Years passed, and as with Lucan, Dierus Moonwell met a mysterious end. Whispers of poison and betrayal circled the noble courts like vultures, and soon the Moonwell clan acted.
They banished Lucille from their lands, naming her a cursed woman and a widow-maker. But as she stepped beyond their gates, she did not weep.
She only smiled—a devilish, victorious smile.
> "I only need one more," she whispered.
---
Another Web Spun – The Mage Lysus
Lucille laid low, working as a seamstress for noble households in a faraway province. It was there that she caught the eye of Lysus, a married mage from a proud magical lineage. His wife, though noble, was barren.
Lucille seduced him effortlessly—beauty, wit, and promise wrapped in lace.
In secret, they met under the guise of her "deliveries." Twice she bore him children—both sons of magic, strong and healthy. And each time, she handed them over to Lysus's wife, who raised them as her own.
Lucille was delighted. Her bloodline would infiltrate yet another clan.
But secrets always bleed.
When the truth was uncovered, Lysus's wife did not strike her in rage. Instead, she handed Lucille a generous purse and said only:
> "Leave and never return."
Lucille took the gold. And again, she smiled.
---
The Human Duke – Koa
With her plan slowly nearing completion, Lucille moved to a coastal region where human nobility ruled. There, she encountered Duke Koa, a human of charm, power, and wandering eyes.
He was drawn to her—a woman unlike any he'd met, with the aura of something forbidden and ancient.
Their union was not one of love, but fire. Lust. Control. And from it, Lucille bore twins—her final children.
> "Two more seeds to scatter," she thought. "Two more flames."
She knew her time was running short. The Council, though blind for years to her machinations, had begun piecing together the puzzle.
---
The Final Arrow
It was dusk when they came.
Masked and silent, the enforcers of the Council surrounded her small estate. She stood in her garden, watching the sun bleed into the horizon, when the voice of judgment rang:
> "Lucille Carello. You are found guilty of the murder of Dierus Moonwell and the revival of forbidden bloodlines. Your sentence… is death."
Lucille did not run.
She did not beg.
She looked at the Council's agents, her gaze calm, knowing.
> "I have won," she said in a voice that chilled the air. "My father. My mother. My siblings. We are not gone. I have scattered our blood in every corner of this world."
A single black arrow—forged from the same curse that felled her kin—pierced her heart.
She fell slowly, her breath ragged but her smile never fading.
And with her final breath, she whispered:
> "You may kill the mother…
But the children are already dreaming."
Her body collapsed. Her soul vanished. The last known bearer of the Carello Dark Flame was gone.
Or so they thought.
As the final echo of Lucille's dying whisper faded into the silence of memory, the flickering fire before them dimmed… then sparked, burning a shade darker than before.
At present..
The room held its breath.
The story of Carello dark magic.
Queen Vantessa, the Carello Matriarch, turned her ancient, steady gaze upon those gathered before her.
Her voice, low and lined with centuries of knowledge, finally broke the silence.
> "The Council thought they had ended it.
They believed they had killed the devil… his queen… and all seven of their children.
And when they found Lucille, they were sure it was over."
She looked at them one by one, her eyes gleaming not with fear—but reverence.
> "But Lucille… was smarter than all of them."
She raised her hand, and from her palm appeared a shimmering sigil—a black flame encased in runes, pulsing with forbidden life.
> "Before her death, Lucille cast a powerful enchantment on every child she bore. A seal. A curse. A blessing.
Their dark power would remain dormant—untraceable—until the day it awakened on its own."
Vantessa let the silence sink in, her words weighing like lead on their hearts.
> "And while the Council kept watch, hunting every spark of black flame, they never realized—
Lucille's true legacy was hidden in plain sight."
She stepped toward the large tapestry behind her and pulled the velvet drape aside.
A family tree shimmered into view—roots etched in blood and magic.
At the center of it all: Lucille and Lucan.
> "The twins of Brienne died young, taken during a failed mission.
It is Lucan, the firstborn son of Brienne—the noble of Sabrah—and Lucille, the eighth and untraceable child of the Devil,
who became our true progenitor."
Vantessa turned back, her voice now solemn, edged with pride and quiet defiance.
> "We… are the current reigning Carello bloodline.
The black flame lives in our veins.
The Council believes they buried us.
But we are the storm they forgot to fear."
Her final words echoed like a prophecy:
> "The Carellos were never gone. We were only waiting to rise."