The laughter continued.
It echoed through Damian's mind like thunder rolling across an endless abyss.
Deep.
Ancient.
Victorious.
A laugh filled with thousands of years of waiting.
The prince staggered backward.
His breathing became uneven.
His chest felt tight.
Every instinct screamed at him.
Danger.
Run.
Hide.
Kill whatever was beneath the castle.
Yet another part of him...
A small part.
A terrifying part.
Wanted to go deeper.
Wanted answers.
Wanted to see what was waiting below.
Scarlett grabbed his shoulders.
"Damian!"
The prince blinked.
The vision vanished.
The black throne.
The rivers of blood.
The giant figure.
Everything disappeared.
Only reality remained.
The damaged chamber.
The broken windows.
The storm outside.
And his worried mother.
For several seconds neither spoke.
Then Damian finally whispered
"I saw something."
Scarlett froze.
The queen's face lost color.
"What did you see?"
The prince hesitated.
Then slowly explained.
The throne.
The blood.
The armies.
The giant shadow.
The crimson eyes.
Every detail.
The more he spoke...
The paler Scarlett became.
When he finished speaking, silence filled the room.
The queen looked away.
Almost ashamed.
Almost afraid.
Damian immediately noticed.
His eyes narrowed.
"You know what it is."
Scarlett didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
The prince felt anger rise again.
For eighteen years.
Eighteen years.
Everyone had hidden things from him.
Every answer only created more questions.
Before he could speak...
another tremor shook the castle.
BOOOOOOM!
The floor cracked further.
Pieces of stone broke apart.
Far away screams echoed through the halls.
Darkheart Castle was beginning to panic.
Something unheard of.
Darkheart had survived wars.
Gods.
Dragon attacks.
Civil wars.
Yet now people were afraid.
Truly afraid.
Because everyone felt it.
Something old was waking up.
Something hungry.
Something powerful enough to shake a fortress built to survive eternity.
Sirius suddenly stepped forward.
His hand rested on his sword.
Instinctively.
A veteran's reaction.
"The Fourth Seal just broke."
Scarlett closed her eyes.
"Impossible."
The executioner shook his head.
"I felt it."
Damian looked between them.
"Someone explain."
Nobody answered.
Again.
The prince laughed.
A cold laugh.
Not amused.
Not happy.
Just tired.
Very tired.
"I am beginning to understand."
Scarlett frowned.
"What?"
Damian looked directly at her.
"Everyone knows except me."
The words hit harder than any blade.
Because they were true.
The queen lowered her head.
For a brief moment she couldn't meet her son's eyes.
And Damian hated that.
Because he loved his mother.
More than anyone.
Yet she was lying to him.
The same way everyone else was.
The prince turned away.
Walking toward the shattered window.
Rain struck his face.
Cold.
Refreshing.
The city spread beneath him.
Darkheart.
His home.
His future kingdom.
Thousands of lights illuminated the darkness.
Yet tonight something felt wrong.
The city looked small.
Fragile.
Like a candle standing before a hurricane.
Damian suddenly remembered the Blood Eater.
The creature had recognized him.
Not feared him.
Recognized him.
And now...
Something beneath the castle was doing the same.
Coincidence?
No.
Damian didn't believe in coincidence.
Not anymore.
Slowly he spoke.
"What am I?"
Silence.
Again.
The same damned silence.
The prince smiled.
A bitter smile.
Then he turned.
Looking directly at Scarlett.
Then Sirius.
Then the chamber door.
Where another figure had just arrived.
Fenrir.
The Vampire King.
His father.
The room immediately became heavier.
Not because of his aura.
Because of his expression.
Fenrir looked furious.
Not at Damian.
Not at Scarlett.
At something else.
Something below.
The king's black coat was damaged.
His boots were covered in dust.
Ancient dust.
Dust that had not seen daylight for centuries.
Damian immediately noticed.
His father had already been below.
And whatever he found...
he didn't like it.
Fenrir walked into the room.
Slowly.
Silently.
Then stopped.
His crimson eyes met Damian's.
For several seconds nobody spoke.
Then the king sighed.
A tired sigh.
The sigh of a man carrying a burden for too long.
"The Third Seal broke."
Scarlett clenched her fists.
"Already?"
Fenrir nodded.
The room became silent.
Damian had enough.
"Explain."
Nobody answered.
The prince's patience finally snapped.
"ENOUGH!"
The room shook.
The windows exploded entirely.
The remaining glass shattered.
A crimson aura erupted around him.
Wild.
Uncontrolled.
Raw power filled the chamber.
Even Sirius looked surprised.
Damian's eyes glowed like blood.
His voice echoed through the room.
"What am I?"
"What is beneath this castle?"
"What are the seals?"
"Why did that creature call me prince?"
Every question struck like a hammer.
Years of frustration poured out.
Years of secrets.
Years of lies.
Years of being treated like a child.
The room remained silent.
Until Fenrir finally spoke.
"You deserve the truth."
Everything stopped.
Even Damian froze.
Because his father never said things lightly.
Never.
The king walked toward the window.
Looking out at the storm.
Then he began.
"Before vampires."
"Before werewolves."
"Before kingdoms."
"There was only chaos."
Damian listened carefully.
Every word mattered.
"Back then gods walked the earth."
"They ruled openly."
"They enslaved races."
"They fought endless wars."
The king's voice remained calm.
Yet something dark hid beneath it.
Hatred.
Ancient hatred.
"One day something appeared."
Damian felt his heartbeat accelerate.
He already knew where this was going.
"The gods called it a mistake."
"A curse."
"A monster."
"The races called it a king."
The room grew colder.
Fenrir continued.
"It defeated gods."
"It destroyed kingdoms."
"It conquered continents."
"It nearly ended the world."
Scarlett closed her eyes.
Sirius remained silent.
Even he looked uncomfortable.
Damian's mouth felt dry.
"Who?"
Fenrir slowly turned.
His crimson eyes locked onto his son's.
Then he spoke words that changed everything.
"The First King."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
"The First King?" Damian repeated.
Fenrir nodded.
"He was neither vampire nor werewolf."
"He was something older."
"Something stronger."
"Something the gods feared."
The prince felt his heart pounding.
Because somehow...
he already knew.
Deep inside.
Somewhere buried in his blood.
The answer felt familiar.
Too familiar.
Fenrir continued.
"The gods united against him."
"They couldn't kill him."
"So they sealed him."
Damian's breathing stopped.
The prison.
The chains.
The eye.
The throne.
Everything connected.
Everything.
The king pointed downward.
Toward the depths beneath Darkheart.
"The First King is imprisoned beneath this castle."
BOOM.
Another tremor shook the fortress.
As if confirming the statement.
As if the being below had heard.
And approved.
Damian stood motionless.
His mind struggled to process everything.
Thousands of questions appeared.
Then one stood above the others.
One terrifying question.
The prince swallowed.
Then asked...
"What does that have to do with me?"
The room became silent again.
Fenrir looked toward Scarlett.
Scarlett looked toward the floor.
Sirius looked away.
Nobody wanted to answer.
That alone terrified Damian more than anything.
Because he suddenly realized...
The First King wasn't the secret.
He was.
And whatever truth they were hiding...
Was worse than an ancient monster awakening beneath Darkheart Castle.