. I bled for this!"
Corrine turned to her.
"You bled no one but your own soul."
She lifted her hand. A surge of dark wind howled through the hall. Brienne screamed as she was thrown across the floor, slammed against the stained glass depicting the old Matriarchs.
The glass shattered. The pieces cut her flesh.
Blood ran freely.
Corrine didn't blink.
"You are no longer of the House Carello. You are no longer anything."
"Corrine—please—I am pregnant with Calix child, Spare me!"
"Then leave my twin sister before I still have the mercy to let you live."
Brienne left the Carello Estate and never came back.
---
A New Era
The coronation happened not with songs, but with silence.
Corrine took the obsidian throne. And as she sat, the room dimmed, the old torches snuffing out.
Only one fire remained.
The one burning in her womb.
The Council felt it from afar. Witches who scryed the aether collapsed screaming. Elves turned their eyes to the stars and wept for an omen they could not name.
For deep in the forests, a new power had been crowned.
Not a queen.
Not a Matriarch.
But the first bride of Lucifer.
And inside her, a child grew. One who would never crawl, only conquer.